[Drewsome]

Hello everyone, new to the forum here, and thought I would see what is going on here. I am just starting my latest project truck, a 1978 1/2 ton Chevy. It's going to be a casual driver with strip capability. You can see the beginnings here: Drew's 78 Fisrt order of business is to decide on the drivetrain. I am leaning towards a 383 or 406 small block. I will be asking some of you questions from time to time as it has been about 10 years since I built any hotrods..

Regards,

Drew

[71 c-10]

hey welcome to the board. Nice truck. I have a 71 c-10 im going to be starting this summer. What did you use to lower your truck and how far.. i can decide on what to do... springs spindals a arms... or a comination of them all.. thanks a lot.

[Drewsome]

Well I took a route some may scoff at, I went to a professional and had them lower it for me. I went to Charley's Drop Shop in Portland and he used 2.5 in dropped lower A arms, and 2 additional inches cut from my stock coils as they were in good condition. For the rear, it was the standard flip kit that put the rear above the springs and then relocated the shock mounts to line up properly. All new parts were used including shocks ball joints, snubbers, A arms and bushings. After, a 4 wheel alignment was done to make sure all was right. I could have done it myself, but it only took him about 4 hours and he guarantees his work for life. The truck rides and handles awesome. I changed the rear tires up one size from the front. I am running 275/70/15 's on the rear now to give it the slight rake I wanted. So to answer your question, I pondered over spindles vs. A arms, and according to Charley and from what I can see I have better ground clearance with the A arms.

feel free to ask away, it's good for me to dig up the old info tucked away in my head. (That and the large library of old mags I have). Good luck on your project, and post some pics as you go. The latest change I made was a billet grille and a factory tach cluster that I am restoring right now.

later,

Drew

[71 c-10]

hey thanks for the info. I was thinking doing spindals in front at first to see how well it sits since it doesnt change the geomety of the truck. For the rears i have coils also so i guess i'll be using springs. I was thinking 4" drops but i duno maybe 3 would be better. Right now the truck is bone stock except for the new intake. Im saving up this summer to fix it up and do what i want. Im geting a 4 bolt 350 that im gona bore a lil and stroke it. Then hopfully re build the tranny, posi, try my hand at patch panels, paint it, and then tacke the interor. one of the first things i wana do is relocate the freaking gas tank. The whole its in the cab thing is not to cool and i want some room to eventualy put some decent bucckets in and a half way decent sterio. Yeh Yeh i know its a lot of work but im up to it and i have a lot of support. None financial but hey.. some is better than none.

[Drewsome]

Sounds like fun to me, hope it all goes well for you. I had a 67 long bed at one time and it was a blast to work on. There are tons of goodies out there these days available over the web so if you do your homework you can get some really good deals.


later,

Drew