LS1 into a 73 cheyenne

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by smokedat

I will start on the bed tubs this weekend. The inner dimension if i recall are 14" and i will extend them out 8" to 22" . 18" for the tire plus 2" clearance on each side. So i decided to go with Mickey Thompson for the wheels HR-1 One-piece rotary-forged aluminum wheels on the front 18x6 with a 26X8 R18 tire on the rear 20x16 with a 31X18 R20 tire. I will completely redo the rear end with a 4 link triangular from ridetech with stainless arms with ridetech adjustable coilovers. For the rearend I will go witha Ford 9 inch or maybe an 8.8 95+ Ford Explorer since they they come with dics brakes it comes down to wich I can get ahold of first. Front suspension will stay as is for now eventually i will hook it up with new top and bottom tubular arms with adj. coilovers.

I will make sure to photograph all this

Any input on this will be apreciated

You can narrow the 8.8 pretty easily as they have two different axle lengths. You just grab a second short axle at the wrecking yard and swap it out for the long one in the rear end you buy. Once you get it home just cut down the axle tube on the long side to match the short side and you now have a narrowed rear end on the cheap. Strong axles, great availability of good posi carriers & gears. This is really popular to do in the S-10 world as the shorter rear end fits the S-10 perfectly.

[kvn1011]

nice wheel choice!!

[82chevy350]

This truck is looking amazing

[smokedat]

so i got ahold of a bed i had to cut it in half to load and transport it in my S10. First step of many in operation Fat Tire

[aggie91]

Very nice build! Looks like I will stay tuned in for the rest of the build.

[smokedat]

I started cuting the tubs. A complete tub measures 11" and i added 9" plus 3" from he bed give me a total of 23" . The tire is 18" so i will have 2'' clearance in the front and 3" in the back since i want to tuck i need all the clearance i can get. i still need to seam the 2 halfs together, at that point i will cut the floor form the donor bed and transplant that extension to final bed.

[smokedat]

full shot

[smokedat]

Quick scetch of dimensions

[smokedat]

Plan for the floor. Cut the curve out from main bed keep straight piece. attach piece from donor bed main objective is to keep the original curve with the bolt patterns.

[mcbassin]

Looks like you have the tubs all figured out. I will be watching this transformation for sure. That is going to be some big rubber underneath there!

[kvn1011]

[smokedat]

I got the tubs almost finishd i had to add a center strip to keep the original shape. I welded the bolt hole section by placing it on the the bottom of the bed heres a few pics

[smokedat]

floor cut outs and completed tub

[SatisTraction]

damn!! that is WIIIIIIIIDDDDDDDDEEEEEEEEEEE

[mcbassin]

Nice fab work! looks good!

[68 TT]

Looks great. Keep up the good work.

Will you have to do any mods to the frame to use the new width of the tub?

[smokedat]

update The fab work on the bed is complete -were the tubs bolt on to, some minor body work was required. The tubs are still cokin i got 1 finished and primered heres are a few pics

[smokedat]

low res pics with my phone of the process bare metal to the muddin to primer shot with direct to metal then feather fill

[mcbassin]

Looks great! keep it up! man those tires are going to be WIDE!

[menace121978]

nice progress!

[82chevy350]

Looks real good

[ERBSIX]

Wow. Man, you're a pro!

[smokedat]

I ordered my MT HR 1 wheels and tires today from Summit they only make these in a 5 on 4.50 or 5 on 4.75 so i ordered the 4.75. For the rear i will ordered a 4.75 bolt pattern and for the front i might just use an adapter. i wil set the rear tires in for a moch up and get a measurement from back side of wheel to the other back side measure and order my housing and axles cut to size. For the center section i will use a track lock posi with 3.70 gears 31 spline with a 1050 yoke. not sure about the brakes yet, all i know is that they will be disc.

[smokedat]

Originally Posted by ERBSIX

Wow. Man, you're a pro!

thanks, i put about 35+ hrs in the tubs and bed.

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by smokedat

I ordered my MT HR 1 wheels and tires today from Summit they only make these in a 5 on 4.50 or 5 on 4.75 so i ordered the 4.75. For the rear i will ordered a 4.75 bolt pattern and for the front i might just use an adapter. i wil set the rear tires in for a moch up and get a measurement from back side of wheel to the other back side measure and order my housing and axles cut to size. For the center section i will use a track lock posi with 3.70 gears 31 spline with a 1050 yoke. not sure about the brakes yet, all i know is that they will be disc.

With 5 on 4-3/4 bolt pattern you can run Vette or Camaro brakes. 98-2002 F-body rear disc is really popular and are 12" diameter with an internal drum in hat parking brake. They even came on the 6-cylinder cars of that era so they are pretty easy to find. I got a complete set with e-brake cables and the brake hard lines for under $100 on ebay. Since you are having the housing narrowed you can just have them put on the Strange small GM housing ends while they are at it so stock Chevy car brakes will bolt right on and you still get the press-on bearings & retainer plates.

You could turn a stock rotor into a bearing hub, drill it for 5 on 4-3/4 and use Vette or Camaro slip on rotors up front. Many size options from 12x1.25" on up. You could fab up a caliper mount bracket to use the matching PBR calipers up front or run the Wilwood D52 calipers at all four corners.