Just A few plans for my 72' swb 4x4

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Only pic I have.. more to come

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Been after this truck for a while. Was my neighbors daily driver for years when I was younger. He traded his green and white '66 swb Chevy for it in 1984 because he was needing a 4x4. I would tell my dad that I would own it someday as we would pass him every morning on his way to work, while I was heading off to school. Well, after a few years of inquiring off and on, it happened last year... I had the dmv send me back his title showing he bought it in 84 just for keepsake. He always ran 33x12.5s on it when he replaced tires, but I have replaced the old dry 33s with 31x10.5s. I think they look a little less "Tonka" truck on it ?? I will update pics with new tires as soon as I get a few. I drive it every day to work and it's my driver unless I'm in my work truck. It was originally blue, but all numbers match on chassis and drivetrain. It's a 350/3spd. On column. 4bbl. Carb, 4x4. Engine is a little tired, and gearing is high. Trans SUCKS for towing so I'm setting in my 454/sm464/205 out of the square I just sold as a roller. As I use the truck to tow my other toy as well.

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Sorry about another post.. Also a typo thats an sm465 trans I am installing. you can already see im no computer guy.. Trying to figure out picture loading ?? Other than a light camper, or mower trailer this is what I will mainly be pulling when the truck is at work doing what it was intended to do.. I have to get some recent pics of both the truck and car. The car is alot different now. The pic was from a few years ago. I kept all the engine mounts and engine crossmember out of the square body i read here they work better, but have not decided if I will use them or not.. Any input ? Thanks

[El Dorado Jim]

nice truck, love the 4x4's going to have an awesome drive train with the 454,sm465 and 205....I have a 72 K20 ,with a 350,sm465 and 205, would love to have a swb K10 also

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Snapped a few pics of my truck this morning when I got to work. Haven't started the swap yet but should get started in a couple weeks.. I just love driving it !!

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Hey guys ! It's been a little while and I've been procrastinating on my engine swap... But fate has presented me with no choice now so here it goes. Last Sunday morning I was heading home and it started a ticking ,then a miss, then popping through the intake and carb. I figured cam failure. I felt the exhaust manifolds when I got home and singled out the cylinder culprit. I pulled the valve cover and found a broken rocker arm was the problem. Easy fix right... I zipped a new rocker on adjusted and engine runs like a sewing machine again. After firing was when I realized why the failure took place. I have no oil at the rockers they are dry as powder. The engine holds great oil pressure and the lifters are primed and not collapsed no chattering no noise. I'm going for a long shot and assuming push rod tubes may be blocked from nasty years of crummy oil and lack of normal p/m. After the engine runs for a while a couple do drip some oil. I thought about investigating farther but I'm just gonna swap now before I have total destruction of my little engine. It still sounds and runs great so time for a freshen up and I'll use it in one of my other toys one day. I'll post progress pics as I go. Time for Operation Big Block 4 spd. Swap

[fakerwade]

Cool looking truck!! Let the engine swapping begin!!

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Had a couple hours between repairs in the garage yesterday ,so I got started and pulled the small block out.

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By the way, all of the push rods were clear and could be seen through and the rocker holes were the same.... I'll diagnose this oiling problem further and post pics when I do the small block tear down. But for now its on with operation Big Block!!
I'm thinking of just moving the stock crossmember forward a couple of inches to the front set of holes on the driver side and drilling the rest new, but I also have every piece of the 85 member and engine mounts. Any info , advice, or pics from someone who has done this and been here would be greatly appreciated !! I've done some searching and I have some ideas but experience is the best tool... I did notice the frame tapers in a little as it comes toward the front ?? Also my 454 has a Milodan oil pan that I bought special when I had it in my 55' so I think that will help a TON on clearance too... I'll post pics of the BB soon.

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Thanks for the replies I do love my ole pickup... And it amazes me the quality of work and the awesome, nice trucks I see go together here. This place is great !! My truck has something I want you guys that know these trucks inside and out to look at for me.. The driver side front, front and rear spring hangers have some pieces on and near them I'm not sure of. The front looks factory stamp welded its a flat strap that runs the width of the hanger. The rear may be home garage made, but it bolts behind the spring to maybe serve as a stop ?? The spring has never touched it though ?? Here's the pics. I do know the rivet replaced with the bolt at the front is not factory. Its in the pics. You can tell by a little wear that The hanger got a little loose on the frame and the put a couple bolts in the rivet holes... Thanks again

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Oh, and the wife and I picked this up this week to pull behind the 72' Its a 1969 Yellowstone Cavalier 16S . She wants to paint the stripe turquoise , but I think they will make a nice pair check out the neat little propane light inside.. The older stuff is just so darn cool !!

[El Dorado Jim]

Originally Posted by hotsam

Thanks for the replies I do love my ole pickup... And it amazes me the quality of work and the awesome, nice trucks I see go together here. This place is great !! My truck has something I want you guys that know these trucks inside and out to look at for me.. The driver side front, front and rear spring hangers have some pieces on and near them I'm not sure of. The front looks factory stamp welded its a flat strap that runs the width of the hanger. The rear may be home garage made, but it bolts behind the spring to maybe serve as a stop ?? The spring has never touched it though ?? Here's the pics. I do know the rivet replaced with the bolt at the front is not factory. Its in the pics. You can tell by a little wear that The hanger got a little loose on the frame and the put a couple bolts in the rivet holes... Thanks again

those pieces are factory,dont know why there is a bolt in yours...I can't remember why they put those extra pieces on there,but mine has them as well, hopefully someone will get in on this and let us know...

[webfoot]

That is a neat old camper! Sorry, can't help with the BB swap stuff, both mine have been SBCs.

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Thanks webfoot... We thought it was pretty neat. My wife is in a frenzy wanting me to finish it for its maiden voyage... Just a few more days I hope!! I have too many projects haha. I noticed you have a GTO. I have a 67 400 factory 4 spd. Bought in high school.. I love poncho power !!

[junksaver]

If you don't have a short water pump set up, you may have a clearance issue with the lower pulley and the front frame crossmember.
I'm following along.

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Well after a long day, and some adjusting and tweaking, its in and buckled down on the mounts and everything fits very nice... No frame trimming, no firewall denting and plenty of clearance everywhere. Thanks for the heads up on pulleys. I had the fan ,radiator, and all mocked up today with no issues. Ill post more info when I have more time tomorrow

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Pics

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A few more

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Ok so everything fits with plenty of clearance and I'm pleased with the outcome. I wish I would have taken a few more pics.. I'm terrible at that but ill try and put this all together for some sort of instruction on how I done it. I honestly can't recall, but I'm pretty sure I have a short water pump setup. Seems like I done this when I put the 454 in my 55 Chevy a few years back. Also I need to make mention that I'm running a Milodon 7qt oil pan that's also special for a big block swap in a 55-57 Chevy. It sits the sump farther back than a stock pan. I just used it because its already installed on the engine. Also running stock 2wd exhaust manifolds from 1985 C30.

[webfoot]

Good job!

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Thanks webfoot !! It's definitely not high-class race shop fab work but I'm not that fancy anyway , and it works... now it's just back out again and a lot of scrubbing and cleaning!! I also didn't mention that my radiator is just a 2 row core. It's almost new.. I'm going to see how it cools the engine, and I have a good shroud but I have plenty of room for a 4 row core heavy duty as well if needed... just some more clearance info

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Got the truck back on the lift yesterday and got the drivelines, 3 spd and 205 out and snapped a few more clearance pics. Everything clears great.. I bolted the bell housing to check clearance too. All good.. now gotta make up my mind because I've even started entertaining the idea of putting my turbo 400 in..... but I sure do like to manually shift down into a direct gear too ??? I don't know.... Anyway here's a few pics

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Some of mount mods.... The pass side is where the nut spacers under the engine mounts are. I used them for mock up. I cut ,milled , and drilled a piece of 1/2" plate yesterday to replace these. I explained in an earlier post that I also moved the mount up on the mount perch 1/2" to level the engine.

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Passenger side