My Ultimate 4x4

[1Bad67]

The wife says I have too many vehicles. A Suburban for towing, a pickup for taking the trash to the dump, the family car, and my daily driver.... and that's just whats in the driveway. So like any good car nut, I convinced her that the solution was another vehicle.

So today I picked up a '77 3/4 ton Chevy: D44, TH400, NP205, 14B, no motor, and a beat to sh!% body.

Here's my '62 Chevy pickup I've had since High School, but have never finished. It's gone thru 3 motors, 2 trannys, 2 frames, and I don't know how many sets of tires.

The motor will be coming from my GTO. I had built a 455 Buick motor for it back when I was single and could afford to play. Now my son and I are restoring it, and will be putting a Pontiac motor back in it.

Here is the goal. Big enough to haul me, the wife, son, daughter, and three dogs. Enough power to tow a 24' race car trailer down I-5 as fast as I want. Capable of going anywhere we want, to play in the snow, go hunting, or....
Yet nice enough looking to take to a car show.

I'm thinking of using a second cab to stretch it into a crew cab. I have a spare front clip that will be cut up for the wheelwells, for the raised rear wheelwells. A Pontiac TH400 will give up its case to mate the Buick motor to the rest of the t-case. I'm thinking of 35's, but what size rim? 15,16,16.5 ???

Ok... what am I missing? Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Eric

 

[1Bad67]

Donor #1 striped

Had to take the rear tires off, and air the fronts down just to get it in the garage. Just added another requirement to the list... it needs to be 2" shorter than it is now.

Got the front clip off. The PO already pulled the motor.

The only way we're getting the cab off is if it is a little shorter.

Cab is gone.

The bed floor is staying for a while. I think we'll shorten it, and use it to replace the wood bed in the early cab.... especially since I stuck my foot thru it while loading the scrap today.

That's it for this weekend. Next week will be spent cleaning up the mess I made the last two days. Then next weekend we get to pull the '66 cab off its frame.

 

[Fordzuki]

Looks like a cool project. I've always liked those old chevs, wish I hadn't gotten rid of my '61.

 

[1Bad67]

Time for another update... I really need to get better at taking pictures. The parts have been rolling in. Only matched by the $$$ going out. Got my order from DIY4X with my rear disk mounts, and front spring hangers. I went with the weld on spring mounts instead of the B-52 mounts since I'm mounting the new old body I'm sure there'll be some fabricating to do.

I spent some quality time at the U-Pull it last week, and found a hydroboost. It was driven to the wreck, so I'm betting it will work just fine.

Found a 5 gallon air tank on Craigslist for $20, and got a York pump at the U-Pull it for another $30 so that's coming along nicely.

Got a TH-400 / NP203 from one of the members here. And picked up a NP205 while I was at it. It's a 10 spline, but when I order my doubler from ORD I'll get a big bearing/TH-400 input and convert it. Still looking for a Ford 205 for the front output shaft.

Found the Ford NP205

After lots of reading I don't think I'll be happy with any set of tires for all around use. So I came to the decided that I'll get two sets. One for street, and one for wheelin/snow. Still don't know which ones, but its a start. I came across these the other day, and couldn't say no. I'll get a set of steel wheels for offroad.

Oh I almost forgot the springs... I got a set of 63's that probably won't go on afterall. I did get a set of 52's for the front though, and a set of rear spring mounts to use for my shackle flip.

I'll dig the parts out, and get some pic's later. Now its time to relax. :beer:

 

[1Bad67]

One more update... Theres no turning back now.

A couple hours later.

Time to call it a night.

Now I'll spend the week cleaning up the shop, so next weekend I can get the second cab in there and start making my crewcab. :beer: :beer: :beer:

 

[oldbeercans]

this thing is sweet. cant wait to see more

 

[1Bad67]

Weekly Update

Got the cab sitting in the middle of the shop.

Here's the new (by 4 years) cab.

Gotta get down to the DMV tomorrow for the VIN check. Then bring on the sawzall. :masturbanana[1]:

 

[Corey Y]

I like this body style. The first truck I drove was my dads 1963 GMC stepside. Good luck with the build. :corn:

 

[dirtygoat]

I love these trucks...

Had a '62, 3 on the tree and no power anything...

***** to drive, but I wish I'd never gotten rid of it...



Keep on it...:awesomework:

 

[Flexy Backhand]

traded a go cart for my first truck whn i was 9-65gmc longbox 3/4-

keep the updates coming.. im hooked now

 

[1Bad67]

Time for todays update...

Time to make a crewcab... First step peel the top of like a can of sardines.

Here's what I used to remove it.

Start by polishing the gutter to better show the spot welds.

Use "Split Point" drill bits, they don't walk so you don't have to center punch each spot. I started with 1/8" then went to 3/16" Some had to go to 5/16. Then I still had to pound and pry a bit.

I need some more practice, or I need to just sacrifice one piece instead of trying to save everything.

On to seperating the cab into front & rear pieces. Just cut on the dotted line

Spread out 30" for the second set of doors.

Time to make a Crew Cab Rocker. Start with two standard drivers side rockers.

Chop one up like its scrap

Stick it back together.

Sitting in place...

I think a 3x3 piece of square tube will make the beginings of the B pillar. Can't wait for the suburban roof to get here. Now I have to find a second set of doors, and another door top or two for spare pieces. Here's what I hope it will turn into.

 

[johny5]

Thats awsome. Could you make it so you could use a full door for the back

did they ever offer these trucks in a crew cab factory?

 

[1Bad67]

I don't know why you couldn't use a full door. I just cut 10" out of the rear doors just because I wanted as short a wheelbase as possible, considering the circumstances. I've read that Chevy had some outside contractors that converted pickups into crewcabs for the Railroad, and others. They were real practical about it, just slap a second set of doors on, and fill in the area between the windows with steel. Here's one I found on some other site.