NEW BUILD - 66 GMC on Roadmaster / Caprice 9C1 Chassis

[Nobondo]

Originally Posted by 65sub

Here's the other truck on a caprice frame http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=492640 The direction you choose is really just a personal choice. Both involve some thought and fabrication. Personaly I like the idea of the Caprice frame Just because its less common. Either way I'll follow along

Originally Posted by ETsC10

Nobondo, I personally think it's a rockin idea! I have a friend with a pristine Roadmaster, the handling of which is fabulous!

As for the few who have not encouraged you and in such an unkind manner, don't get upset, just simply build your vision!

Isn't that what hotrodings all about? Subscribed!!

...........................

PS...Gentlemen, please be gentlemen ... or else!

Thanks for the link. It's amazing to have talked to a fella who just did one of these conversions and then read through a couple build threads and see pictures of a lot of the specific challenges to the build he faced. I hope I can add some value as well for the next guy that embarks on this conversion. One thing that pops into my mind right away is utilizing the Caprice AC.....from what I've read, it appears challenging, but who knows, it's got to be possible somehow. Or maybe using an S10 system like someone mentioned might be a solution.

Thanks for all the positive encouragement.

[Nobondo]

A pic of the truck...

[Nobondo]

We snagged our donor vehicle today. 1996 Caprice 9C1 - Police Package (Impala SS). Hopefully we can make some folks happy parting this car out and helping them with their Caprice/Impala builds.

[65sub]

Good clean looking donor car. Your son should have fun tearing that apart.

[ETsC10]

Cool donor car! You have any history on it?
Heck, up where you are, the body panels alone...

[Nobondo]

Originally Posted by ETsC10

Cool donor car! You have any history on it?
Heck, up where you are, the body panels alone...

The last couple owners of the car have mainly used it as a summer toy. It has about 200,000 kms on it. The last owner turned it into an Impala SS clone. The tires are brand new BFG's (kinda hoping my son would let me put them on the truck but he has other plans!). The body is really, really nice, but let's face it, there just ain't a whole lotta guys messing around with these beasts. I'm trying to get on to the Impala SS Forum to market the body panels and other items that we don't need. I'm sure all the little bits and pieces will slowly disappear on eBay. It came with some aftermarket engine parts too, but I'll need to query a few people on the Impala SS forum about the usability of them because I don't want to sink even more money into parts to be able to use the freebies.

Thanks for your interest.

[ChiefRocka]

Welcome ...

[aggie91]

I wonder if he and his boy are still working on this. Its been awhile since he posted. on this thread.

I like the idea, I saw that he posted on one of the other similar build threads today.

[Nobondo]

Hey there fellas.

Unfortunately life got in the way of this build, but we finally got back to work on it this winter. In fact I am currently mocking up the cab on the chassis and preparing for some channeling of the supports to get it as low as I can.

[Nobondo]

Here is the chassis.

[Nobondo]

I've got the cab sitting level on the chassis and used an old frame schematic along with the cab mount holes to locate it properly in relation to the centre line of the front wheels.

It is sitting a little higher than I'd like, so the next step will be to channel the front cab supports to the max. It's all new metal up front, so that will be relatively easy to do and I will add some additional structure when I box it in.

I will use the finished dimension of that channel in order to calculate the channeling the rear of the cab and support. It will be hidden by the box sides anyways. It will be a bit of a shame to cut into the cab corners, but the alternative is spending a pile of time and money on suspension components. I have the time and would prefer to spend the money on something else. At the end of the day as per my previous post, this was not a pretty cab to start with and we're building a ratty faux-pina unicorn of a truck.

Putting a little more effort into dropping the cab as low as possible allows me to keep the stock spindles, coils, shocks, suspension geometry, etc. How many times do you read about people who spend over $1000 lowering their car only to comment on poor ride quality, etc, etc, etc. So, a bit more metal work, but zero concerns about ride quality moving forward. That trade works just fine for me!

[Rusty63]

Nice,looking forward to progress pics,what part of province you from?

[Nobondo]

Just outside of Peterborough

[Rusty63]

nice area!,went to Sir Sanford Fleming for trade school(marine mech) and have a buddy up in Fenelon Falls big into buicks....

[ChiefRocka]

Looks like my chassis .....

[Nobondo]

Yup sure does, I remember reading through your build thread a year or two ago. Very cool build.

I got all my dimensions worked out for channeling the cab and will get to work on that shortly.

Here's a picture of the stance that I will achieve without modifying the suspension at all. It's built on a Roadmaster chassis and then he ran the police package Caprice rims. I believe it had the air suspension in the back that came with the tow package, so he might be using that to his advantage as well.

Outer cab supports and cab corner were channeled right down to the floor!

[Nobondo]

A few more pics.

Cab supports notched for max static drop. The front supports sit a little lower than the rear do, so they were cut to the max and reinforced with 3/16" thick material (not that there isn't enough metal there already).

The rear supports technically did not need to be notched as deep, but they will end up becoming the cab mounts, so there's an extra inch or so taken out to account for rubber cab mount bushings. The exterior of the cab has to be trimmed where the notch is to clear the frame, but I will do that once the cab is back on the chassis in order to make it as minimal as possible.

The Caprice frame rails are much wider than that of the C10, so that's why the rear cab mounts are brought out further to the edge of the cab. I had thought about making a cross member to pick up the original cab mounts, but the driveshaft and dual exhaust are in the way and I didn't want to get into a major fabrication job for something that wasn't really necessary in the first place.

[Nobondo]

Here's a pic of how I am doing the front cab mounts. The location is a factory mount for the caprice. I've cut away some bracing from the cab so I can get it pushed forward far enough on the chassis.

Once the cab is in the right position, I'll piece it all back in.

[Palf70Step]

Nice work on this. I truely enjoy you guys that go outside of the normal.

[Nobondo]

Here is a rough idea of the ride height achieved with the Caprice chassis plus mounting the cab as low as possible on the chassis. My rockers are about 9-10" off the ground.

I would like to go a little lower yet, but that is likely going to be a modification that I will do down the road.

[Nobondo]

And the previous ride height before modifying the cab.

[LostMy65]

I would imagine the ride quality will be greatly improved.

[aggie91]

Any updates on this build?

[Nobondo]

I will be back to work on the truck Jan/Feb 2019

I literally get about a two month window to work on it when my shop slows down in the winter (following the completion of honey-do items).

[Palf70Step]

Kewl...Looking forward to the updates.