The Mantis

[6 Door King]

Thanks again, for the replies. The fact that I have access to a fab shop and body shop (each owned by friends) means I can get materials at cost, or in my case thanks to new paint lines rolling out, I can demo products and be a guinea pig. While I am not going to cut corners, it will not be built with stainless bolts or chrome upgraded anything. I have access to a huge sandblaster, blast cabinet and snap on hand held blaster so all rust will be eliminated in one way or another. I DO NOT bondo over holes or rust, so any sheet metal will be replaced or properly patched and mud will be no thicker than 1/8 inch at any point. I would rather tap tap tap the metal into place than slap mud in the gaps. The frame work will be overdone for sure, I will not risk anyone's life in a barely stitched together death trap.
The "money issues" have been present since before I even bought this truck, I think it's more a slow project issue. So, I will entertain the idea of selling it until I have finished it, which will probably be a long way off. Aiming for the 8-10 neighborhood if I was to sell it, and plan to have about half that in it. Fortunately I have a head full of old trucks I've seen sitting, to potentially buy, and my father-in-law is supposed to have at least two on his property.
Owner of the GMC says he will be here in the morning to drop off my new parts truck. I will take plenty of pics before I tear into it and it ends up a pile of parts. Anything special on the GMCs especially hard to come by or that I need to avoid destroying?

[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?

[6 Door King]

I was trying to decide whether to convert it to 4WD, then use the front axle to pull the truck around and let the rears simply roll. Ruled out that option simply because of the height required to clear the front axle. Really want to keep the truck low. Hadn't thought of the Cadillac front wheel drive options though, something else to ponder.

[72k5zl1]

Originally Posted by 6 Door King

I was trying to decide whether to convert it to 4WD, then use the front axle to pull the truck around and let the rears simply roll. Ruled out that option simply because of the height required to clear the front axle. Really want to keep the truck low. Hadn't thought of the Cadillac front wheel drive options though, something else to ponder.

just threw it out there for fun. i know it sounds crazy, but i spend most of my time thinking outside of the box. you can pick one up for nothing.

[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?

[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.

[6 Door King]

Has everyone run out of opinions around here? Usually get them whether you ask for them or not, now that I want them everyone clams up!

[67chevy1series]

haha my favorite gmc is the 67 or 68 they both look good to me the ones before and after dont look really really appealing to me. so doing a gmc wouldnt be bad its your truck and your labor and if your not keeping it then just have fun with it!

[6 Door King]

I think I am going to build the truck to completion with everything but a grille. Then, I'll poll it for you guys to decide which grille and headlights to install.

[6 Door King]

The cab is beginning to feel a bit breezy...


Here's my new unofficial mascot, it's been crawling all over the truck since i bought it. Guess I'll have to call the truck "The Mantis"

[67chevy1series]

cool! ya didnt know they made a A/C cab with a heater dash.

[6 Door King]

This is actually the even more rare Hard Top convertable model. It retracts into the bed area, but the seals are notoriously bad on these things...

[63chevyll]

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

[VA72C10]

Originally Posted by 6 Door King

I think I am going to build the truck to completion with everything but a grille. Then, I'll poll it for you guys to decide which grille and headlights to install.

except the radiator support is different too

[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...