Original longbed or cut shortbed?

[mrein3]

Originally Posted by pat english

I might have a trade worked out.A guy on cl has a sm465 with the np203 transfercase.Do the 203's suck?When i asked the guy if he wanted to trade,he said "you know its a 203 not a 205 right?"

I would stay away from the 203. I can't remember the details but I know they have issues with lubing if you don't use the 4wd often.

My buddy had a th400/203 in a 78 or so truck. One day whistling up the interstate the front shaft seized, came up through the floor on the passenger side, and landed in the seat next to him. He needed a new tranny, transfer case, and front shaft to get back on the road. Plus when it happened it was summer and he had to pull over in the middle of the interstate. On the grass. Which started on fire. The firemen simply opened the fire hose on the interior of his truck. Saved the truck but they got his Creedence.

Now I doubt you'd end up catching on fire and losing all your cassettes but I guess I'm saying I'd stick with a NP205.

Another thing. If you keep the truck at a long wheel base, the drive shafts you have now will work with what ever stock tranny and transfer case you want to go with. In these trucks, GM made the trans/adapter/t-case the same length by varying the length of the adapter. If you stick with stock, everything else bolts up. Including that mount from the t-case to the frame.

FWIW, I switched from a manual to a th350 about 10 years ago and to this day still think that was the best update I did to my truck. I only kick myself for not having a 700r4 built to work with the adapter. No matter what stock trans you go with, the final drive out of it is 1:1. On the interstate my stock height tires and 3.73 rear end gears really make my engine turn fast.

[dmartin1]

my opinion i like a factory honest shortbed, and 4x4 i like longbed, to use as a truck.

[pat english]

Originally Posted by mrein3

I would stay away from the 203. I can't remember the details but I know they have issues with lubing if you don't use the 4wd often.

My buddy had a th400/203 in a 78 or so truck. One day whistling up the interstate the front shaft seized, came up through the floor on the passenger side, and landed in the seat next to him. He needed a new tranny, transfer case, and front shaft to get back on the road. Plus when it happened it was summer and he had to pull over in the middle of the interstate. On the grass. Which started on fire. The firemen simply opened the fire hose on the interior of his truck. Saved the truck but they got his Creedence.

Now I doubt you'd end up catching on fire and losing all your cassettes but I guess I'm saying I'd stick with a NP205.

Another thing. If you keep the truck at a long wheel base, the drive shafts you have now will work with what ever stock tranny and transfer case you want to go with. In these trucks, GM made the trans/adapter/t-case the same length by varying the length of the adapter. If you stick with stock, everything else bolts up. Including that mount from the t-case to the frame.

FWIW, I switched from a manual to a th350 about 10 years ago and to this day still think that was the best update I did to my truck. I only kick myself for not having a 700r4 built to work with the adapter. No matter what stock trans you go with, the final drive out of it is 1:1. On the interstate my stock height tires and 3.73 rear end gears really make my engine turn fast.

Well the guy isnt responding now.Maybe thats a good thing.that sucks about your friends truck..

I gave the drive shafts with the trade.I was thinking if i do the shortbed i can just use a 1 piece drive shaft.will that work?
I feel more comfortable with a standard transmission in a truck.

[pat english]

So on Friday I decided to stop thinking about it and just cut the frame.I already have the shortbed.So That’s The cheapest thing for me to do.My neighbor really helped out a lot.She just recently got into trucks and signed up on the board.She drilled and punched a lot of rivets out and did some cutting on the frame while I was cutting the boxing plates.
I took more pics and breaks on this chop.I kinda wish I didn’t make the cut so darn close to the front cab mounts.I guess I wasn’t really thinking on this one.On the last chop I used the rear cab mount as a reference point.O well,its still 12 inches shorter in the middle.Everything will work out fine.



It Started to get dark and I really needed to finish the welds on the outside of the frame so used the light.

Im pretty broke so used steel I had.The boxing plates will be 2 pieces on each side.

[pat english]

Its in the garage now.Now i can take my time on relocating all the brackets.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Looks like you laid down some pretty nice beads, good job on the shortening! Glad to see you went with what you wanted to do.

I actually just brought my shortbed fleetside bed home I bought 6 years ago and stored at a friends house to replace my short step bed. It was a great feeling to finally have it home.

[pat english]

Thanks.The inside looks better then the outside.It was getting dark and i had a bunch of clamps in the way.

Dam that's a long time.I know the feeling.When i stored my truck at a friends for 10 days i,i was so happy when it was back home in the garage.

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

Looks like you laid down some pretty nice beads, good job on the shortening! Glad to see you went with what you wanted to do.

I actually just brought my shortbed fleetside bed home I bought 6 years ago and stored at a friends house to replace my short step bed. It was a great feeling to finally have it home.

[67ChevyRedneck]

I've owned and driven the truck for the past 18 years... so I guess not that long relatively I also have a 65 Mustang I play with, and the truck is "done" so it wasn't ever a priority.

[pat english]

[GRX]

nm ... another good truck bites the dust. Enjoy!

[shawno72]

Looking good man

[pat english]

Originally Posted by shawno72

Looking good man

Thanks!

[pat english]

Originally Posted by GRX

nm ... another good truck bites the dust. Enjoy!

Too hard to find a longbed stepside...and i cant afford the brand new bedsides.Theyre around $500 each.That would have been cool though.

[BrianG]

Originally Posted by trac209

You asked for opinions and here's mine,a 4x4 is and meant to be used as a truck IMHO. And if it's meant to be used as a truck it might as well have a full size usable bed. Now if your building a 4x4 that isn't going to see any off-road or truck duties then it's a no brainer if a shorty is what you prefer.

I don't really see it that way. If you are really into off-roading then the shorter turning radius of the short bed is an advantage. Jeeps don't have an 8 foot bed but they are used quite often in the 4x4 off road world. If I were using a truck for hauling, I probably wouldn't want a 4x4. I'd want a 3/4 ton 2wd, maybe even a dually.

Don't take my comment to mean that your opinion is wrong. I'm just saying that there are other perspectives on what a truck can be used for and which one is best for which type of use.

[Accelo]

Automatic transfer cases have 26 spline input shaft splines and the manual transmission has 10. The sm465's are a dime a dozen. When the truck is rusted out and the motor smoken the sm465 are still good. At the swaps I could bring home a truck load for 500 bucks. To make a real streatable truck run a 4L60. One change you would never regret. The cab is so much quieter it is hard to phantom.

[pat english]

Originally Posted by BrianG

I don't really see it that way. If you are really into off-roading then the shorter turning radius of the short bed is an advantage. Jeeps don't have an 8 foot bed but they are used quite often in the 4x4 off road world. If I were using a truck for hauling, I probably wouldn't want a 4x4. I'd want a 3/4 ton 2wd, maybe even a dually.

Don't take my comment to mean that your opinion is wrong. I'm just saying that there are other perspectives on what a truck can be used for and which one is best for which type of use.

Yeah i agree with brain.short wheel base for off roading.The blazer is popular for wheeling and they have an even shorter wheelbase.

[pat english]

[QUOTE=Accelo;7096332]Automatic transfer cases have 26 spline input shaft splines and the manual transmission has 10. The sm465's are a dime a dozen. When the truck is rusted out and the motor smoken the sm465 are still good. At the swaps I could bring home a truck load for 500 bucks. To make a real streatable truck run a 4L60. One change you would never regret. The cab is so much quieter it is hard to phantom.





I like the sm465.

[wldcat10]

Man great job on the progress! Looking real good!

[pat english]

Originally Posted by wldcat10

Man great job on the progress! Looking real good!

Thanks!Maybe this will turn into a build thread...I sold the big block and got a small block.Its used.I got it from my boss.His friends used it to test run a car at el mirage.He said it went 160 mph.Anyways its a good runner.I just need parts now.I was thinking of using the 2 barrel carb and intake because i got one for free.I got the carb soaking in that dip.

what do you think about running a 2 barrel on a small block 350?

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice work on your truck. I had a 70 K20 with a 350 and a 2no and it ran pretty good and got good mileage. I towed my parent's 38' steel 4 horse slant trailer with it and it got 10mpg doing it. That beat the f350 with a 460 that couldn't maintain hills and got 6mpg. I think we had a 600cfm carb off a stock car my dad's friend sold us. It sure worked sweet!

[bbcmudtruck]

Cool build thread! What did you use to paint the frame? As mentioned, a two barrel carb will work just fine on a small block. I had a 70 nova when I was 17 and it had a factory 350 with a two barrel. That car pissed off a lot of the mustang owners haha.

[pat english]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Nice work on your truck. I had a 70 K20 with a 350 and a 2no and it ran pretty good and got good mileage. I towed my parent's 38' steel 4 horse slant trailer with it and it got 10mpg doing it. That beat the f350 with a 460 that couldn't maintain hills and got 6mpg. I think we had a 600cfm carb off a stock car my dad's friend sold us. It sure worked sweet!

Thanks!right on.I wasn't sure if it would work.you never see a guy with a 2 barrel carb on a 350.

[pat english]

Originally Posted by bbcmudtruck

Cool build thread! What did you use to paint the frame? As mentioned, a two barrel carb will work just fine on a small block. I had a 70 nova when I was 17 and it had a factory 350 with a two barrel. That car pissed off a lot of the mustang owners haha.

Thanks!This time i went the super cheapo route and used rustolium in the quarts.I brushed on the primer with a paint brush(because i couldn't wait 1 day to borrow a compressor)then sprayed on the black.
On my last frame(the 2wd one) i had everything sandblasted and used some fancy chassis paint.My wife noticed that the rustolium looks just as good as the pro chassis paint.here's a pic of both frames.The top is the sand blasting and pro paint,and the bottom is clean it good enough and rustolium.What do you think?

[justin4260]

painting is all about the prep work and then application. using fancy paint rather than spray cans won't necessarily look better if you don't put it on right.

[pat english]

Originally Posted by justin4260

painting is all about the prep work and then application. using fancy paint rather than spray cans won't necessarily look better if you don't put it on right.

Thats true.