Storm's OTHER crew cab build

[Storm Chaser]

No real updates yet- it's been raining like every other day for weeks here. I did get the Suburban's front end on it- just loosely bolted for now. I traded a buddy a 350 tbi engine for some work on his new house, but I haven't done anything yet. Maybe if it quits raining for awhile...

[toomanytoyz]

Where are u at with the Project?

Thanks, Rick

[Storm Chaser]

Well, I'm back!

The luck didn't last for long, thats for sure. Had to make some SERIOUS sacrifices. The girlfriend and I broke up and found myself homeless with almost nothing and no place to put anything. I did get back together with my wife, whom I'd been seperated for a few years- we've been back together for a few months and everything is WONDERFUL in that respect.

However we did need a place to live- fast and cheap- so I got us into a 600 dollar trailer in a park (no working on stuff here). In order to pull everything off such as buying the trailer and all the utility deposits and whatnot, I had to make sacrifices that took me awile to think out the reasonable way to approach them.

She has a car, but I am without running wheels, so I am trying to get things going (can't do much without a truck). So, here's what went down...

The white flatbed needed a load of front suspension work, and the cab mounts are so completely rotted that it is not actually attached to the frame anymore. I figured the amount of work needed was not going to be worth the effort, so this truck got sold- I lost $100 on it.

That left me with the two crew cabs. This is gonna hurt those who were following the big crew's build. The amount of work needed to even get the big crew remotely roadworthy was staggering to say the least. I still had the crossover steering to work out, the driveshafts, shock mounts, the rear mounts on the SAS swap, wiring, exhaust, glue in the glass, etc etc etc.

There was no way I could rapidly fix it, no way I could keep it, and the money was more than tight- it was non-existant. So I put it up for sale.. WITH NO INTEREST!!! Yup, with all the custom work, a brand new cab and doors, near perfect bed, all that- I had no one look at it.

So I went through the painful decision to part it. I sold the bed and fenders, and I have a guy who wants the front doors, but I want to try to sell the cab and doors together, since they are all brand new. I pulled the engine to use in the truck I decided to fix- the little 88 crew cab.

So, here is the official update for the 88 R-20:
The big crew's engine is installed (not hooked up yet) with a turbo 400 behind it. The t400 is a slip yoke tranny out of a larger car, so I had to use a conversion u-joint to mate it's yoke to the crew cab intermediate shaft. It worked, so that's OK. I got a rusty junker bed for free, so although ugly, all the body is there with the exception of the inner fenders- they were too far gone.

As some of you know, the engine is a carb setup (edelbrock), so I am just tying the TBI harness up in case I decide to go fuel injection later. I have to change the senders in the tank, which I have, to go from FI to carb, then change the fuel lines out.

I still have alot to do to get it going, but at least I have 98 percent of the parts on hand. I still have to figure out the tailgate- the bed is a 76 I think and the gate is an 85, so I have a hinge issue... and no rear bumper yet.

So that's where I am so far. I'm back, but the 88 is the only thing I have except for a cab on a frame with glass and some interior parts that I hope to sell at James Dean Days or Ducktail Run. At least I still have a truck!

[JohnC]

Sorry to hear about the bad luck, but glad your back. keep us updated.