70 Shortened LWB truck with rear disk and a 5 speed

[geology rocks!]

I have been doing some work to my 70 Chevy and figured I would share my progress. I started off with a 1970 C20 longbed. The truck from the factory is a leaf spring rear with a Dana 60. I had a friend with a C10 frame, so I cut my frame, removed the rear part of the frame and welded in the back half of the C10. Also installed a Disk Brake Ford 9" with a rebuilt trac-lock (posi for all you non-ford guys, which is probably most of you!) and 3.50 gears. Pulled this out of a local junk yard for $60. Also installed a T-5 transmission. It was a little tricky as the transmission does not bolt up to our bellhousing, but was able to make an aluminum adaptor plate to get it to work. Let me know what you all think. Hopefully the pics will post correctly. First one should be of the truck as it was when I bought it.

[71chevylowrider]

Wow, that looks great, I like the 9" what did it come off of? So? the rear disk braks accept 5 on 5 wheels now?

[geology rocks!]

Its from a 77 Mark IV. They seem fairly common. The bolt pattern is 5 on 4.75. Funny thing I forgot to mention is that the front still has the stock drum brakes. I need to start a front drum/rear disk club! j/k, Those are next after a gas tank.

[BigSky71]

Originally Posted by geology rocks!

Its from a 77 Mark IV. They seem fairly common. The bolt pattern is 5 on 4.75. Funny thing I forgot to mention is that the front still has the stock drum brakes. I need to start a front drum/rear disk club! j/k, Those are next after a gas tank.

How wide is it? My 9" is 58.75 wide so I can run some big lip wheels .

[72armyswbtruck]

Nice,
I knew that there was a late 70's F**D that had disc brakes that you could swap out relatively easy.

[Jebb1978]

It's about time you start a thread on your build!
Look'n good Buddy Here is another before shot for you!



And some more after shots, nice welding there. What are you doing next weeked? I could use some of your welding skills.

[MisterMan]

dust shields... Dust Shields... DUST SHIELDS!! hahah jk... looks really good!!!

[arkracing]

#1 - Got any pictures of where you spliced the two frames together??

#2 - that T5 looks like it was out of an S-10. Is it a "World Class" Version? I heard that the non-wc T5's won't hold up to well behind a small block - just what I heard. I've never tried it.

[Palf70Step]

Work looks good. This looks like an interesting build to watch.

[geology rocks!]

Thanks for posting those extra pics Jebb! I'll Probably work on the truck a bit, but nothing major though. You working on your frame? I can probably swing by.

BigSky - I don't remember the exact measurements for the rear end, but I know it was 1-2" shorter than a stock 10 bolt.

MisterMan - I know! I have them, but they haven't been cleaned and painted yet so they aren't in the pictures

ARK - I don't have any pics of the frame yet, should be able to get some and post this weekend. Tranny is out of an 88 Mustang. Its a non world class T-5. For that year it is rated to 260-265 ft/lbs I beleive. Taking a bit of a gamble, though I think it will hold up. Engine is completely stock. Atleast I'll have some good pics to share if it blows up!

[Jebb1978]

Yes I am working on the frame (uh..don't you remember helping me pull the cab?). At the moment I am still cleaning it up and painting. Once that's finished it's time for some C-ing, Boxing and Clean up grinding and Welding. I won't really be ready for you that fast. I saw your progress in person today. Got a drive shaft I see, keep the pics comming.

As a freindly reminder it's PPV weekend at my pad, the fights start at 8pm on Saturday night. Hope to see you and Sarah there.

[Jebb1978]

Wow Wayne, 3 years without an update?

[eastcoastcivil]

What brake booster would you use with the rear drum set up? Would it matter if you used a drum/drum or would you have to use a drum/disc? What about if you had disk front and back?

Also...wouldn't it look funny if the 9" rear end is 1-2 inches shorter than a stock out of a Chevy? I thought the rear was shorter on our trucks already!

I would really like to see more of this build too. Looks great.

[geology rocks!]

70 SWB Update:

It's been sitting for a while...

Thanks for calling me out buddy. Maybe we should get to work on it soon...

I'm using a stock 70 C-10 brake booster. I originally modified an old Chevelle booster and it seemed to work fine also. I don't think it matters what booster you use for any of those brake combos, but you should get the correct master cylinder and proportioning valve. As far as the narrower rear, I really can't tell the difference. It looks like it should.

[Jebb1978]

There actually is more to update than that! Yeah, let's play with it =)