Starting my 1979 notch build

Hey all, its been a very long time since I posted on this forum. Life has been busy to say the least, but I haven't forgotten my gasoline blooded roots. I still have the 1991 listed in my signature. It's one that I certainly will never part ways with due to its sentimental value and I've left basically the same as in the signature, but do drive it periodically during the warmer months (I live in the rust belt). I no longer have the rangers though, I'll update that later.

Anyways I've had aspirations of building a 393/408W stroker for quite some time so I've acquired a couple early 70's blocks. I've recently "rescued" a relatively solid 1979 notch that I stumbled across that has been sitting since 1990/1991. Last state inspection expired 3/91. It had been sitting in a garage since then basically untouched that is the PERFECT candidate. 200 I6 with a C4. Despite sitting for most of its life, it's not so perfect that I feel bad for not leaving it stock, but it's a very solid car. Next to no rust except the floor pans and some surface rust here and there. My first plans include replacing the floor pans, subframe connectors & acquiring an 8.8 somewhere. I am unsure of whether to tackle floor pans first or do subframe connectors. Opinions? I want this thing to be straight and square, so I want to follow the correct order. I am very mechanically inclined; I can do just about anything but oddly I have next to no welding experience. I plan on at least doing the floor pans myself. Any pointers from those who have done it before? I am looking at the pan replacements from LMR.

Attached some photos. One of the car, the other of the floor after ripping out the carpet

Thanks for the replies all. I'll definitely do the pans first. I'll order the pan replacement pans as soon as LMR has them in stock again. They are out of stock for both sides. LMR seems to be the go-to for replacement stuff for these cars so I'll stick to them unless you guys have other recommendations. Fortunately my 91 has zero rust as it started life as a southern car, so I haven't had to deal with this before.

Anyhow, after the pan replacements and subframe connectors, I may sport this thing around with the original engine/trans combo while I acquire parts to do the V8 swap. I know I'll need a K member, trans cross member and some other fixin's and it's going to take time to acquire this stuff without spending a fortune right off the bat. It's really a project for me and my boys, so I plan to span this over the course of a couple years.

I had no hopes of this thing even having brakes when I bought it, but much to my surprise, I found the brakes worked when we were unloading it from the rollback. Just tinkering around, I tossed a battery in it within an hour of getting it home to see what worked. I hit the key and it began turning over. I removed the fuel line from the carb and it shot stinky, old, pine sap smelling gas out, so I hooked it back up and shot some ether down in the carb and it actually ran & idled on 30+ year old gas. I was blown away. It pulled into my garage under it's own power. Obviously I need to go over everything and drain that junk out of the tank, but I look forward to running this old girl on occasion.

Anyways, I don't know if anyone is in the market for a 200 I6 & a C4, but it's for sale if anyone wants it. I really hate to scrap it.

Thanks!

Thanks for the tips so far all!

Not much to update this week, but I did buy a Mig welder. I just need to run a 240V circuit in my garage for it. I've yet to buy the floor pans, but probably in the next couple of weeks.

Anyways I began tearing into the 1971 block that I am using for the stroker which came with the D00E heads that I am also selling if anyone is interested. I do have them posted on marketplace.

It seems like there is a lot of ambiguous information out there regarding which 351W's are the "heavier" blocks, so I thought it would be worth sharing what I have run across in hopes of it potentially helping someone else:

The picture below is of my 71 block (D1AE casting with a casting date of June 2, 1971) Notice how the webs have a machined surface and if you were to compare it to a later block, you'll notice that the webbing is noticeably thicker. I have a D4AE down to the short block in my garage, but don't have a second engine stand to take comparison pics.

The C9 block used in 69 and 70 were the same way, but had a shorter deck height. The deck height was increased in 71 with the D1AE casting. In my experience, I have not seen the thicker webbing with D2AE or D4AE blocks. The reason I say this is because the claim is that 69-74 blocks are all cast with thicker mains. I do understand though that a D1AE COULD have been cast...say.. in 1973. I have no insight on that though.

I plan to get this thing off to a machine shop when the weather breaks here. Still scouring marketplace for parts as I go.