70 Chevy CST/C30 camper

[too much stuff]

Originally Posted by 68Bowtie4x4

I would entertain the idea of leaving it as a camper, but I already have a Cummins diesel 4x4 quad cab pickup that gets 20 mpg to go hunting in.

I did get a picture of the glovebox door today though. The original owner bought it as a C30 cab and chassis, and then had it converted to 4wd and built the camper on it.

Thanks for the pic. That is a pretty unique truck. Wish it was mine.

[Bad Jackson]

I love the look of the long wheel base trucks, but it would be hard for me to get rid of the original uniqueness of this truck. I'd just restore the camper and sell it. Someone will love it!

[68Bowtie4x4]

The downfall is in my area, there are no other 68-72 4x4 pickups that are in comparable condition to trade for, and I don't want to just sell it and have nothing.

[liftmeup]

I drove my 70 BB wrecker from new mexico home. It has 4.88's. lets just say I took the scenic route.

[68Bowtie4x4]

Originally Posted by liftmeup

I drove my 70 BB wrecker from new mexico home. It has 4.88's. lets just say I took the scenic route.

I bet you did

I'm debating whether to swap out the 1 ton rear ends (Napco 4x4) front end and Eaton (drop out style) rear end and install some 1/2 or 3/4 axles in it?

If I put a flat bed on it, then I'll leave it as is with the dually rear, but if I make it a pickup, then it will need different axles in it.

If anyone is interested in the current mirrors on my Chevy let me know. I'd trade them for a good set of sport mirrors.

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by 68Bowtie4x4

I bet you did

I'm debating whether to swap out the 1 ton rear ends (Napco 4x4) front end and Eaton (drop out style) rear end and install some 1/2 or 3/4 axles in it?

If I put a flat bed on it, then I'll leave it as is with the dually rear, but if I make it a pickup, then it will need different axles in it.

If anyone is interested in the current mirrors on my Chevy let me know. I'd trade them for a good set of sport mirrors.

Keep the 1 ton axles! If you have a good eaton rear, they're very stout. I just did a 4x4 swap using a 14FF rear out of a late 80's one ton, pretty easy change over and much more parts availability.

Do you know what the front end is? Most likely Dana 60, but curious to see. Again, very stout hardware.

[DeadheadNM]

Is that something like a Napco conversion rig?! If so, I'd imagine that's a very low production vehicle and IMO highly desirable as is. It's a very, very cool truck that I would take as is for hunting. Given the back of the cab appears cut as a pass-through to the camper wouldn't it be easier to polish it up and flip it for a another 4wd with a bed? I'd be happy to help locate a decent 4wd rig here in NW MT - they are actually common. As an example, check out this recent acquisition: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s....php?p=6801778

BTW - I've found the sport mirrors are terrible for visibility in my 72 Blazer with a 4" lift - I keep them only because I don't want the empty holes and they are correct for the vehicle

Nice ride!!

[Vintage Windmills]

If the truck is really a true Napco, its desirable to leave it as it for the rarity aspect. Napco front would be like a eaton ho52, quite strong. I have seen daully longbeds with narrowed rears and tubbed fenders to keep standard pick up box.

[68Bowtie4x4]

It has the huge closed knuckle 4x4 front end which I assume is a Napco front end?

It has the factory 396 big block, 4 speed, 205 t-case with PTO winch, CST package. It has newer tires all around.

The interior of the cab is mint in this thing, and the camper itself isn't in too bad of condition. The only rust I've seen in the body so far, is behind the front tire on the passenger front fender, and a couple spots over the left rear tires in the camper lower fender section.

I'd entertain a trade for a nice good running Chevy 4x4 pickup with a good running 350 or big block, a 4 speed trans, and very minimal rust like my Chevy though.

[68Bowtie4x4]

I started looking in the Chevy this evening. I haven't even cleaned it up yet;





Definitely a Napco front end, and from the paperwork, it has 4.56 gears in the back, and 4.57 gears in the front (highlighted on the sheets). The rear is an Eaton;







You can see by the writing on the left side that the rear is an Eaton rear end.

[Ol Blue K20]

That truck needs to stay as is. It's way cool. Nachos are beyond rare and a camper to boot

[BLAZERMAN]

That's definitely an interesting truck! It wasn't ordered for a NAPCO conversion so someone has done it at sometime afterwards. Would love to see some pics of the front axle and the front spring mounts, transmission and transfer case setup.

[68Bowtie4x4]

The 4 speed trans is just your normal C/R manual 2wd trans, but it does have a divorced 205 t-case sitting about 2 feet behind the transmission.

The original owner had it converted to 4x4 with the Napco parts after he bought it new.

Here is the front end;







The divorced 205 t-case;



The Eaton rear end;





I haven't even started doing anything to this rig yet, so if someone relatively local wanted to trade me a decent Chevy 4x4 pickup for this easily restorable camper, I'd be interested in a trade.

My friend said everything works in the camper - stove/oven, refrigerator, furnace, lights, water/sewer, toilet, shower, sink.

[Husker]

Very nice truck indeed.
Ron

[68Bowtie4x4]

Here is the front right front spring hanger;



Here is the front right rear spring hanger;

[BLAZERMAN]

That's NAPCO all the way!! Do you know the story behind the truck? Most trucks that were distand to be converted by NAPCO were special ordered with that in mind, you wouldn't special order a front stabilizer, heavy duty front springs and chrome hubcaps knowing they would be coming right off. I would say whoever ordered it found out real quick that they needed 4 wheel drive and then had it done. Either way it's a pretty special truck with some really cool options and looks to be real solid, hopefully you can work a trade with somebody that's wants to restore it or use it just the way it is.
I would Love to try and work a deal with you on it as I have plans on doing a NAPCO clone but its that same old story....if you were only closer!!

[BLAZERMAN]

A couple more things, are you sure that's an NP205? It doesn't look like it from what I can see and should be a divorced Spicer 23. And that drivers seat is a Bostram Viking T bar seat, I have a pair of them that are air instead of torsion bar... Bostram is the same company that made the buddy bucket seats. That seat was actually available factory or dealer installed in the C/40 and up trucks.

[jocko]

doomsday preppermobile extraordinaire. Yep, if you MUST convert, Longhorn bed is the way to go - they pop up from time to time on the parts board.

[CCCC]

I like your truck a bunch - great acquisition - and would not change a thing. It has just the right features/equipment and I would use it for hunting/fishing/etc.

But, not saying that you should not alter it - for I recently converted a 1972 longer wheel base C30 chassis mount motorhome rig to a cab/sleeper/flat bed/gooseneck hitch hauler.

It looks almost the same as this good looking sample - but my grille is black and the flat bed is a little bit longer, with lower side rails, and black.

[68Bowtie4x4]

I was just guessing at the t-case because I've always known of the NP203 and NP205 transfer cases in the Chevy 4x4's. I'll have to crawl under there and take a closer look at it to see what it is.

I like this rig a lot, but I honestly don't need a camper rig, so if anyone has a decent 4x4 pickup, short or long box, I'd be interested in a fair trade.

[CCCC]

The gearing raises a question. What RPMs are you turning at 50 mph in 4th gear?

[nlped]

Originally Posted by CCCC

The gearing raises a question. What RPMs are you turning at 50 mph in 4th gear?

Thinkin' the tires are about 33" (that's what diameter my '67 2wd camper conversion has on it), it'd be about 2400 rpm. That's pretty doable, but much faster and it'd be screamin'.

[68Bowtie4x4]

I'm not sure on the rpm's yet. I only drove it across town to my place from my friend's parents' house.

I think the tach is unhooked and I have to take a look at it this weekend. My friend said he drove it from Seattle to NE Oregon and it drove fine for him down the freeway at 65-70 mph.

The 6 tires on it are newer 7.50-16 LT tires, which are supposed to be 32.2" tall.

[mechanicalman]

Originally Posted by 68Bowtie4x4

Upon further investigation, the camper floor in the over hang on top of the cab is sagging and almost touching the cab roof, so the camper will be coming off. Once I get the camper off the frame, I'm going to graph in the missing center section of back cab wall and install a slider rear window.

Wow that's gonna be a job getting it off? Demolish?

[68Bowtie4x4]

I haven't even touched the camper or the rig much at all except for getting fresh non-ethanol premium in the tank and putting my battery from my Toyota in it, to drive it home.

I'd even take a decent K5 4x4 Blazer in trade.

The camper is self contained, it has the furnace, refrigerator, magic chef stove/oven, two bay sink, and the shower/toilet/bathroom sink combo in the rear right.

I took some pictures of the inside of the camper and will post them in a bit. I haven't had time to vacuum and clean the inside of the camper yet due to work and other project rig work.