-[Project]- Orange Sonoma Resurrection

[AVTekk]

Well this is a new thread to document the ongoing saga with Brians orange Sonoma. To back it up with some history, I've known Brian for at least 2 if not 3 years and I have never personally seen this truck move under it own power. Heres a pic of it from waaaaaay back in the day.



Brian was one of the few in NJ to have a bagged ride. He then decided to take it a step further and have it bodydropped. He dropped it off to this guy named Buddy who turned out to be a complete hack. The truck came back dismantled and in very dire condition, unable to be reassembled.

It was soon evident that the truck needed to be redone by a professional, so Brian then took it to a body shop for them to look it over and complete some of the work. Well that shop then hacked it up even more, and so goes the progression of work performed on the truck until he then dropped it off to me FOUR YEARS after it was first bodydropped. Heres a pic of how I got it...this truck has something like 33,000 original miles on it.



Needless to say it was in bad shape. The rearend was held in with wood blocks and a tie down, most of the parts were inside of the cab when theyre supposed to be underneath, and everything was rusted pretty solid. I wish I had taken more pictures before I opened it up to start going thru everything.

Its hard to tell just how bad it is, but the cab was cut and welded back very unevenly. Its hard to really tell how much drop he was orginally going for, but telling from one frame horn, I had to say 3". The back two cab mounts were bd to 3.5", the passenger front was bd to 3.25" and the drivers front mount was bd to 2.5". The pass frame horn was dropped to 3" and the drivers frame horn was dropped to 2.25". Supposedly that idiot Buddy just cut the floor out, let the cab fall straight onto his rock driveway, then welded it back up. The floor pan was very warped and nothing was straight. I still cant figure out how/why one frame horn would be so much lower than the other tho.

Some pics at the bottom...


I first started by trying to shim the cab up level with the frame to see what could be salvaged. As soon as I attempted to drop the drivers corner down, the firewall hit the motor and tranny! Thats why some sections of the new tunnel and stuff are all cut out, none of it cleared. However, once I shimmed the cab up/down to where its supposed to be, it was quite clear that the cab itself was warped about 1" and I decided it couldnt be fixed. I tried bolting the cab down to see if the 1" could be straightened out, and it actually lifted the corner of the frame right off the jackstand, which proved even further how bad it was warped.

Needless to say, most of the orginal orange sonoma has been put out to pasture to never return.

Stay tuned to this thread for updates and info, but theyll prolly be slow-coming since this is the back burner project and I have so much other work to do..anyone in Nj what a part time job as a fabricators assistant??? heh

[Dragginbody]

looks like u got a big project there. it really only has 20k miles... damn

[xdreamz99]

thats what i call fix a hack! lol
definatly a good project man, love to see it brought back to life, i told you id come work for ya! maybe even chip in my cab for that poor truck,

ill be watching to see how it goes, peace!

[way2fastS10]

hell yeah, if ya want a cheap std cab and dont mind drivin to Indiana, i have one, it'd be gread to bd
good luck, cant wait to see it finished

[LaynLo]

thats awesome, good luck on it.

[blksdime03]

well its in the right hands now an it wont be hacked up...cant wait to see how it turns out..any secrets on it??...are you stock floorin it or traditional?

[orangesonoma]

YEAH!! the truck has 33,000 miles on the 4.3 v6....the truck started out a sonoma sls...with a zq8 package....and its a 96...damn i miss that thing..


.if any one has any parts they are willing to donate...please help a sick truck out.....for only pennies a day you can help this truck become one again...lol

[NCHEVYHEVN]

Dang I didn't know it was in that bad of shape. Dave u should stock floor it since u need a new cab. Can't wait to see some more progress.

[xdreamz99]

too bad im in FL and i just cut out half the floor and firewall from my cab, its a 96 noma too,
trucks in the right place now

[SoLowXtreme]

Good luck Dave looks like u got ur work cut out for u wit that 1...did u keep the bed ? or was it bad tooo

[AVTekk]

the bed is pretty bad too but i dunno what brian wants to do with it but its not a major concern. i have a new cab for it and its a 96 as well so there wont be any issues with wiring or fitment..just need to take it off its own frame!

Here is how the truck sits to this day, and Im not even sure if that drivers door is gonna be kept either.

[sdime98]

i fell in love with that truck years ago....didn't know it looked like this now though....good luck dave, it will be sick when its done

[SoLowXtreme]

in the long run it was prob better and easier for to just a new cab and start fresh cuz now u can do it to ur likings and not have to fix a hack job

[Xtremeobsessions]

dave do your magic i know u will it will be another mint dime back on the road

[dagreenmonster]

damn dave, u got ur work cut out for u on this one...im sure u will turn it into a monster tho once ur done

[SlammedBlazer]

wow i cant wait to see the build up, i loved that truck. looks like you got your work cut out for ya

[dropped1]

I didn't realize thats how bad it was hacked. Damn!!!

[droppedss]

it better be orange again when it's all said and done! I picture how the truck looks in the first pic, only layin rocker, with that sweet orange color.

[Blazinlow15]

Cant wait to see this

[ENVY22]

Holy shit. I knew there was issues with a hack and this truck when I looked at pictues a while back. I had no idea they screwed your baby up that bad. It is definitely in good hands now though. Looks like you're gonna have a bad ass blaze and a bad ass noma. Keep us updated!!!

[LaidHombre]

nothing sucks worse then redoing a hacked up job. you're definitely further ahead ditching that cab like you did though, there was no saving that one

[baggedime]

Good luck with it Dave. I hate seeing a beautiful truck get miserably hacked.

[nice01s10]

damn that sux about 2 different shops hackin up the truck, good luck with it though man, need to bring that thing back to life

[Baggd]

i got a pic to add to those, dave. heres one of joe (nolan136) takin the orange sonoma for a spin around the shop:

[cbauer210]

Quote: Originally Posted by Baggd2DaXtreeme

i got a pic to add to those, dave. heres one of joe (nolan136) takin the orange sonoma for a spin around the shop:

thats the closest someones come to driving that thing in years...lol

[tootsie roll]

That thing handles great except for all of those damned blind spots!!!!

[ZonaNoma]

Afterhours Fabrication, "Killin' Hacks One Truck at a Time" or something...

[AVTekk]

Heres some pics, not much going on but I decided to stockfloor it. Heres the frame rail all cut out and cleaned up for the new metal..cutting that thing out is a nightmare..

And another of the start of the new rail..

[AVTekk]

Metal is 3x3x3/16..

[thenephilm]

ooo...take as many pics as possible please!!!!! Those pics are already helpin me out.

[slam-10]

yea, i would definitely like to see as much pics as possible....