Halfbreed - GMC Z71 + IH Extd Cab

[67ChevyRedneck]

Very cool!

Some friendly advice? In case you weren't planning on doing this, I'd set the cab in place (out of the way) and fully mount the bed the way you want it (wheel well centered, bed height, etc...). That way, you don't accidentally mount the cab "too low" and have to raise the bed floor, that is, if you didn't want to do that. Just offering up an idea. It's looking great

[sparkydog]

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

Very cool!

Some friendly advice? In case you weren't planning on doing this, I'd set the cab in place (out of the way) and fully mount the bed the way you want it (wheel well centered, bed height, etc...). That way, you don't accidentally mount the cab "too low" and have to raise the bed floor, that is, if you didn't want to do that. Just offering up an idea. It's looking great

Yes you are spot on about the bed. Part of the mockup of the cab and the decision of how much body drop to put in will be the ride height of the bed. I am going to shave a few brackets and things under the bed but will NOT be trying to alter the floor height in the bed. So whatever is the lowest the bed will go onto the GMC frame is where the ride height of the cab will go.

However I am not going to mount up the bed just yet. That is because I already know I have to section it about 15-20 inches (lengthwise) and I'm just tired of cutting right now. So I am going to revert to "SuperEngineer" and just measure all the stackups on the bed and transfer over to the cab. Then I may go a little bit lower on the cab - I can always shim it back higher if the bed comes out different than what I measure.

Thanks for watching my back on the build Redneck!

[fryer1979]

I'm not yet through reading page 2 and I am hooked. Very cool project from what I read. I've got to leave my computer so I'm subscribing and bookmarking so I don't forget to finish when I get back around.

[sparkydog]

Originally Posted by fryer1979

I'm not yet through reading page 2 and I am hooked. Very cool project from what I read. I've got to leave my computer so I'm subscribing and bookmarking so I don't forget to finish when I get back around.

Thanks! Hope you enjoy the rest of the story!

[sparkydog]

The tranny is out and on the floor. No dents, no blood and no bruises! But I am too old for all that crawling around on the ground.

[fryer1979]

Finally made it through the rest of the story. I can't imagine all of the time and thought put into the build to make the outcome so smooth. Very impressive build in and of it's own, but to add to that your first big welding project makes it outstanding. I will anxiously be looking forward to the future updates and following along to see the finished product. The antisipation for your front end restructure is gonna be killing me.

BTW: I'm kinda wishing I had a little extra cash to toss around too; I would love to trade it for that boat of yours, that thing would be a blast on the lakes around here.

[sparkydog]

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

Very cool!

Some friendly advice? In case you weren't planning on doing this, I'd set the cab in place (out of the way) and fully mount the bed the way you want it (wheel well centered, bed height, etc...). That way, you don't accidentally mount the cab "too low" and have to raise the bed floor, that is, if you didn't want to do that. Just offering up an idea. It's looking great

Yesterday I made all the necessary measurements and then jumped on the computer and sketched this up. There are three different types of cross rib under the bed of the IH. Each has a different height. I did the layout as if I was notching the two taller ribs down to the height of the shortest one @ 1.25". Also allowed for a .25 rubber spacer between the bed and the top of the frame rail.

When I do all this stack-up, it says that "on paper" the lip of the bed would end up .6" lower than the corner of the rocker panel (not the bottom of the flange lip which I don't consider the visual bottom of the cab). What that means in English is if I want to be "perfect" I should drop the IH cab body .6" (call it .75") around the GMC floorpan.

Now dropping the body is extra work compared with just laying the remnants of the IH floor onto the GM floor in a simple lap joint. Not too much extra but extra none the less. The other choice is to just spacer the IH bed .6" higher over the frame and call it good.

Hmmm, decisions, decisions. If it had been a bigger difference, like 1 or 2 inches then I would do it for sure because I want a low ride stance and will plan to use an aftermarket lowering kit. But .6" is right at the ragged edge of being worth it.

[383Ram]

Neat project. I am digging this. I read this thread yesterday and was impressed.

As far as the floor deal goes, i dont think the on paper .6" difference is worth it to channel the floor into the cab. I would rather space the bed up to where it need to be and get the stance with the suspension. I dont know what exactly the floor looks like between the two vehicles, but would it be a little better to put the Chevy floor on top of the remnents of the IH floor instead of the IH floor on top of the chevy? That will help a tiny little bit.

[BlueJeep]

Originally Posted by sparkydog

Now dropping the body is extra work compared with just laying the remnants of the IH floor onto the GM floor in a simple lap joint. Not too much extra but extra none the less. The other choice is to just spacer the IH bed .6" higher over the frame and call it good.

Hmmm, decisions, decisions. If it had been a bigger difference, like 1 or 2 inches then I would do it for sure because I want a low ride stance and will plan to use an aftermarket lowering kit. But .6" is right at the ragged edge of being worth it.

If you weren't already splicing the floor from the GMC I might say space the bed up...but since you're this far...drop the cab down to where you want it. It might even be easier to work with, depending on how it lays out.

Also, after seeing your last photos, I vote for slide the cab back and center the front wheels. I think the work of sectioning the front clip wouldn't be worth the reward. Plus, looks like your steering column/wheel are already back too far into the passenger compartment in your "forward" position.

Love the project, I'm a secret IH fan as well!

[sparkydog]

Yeah the basic tradeoff is:

Cab forward means I HAVE to section the hood and fenders and find a shorter steering column and change the brake pedal distance. The benefit is I get a longer bed, the "cooler" look that I want and less work to the back of the cab bottom (where it will hit if I slide the cab back).

Cab back means it looks OK with the stock IH fenders and hood. Don't have to mess with the steering column or brake pedal. DO have to mess with the bottom rear of the IH cab because it will hit the frame/fuel tank. Also means the bed will end up at 6.5 ft or so.

And on the sectioning of the nose - I know what and how I would do the hood but the more I look at the fenders and their funny little IH swoop thingy, the more I don't know a clean way to shorten it up without rebuilding the whole side.

[BlueJeep]

Originally Posted by sparkydog

Yeah the basic tradeoff is:

Cab forward means I HAVE to section the hood and fenders and find a shorter steering column and change the brake pedal distance. The benefit is I get a longer bed, the "cooler" look that I want and less work to the back of the cab bottom (where it will hit if I slide the cab back).

Cab back means it looks OK with the stock IH fenders and hood. Don't have to mess with the steering column or brake pedal. DO have to mess with the bottom rear of the IH cab because it will hit the frame/fuel tank. Also means the bed will end up at 6.5 ft or so.

And on the sectioning of the nose - I know what and how I would do the hood but the more I look at the fenders and their funny little IH swoop thingy, the more I don't know a clean way to shorten it up without rebuilding the whole side.

I was looking at the fenders too wondering how you figured on doing that.

I'd also add to your list of having to change in the forward position: seat mounts for the front seats and I'm also wondering how you'd fit heat/AC under a dash if it's that far forward...

I wonder if another way to achieve the look you're after with the front would be to kinda do the opposite of what chopped top guys do with the windshield. Instead of laying the top back, what if you would lay the bottom forward, and shorten the hood as you've planned. That way your fenders could stay stock, your hood could be shortened, and the nose would look "stubbier"... Maybe you could take the "kick" out of the front of the door that way, and have the leading edge of the door be straight. Think 61-63 Chevy truck vs 64-66 Chevy truck. Hope I'm conveying what I'm thinking.

[67_C-30]

Originally Posted by sparkydog

Yeah the basic tradeoff is:

Cab forward means I HAVE to section the hood and fenders and find a shorter steering column and change the brake pedal distance. The benefit is I get a longer bed, the "cooler" look that I want and less work to the back of the cab bottom (where it will hit if I slide the cab back).

Cab back means it looks OK with the stock IH fenders and hood. Don't have to mess with the steering column or brake pedal. DO have to mess with the bottom rear of the IH cab because it will hit the frame/fuel tank. Also means the bed will end up at 6.5 ft or so.

And on the sectioning of the nose - I know what and how I would do the hood but the more I look at the fenders and their funny little IH swoop thingy, the more I don't know a clean way to shorten it up without rebuilding the whole side.

In my personal opinion, I think the shorter 6.5' bed would would look better, especially with the crewcab. But its your truck and you have to do it like you like it. Either way, I'm a big fan of your truck!

[sparkydog]

I have a little diversion tonight. A guy from the IH forum where I am also posting this build wants the remnant of the 67 pickup cab that is left over from the mayhem. So I got to use my bed dolly a little and wheeled things out of the way and brought the cab down from it's loft. Now we can all see the junk in my trunk.

[sparkydog]

This sketch/photoshop is sort of my rendering for my project. In this photo I got the shorter nose and the longer bed look that I liked. In order to pull these proportions off on the real truck I will have to position the cab about where it is in post #62 and shorten the nose about 3-4". When I did the crude chops on the photos I sort of screwed with the swoosh thingy on the fender.

It's really going to come down to how aggressive I want to go after my dream and what am I willing to compromise on to manage risk and keep the build moving along.

If I leave the cab in this location - let's call it the most extreme forward I would want to go, then the bed only need about 6-8" taken out of it in front of the fender wells. For every inch I slide the cab back in order to make things easier, another inch comes off the bed length. To get the cab far enough back so that the wheels are in the center of the stock fender, that's about 6" back so that means 12-14" comes out of the bed.