1961 Crew Max

[CHIZZLER]

well the crew cab showed up this morning. overall its what i expected. looks like the drivers door of the four is the only one that will need to be replaced. all other front sheet metal and bed will be replaced. still looking to find a donor truck. looks like rockers on both sides will be replaced with the drivers side being the worst. thinking i can cut the entire floor from the d-max donor and make it fit. tunnel is very tall and size is within 1/2" front to back and side to side. as far as new suspension goes im still looking into it. CHIZZLER

[Advanced Design]

That is cool! Tagging along.

[jonzcustomshop]

here is what I had made for the floor in my crew...

I guess it depends on how your floor braces are, and which frame you are using.....

[CHIZZLER]

is that a crew you are building? any more pics?

[66farmer]

Where did the truck come from?

[61_FL_Apache]

Looks like a great project to follow.

[CHIZZLER]

I got it from a guy in northern california. He has 2 more. Truck originally came from colorado and was a forestry service rig.

[amueller454]

looking forward to this project! So SICK

[66Gilbert]

Very Cool CHIZZLER,

You and jonzcustomshop both have your work cut out on these Crew Cabs. Good to see these are being saved. It would be nice to know how many of each year 60-66 still exist. I will be following along on this build.

[CHIZZLER]

well guys got a little more done today. got all the sheet metal off the front. got most of the floors cleaned. the drivers side pillar is not connected to the floor section. can any of you crew cab guys pull a tape and get me a measurement at floor line from pillar to pillar. i want to x-brace the inside before i start cutting. thanks CHIZZLER.

[jonzcustomshop]

my pillars are not attached either!

this might work:
run your measurement from the inside edge of the door jamb-where the weather strip mounts-, right where the lower striker hits, on the back portion of the cab, and then match that up with the center pillars.

[CHIZZLER]

thanks for the advise. i will take a look at that and check the measurement. thanks

[brimc]

This is a cool idea. Following along.

[joe dirt]

awesome build so far!

[CHIZZLER]

Well guys today was a good/bad day working on the truck. Motor came out just fine but realized to keep the oil pan above the frame the d-max would be past the hood. Now if i went with a medium static drop or kept it a 4x4 i could get away with the pan hanging down. I have a 4x4 duramax crew cab now and am not looking for another 4x4. For those of you that have seen my other trucks understand the stance im looking for. Very low and fast with great suspension parts. I figured i should make something out of the front sheet metal rather than scrap it so i made this to hang on the shop. Thanks CHIZZLER.

[flashed]

Im in for the rest of this one .

[Captainfab]

This truck is built for a different purpose, but it does have a Duramax. I thought it might give you some ideas on what to do to make it fit.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...hlight=Duramax

[CHIZZLER]

thanks for the link. I've read through that one. He is using a scott's hotrods coil over front crossmember. now that the motor is out i will take more measurements with using a dry sump pan at about 4" tall. Lots of $$$$$ for one of those.

[joe dirt]

If ya need any help with the wiring i have done a few nasty conversions in the past..i could possibly help..im in gresham

[Dieselwrencher]

72DuraBurb's burb is decently low with no hood mods, and a compound turbo'd Dmax. I bet you can get it in there without a high dollar dry sump oil pan. Here's a link to his thread. He went back to the factory front suspension after the first year he had it together too.

http://www.67-72chevytrucks.com/vboa...hlight=duramax

[CHIZZLER]

He did a great job. I've been through his build many times. It looks like the factory pan for the d-max. Im not giving up yet guys. Just have to do some more measuring now that the old motor is out. The dry sump would be the last resort.

[Bomp]

Im in.

If ever the chance presented itself I'd be there in a minute to check out this project live.

[CHIZZLER]

Well today i was able to do a little more measuring. I used my 66 gmc hood and believe it or not there is bit more room. the 61 hood drops down in the middle and has a brace on the bottom right in the middle. The 66 hood kicks up like a cowl would and has the bracing off to the sides. Measuring the d-max from bottom of stock oil pan to top of the motor it comes in at 38". Now if i ditch the stock pan at 9" and run a ppe pan it will reduce that by 5" coming in at 33". So measuring not touching the bottom of the hood to the bottom of the frame i came up with 32 1/2". Also With the hood in place from the bottom of the frame arches to the new front crossmember it can't be more than 6" tall to the top where the new oil pan would sit. So now i think were dealing with about 3" short. 1" for the motor and about 2" for new crossmember thickness. Yah its that close.

[HotRodHorder]

Can always move the hood braces if it helps the cause.

[chase@ridetech]

i have been wanting to build and early to mid 60's crew for so long, i will be tagging along!