Rebuild Chevrolet 1970 4X4 in progress

I have owned this Truck since 1983. I got it when I lived in St George and it was my daily driver for years. You know how things go I replaced it with something new and it just sat around for years. So I have decided to do a rebuild and use it for my adventures around the state. I started the project in September and I wanted to share
the build with who ever is interested in the progress.

First lets look at what it was before I started up on the rack. This is not a great photo sorry but its what I have

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Frame. Hood and Cab all seperated and ready to be worked on.

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It was fun top pull it down this far I wondered if I could keep the cab and front clip together. It was easy

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The truck had been sitting so Long I knew I would need to pull the engine apart and re gasket everything.

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I replaced Oil pan front cover Fuel punp Intake manifold Valve cover and exhaust Gaskets. The transmission is newer and I don't know the model but the transfer case needed to be gasketed as well so I pulled it all the way down and cleaned and gasket, seals. I had Felt Auto hot tank the case as well as all the engine parts. This is the only way it really cleans things up well.

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Transfer Case apart This was fun to do I had never done one before so it was great to learn.

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I painted the frame with Rust stop that I got fron NCS here in Riverdale. I tried to paint it with a brush first that was bad. So I thined it a bit with Xylene and sprayed it with my Wagner power painter. It worked great the hardest part was the clean up.

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Here I am putting engine Trans and case in painted frame. Engine is 383 Stroker I had built 12 years ago. It has 150,000 miles on it But I think it will be just fine. It was running good last time I used it.

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Its all mounted all back together with new mounts. Next will be Front Disk Brakes I am tired of not being able to stop.

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In 1970 power disk brakes were just a thought on this old truck. I want to stop with what ever I have loaded on or towing behind. With help from Ventures Truck Parts in Ogden I bought spindles hubs rotors Disk brade backing plates and calipers. Pulling it apart was fun as I found a broken axel and ujoint


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I pulled the knuckels off because I thought I need to change them because of clearance of the brake caliper. Howerer after trying the backing plates and calipers they will work so I used my old ones .

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While there I pulled the pinion out to change the tube seals. This is a DANA 44 4:10 ratio I replaced the axcels with the new larger ones I got from Ventures.

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Looking good as it comes together.

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All done and ready for the tire and wheel. Well almost the lug studs are 9/16 and the lug nuts are 1/2 so back to Ventures for some 1/2 inch studs which they have. So hubs and rotors back off for replacment. There is always stuff you don't think about.

Dana 60 rear differencial is going in. To get this ready I have decided it needed a track lock. So i got rid of the open differencial and got a Track lock from Ventures and installed it
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Been a while and I have done alot of work since my last post. Deided to get busy on the body.
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I put a hitch in the front so I can pull fron either end

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As I start the cab body work. I see wow what rust bucket. I have some parts to get out and new parts welded in. I got a LMC catalog and ordered parts arrox $400 in sheet metal and other parts Now the fun begins. I am not a great body and fender guy and this is my first atempt. I think it will be good when I am done but we will see.Attachment 64144
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I took the front fenders and doors off so I could work better. I will need to put the doors on to get the spacing right so the doors will close right. I also took a sand blaster to the rust and other places so I can get it out and hope to not see it return any time soon.

IT has been a long time and a lot of work has been done. I brought the old truck home from the shop and put it in the garage so I would be motivated to finish it. I worked hard at first as we always do but it started to slow and I knew if I didn't do something different I would never finish. So I hired a friend to help. We did good for about a month and it was ready for paint on the inside. We pushed it outside and painted it one night after work. Her is the photos of that
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I had a truly fun day as I loaded up the old boy to take it to a shop for Paint as I believe I better pay some folks to finish it as I may never get it done. It starts and drives with the front drive shaft so I drove it on the trailer and then off the front of the trailer into the back of my new truck. It was truly a proud moment. Clutch and brake problems, its a 4 speed and its been along time so I just pushed on the brake and forgot it had a clutch. It missed my new tail gate buy inches thank goodness. With the help of a good neighbor and 2 floor jacks we got it back on. It was Funny.

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Looking to see your updates. I myself am building a 4x4 and looking for ideas and tips.

My first vehicle was a 68 K-10--loved that old truck. I think those years were some of the best looking trucks ever. Look forward to your progress.

Man that looks like a fun project. What will be the intended use after it's done? Will you use it as your main driving vehicle?

I am going to drive it on my long trips for 4 wheeling or snowmobiling. Going to put a Flat bed on it. It may be a daily driver sometimes but not alot. Always good to have an extra 4X4 around along with the 68 Ford Bronco. I will always have a choice. :lol8:

What a great build :2thumbs: Like to see those frame off shots. That would have been a great candidate for a Cummins 12v conversion if your motor was no good. Keep the pics of your progress coming :cool2:

I just added new photos

Excellent thread! I saw it in "new posts" and was drawn here. I did the same thing...frame up restoration, to a 1976 Toyota Landcruiser FJ-40 back in '89. It took tons of time and virtually all my extra money for 6 months, but it was a fantastic learning experience. I became good with working on cars as a teenager, as my uncle was a mechanic in Vietnam and taught me how to keep whatever POS I was driving at the time on the road, but when you get all the way down to body mounts...that'll learn ya!

Keep it coming, and good luck. BTW, where that hell did all that rust come from? Think perhaps someone drove it around for many years early in it's life over in the rust belt? Jeez, that's a lot of bodywork.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Byron

Excellent thread! I saw it in "new posts" and was drawn here. I did the same thing...frame up restoration, to a 1976 Toyota Landcruiser FJ-40 back in '89. It took tons of time and virtually all my extra money for 6 months, but it was a fantastic learning experience. I became good with working on cars as a teenager, as my uncle was a mechanic in Vietnam and taught me how to keep whatever POS I was driving at the time on the road, but when you get all the way down to body mounts...that'll learn ya!

Keep it coming, and good luck. BTW, where that hell did all that rust come from? Think perhaps someone drove it around for many years early in it's life over in the rust belt? Jeez, that's a lot of bodywork.

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I wish that I would not have sold my 1977 toyota fj-40 back in 93 that I had restored.

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Enjoy the updates. Thanks.

Coming right along :2thumbs: Looking good :nod:

More Photos of the Chevy Rebuilding. It needs to be Refex lined so off to Western Recreation for the final touch. We removed the doors as that made it easy to get inside the cab and do all around the doors. Jason did a great job putting on the liner and I think it adds to the look. Attachment 76276Attachment 76277Attachment 76278

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The photos didn't load in the right order sorry. Computers only do what they are told

Looks good!

Update?

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