3/4 Ton Long to Short & Static Drop Square One

[kitsbeach]

Figured I could make a new shifter out of an old 4-speed shifter I picked up. Took a look at a few Hurst shifter models for ideas.

[kitsbeach]

By the way the SM465 4-speed crossmember is different than the TH350 crossmember that would have fit my saginaw perfectly.

I didn't remember to take pictures but was just barely able to get the crossmember moved forward enough to attach my trans mount.

I was too impatient to stop and go find the right crossmember, but that would have been the better way to go.

Next time I'm under the truck I'll get a picture and try to post it in here.

[kitsbeach]

This is what the TH350 crossmember looks like in my other truck (1977 C20). This would fit a saginaw or a muncie 4-speed or T10.

[kitsbeach]

I had to bend up my shifter boot frame to fit the awkward position at the back of the high hump.

I just went slowly with the vice grips and screwed it in place as I went and it worked out quit nice.

These are actually double layer shift boots, which should be quieter, but I don't know if I have the patience to bend up the second layer and I'm missing the second boot anyway although I have the frame.

[kitsbeach]

[kitsbeach]

Driving it today. Shifts nice.

One thing I will say is that this Saginaw was from a 6-cylinder and has a very low first gear. The V8 version with a milder first gear would be a closer ratio and a milder jump.

Also this motor, while strong, has the small 1.72 intake valves, so it doesn't like to rev. The combination makes it a pretty slow speed cruiser.

I'm deciding how much I want to spend on this thing but, if I get into it more, might swap on some small chamber 1.94 heads. Of course then I might think about an overdrive trans like a TKX/TKO600/T56 and on and on it goes....

Here's today's pics

[kitsbeach]

That dent in the front is bugging me more than it used to. Its right on a crease so it might be hard to get out. Maybe I can find somebody with some actual skills to give it a try.

[Android04]

Truck is looking good. Unfortunately that dent/wrinkle on the body line will be a doozy to make it look right.

Leaving this as a patina-ish build?

[Shifty One]

Fix the front fender, and you'll have to fix the bed crease....fix the bed crease, and then the door ding will need attention, fix that and....

[kitsbeach]

Originally Posted by Android04

Truck is looking good. Unfortunately that dent/wrinkle on the body line will be a doozy to make it look right.

Leaving this as a patina-ish build?

Yes for sure this is a "patina build"

The reason I couldn't help buying it was because it had great patina and no rust through. It has one cab mount that is in need of attention and I will do that.

It came with no bed so the colour match and patina on the back is "faux".

[kitsbeach]

Originally Posted by Shifty One

Fix the front fender, and you'll have to fix the bed crease....fix the bed crease, and then the door ding will need attention, fix that and....

You know it.!

[kitsbeach]

Here is the c-notch I bought from Switch Suspension







I'm very happy with the guys at Switch Suspension. I bought the full 6/8 drop kit, minus the front spindles which were unavailable from Western Chassis at the time. There were a few hiccups during the install and when I phoned I usually talked to Edgar, and he always knew exactly what I was talking about like C20 differences. There were a few problems with some of the parts but we found work arounds (more on that later).

I was NOT very happy with Western Chassis. I needed the C20 drop spindles and, at the time I was ordering (Dec 2023), Western Chassis were the only ones making them.

I ordered them and they charged my credit card (most places don't charge until parts are shipped) and then I began the wait.

First they were supposed to arrive in January, then February, then in March I was told they had arrived and just needed to be unpacked and sent to me. Then in late March I phoned again and they said I was on the backorder list again. They didn't have enough to fill my order!

Doesn't Western know how many are on backorder and how many were coming in?

[kitsbeach]

Install of notch went well.

My frame had a perfect alignment hole (which I double checked by measuring from the front spring hanger because the front hanger distance doesn't change vs rear shackles do move).



I made a paper template then drilled the corners before I started cutting the frame.





The best feature of the Switch suspension notch is this little pointer to help line up the final fit.



After many test fits and much grinding to perfection she was in place.

[kitsbeach]

I'll post up the flip kit install next.

[kitsbeach]

Here are a few pictures of the flip kit and shock extenders being installed.

The one problem I encountered was that the leaf spring plate came very close to the shock mounts. It was impossible to get a nut on the bolt for the shock extenders.

In the end I just welded the end of the bolt, and will have to grind if off if I ever want to take this apart.

By the way in my case I could have re-used the OEM leaf spring plate by flipping them upside down. That would have created more room. But I had already bolted on the flip kit before I tried to install the shock extenders.

The OEM leaf spring plates have a bump for a pin on 3/4 ton springs, but I used 1/2 ton springs that have no pin.


Flip kit installed right side:


another pic of right side:


Next three shots show how close shock mount is to leaf spring plate (not much room for shock extenders):

[kitsbeach]

Here are what the shock extenders look like:


Here they are installed (you can't see the back where I welded the bolt in but there was no room for the nut):


Here is the truck rolling again waiting for Western Chassis drop spindles that never did arrive:

[kitsbeach]

Another problem with the Switch Suspension flip kit is that the Belltech rear drop shocks do not come with mounts.

Very frustrating.

That turned a 15 minute shock install job into a two week job while I found some mounts that were similar, had them shipped to Canada, and then had them machined to the right size.

I ended up using a set of front upper mounts and machined them to the correct diameter to match the Belltech shocks.

Switch suggested using the original mounts and lightly reaming out the shocks themselves but the original mounts are over 40 years old and were not coming off the original shocks in one piece.

Here are some pics of them installed.

Top mount:


Shocks are very close to the leaf spring plate (this could be improved by Switch by making the plates the same size as the OEM plates):


Bottom mount:


Moral of the story is do not buy Belltech rear shocks until they start offering shock mounts with them. The Switch guys were very helpful but the shocks are a bad product.



I'm curious if others have had this problem and what they did about it?

[kitsbeach]

PS on my '67 I wanted a certain brand of shocks and hunted around and did the math until I found an OEM fitment that matched my truck (Toyota shocks I believe). That might be an alternative if Switch/Belltech insist on selling rear shocks with no mounts.

There are no mounts anywhere on the internet that I could find that fit the Belltech rear shocks.

[kitsbeach]

Ended up painting the frame as I went.







This started as a quick and dirty driver/patina build but the paint does make it look better even though it is not perfect.

[kitsbeach]

Started cutting the bed floor. It needed 14" removed from the front but I decided to lap it and stitch weld it to save a whole lot of welding on bumpy dented bed floor, therefore I removed 12" or so.

I figured butt welding would be too time-consuming with all the waves in the bed floors, not to mention various dents and scars from the years.

"Measure twice, cut once" is the saying and I almost cut too much out. I was scratching my head thinking about this but finally got going and it all worked out.

[kitsbeach]

Here's some pictures of the bottom front of the bed and the stitch welds





Later on I will seam seal the whole thing

[kitsbeach]

The bed supports nearest the wheels were both rusty but I managed to save some money and used the deleted bed supports to get me what I needed.

The front just needed a patch piece.

[kitsbeach]

Here is a pic of the top before I welded it

[kitsbeach]

For the rear of the bed I copied a fellow on Youtube named "coyote customs" and just cut the back of the floor off and beat it down. Saved another ton of welding.

This is a shot from his video that shows the rear corners that need cut and moved.

[kitsbeach]

By the way coyote customs and Dave Welch from Brothers are my heroes.

Coyote works so fast he basically cuts down a bed without editing. He just goes at it.

Dave Welch does some very good videos about the bedsides. He includes the differences in the bedsides over the years. My newer bed (1985 I think) had a combination of all the differences, so I had to adapt a few people's methods. I'll post that up soon.