"The possum" build - 1970 4x4 LWB on mid 70's chassis

[swamp rat]

Help a rookie out a little ?

What all is intailed in pulling the front clip? I know there has to be bolts at the rear fender, do i need to pull the cowel? other than that the radiator supports, engine hoses, radiator and a few electrical wires is there anything else? Thanks!

[madmopar]

theres the two radiator support bolts, one or two in each fender well toward the cab, one underneath where the bottom of the door & fender come together, and one where the top of the door, cowl and top of fender come together... I'm pretty sure the cowl has to come off... I remember pulling mine off anyway.

[drjeffdc]

one bolt in back of fender well. two on bottom of fenders and top and two body mounts in front. may have to remove front bumper to get it off. Pretty easy.

[madmopar]

Mine only had one each under and above the door... but it is a hack up...

I didn't get the pics posted last night... but I did pull the bed. It looks like I need 2.5 inches of body lift at the front of the bed and 3 in the back to line up my body lines... I might be adding a little up front to level this out. I'll get pics this weekend... I also plan on moving my rear axle up 4 inches to center it. (1978ish frame) The rear is hacked off

[swamp rat]

Thanks to both of you!

[madmopar]

here's the pics I took a couple days ago. I put on the hood I picked up off of CL - turns out I need at least one new hinge - probably both.




I also swapped in the seat out of the 75. Both were usable, but the 75 gained me a couple inches of leg room. Also, it flips forward... old blue didn't...

[madmopar]

I traded the flatbed off of my donor and $20 for a set of 5 rally wheels with 31x10.50's (4 of them like new). I also got 5 caps and the chrome lugnuts. They'll be going on the truck for now. I'm still wanting some 33's or 35's later on...











I spent the weekend grinding, drilling, and pounding about 40 rivits out of the rear spring hangers. Man, I wish I had a torch!!! I moved the front hanger up 4 inches, and the rear up 2 inches. This put a little angle on the rear shackle, but not too bad. I'm hoping it will drop the rear a bit to help level the truck out. I'll get some better pics ASAP. Thats my dad in the pic helping out.





Gonna test fit the bed this week, to see how it looks.

Oh and by the way... bought a set of 30 Bosch titanium drillbits for $30, and I also bought one deWalt 3/8" drillbit for $12. I burned up a half dozen of the set on about 15 holes $ rivits. The deWalt has gone through atleast 15 and is still going strong!

[madmopar]

I got everything bolted up tight. Gonna find a tank this weekend hopefully, then get the bed back on and leveled out.



ANd here are some pics with my new wheels & tires.





What do you all think?

[drjeffdc]

Looking good, Little things make the difference. starting to get the vision!

[madmopar]

The vision... yes... well I haven't seen many that fit my vision. This pic is pretty close... a street legal version of this...

[madmopar]

I picked up a 1968 Plymouth Roadrunner/ Satellite gas tank this weekend. It came with the sendning unit & straps. It is a license plate fill and is supposed to hold 19 gallons. I'm going to try to mount it below frame, instead of in the frame. It would fit in the fram though, as it measures about 25"x39". It is 8" deep on the front side and about 3.5" at the filler neck side, so I think the slope will look ok and not appear to hang down too low. Here are pics of it before I mocked it up.





Here's one of the inside - it looks like it has a pour in liner in it... no visible holes in it though...

[madmopar]

Here are pics of the mock up. I'll have to add a cross member near the rear axle to attach the straps.

[madmopar]

I finally got it hung only to find that I need to add another crossmember or brace near above the front of the tank. When I tightened up the straps, it bent the tank, and forced the fill nozzle down too far. i'll be adding the brace and running new line tonight. I should have final pictures tomorrow.

Here is what i ended up with before I found the problem:

[madmopar]

Note my homemade anti-squeak kit- a good use for ratty old floormats! You see the homemade crossmember I added (black near the axle). I bolted the straps to it and made hangers for the rear side, which are bolted to the bumper. I'll get better pics tomorrow. The bolts & fill nozzle will be hidden by the license plate - off set to the left. I'm hoping to add a trailer light hookup on the right... Note that I could've centered it better, but did it this way because my brakeline bracket was in the way to the right... Ideally it should be shifted about 2 inches to the right....

[madmopar]

I did not get final pics of the install with the bed off. I did getit finished up by adding a brace across the frame right over the frontmost sill in the tank. It tightened up nicely after that without bending the tank. I also painted the rear frame and had just finished running the new hard line, when my dad and brother showed up. I took advantage of the help, had them help me set the bed back on. I'll get some pics of the finalized tank install and the bed placement after I get the bed's lift figured out...

[madmopar]

I have to lift the bed 2.5 inches in the front and about 3 inches in the back to make it line up with the bodylines of the cab... Right now I'm leaning toward getting some 2.5 inch square tubing across the front and some 3 in the back. Then, maybe use some 2 or 2.5 inch to make an "X" support connecting the corners.


ANY ADVICE???

[madmopar]

I mocked up my bed. I used a bottle jack in the front and boards in the back. Once I got it where I wanted it. Here's my son helping, and you can see the boards holding it up in back.






I had to raise it more than I thought I would. About 3.25 in the front, and about 4.25 in the back. I used stock 2.5 inch suspension lift blocks from a ford ranger and a part of body mount for the front. The back required more creativity. I used a couple bumper prbrackets off a dodge dakota. It reguired me drilling 4 holes in the frame and moving the mounting location in the bed outbout an inch on each side. I am going to go back and put a 4"tube undet the center bed sill - because it works out to exactly 4 inches right there. I have to get the tube sometime this week, but I got it looking correct now... Here are the after pics - go to page 1 for the before pics. Forgive the pics - I didn't have the camera today. I'll get better ones w/ some underneath shots this week.







The rear shot looks tilted, but its just my amatuer photography skills... In reality, It looks level.

[madmopar]

Here are the pics of my homemade bed supports:






Here are some digital camera pics of it as it sits now (sorry it was getting dark):

[madmopar]

I did a few small things to the truck this weekend. On Saturday, I swapped on the WARN lockouts. It was easy and it went pretty smoothly. I like how the lockouts look, compared to the full time setup. The fulltime setup would looked nice if the chrome caps weren't scratched and dinged up.

On Sunday I got the taillights/ turn signals working. I cut the flat harness ('75 steering column) off and spliced the old crescent one on. The colors all matched, so it was real simple.

Under the bed, tHe wiring to the passenger side rear was in bad shape. I had to replace most of the wire. I still need to fab up a bracket to operate the break light switch on the brake pedal.

Also on Sunday I took the old GMC for a ride. The 250-6 runs good... and the 4 speed is neat... I wish my chevy had a 4 speed. I'm thinking seriously about using the spare axles I have in the 75 parts truck to make the GMC into a 4x4... I'd need to find a divorced transfer case or 4speed 4x4 setup though... Its supposed to be a parts truck... but I'm trying to fix it! Whats wrong with my head?

I didn't get any pics of this weekends work, but you can see pics of the GMC in the link in my signature. Here is 1 just so you can see where some of the parts might come from.

[Dieselwrencher]

JP, very nice work. You are sticking with it and you have made that truck look like it should with what you have laying around or can come up with. That's what it's all about when you are truck poor. I know the feeling all to well. If you decide to make the GMC 4x4, I'd recommend just making the original frame 4x4 by changing the radiator mounts, and adding shackles to the frame. It is a lot easier than what you just had to go through. Good luck, and keep up the great progress!

[madmopar]

Thanks for the kind words Ryan. Some people frown on it not being "by the book", and I think that has cost me some feedback, but I got this truck with a salvage title, in hacked-up shape, made from several different trucks, spanning at least two decades... Besides, theres no "kit" for most of the things I have done so far...

I wish I had better tools, and more money to throw at this thing, but I really don't think I'd be throwing much more at it...YET! Like I said there is no kit to level out a 70 on a 79ish? frame that the PO hacked too much off the back end of... I would've liked to have cut & welded the frame to make up the difference in wheelbase, but with too much missing off the back end, it really wasn't an option for me... (68tt did a great job of this on his project) I could've went SWB with it, but didn't feel my welding/body work skills were up to it... Also I like LWBs with the back up higher than the front... The PULLING TRUCK look!

The budget is a little tight for my toys right now, as we are buying lots of little pink & purple toys & misc. accessories (mostly diapers) for the package from the STORK that we are expecting in the next couple of weeks!

[madmopar]

I keep looking the truck now and thinking... It needs bigger tires... but then I know I'll want to lift it more... then bigger tires... then more lift...

I also want to paint it, but am kinda loving the "worn" look its currently sporting...

ANyone else ever have either of these problems?

[Dieselwrencher]

JP, I have those problems every time I look at one of my projects. Whether it is, "I need bigger turbos", "I need bigger injectors", "I need more doors", "I need a bigger shop", I need................ Man it keeps going, and going, and going. My wife used to call it an addiction, now it's a sickness. Well atleast she has figured out it isn't going away.

If I were you I would maybe primer it white or even complete some light body work, paint it white and just enjoy it. You have done most of the hard work already. I have had one of these trucks like this and it was hacked bad, so I give you props for doing it right and sticking with it. Keep it up. They aren't making anymore of these you know.

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by madmopar

Thanks for the kind words Ryan. Some people frown on it not being "by the book", and I think that has cost me some feedback, but I got this truck with a salvage title, in hacked-up shape, made from several different trucks, spanning at least two decades... Besides, theres no "kit" for most of the things I have done so far...

I wish I had better tools, and more money to throw at this thing, but I really don't think I'd be throwing much more at it...YET! Like I said there is no kit to level out a 70 on a 79ish? frame that the PO hacked too much off the back end of... I would've liked to have cut & welded the frame to make up the difference in wheelbase, but with too much missing off the back end, it really wasn't an option for me... (68tt did a great job of this on his project) I could've went SWB with it, but didn't feel my welding/body work skills were up to it... Also I like LWBs with the back up higher than the front... The PULLING TRUCK look!

The budget is a little tight for my toys right now, as we are buying lots of little pink & purple toys & misc. accessories (mostly diapers) for the package from the STORK that we are expecting in the next couple of weeks!

Hey there's a lot to be said for making due with what ya got, I used to have to use bailing wire to tie up my mufflers and exhaust pipes when i was young.. Don't be concerned with what others think, your making progress where others fear to tread so i wouldn't be concerned about not getting a lot of feedback, i still pop in here and read every post but not being there working on your truck or having done what your doing its kinda hard to give any usefull input. But to me every thread i read i gain knowledge and reading your thread is no different, keep up the good work!

Oh, I did read on other threads that there could be a potential for gas comming out of the filler on a rear fill tank mounted to these trucks, i fail to see how that could be when the tank is used in cars without a problem, i assume you have dispelled the mith?

[swamp rat]

"I need a bigger shop", I need................ Man it keeps going, and going, and going.

If I were you I would maybe primer it white or even complete some light body work, paint it white and just enjoy it.

I would say you nailed it, once for me and once for MadMopar