Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

I agree with Palf70Step. Inspector General and unit #.

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

Awsome find. I will be following this one. I picked up a suburban roof to use on the one I started.

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

So cool, can't wait to see what you do with it.

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

Man that is a lot of work! I'm sure it will be awesome when you are done with it!

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

Congrats on a cool find and good luck with the build.

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

I curious.
What end are you going to start on?:lol:

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

:lol:
the rear 1/2 will be first, I can cut the rockers long on the donor cab, and they will just fit under the center pillar, and to the front of it about an inch.

then when I use the front cab donor I will be able to use the full rocker with out cutting it... that is the plan now for

got the front clip off today, and did lots more eyeballing to see how I will go about this...

here is the back 1/2 donor (literally!) cab, box, axle!:lol:

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

You'll have to keep track of how many trucks it takes to make this one!

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

haha, its gonna be a few, believe it or not , that green 61 short step was a good purchase, it came with a few good parts from a 60 long step, and I will be using quite a bit of that, and the good stuff off the 61...

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

Glad to see that you made it home safely with it!

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

It was a little bit sketchy coming down the pass, it was loaded a tiny bit heavy to the rear, but I went slow and everything was fine..... as a bonus I had factored 7 miles to a gallon, but the 2005 chev got about 14, so it was only about $100 in gas!
I put a ratchet strap on the left rear door on the turn to 12 off 85, because I was nervous about the door coming open. Within a mile it was gone:(, so I pulled off and put the big strap around the whole cab like you did.

hopefully it will be in condition to drive over and visit one day, or if you are ever in msla stop by!

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

got some pics of the left rear door panel and how it was cut down... also check out how short the window mechanism is...looks like they took about 5 inches out of it... it will be interesting to see how it was modified...

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

tried to get some pics of the inside of the door... only 1 came out.
started comparing the rear mounts and bed mounts to my short step..
notice they didn't take the bed mount all the way off (one side is still riveted on), but it is too far forward, so they just torched a hole a little bit back to make it work.

the frame gets a little bit wider towards the back... how the heck do I get this bolt out?!:lol:, at least on the pass. side the bolt is just gone!,,, but look on that side how the square rubber doesn't hit in the right spot....
my guess is that they bolted the rear mounts (or never unbolted them) to the cab , and just slid the whole thing back, and welded it back up.

not sure the best way to tackle this yet, the best bet might be to drill the holes, cut these mounts off, bolt them to the cab, and then bolt them to the frame....

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

Wow inLove With Thesev4 Doors I'm Looking for one Now :metal:

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

not an every day truck, thats for sure ....

i can not wait to see the progress on this one =0)

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

So while everyone else has a build thread, this is more of a de-build thread. Very informative and visually stimulating. Always interesting to see in detail how others thought it could be done.

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

That looks like they made a miscalculation when splicing the frames together and just moved the bed back to compensate for it.

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

haha. hope to reverse direction soon!, spent the last couple of days getting the donor cabs ready for the repair....

yeah kinda interesting how it went together, I was looking at the roof, and where the headliner was cut out, and on the cab mount brackets, and it was all done with a torch, we use different methods today , but that as 61...
I would say that the whole thing was welded together with an oxy/acetylene torch. the floor and door pillars all have little spot welds about every inch or so.

I pulled the gas tank out, and was able to get to the cab mount bolt. the caged nut cage was gone, and the bolt was cut off short , so I was able to unscrew the nut from the top.

another thing of interest, almost all the parts were painted olive drab (army green) looks like the bumpers, grille, the grille support behind the grille, and even the rear door sill plates -the front ones are MIA-, must have been quite plain looking!

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

I haven't .I have a 62 silver book, and I was hoping I would see a 61 in there- a lot of the ad's show the previous years model.
it is not a stageway, because I have literature from 1960 showing a straight post rear door like yours.
I have pictures of an orrville metal specialty truck, and they have the rear door like mine, but the roof is done different, the split starts after the hump, and the whole second 1/2 is taller... Crown, also located in orrville, Oh. shows the same basic cab as the orrville metal specialty co., even though both companies show a different address.
the same goes with automotive industries, and proctor keefe, they both have a bit longer of a rear door, about 4 inches of the "dog leg" is still there.
I have not seen any literature yet for the kind that has the short rear door, and the flat roof like mine.
I do have pics of 7 different trucks -mine included- and 5 of them show army green under the paint, I think all 7 are 3/4 ton 2wd 61's , and they all have the same roof, and are 4 door...

btw -no insult taken, I kinda like the crudeness of it, it makes the conversion seem a bit more attainable to the average joe....**
a while back I was thinking of just building my own crew cab, and I was going to call it "project crude cab" :lol: that's probably what I should call this!

** the one thing that is still stumping me is the rear door hinges....I am thinking that they have to be a GM part from at least 1960 or before, the reason I think this, is that they show up on all the conversions, no matter what company, and they are used all 7 years... I just can't place them, I spent a couple hours on google images the other night trying out 60's gm stuff to see if I could spot them on something.

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

NO casting numbers in the hinges Jon?

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

I don't know if I will take them apart, none where I can see.

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

I'll get some shots, as far as I can tell the rear doors are just cut down fronts, are yours different?

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

I didn't get a pic, but my door handle coves are the same front and back, I wonder if your entire rear door is a coach built , non gm stamping... yours is a stageway? , because my literature shows them using the straight post door in 1960, maybe they tooled up their own door to use for gm's truck run, and expected to be able to use that same door for a few years.....
I sure wish we could find an ex employee, and pick their brain....

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

Maybe I could answer some questions. 12-14 years ago after I bought my Stageway built 65 GMC crewcab, I was able to get in contact with the fellow who owned Stageway in the 60's. He told me they had two guys who built back doors from scratch. The doors are a lot heavier than the fronts. Cost for a conversion was $800 for the cab and $200 for the frame lengthening. I believe he said they got up to 32 units(trucks) a month at their peak. I've attached a couple shots of the back doors...you can see how they were pieced, and the cab construction.

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

Wow! great info! thanks.

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

Neat! JMO, but I think you pretty much have to repaint the mental hospital logo when you redo it.

Makes me think more about making a crew cab dually...

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

My Crewcab has been a very slow moving project. Real life projects seem to always get in the way. Truck was complete, and with most options, now has a late model 3/4 ton disc brake crossmember and rear end, big window conversion, and will have either a 66 327, or later 350. Will be used to tow.

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

Love it!

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

did you ever drive it with the topper off and with the small back window?
I like the look of the sbw better, but I was wondering how it is for blind spots backing up to the right?

also I see you have the rear door hinges off, any chance there is a part # on them, or did the stageway guy mention where they sourced them from?

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

I did an extended cab with a small back window because I liked it better, (even had a big back window at the time) I wouldn't do it again I would use the big window.

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

after all the cutting and pasting I am gonna do, that is where they might have to drop me off!:lol:

thanks, I am stubborn and will probably do the sbw, because I like it, but... I will definitely save a bbw inner so I can change it out if I can't stand it.

I did lots of measuring today and marked up my 2 donor cabs
this version crew cab is exactly 30 inches longer than a regular cab.

the rear doors are 29 1/2 inches long

the floor is cut at 12 inches measuring from the rocker/cab corner joint.

the roof is cut at 19 1/2 inches from the top corner under the drip rail at the front, or measured from the rear, 5 3/4 inches from the top corner under the drip rail.

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

got a present today! aerotruck63 hooked me up with some nice snap on stock hubcaps. this will work great to cover the 5 lug front wheels.
I initially wanted to do the 57-60 hubcaps, but got to looking at some pics the other day, and these started to grow on me.....

I got a little bit done today, I pulled the green 61 up front and started cutting across the floor and rockers. I still want to re-measure the roof skin to get my line exactly where the coach builders cut.

I am also in sort of a quandary as to how to do this repair.... right now it is looking like it will be easier to bend my own floor panel than try to cut the old one out and use it, so if that is the case I should mate my 2 cabs together and do the floor, then use the "B" pillars and rear doors off this crew, salvage what I can of the outside edges of this roof, and build my own center like they did...

the other option, is to do the repair on the truck, cut the back off, fix it.. cut the front off, fix that....etc.. the thing about this repair, is the roof skin is pretty tough, so the first option seems to be my best...

the one thing that I cant/don't want to do yet is pull this crew's cab off the frame : it and the doors are about the only structural support it has right now, and I don't want it to all bend out of shape.....

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

better put your cross bracing in now before you make any cuts ..nothing worse than not being square

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

Here you go Jon, Lets hope you don't end here up after all the measuring, cutting and pasting of this Crew. :lol:

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

Actually were trading hubcaps, there was never a kind gesture intended! lol

I'd bend a new floor section and leave the original cab as intact as possible, to use as a measuring reference, as you go along. Heck, once you've copied one, you might as well start production. Templates and Jigs to follow.