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slodat's 521


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  • 1 month later...
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The new shop has a lot of room. The 521 is the only vehicle in the main bay. Having it accessible combined with seeing it every day gave me an itch I had to scratch. I disconnected the torsion bars to see how it would look lowered in the front. That left it sitting a little too high on the shocks. So, today the shocks came out and the 17's went on to see how it all looks.

 

DSCF0517.JPG

 

It won't be able to have it drivable this low. I do plan to do the engine install with the cab and bed off. This will make running the exhaust through the cross members possible. The plan is to run coil overs in the front to get some ride height adjustment once it is all built out.

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After looking at the truck some more today, it looks like I can modify the front center crossmember (the bolt in one) and have 4" of ground clearance, if not more. I'm going to use the drop spindles (for a while I had thought I wouldn't use them), which should give me more travel for the same ride height. I will roll the front fenders to get additional tire clearance.

 

So Steve, if you are getting rid of the Escalade wheels, what are you gonna run?

I got no real hits on the wheels, so I'm going to run them. I like the way it looks.

 

what year hard body drop spindles are the and will the bolt directly up to the 521 front end ? Im learning, I have not tampered with my 521 yet.. Im trying to info on what to use.

The drop spindles are for hardbody trucks - all years. The are not a bolt on affair on a 521. I am using custom upper control arms that switch the front suspension from king pins to ball joints. The upper control arms pair up with '78-'83 620/720 lower control arms. This is what makes using the hardbody drop spindles possible.

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  • 3 months later...

just a suggestion since you said modifying isnt out of the question. ive thought long and hard about extending the bed lower (if that makes sense) to match the cab like yours is. one thing i did notice is that your bed "extended" lower section doesnt have the same "flare" as the cab does on the bottom below the door (yours is just flat). dont get me wrong it looks good as is, im just making a suggestion.

 

you should consider adding that "flare" to make it look really stock. if this doesnt make sense let me know, ill post some photoshopped photos up that i made if you'd like

 

p.s. love the truck and i enjoyed reading about it. please keep us updated.

Edited by 13B521
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I'm not following you on the bed extensions. I like the way they look. There is nothing stock looking about the truck, so I'm not too concerned with changing the bed bottoms. Plenty of other stuff needs attention. The biggest obstacle I have body work wise is front turn signals and tail lights. I'm thinking about flush mount LED turn signals in the corners of the front bumper.

 

Feel free to post up your photoshop photos.

 

I'm getting close to starting on the truck's mechanical buildup - brakes, front suspension, KA24E swap, etc.

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guess you got a point, nothing stock about it and something so insignificant as this wouldnt really be worth the effort especially since the extensions have already been done. but here is the photo anyway. front of the truck is to the left.

 

untitled.jpg

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The biggest obstacle I have body work wise is front turn signals and tail lights. I'm thinking about flush mount LED turn signals in the corners of the front bumper.

 

Have you seen the headlights with the turn signals built in? Like these...

hfm-hl1t_w.jpg

 

I'm not sure if you can get them in 5 3/4", but it is an idea.

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If i was going to be doing work with that piece at the bottom of the bed, i would be removing it from the bottom of the cab, not adding it to the bottom of the bed.

 

if your talking about smoothing out the part below the doors that actually would look better on this specific set up. just one my opinion.

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  • 1 month later...

Been on the road working. I found a few good deals on the front suspension bushings and am slowing building the parts pile to get the front end on it. Coil overs will be ordered soon. Then, I should have what I need to get it all on the truck when I have a few weeks off for the holidays!

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The parts pile is growing! I spent the evening organizing my storage loft. I have a couple days left of cleaning, putting stuff away and organizing and then the 521 gets started! It has been way too close to two years since I bought it.

 

I picked up a pair of front V6 D21 and Trooper rear calipers with pads for $166 off a craiglslist ad from Benz Spring. I have all of the steering parts, ball joints and control arm bushings. I need to buy the coil overs and then I can start the front suspension.

 

I also have a line on a SR20.. I'm going to look at it this weekend. That's what I've wanted to do the entire time I've had the truck.. Here's to hoping I found the right engine!

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