I want to keep the frame, and I'm not militant about it being one hundred percent stock. The rear end is a shortened GM rear and in fact I would have preferred a full floating nine inch Ford or a Dana.
From a pure economic view I would be better off to sell the truck, I have turned down what I consider stupid money for it. From a pure satisfaction point of view, I'd pull the body off, pull the engine and trans and take everything off the frame in small pieces with a plasma cutter and haul it all down to the scrap yard in chunks.
In fact, this morning I just dropped the gas tank, threw in some Tide and put the garden hose in. There was about a pint of gas I couldn't get out so I think a hundred gallons of soapy water should flush it out. I've got friends coming over tonight to pull the front clip and the bed.
I need to contact the vendors of the front setup to see if the whole thing can be repositioned lower. As far as the rear, the four bar setup might be retainable if I can get the links to support the changed geometry, get different springs and the rear end itself is too narrow, so it's coming out anyway. I do want something that is safe with a fully loaded bed though.
Otherwise I'm going to have the frame redone by a truck shop to put the stock style or a later model stock type setup on. That will mean the cab has to come off, which wouldn't bother me but I don't want the paint damaged.
I'm taking the gas tank, the rear end and the TPI setup off the engine to the next swap meet. Although I had really wanted a manual trans, I've decided to keep the long block and automatic since I know they're tight and the tend to have little resale value as separates even if you can demo them. I'm going to put a two barrel intake on, paint it and get some vintage style valve covers.
My original goal was to make the truck look just like the one in the movie, "The Misfits". I think I can come pretty close.
