1973 Chevy C20 Flatbed (Semi Build)

[73chevy95]

Hey,
new on here, figured I would show what i just picked up.
any info or suggestions are appreciated

1973 Chevy C-20 Custom Deluxe flatbed
350(I believe its mostly stock) Edelbrock 600 Cfm carb with Edelbrock intake
Sm465 (not positive on that) bottom left is reverse,granny low and 3 speed
np202 ( out of an old IH)
dana 14 ( i don't know if it's full float or semi float)
some weird front axle, doesn't look like a 44 or 10 bolt, some combination of dana 30 or somethin, front is 6 lug and rear is 8
315/75r16 toyo open country MT
interior is screwed up!!! toyota bench seat, steering colum was an auto... so to start it I had to F**** with the old shifter, so i fixed that and wired in a push button start


Plans so far:
swap front axle out for a 3/4 dana 44 with disc brakes
swap rear leaf hangers under frame to eliminate blocks and add a little lift to run 37's
hedman headers backed by purple hornies!!
2000+ chevy bench seat, I want the flip down center console
Rebuild the carb for a smoother idle

Open to any suggestions and information

thanks guys!!!
-JJ

[msgross]

send pics of front axle...

what do you want to do with the truck? 8 lug dana 44 will work or you can go with dana 60 out of a K-30...

sounds like a melting pot of parts... If it works then I'd roll with it, just keep it safe and don't cut any corners.

[73chevy95]

Originally Posted by msgross

send pics of front axle...

what do you want to do with the truck? 8 lug dana 44 will work or you can go with dana 60 out of a K-30...

sounds like a melting pot of parts... If it works then I'd roll with it, just keep it safe and don't cut any corners.

the truck is mostly gunna be a DD, little wheelin here and there, nothing extreme.

It's a huge mess of parts,
I tore out the np202 because i found some needle bearings in the bottom of it,
not to complex of a case, decided to give it a little love while it was out.
the x-mem was all kinds of hillbilly, so i'll give that a makeover.

come to find out that I have lost a spacer somehow that separates two sets of needle bearings.(check pictures)

[OldTrucksRule]

My 65 has a flat bed too and damn does it come in handy. Just make sure your gears match in both axles. When I found out my old Chevy rear end was toast, it was also found that it did not match the 4.56 gearing in the front axle. I have a Dana 60 in front and a GM 14-bolt corporate in the back. Basically, one ton running gear. I also went with the Holley off-road truck avenger carb since my linkage was already set up for it. Old Trucks Rule

[73chevy95]

so i'm kinda screwed right now, I'm gunna have to make the spacer for those needle bearings machined. the place I got a bearing seal retainer from won't email me back after 2 tries..so now gotta get over to the machine shop to see what i can do

[thirdstreettito]

You have a closed knuckle D44 with drums. From a pre-71 truck. Not worth your money. Also, not sure on where to get NP202 parts but NAPA.

[Zane M]

Love the flat bed. Wish I had one.

[73chevy95]

well i finally got all the parts,put the transfer case in and drove it for the first time......


well it's gunna need some work but hey! shes a driver for now.

i gotta go in monday and register it and i'll be driving around town for a little


gotta figure out what transmission i have a may swap it. the gears dont feel to solid

shift pattern is R left down and i guess there is granny L up left and 1-3 like normal...

[73chevy95]

well money got tight, worked two jobs for the Christmas season and now im back,
hope all had a good Christmas!!!

On to the truck,
Me and my buddy drove from sac,ca to the Oregon border to pickup a free pass drop dana 60 from his uncles property,
so in return for me helping him he hooked it up with an 8 lug 10 bolt disc to disc with 4.10 for cheap.






got that installed, decided to ditch the flatbed and now looking around for a long bed. (always loved the long beds) I got $560 for the flatbed without delivery



Now that I have the bed off, perfect time to clean up the frame. and also screw with the gas tanks, flush em, paint em, and re hook up the switch for the driver tank, since only the passenger tank was the only one hooked up.


I also picked up 14bolt- bolt on disc brake mounts from Ruff stuff for cheap cause of their end of year sale.

[73chevy95]

Still in the process of cleaning up everything thought I would share what i have done so far

The back half of the cab was covered with the old flatbed so they didn't bother to paint it, I found the closest color i could but I got home to find I had bought it in gloss, (which home depot doesn't carry it in flat) but I seem to like it anyways so i'll end up getting around to re painting the rest of it



finally got the frame cleaned up for the most part, i didn't go to into it, just scuffed and got the nasty S*** off of it turned out alright, I was thinking about doing the shackle flip for the rear to get rid of the lifting block but idk how much longer I'm gunna have nice weather




Went ahead and picked up my calipers and rotors for the rear disc conversion, I plan on painting the calipers the same as the front, I'm also waiting on a proportioning valve i ordered from jegs that i hope is a stock replacement but for 4-wheel disc, kinda thinking about adding an adjustable prop valve inline with the rear, but i figured id test it out and see how the brakes work with just the replacement valve (stock mc and booster)

[OLDCHEV4X4]

Originally Posted by 73chevy95

figure out what transmission i have a may swap it. the gears dont feel to solid

shift pattern is R left down and i guess there is granny L up left and 1-3 like normal...

I think....that is a NP420 transmission. I only ever saw/drove one once. It was in a 1967 Chevy truck and had reverse in that position.

The closed knuckle front end you have may have come out of a 1967 truck too.

[73chevy95]

Originally Posted by OLDCHEV4X4

I think....that is a NP420 transmission. I only ever saw/drove one once. It was in a 1967 Chevy truck and had reverse in that position.

The closed knuckle front end you have may have come out of a 1967 truck too.

wow finally!!! i looked it up and i believe its an SM420
and that front axle is long gone,scrapped that stupid thing, buddy cut me a deal on a 8 lug 10 bolt i couldn't refuse

well it also looks like i'm gunna try to swap in a 2wd nv4500 for that sm420.
so if anyone has any insite on that idea feel free to let me know, i gotta figure out how much longer the nv4500 is and what size yoke is coming out of both for the divorced trasnfer case driveline

[73chevy95]

well my rear u-bolt measure out at 3 3/8 width and somewhere around 14 long,
I believe there wasn't much extra length on the bolt, because my lift blocks measure out at 4 1/2 and the spring pack is about 3-4" can''t remember now not counting the axle i'd be about 8" which most u bolts that i've found are 10"
so i'm thinking a shackle flip is in order, been looking around can't figure out what i need,
I would think that since i have 4" lifting blocks i would need 4" shackles for the kit???
any help would be appreciated!!

[73chevy95]

well everything went to a stand still for a while, had to find a new job and now i'm back in the game.

I got the ord shackle flip kit,installed that. need to head to ruffstuff for some u bolts.
anyone have ideas for rear brake lines on my 14bolt disc conversion???

I should be picking up a long bed with tailgate for $100 delivered later this week.



side note: since i have a divorced np202 transfer case, i'm thinking about throwing in a nv4500 (2wd) curious if anyone is running anv with a divorced case, i don't know what its gunna take, they probably came with a slip yoke which i would assume that i would have to swap that for a fixed yoke?
anyways much appreciation for any comments and advice
thanks