1964 Caprick-up = (C10+SWB)*(94 Caprice 9C1+LT1)

[E911manager]

Well after much and much searching and buying, the project is underway. i have the body of the 94 Chevrolet Caprice 9C1 ready to remove. I also purchased a 64 truck locally that has all the metal work done and almost ready for paint.

[E911manager]

Pulled the body of the caprice frame. More to come...

[TheManInBlack]

Wow this is outside the box, I always wanted a 9C1 kinda hurts to see it dismantled.

Should be a sweet project, I'm guessing you're going for kind of a pro-touring style truck?

[E911manager]

It hurt to tear it apart... It has 69K miles on it. It is an ex police car but I knew the guy that drove it for its entire life.. It was babied, never driven over 60 and most of time under 35... But it had some weather cracking and sun damage. I have a lot of plans and hope they come true.. I am planning on channeling the floor supports to encumpass the width of the frame. I have just about decided to air bag it all the way around so I can adjust the ride height. But that just adds to my bottom line (money wise not ride height)... Hope to have the cab mounted by the end of the month so I can get it in the garage and start the nightmare of wiring it. I want to keep some comforts like cruise so I intend to masacre the caprice wiring harness...

[Captainfab]

Those wheels are kinda cool looking. Are those part of the 9C1 package?

[E911manager]

Yes those are factory. I plan on using the caprice booster do you know if your bracket will work?
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[Captainfab]

That I don't know for sure. You could measure the studs on the back and see if they are in a 3-3/8" x 3-1/2" center to center pattern.

Originally Posted by E911manager

Yes those are factory. I plan on using the caprice booster do you know if your bracket will work?
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[redneck6]

looks like the start to a awsome build , but dare i ask why not swap drivetrain over to 64 frame and other parts needed ? or are we missing the fact 64 frame is not there or not workable ? the whole wiring harrness and all from a cop car could be placed in the 64 rather easiely . just not seeing the advantege of the body swap ?

[E911manager]

Great question. In my opinion body mounts are far easier than subbing the frame. The frame will tuck under the cab with minimal effort. 4 wheel disk brakes, 4 link coil over posi, wider more stabilized frame that is thicker, better engineered and 4.5 inches thick instead of 6-7, so you can suck it down without hindering ride. Driveline is set with shaft, pinion angle, 5 lug, etc.. Goto parts store and gets parts without dealing with "well the rear end is this, front brakes that, etc. Now it doesn't go without issues like a wider, bigger radiator, wider front of axle and rear of axle frame. This is really not as far out of the box as one might think. Check out this link. www.e-zchassisswaps.com/1955.
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[E911manager]

Thanks Captainfab I will measure and see. I have found that a lot of the stuff on the 9c1 is the same as a 88-98 chevy pickup. Maybe I'll get lucky!!!
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[E911manager]

Mocking up the cab today, channeled the floor supports. The wheel base is spot on. Track width looks to be good too.. Making cab mounts and hope to be ready for under coating next weekend..

[E911manager]

mocking up the cab onto the frame. Found that I could use the front Caprice mounting holes by making some mounts forward from the cab main supports. The back mounts are just outside of the rear cab mounts. I channeled the front cab supports and reinforced them to get me closer to the ground.

[E911manager]

Built up the front mounting holes that I am using. they had some rust so i added some 10 gauge washers, trimmed them out, welded and ground them down.

[E911manager]

These "nuckles" from the caprice frame were visible inside the fender. So I shaved them off and boxed them back in using 7 gauge steel.

[E911manager]

Painted the frame under where the cab is going to sit with POR-15, adding a 2nd coat tomorrow. This stuff is amazing but it is true, you can not get it off your hands. Finished all the welding on the floor boards and undercoated the cab with 3 coats 3M undercoating. The back cab mounting holes were reinforced and I boxed the frame to make sure there wasnt any future problems. I should have the cab mounted in its final place on Sunday so I can start mocking up the front end.. As long as the weather holds I am going to keep moving before I put it in the garage for the winter and start in on wiring and mocking up the column and caprice guage cluster into the dash.. Oh and the relentless task of wiring.. Oh and I got the best wife in the world.....

[ChevyTruckGuy]

Cool project.... You are doing good....

[rustyrodknocker]

I wanted to this build. I think is going to be great.

[richards72chevy]

Looking good.Your making alot of progress.

[66-PMD-GMC]

And I thought back halving my 63 was a little out of the box.

[McMurphy]

This is going to be a heck of a project, I am certainly going to keep reading as long as you keep posting progress!!

I gotta warn ya though, you may have a run for your money on the best wife in the world!!
Just kidding....

Welcome to the board and keep it going, lets see how this turns out!

[E911manager]

Thanks for the support everyone. I am fighting the cold weather but got the cab mounted yesterday and started to measure the radiator support area so I can blend it to the Caprice frame.. i may make a hybrid radiator support from the 64 and the 94. I will lose more sleep over it tonight and try to get a few hours in tomorrow.

[McMurphy]

I was fussing in the garage last night about all the dust and dirt making the stuff I had gotten done look all dirty...
Then today I see the pic of you working in the dirt outside and I can only imagine what that must be like for you.
I dont think I will be so fussy about it today

This is still a heck of a project!
I hope you get to feeling better soon and can post more progress pics.
If you want to swap cold weather I will gladly!
I think today it is above 0* out there....

[E911manager]

LOL. Mcmurphy, that is funny.... It is a crisp 50 degrees here. North pole weather sounds pretty cold for a shadetree/dirt floor mechanic like me..

[E911manager]

Spent a couple of hours tearing into the front end of the caprice frame/radiator support and mocking in the 64 pickup radiator support. Lots of looking, planning and loss of sleep on this one. I have worn out a tape measurer on this project already.... The first pic is what i started with. The last two are preliminary looks at placement. i will have about 9 inches to work with. the caprice radiator is 3 inches and the fans are another 3 inches. That should give me 3 inches to spare at the closest point. But that is just the fan motors. i may end up moving the radiator into the 64 chevy radiator support about 2 inches to give more clearance. I will deal with that later.. It is what it is..

[E911manager]

Used a 1.5" X 3" rectangle tubing for the cross support and cut the caprice frame to fit. It appears another 1.5" X 3" welded vertically to the bottom will be about right to mount the main bumper mounts. The grill mount will need some modification where is attaches under the radiator mount but that appear to be about it. Actually the curve of the caprice frame runs at the proper angle to connect the outer bumper mounts. Probably done until next Saturday...