67 K-7.5 creation project

[68 TT]

I decided what to do with all the spare parts I got with a 74 K10 I just picked up last week. It came with an 80's vintage K5 Blazer rolling chassis.

I always wanted my 67 to be a short bed 4x4 but never had the opportunity to get one or the parts to convert mine.

I am going to shorten the bed on the 67 to make it the same wheel base (106.5") that the square body K5 Blazer runs and fit it to the K5 chassis. I took some measurements and it leaves more room between the wheel well lip and the front edge of the bed than the square body K5 had from the wheel well lip to the door jamb so it should still look all right. It will be about 8.5" shorter than a true short bed 67.

It will be a bit of work to fit the 67 to the square body chassis but it can be done. Once I get the K5 torn down to the bare chassis and get all the stuff out of the way I will get the 67 body onto the K5 chassis and post up some pics of the project.

[68 TT]

I got the 74 K10 and the 84 K5 torn completely apart so I could see what needed work and what I was starting with.

Turns out the 74 cab was in much worse shape than I could tell without it being disassembled. Much rougher than I want to deal with. The time & money involved to fix the cab alone would add up to more than buying another truck in better shape would cost me.

As luck would have it the few areas that were good on the 74 were problem areas on my 67 C-10 and the K5. Out comes the cutting tools and presto the 74 cab is in pieces and the K5 & C-10 have some much needed repair panels.

I am now going to put the 67 body onto the 74 K10 chassis with the bed cut down to standard short bed length instead of cutting it really short and fitting it to the K5 chassis like I had originally planned. This will leave the K5 body & chassis intact so it can get built up at a later date. I will most likely buy an 89 to 91 Suburban to gut for the front clip, doors, interior, under dash stuff and the drive train that the K5 needs.

A little body mount relocation / modification on the K10 chassis and the 67 body will bolt right up. With the installation of the 74 K10 high hump transmission tunnel installed I should be able to keep the 67 body on stock type body mounts and have it clear the 4L60E and NP208 that will be going into it. I will fabricate new frame stands as needed to get the 67 body mounted to the 74 K10 chassis as low as possible and on stock type mounts so it has good body flex. I need to cut about 16.5" out of the 74 K10 frame to get the wheel base down to the 67-72 short bed length.

Couldn't find the camera connection cable after my wife used it so once I locate it I will post some pics.

[68 TT]

One pic of the donor vehicles before tear down and a couple of the 67 C-10 all torn apart as it sits now (it was going to be turned into a trailer but I decided to give it a second chance at life).

[C20-67_N_MO]

WOW!

Looks like a tough project but will also be very cool to have a 4x4 '67!!

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by C20-67_N_MO

WOW!

Looks like a tough project but will also be very cool to have a 4x4 '67!!

Thanks, I always wanted a short bed 67 4x4 so this will give me that and I will get the EFI and overdrive too.

It will be fun to see how it all goes together. I will document it as much as I can since the square body 4x4's are everywhere and make good donor vehicles.

[Chevymaniac]

I'll be watching this one!!!!

[68 TT]

I got some work done this weekend around family time and other commitments.

Got the K5 put back together and swapped places with it and the bed of the 67 C-10.

Had to clean out all the stuff from the bed so I could move it by myself so I washed it out while I was at it. Pulled half a wheel barrel full of well composted leaves out of the back after I got all the car parts out of it.

Once I get the bed side swapped out with the good one I picked up for it years ago and cut the bed down to short bed length I will only have a couple holes to fill, a dent or two and two small rust areas to take care of. Other than needing a tail gate it is not in too bad of condition.

With a little luck next weekend I will get the suspension swapped out from the K5 onto the K10 frame so the 67 body can get placed on it and I can start work getting the body mounted.

Not sure how much monkeying around I will have to do with the bed mounts to get it placed on the frame level and aligned with the body lines of the cab and front clip but I will do whatever is needed.

After that I will cut the bed and frame down to the short bed length.

Once it is a short bed I will install the high hump 4x4 transmission tunnel into the 67 cab. Once that is in place I will put the engine together and install it, the trans & transfer case and see how that will affect my body mount height. Hopefully the high hump tunnel will let me keep the body on stock body bushings. We will see.

[68 TT]

I got a little time in on the truck Sunday morning. I manged to get the rear springs put back together, pulled the U-bolts off the K5 and cut them down to fit then installed them onto the 12-bolt in the K10 chassis. I will put new U-bolts on this thing front & rear after all the fabrication work is done and it has been painted.

I also pulled the Dana-44 that was from the K10 chassis but the PO put into the K5 back out of the K5 and put it into the K10 chassis. I pulled it as an assembly with the springs and steering gear box attached, rolled it under the K10 chassis and bolted it up.

I had to cut the PO's welded together double height shackles apart to make them stock height again. Scary looking mod that would probably have collapsed the first time the K5 was pushed at all. I will get a pic of these shackles up later. I'm going to install some unmodified stock parts on the front after I get the fabrication work completed and get into rebuilding the front end.