5.3l into 87 Chevy 2wd. “Big Red”

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

Say what? Actually I have not seen that I can check it out 

So, the forecast says snow starting again tonight. Last night with a helper we used zip ties and ratchet straps to bubba rig just enough for a spin around the block. 
it works! Also, the hydraulic e-brake is a really good time. Once it is SLIGHTLY more safe/legal and the snow melts I will get some action shots. 

Today I made some bits of metal and welded them to the frame, it was a good time and helped my brain feel okay. 
Sometimes it doesn't need to be made of cardboard first. Other times it does. 
All told I made four pieces for the passenger side and welded them up. Dropped sway bar for welding access 
Unsurprisingly the cleanest joints welded the best. Next I made the same bits for the other side, I even got to flip my cardboard for a second use. 
forgot about this little guy, but easy to make another. 
and zapped in place. 
The next "cruise night" is in six days. I am not committed to driving this truck but it would be nice if it was ready sometime this season. 

Making some headway towards being able to cruise: 

front panel drilled and bolted to bedsides! This is with jack stands locating the front of the bed. These fenders have been so much in the way of everything. It felt doubly good to bolt them on. 
Also drilled and bolted the back of the bedsides together. It went together smoothly. So did the driver's side. 
Now I am thinking "this could drive around with a bed." I didn't get a picture but the front two cross sills have a piece of angle under them that is now tacked to the bedsides. So now it gets pushed into the driveway:

So if you ignore the missing door and hood, and kind of squint, it looks like a truck. Still missing the aforementioned body parts and without lights or plates I drove around the neighborhood for a few minutes. When I got back it was time to see about some cooler wheels. Better. I have adapters which I am not crazy about using, but they are billet and from the USA so for now it is okay. 
After a fun and productive day I pulled back into the garage for the night. 
It is still far from "done" but it now has a bed(ish) for the first time since I have owned it and that is a step toward having a more useful vehicle and much more room in the garage. 

Couple of issues: 1. Too much stink bug stance. 2. Not enough shock stroke in compression. Subtract.5 coil. 
Rather than make new upper shock mounts that would be in the bed, I built brackets for the LCAs. 

I realized while making these things that I would not have needed to change the shock eye diameter had I built the brackets first. Anyway some chop and weld. Now it looks like this

Not completely done, but it passes the not bottoming out the shock while jumping on the truck test. Still need to replicate for the other side. Cruise night in 2 days. 

Are you worried about it moving?

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Yes, I think it would eventually shift as-is only the tension of the bolt is currently keeping it oriented. I still need to add some stops to brace the bracket to the control arm. 

For lack of a better description I will call these anti-rotation braces.

welded to shock drop bracket:

And over to the other side to make them symmetrical(ish) 

At least I can check it off the list. Still a bit of work to be safeish and legalish.
My job has been bananas,  so we shall see how much more time I have before Friday evening.

I did wrap up another project. A "just because" gift for my wife so she has something for the pump track. 

Good solution.  The bolts are still in single shear though.  May never matter, but as simple as they are to make it might be a good idea to make a spare or two and throw them in the glovebox?

I dunno, man. I think those wheels look great. Very much Pro Touring RestoRod.

Yup. Leave the wheels. Theyre perfect. 

And see if you can match the gray for the bed. The visual package on this is neat!

Hello GRM! It has been a while, lots of real world things have been going on for me. The condensed version is that I am making an unplanned move, buying a house, and have converted this project into a stack of rectangular paper. Pictures from the last day: 

Prior to the un-install of my 220 outlet I made some "down and out" dump pipes as well as reinforcing the seat brackets. Hood is on. Line lock wired and tested for FUNction. There was still quite a bit more that I would have loved to do. On the plus side: I did get to rip around for a few days with it "finished" and survived the experience. It has also been a fun and profitable experience.