'71 C30 Flatbed Budget Restomod

[l_alvis]

So here's an old truck that's been around the farm awhile, but several years ago the old 350 went out with a bang (a few rods decided to peek out). After stockpiling whatever I came across for cheap/free all this time, I finally got it back on the road with a little more kick. It's an LQ4 6.0 with over 300k miles that I cleaned up and threw on a Holley 750 and LS6 cam. Runs very well and the bearings/cylinders were in excellent shape. Factory 4 speed, clutch linkage, and driveshaft. This poor SM465 has sat on the bed outdoors for nearly 5 years collecting rain and all I did before pairing it up was pull the drain plug and refill it; still works great! Up next is rebuilding the front end and swapping the rear end for something with a little less grunt.

[l_alvis]

And here's some numbers I came across after first building the truck. Not too impressive, but I managed to surprise a few who believed it to be a factory farmtruck.

[flashed]

Nice truck .

[fishnixon]

Cool truck! Love the C 30‘s. Spotlight is a cool touch on this truck. Look forward to seeing more pics along the way.

[l_alvis]

So today I pulled the wheels off to get powdercoated and noticed the front lugs were different than the rear. The front studs are all 14mm while the rears are factory 9/16". I can only assume these rotors/hubs are for a much newer model truck, but not sure the exact year range. I had intended to swap the front end out for 73-87 setup anyways since most of the older parts are tough to come by.

[lolife99]

Really like your truck project.
I've always had a thing for 67-72 duallys.
The LS swap makes it so much better.

[dirtwork]

Nice Truck! Been thinking of doing this swap in my 72 c30. My 350 is low on power and uses antifreeze. I'd be interested in seeing particulars on your swap. I too would retain the SM465 trans if I go through with it.

[l_alvis]

Originally Posted by dirtwork

Nice Truck! Been thinking of doing this swap in my 72 c30. My 350 is low on power and uses antifreeze. I'd be interested in seeing particulars on your swap. I too would retain the SM465 trans if I go through with it.

I can take pictures of anything if you need it, but it truly wasn't as difficult as I had imagined it would be. Lots of parts were interchangeable and the lack of fuel injection made the wiring super easy. Off my head I recall using ICT Billet motor mount plate adapters along with the factory rubber bushings and the power steering line was OEM, just had to swap the adapter fitting on the back of the new pump with the old one. Clutch linkage was probably the most thought-intensive project and it would've made a bit more sense to go with a hydraulic setup, but I was being real cheap on this build.

The trans itself bolts right up with the exception of a missing bell housing bolt, but that's hardly a concern with this setup. Flywheel is for a 4.8 or 5.3 LS that came with a 5-speed and the clutch is what comes with these trucks from the factory.

[GR8-68]

Very nice.... Love it

[dirtwork]

I was wondering about the clutch linkage and flywheel. From the research I have done so far I figured that the clutch would be the toughest part. Flywheel sounds like thats the easy part, but the linkage not so much. The motor mounts, oil pan, and wiring looks to be all straightforward.

[l_alvis]

The clutch I used was from Napa (1104064). It fit onto the Sachs 4.8/5.3 flywheel pretty much perfectly, a little bit of friction material hung off but no where near as bad as a 10" clutch would. The flywheel is so thick you don't need a crank spacer like you would with other setups. LS7 pilot bearing was used also.

Linkage will be subjective depending on exactly where you mount the engine. I originally bought the Scoggin-Dickey pivot ball adapter believing that would be the only thing I'd have to do. Of course, it became more involved than that with the SM465 bellhousing having different spacings on the bolt holes. So I used a piece of tube to space the bracket back, but now the entire geometry was off. I had to move the factory bracket on the frame rail back about 6" to be in line with the pivot ball. For the z-bar I chopped the arms off and welded on new ones made from a piece of 2" steel bar. It took a bit of time to mock it up, but that's where you will be changing the length and angle of both bars to get the best leverage. Other than that, the rod from the cab was never adjusted and I used a piece of threaded rod between the clutch fork and z-bar since the factory rod didn't have enough adjustment.

[l_alvis]

Got in some parts over the week for the front end rebuild. Control arms, calipers, and some other hardware are piled up now. I'm planning on getting 3" drop spindles too and maybe pulling some leafs out the rear to get a proper stance.

Also ran into another truck a while back that is oddly similar. It's a 72 C30 6.0/4l80 in a bit nicer shape than mine. Dakota Digital dash, EFI, 14 bolt rear, and very slick flatbed.

[l_alvis]

Been a while since the last update but the truck has gotten a much needed upgrade to the front suspension. I probably went into further than necessary but I'm pretty impressed with the cool factor seeing as this is my first air ride vehicle.

I went with OE style parts from a next gen truck save for the Airlift D2600 bags in place of coil springs. A 5 gallon tank was mounted under the bed and supplied by a reworked York compressor. There's still a few things to be buttoned up (gauges, tidying hoses/wire) but its come a ways since it was drug from the barn.

Also, just after pulling it out of the garage the ignition box failed so I built a standalone harness instead of going back the not-so-reliable MSD. I went with a DBW setup out of preference and threw on a TBSS intake to boot. Plan on getting a tune lined out here eventually.

[l_alvis]

So after hours of hacking up the factory brakes to fit behind the York compressor, both the master cylinder and booster decided to go kaput at a really inconvenient time. Naturally, this is an excuse to upgrade another part of the truck.

With the help of some threads on here I was able to convert to a Hydroboost setup off a 99 Silverado. I managed to snag lines and all off a junk truck and it made for a very simple install for the most part. Just knocked the studs out of the hyrdroboost bracket, drilled some new holes and slid it in place onto the firewall. The clevis rod needed to be extended and the hole on the firewall enlarged a bit but nothing too bad at all.

Only problem now is the lack of ABS while I get used to this new braking power

[cornerstone]

So cool. I'd drive that all day

[jarrodblake]

How do the brakes feel using the silverado master cylinder?

[l_alvis]

Originally Posted by jarrodblake

How do the brakes feel using the silverado master cylinder?

Much more sensitive now, just like any modern truck. Before swapping I practically had to put the pedal to the floor to stop in a decent amount of time. This was partially because of the bad booster, but I also got JB8 calipers when I redid the front end which seemed to require a bit more pressure.

[jarrodblake]

Originally Posted by l_alvis

Much more sensitive now, just like any modern truck. Before swapping I practically had to put the pedal to the floor to stop in a decent amount of time. This was partially because of the bad booster, but I also got JB8 calipers when I redid the front end which seemed to require a bit more pressure.

I am doing the JB8 calipers and hydroboost off an astro van. But the astro van brake master/ reservoirs looks to small for my application. So I may have to use the Silverado unit you used. It will probably be a month or so before I will be installing them. I was wondering what model Silverado did the master cylinder come out of? 2500 3500? Also on your air ride did you modify your lower control arms? I'm installing 3800 airbags on the front of mine. I think they are 1/2 wider than the D2600s you used. Are you sunning stock height spindles?

[l_alvis]

The hydroboost is from a 2500 with the iron headed 6.0. I can't really compare it to the astro master cylinder but it definitely holds a lot of fluid.

On the LCAs I cut off the bump stops to prevent rubbing on deflation put other than that they are stock '75 pieces. I bolted the bag cups to the bottom and thats about it. Spindles are 3" drop for the newer gen trucks because thats all the only thing I could find without going to a junkyard.

What bags exactly did you get because I'm looking for something real HD for the rear.

[jcramsey]

Looking good! Did you end up going with drop spindles too, or just bags?

[l_alvis]

Originally Posted by jcramsey

Looking good! Did you end up going with drop spindles too, or just bags?

Thanks! It's got 3" Belltech drop spindles,something I was hesistant to get but turned out alright in my opinion.

[jcramsey]

Originally Posted by l_alvis

Thanks! It's got 3" Belltech drop spindles,something I was hesistant to get but turned out alright in my opinion.

Yea I’d say they worked out great. Looking at bagging my 62 c20 and I’ve been considering a set of drop spindles as well.

[l_alvis]

It's been a bit, but I've still been gathering parts. There's something about this truck that make me want to keep coming back to it.

A buddy let me have a worn out DRW 14 bolt as a core to build up. As most probably know, the options given with the HO72 are limited and I needed something with a better gear set. I've got most of the parts, just need time to install them all. I want to do disc brakes, but I'm having a hard time finding a set that claims to fit with dually wheels. A lot of kits claim to fit the hubs, but since most are for offroad rigs they just run a single wheel.

Replacing the windshield evolved into a much larger project as well. After pulling the frosted/busted one out, there was way to much corrosion for me to ignore around the channel. So if the body work tools are already coming out, might as well fix the whole cab. The inner roof panel, rocker panel, and drip rail require the most attention. The rest seems to be surface imperfections which I'm not too concerned about.

I probably won't get the 4-link and air ride on by LSFest as I had planned, but I sure hope I can cruise there with a 3.73 and a clear windshield.

[mattfranklin]

Pretty cool truck.

[knomadd]

This thing is pretty sweet! I like the new lower stance up front.