Guys, thanks again for the thoughts!
Trust me, I have done a lot of research. I didn't just put this post up all willy nilly to waste your time
I will try to address all points below.
I definitely don't want to reinvent the wheel. I do however wish I had been able to do some modernizing at the beginning before we spent so much rebuilding old tech - not that I don't like old tech, but I feel there is a sweet spot somewhere from the late 60's into the early 90's... I pushed for some things when we did the first big round of work, and I just wasn't able to make it happen because the mechanic we hired (I worked with him, but he was the expert) didn't want to do it. Ironically, he daily drives a '49 1/2 with a G-body front clip and rear axle, so I know he knows... He was all hung up on the fact that it was a 3/4.
So, one of the first things we did when we got the truck was put on a fresh set of stock-ish size radial tires, in 215/85-16, and new shocks all around. The tires are E load range, which the tire shop insisted was required, and I know that adds to the stiff ride. Height from ground to top of tire is around 29.5, wheels are a stock replacement single piece 16x (6 or so, can't remember). Truck steers great, no problems there.
As far as rebuilding stock front leaf pack: I wish I could test drive a 3100 or 3600 with a stock front suspension in good order - it would help a lot for the sake of comparison.
When we got the truck, I would bounce so much going down the road that I hit my head on the cab ceiling a few times. That had to stop.
I took two leafs out of the front leaf pack, to make it 6 - and that did soften things a bit, but at the expense of handling. It's pretty scary if you hit a bad bump in the road over about 30 mph.
The kingpins aren't toooo bad, but they should be done. The tie rod ends are pretty shot. The leaves themselves are too far notched to be reused - some are notched almost half way through.
I know the conventional wisdom is to get new leaf packs, add the sliders (UHMW plastic?) and be done with it. It just seems that for less $$ I could do better. (One possibility here is to scour some local junkyards for leaf packs that are the same dimensions and rob those, but that's a lot of work, plus the nearest local junkyard that might possibly have something is hours away).
The brakes were rebuilt with machined drums, new shoes, cylinders and associated hardware. I was told we got the last pair of rear brake cylinders in the country available for that HO52...
All the soft lines are new. Brakes work well enough, but I've never tested them at highway speeds, and frankly it makes me a bit nervous. Still have the old style MC under the floor.
The cab floor was redone with welded patch panels, and the cab mounts were done at the same time. (When we got the truck, one of the front mounts was poking through the floor). When driving on uneven surfaces, which is often, there is some 'oilcanning' of the cab - I can tell because the steering column mount at the dash creaks and pops and was broken in the past (rewelded).
As far as trans. I have read the tech tip on getting the 68-72 center section to gain a 4.11 or 3.9 ratio, and have looked for a donor for almost 10 years with no luck. Maybe I haven't tried hard enough
Even when I've come across a possible option, the logistics have been too difficult to get it.
I have looked at axle ratio / trans combinations, and I see the 3100s with the SM420 option running the 3.9 / 4.11, so it seems reasonable that I could keep the trans and find a lower rear gear. The problem is, it's not just highway gearing - I don't like the gear spread for around town either, and it's a loud trans. I don't need a granny gear.
I actually think putting a T5 in while keeping the 4.57 rear end would probably work out pretty well, as long as it was an S10 T5 not a higher-geared Camaro one.
I'll probably just end up getting new front springs, rebuild the other worn out stuff up there, and put in a different trans. It just irks me that it's going to cost a fair bit more to do that compared to something like a front clip or S10 frame swap.
I'll take some pictures of the front end when I get a decent weather window...
At least it's not a boat - now those are a money pit!
