The building of "Monroe" 72 4x4 swb

[CarlsLQ9SS]

Great build and read. Looking forward to more progress on the black and white one.

[tutone]

Hey all, I had mentioned in the 5th page about the replacement for my truck from the long time owner. Anyway, it is done and successfully converted to a swb. I thought I would share a picture of it. We static dropped it 4/6 and found a swb frame and bed. It turned out great and my friend is enjoying it. I have a few things to do to the blue one, but they will be invisible, like window regulators and little stuff.

[tutone]

On the one year annv of getting this truck running, it sprang a radiator leak. 450 bucks for a 4 row Champion. I took it to a local old school shop. 8 or 9 tubes pulled loose from one of the tanks for no apparrant reason. I bought a new one today at Orielly's . It seems fine now, no leaks. This is the only setback I have had with this truck since the build.

[tutone]

Made it to the "Hot Rod Reunion" yesterday.
Great show. I got the C10 Nats and this one in the bag.
This old truck keeps chugging along.

[Getter-Done]

I bet there was a Big crowd up there.

[tutone]

Good crowd
Great weather
Lots of fun.

[tutone]

Well it's been over a year since I posted on this thread. I sold "Billy Joe" to a good friend a couple of months back. That leaves me with the blk/wht 72 to get back to work on. Even with a couple of buddies building c10s, I just couldn't get motivated. That was until I went to the c10 SE nationals last weekend. I think I have the motivation again. It is sitting on 2 flats and crappy wheels , so a set of rally wheels and some 32s are going on it. I will start back as time allows and maybe, just maybe, we can get this thing on the road.

[tutone]

Picked up a nice set of 15x8 6 lug truck rally wheels with center caps today. Tires are iffy but maybe they wull hold air to move it around.

[Getter-Done]

Originally Posted by tutone

Picked up a nice set of 15x8 6 lug truck rally wheels with center caps today. Tires are iffy but maybe they will hold air to move it around.

Those will look good on there.

They are getting harder to find.
My brother has an old set that used to be on a Blazer of mine.

[tutone]

Thanks Dwayne, I bought a nice 350 and a set of correct ram horns today. Hoping when I get some time here soon, I can start assembling the chassis. I have just about everything I need to build this truck except a steering column and driveshaft work. This one was at the S Illinois show. Nice, nice truck.

[Getter-Done]

WoW.

[tutone]

Replaced a rear u-bolt pad today on a good friends 72 swb where the rust worms ate it away. A couple hours of hard work and he gave me a really nice 67-72 lwb bed floor with very little wear. I will cut it down and slick it up. He also has a good bed front that I'm going to buy that needs about a 30 minute repair. That gets me down to a decent end gate and some good tubs to find. I have a pair of good lwb bed sides in storage. Once I get all the parts gathered, I wil get to work cutting them all down.

[tutone]

I've been waffling on whether to keep this thread or start a new one.
I'm going to keep it. Update. Ive been gathering truck parts and here is what is going on. I bought a factory 69 cab and chassis with title at a good price. Of course it is a 4x2 and not a 4x4. The cab is rusty at the top. It comes with a good parts cab that is not rusty. My 72 cab has some parts I can use, so the plan is to take all 3 cabs and make one rust free cab. Using the 69 swb cab and chassis will make this a factory swb pickup. I have almost everything garnered to put it together. I will have to slice up lwb parts to build the bed, but no big deal there. So this truck will be called "Monroe" as well. Going to store the 4x4 frame for now, and probably scrap a titled cab before it is all over. I hate to do that. Updates coming.

[tutone]

Sold the blk/white cab today. For now I am storing the 4x4 frame for a future project. I will go get the 69 and extra cab and parts the 1st time the weather allows. I have been having trouble logging on but maybe it will let me stay on.

[tutone]

Well today I went and got the 69 swb truck and chassis. It loaded and unloaded easy enough. I have ALL the sheet metal to make this a 100% rust free factory swb fleetside. It will get a new top grafted on as well. Pictures of it before I start.

[tutone]

I edited the title to reflect the truck better. I did forget to mention that this truck started life as a six cyl stepside. Still factory short though. This build may take awhile but follow aling. I will make it interesting.

[tutone]

Today I just went ahead and cut the top off my free parts cab. It has a nice top, clean firewall and perfect uncut dash. Gonna save the dash and cut patch panels for mine out of it and haul the rest to the scrapyard. These cuts werent as precise as the next ones will be on the 69. I left plenty of meat to make a good graft. I measured 2" in the back from the corner of the rear window and 6 " from the body line where the a pillar meats the cowl. Took my trusty sawzall and cut it. Here is the story in pictures. When I get close to grafting, I will use a prewelded piece of stock on each side in my front and rear windshields. Then I will cut the 69 pillars higher up and fit this top as it hangs from the ceiling. I will document that as well. Be patient as it may be a little while yet.

[tutone]

I decided to just go ahead and rob the parts cab of the front cowl assembly, as mine is rusty in several places. I know there are a bajillion spot welds to get this done. I will post an after photo when I get through this phase.

[Getter-Done]

Then there are the spot welds that are hidden.

There is a Swap meet March 7th at the fairgrounds if you have time to look for more parts.

[tutone]

Thanks
I have removed one before, the hard way.
I found by cuting all the way around on the truck side of the donor part and then grind a little at a time, its easier than drilling each weld individually. As you get closer to the seam, switch to a sanding disc
Still takes forever. I will take lots of pics.