The Mantis

[6 Door King]

Finally got the "parts" truck to my house and now that I have had a chance to crawl all over it I think it might become the build truck. In roughly the same shape body wise, but I like the idea of the granny low four speed and I-6 combo. Also like the idea of building a GMC as my dad always wanted one and this will be somewhat of a tip of my hat to him. Also can not bring myself to cut up the shortbed chassis. Going to hold onto it and the shortbed sheetmetal for another project (to begin after this one is sold). The new rig has buckets out of something that are bolted to 6 inch c-channel bases that are angle cut to look like a seat base. Not sure who thought this one up, but they were determined it wouldn't collapse. Also has a lovely plywood contraption screwed to the headliner with some sort of secondary terminal block with wires going everywhere. The story I got was that the original owner ordered the truck to haul his slide in camper, and ordered it with the Dana 60 w/ 4.56 gears. Previous owner saved it from the scrap pile and passed it along to me. He had to take the wheels and tires back to the previous owner x2 and now she's on jackstands and 4x4s. The rear axle is leaving tomorrow morning, Thanks Rusty...

Anyone against the idea of building a GMC instead of the Chevy?

[6 Door King]

Originally Posted by 72k5zl1

dont give up on it. put an eldorado 472? front wheel drive in it and use to tandem trailer axles in the back! dually?

Oddly enough the idea of the Cadillac engine and transaxle is not obscure as I once thought. If I was going to keep it for myself I might just do this, just to do it. Anyone have any idea on the track width of the Cadi? Only other concern would be the weight factor, do you think the Cadi would hold up to the extra chassis weight?

[6 Door King]

Been slow rolling on the Crew Cab lately. I can make excuses but I really just have not been working on it. Did manage to come up with an 8 lug 44 front axle and FF 14 bolt rear with 4.10s in them. Also have a line on a 6 inch lift kit for 73-87 body style that I will adapt to this rig. Still deciding on how to run the t-case, thinking I might make it a divorced unit to optimize the driveline angles and eliminate the two piece rear shaft.

[6 Door King]

Just got done arguing with the owners of Imaginary Industries after receiving my Crew Cab doors. Got a great deal because they were 25% off last week, but they didn't tell me 25% off applied to the amount of steel I'd see on the doors. I think they may have shrunken in the rain, but I'll just build up the 11 inch diffrence with multiple coats of primer! Here's a side by side with my normal stock doors and the new ones...

[6 Door King]

I managed to get the engine out of the frame on the donor truck. It was a greater battle than I anticipated, but it's sittin' in the weeds now! Also pulled the stock 3/4 ton suspension and cross member out, and ground down the ends of the frame horns where the previous owner welded something permanently to the frame (assuming it was bumper mounts). I had to break out the 12 pound hammer to finish removing some sort of hydraulic pump that the P.O. also welded to the frame. Finally I had a blank canvas to begin hanging my new front axle and springs. Bought a 6 inch lift from a friend, but the front springs are still a bit short for my taste, so I am going to use the rear springs in the front. I think the combination of custom mounts and rear springs in the front should net me about an 8 inch lift. They have an add a leaf and are otherwise stock. The rear will receive extended mounts and the stock 3/4 ton springs with blocks (maybe). Plan on running ladder bars or at least trailing arm type bars to limit wrap. Still have to work out the steering for the front, have a lifted steering arm for the knuckle, and a drop pitman arm. Would really like to do a crossover setup so I think I am going to have to keep an eye on craigslist to try and find a flat top knuckle for the passengers side.

[VA72C10]

gmc's are more rare, but less desireable in general than a 67 chevy.

So for sale....do the chevy front end.

Also, on the engine/tranny....I'd recommend just using the 350/350. For one, it will be better if someone wants to tow with it....and would have better street manners than a granny 4 spd and straight 6.

[Flint70step]

Had to laugh out loud and woke my son up at the irony of the creeper in the grass!!

[6 Door King]

The creeper in the grass was more of a portable "dry spot" as it has been raining for the last three days here. I have 3/4 OSB on the groung under the Chevy so it will actually roll. Whatever it takes at this point...

[6 Door King]

If you liked the creeper in the grass, you'll love the engine hoist in the grass! Actually works pretty well if you only want to use it to lift things. Pulled the rear end out and dropped it in the bed of my friends truck with no problems. Also got the front end off, and the bed. Cut out a section from my 87? chassis and quickly discovered it is a 1/4 taller in section height than the 67's frame. the one measurement I didn't check 4 times before I cut. Going to have to make a new section from 3/16 material tomorrow at the shop. Managed to convince the wife I really need a welder for this project, so off I went and brought home a new Lincoln setup. Haven't had a chance to put it to any tests yet, but once I have the new frame section I will give it a shot. My measurements worked out very conveniently, and I will end up with a roughly 7 foot long bed when it's all said and done. Going to use a step notch setup to stretch the frame, and add plates inside the rails over the joints along with plates to box the frame beyond the joints on the inside of the rails. Overall should be extremely strong while still allowing the front and rear sections of the frame to flex as they should. Squaring and leveling the frame has actually been alot easier than I expected. Takes lots of moving of jack stands and patience but it is getting there fairly quickly. Measure, move, lift, lower, remeasure, move, lift.... I must thank my neighbor for being so cool about me using his tractor and I have to thank the previous owner for attaching anchor points to the outside of the bed! Enough talking, here's what everyone wants to see, more pictures of my grass.


Here you can see the difference in the frame heights...

And before anyone asks, the frame will be blasted before anything is welded.

[6 Door King]

Since I sold the rear, I now require a new axle. Since I have choices what do you guys think I should put back? Also looking for input on whether to bag it with parallel lower links and triangulated upper link or go back with leaf springs? My plans for the truck are to tow a car trailer with it and tool around to shows since I will have room for car seats. I think 3.73s should pull ok and still not kill me around town. Any thoughts? Seriously considering dropping the 350 in front of the 4-speed so I'll have low gear for pulling the trailer.

[67chevy1series]

very nice progress.

[63chevyll]

Wow man, you don't mess around
Posted via Mobile Device

[VA72C10]

Originally Posted by 6 Door King

Since I sold the rear, I now require a new axle. Since I have choices what do you guys think I should put back? Also looking for input on whether to bag it with parallel lower links and triangulated upper link or go back with leaf springs? My plans for the truck are to tow a car trailer with it and tool around to shows since I will have room for car seats. I think 3.73s should pull ok and still not kill me around town. Any thoughts? Seriously considering dropping the 350 in front of the 4-speed so I'll have low gear for pulling the trailer.

So are you planning to keep it now???

I'd vote for bags in the rear. allows adjustment for the load and will ride better than leafs if set up properly.

Why not just trailing arms in the rear? They are tried and true and still used in Nascar today....plus, cheaper than the parallel lower and triangulated upper unless you plan on fabbing all that by yourself...

And 373's are a good gear to use. They are a good compromise for acceleration and not crazy highway rpm's...if you could get a 700R4 that would be great!

[6 Door King]

Plan on cleaning up both radiator supports, grilles and other front end parts so I can sell the one that is not used. Get it all out of the way at one time and paint them all together too. Still not planning on keeping it, but I would like to snag a couple trucks from my father in law's house before it's sold. Is the 700R4 a stand alone auto? I mean do I need electrical hardware to run it in the 67? I know nothing about the magic that happens inside an automatic trans. I am planning on building the three link/four link myself and have new threaded bungs, lock nuts and bushed rod ends and joints from previous endeavors. I thought about the trailing arm rear, and I considered building a set of arms myself, but ruled it out based on load carrying capabilites. Does anyone tow decent loads with a stock trailing arm setup with bags? Also need to know if a 2600# bag is rated for 2600# or if it is alot more. I have seen guys running bags in setups with huge mechanical advantage loads on the bag, and I can't believe they haven't blown out. If the rear axle is supporting 1800 pounds and your bag is at a 1.5:1 disadvantage, then you have already maxed the bag at 2700 pounds.

[6 Door King]

Even though the truck will have a new home, I plan to drive it and show off at least a few times. Got to get my name out there and show folks around here what I can do. Here are a few more teaser shots. The rear doors will be shortened, and the rear glasses will be custom cut by local glass shop. Never realized how big the glass would be if I didn't shorten the doors and remove the vent glasses. It would look like the Mega Cab Dodges, with the rear door glass being longer than the front. I'm still deciding whether to suicide the rear doors or mount them like a modern CC. The front edge of the window channel in the rear doors will angle forward to match the front doors with a small filler strip between them to keep the B-pillar solid. It will have a tight radius at the top rather than being square, I think it will look better suited to the truck. Another thing I am considering is adding about 6 inches into what will be the C-pillar to allow for the rear seat (probably a bench) to be pushed back into the rear of the cab some more and open up more floor space. Again, I am going to throw booster seats and car seats back there and I want to have room. It will resemble the Dodges in this aspect, which I guess I can learn to deal with. Only issue I haven't solved in my head at this point is how to deal with the difference in door profile shapes from front to back. The front edge of the doors have a tighter radius to the body line below the window, while the rear of the door is a little larger radius. Looks like I will be doing some massaging on the doors to even it all out.


Also spotted this over the windshield...

[67chevy1series]

haha if your in the nude you wont be able to scratch the truck!

[6 Door King]

Almost scared to leave the sticker up there, might end up with a naked fat man rubbing himself all over the truck.

[VA72C10]

Have you thought about purchasing a used suburban rear door and then making one to match (reverse) on the other side? The orange truck in your picture with the trailer looks to have been a suburban cut down...at the minimum it's using the burb doors...

you might be able to find a rusty burb that still has good pillars to use those also...

[FRENCHBLUE72]

I am thinking you are in for a lot of work.. Ill tune in to see how it all works out and imo id use the gmc grill...

[6 Door King]

It will certainly be alot of work, but well worth it to be different than the crowd. I don't like the square corners on the suburban doors, front or rear. My front doors will be stock, but the rears will be cut down, and the glass will have two rounded corners at the top, one will be stock shaped, the other a bit tighter than stock. If I could find a suburban to cut up, I would cut the rust out and build that instead of this rig. I love the old school suburbans and would not dare sacrifice one, no matter how worthy the cause. Since I have lived in VA, (8 years) I have only seen two for sale, and only two or three more on the roads.

[6 Door King]

Started welding in the 2x2 tube in the rockers to stiffen up the cab. It is proving to be the most difficult part of this build so far. I had to cut a relief hole in the front of the rocker where it meets the A-pillar so the tube would clear. Also had to figure out how to allow for the cab mounts, and decided to weld a plate to the tube and I will weld the cab mounts solid to the plate when I replace them. Keeping everything square and aligned when it's rusted and flat out missing so many pieces is not easy. I'm going to brace the cab, floor and pillars with 1x1 tube to help out. Once I get the cab squared away I will blast all the sheet metal that is not being replaced or repaired and haul the chassis to the shop to get it painted.

[6 Door King]

I pulled the front end off the Chevy cab and discovered that it is in much better shape than I thought. The cowl is solid and the front of the rockers are also in better shape than the GMC. I was tempted to cut the roof off the cab before checking it over because I fugured it was all as bad as the floors, thankfully I investigated further first. I will use the front of the Chevy cab and the rockers and graft in the lower half and rear portion of the GMC. This method should yield a better final result as I have changed my mind on how to go about combining the cabs.

[6 Door King]

I pulled the front half of the GMC cab off the chassis today with the neighbors tractor, but just barely. I thought for sure the bucket would pick it up, but I had to help it. Not sure now how I am going to get the complete cab back on. Going to have to rig up some kind of bridge hoist I think. Either that or roll the chassis in under the body while on stands. Anyone moved a cab without a hoist and want to share their method?

[67chevy1series]

when i put my cab on i slid it on from the passsenger side and had 2x4s on the frame to not scratch it.

[67chevy1series]

hmmm i dont know about rocker replaceing i still need to do that to my truck... but yes it looks a little long. but it does look good and good looks like progress