A little out there: 88-98 cab on a 77 C6500?

[kthelen]

Hello all!

I've got a 1977 GMC 6500 rollback with a really rusty cab. It has the fiberglass tilt-forward hood with the "shorty" fenders. I've been passively seeking a replacement cab (that is, "keeping my eyes open for a free/cheap one") for a while now.

Recently I stumbled upon a nice, solid cab from a 98 Chevy pickup. It's not what I had in mind (wanted to find one from a 73-87 for a more direct swap), but the price is right.

Has anyone out there done something like this before? If so, how much of a chore was it to get the old-style front clip to line up with the new-style cab? And how much fabbing was required to make it fit on the frame properly? I'm hoping to go back and take some measurements later this week, but in the meanwhile I'm driving myself nuts not knowing (don't even know how far apart the newer truck's frame rails are/were).

Yes, I know, grabbing the newer cab and trading it for an older one would probably be easier - and that's not entirely out of the question But the more I think about it, the more I'm liking the idea of having a few modern conveniences (even if that means doing a good bit of wiring from scratch).

Any clues, stories, pics, etc. would be greatly appreciated.


--Keith

[esbstuff]

As a rule, the pickup cabs are not interchangable. BUT if you stick to a larger truck cab say c4500-7500 the cabs are mostly interchangable.

The frames on the larger trucks are basicly the same from the 50's up. For example a 73-80 regular pickup cab and clip will fit a 81-91, but there are some small changes that need addressed.

We had a local shop that took 90 (?) and older GM trucks that were rusty or damaged, bought 91-up cabs and clips from a garbage truck builder (they built those funny half cabs things...) and installed the newer cabs/clip on the older trucks with good results. The local shop said you could convert one in a week with just one person working on it so it must be not that hard...

[ghettoluxury]

It is not that hard. You will have to make new cab mounts as the 98's frame was wider than the older trucks. Since the 6500 has straight frame rails this will be a rather simple swap. As far as using the old front clip it is going to take more work than I would put into it.

[motornut]

if i did that up here it would have to be revinned as a the newer(must be etested)
do you?

[Stevedwnng]

Interesting. I have a 82 GMC C6500 and I'm debating changing the cab also. I'm wondering if the regular pickup cabs are the same. I also want to swap the doors otherwise I'm looking at replacing the door skins. Not a huge deal, but want to save time. I'm pretty sure if you swapped cabs the truck would then have to be compliant with whatever emmisions laws the newer cab (and vin tag) were at that time. What did you end up doing?