Long bed to Short bed conversion.

[Grumpy old man]

Well...I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade, It's your truck and you should do whatever it is that makes you happy with it . Different strokes for different folks that's what this hobby is all about in the long run anyway . At the end of the day as long as your happy that's all that matters . Everyone has an opinion and to each their own . Being one of the old skool guys I like to see them left as they were built and the short bed craze today may lead to the long bed craze 5 years from now .Who knows ? With as many trucks being parted (I do it myself when rust has claimed another one ) and still seeing these trucks in metal scrap yards not junk yards but metal scrap yards to be crushed it's only time that will tell how rare some of them will become ? I saw one Tuesday at a local scrap yard and tried to get them to let me pull a number of parts off it only to be told "you have 20 minutes then its gone " I jumped into it and kicked the windshield and back window out to save the trim and popped the paint divider off as they came to grab it . I could have spent hours pulling good original chrome . Yes ,There are still a bunch of these out there but we're already seeing them being pulled from the weeds and out of junk yards to be rebuilt ,Guys are searching for good original parts everyday and nothing lasts forever .

[Ken B]

Coming from the owner of an all original C30 Longhorn all I have to say is this... Longer is always better.....

[musicman75]

I understand GrumpyOldMan. And if it was a matching numbers truck, I'd be all about keeping it original as much as I can. In my case though, it looks like an old work truck, and for the most part has been treated like one as well. And without having a pocket full of cash, the chances of it ever going back to original is slim at least with me. Those willing to buy it later down the line for collectors purposes would knock everything that is not matching now, so is why I figured I might as well build it how I want.

[cjrolke]

Originally Posted by musicman75

I understand GrumpyOldMan. And if it was a matching numbers truck, I'd be all about keeping it original as much as I can. In my case though, it looks like an old work truck, and for the most part has been treated like one as well. And without having a pocket full of cash, the chances of it ever going back to original is slim at least with me. Those willing to buy it later down the line for collectors purposes would knock everything that is not matching now, so is why I figured I might as well build it how I want.

I agree with you

I have a 71 c20 that has a 67 cab (small window) I am building it to what I want with my son (who is 10 now) this will include a c10 conversion

build it how you want it

[RenoKeene]

Absolutely build it how you want according to your skills and BUDGET.
I personally searched for a short frame until I found one ($600). Makes for a much cleaner build. $1400 delivered for bed parts isn't bad. You may spend that or more on using what you have. You can save more $ going to a wood bed instead of steel. Just my .02$ worth.

[68blazer]

There aren't too many shorts out there but I will have two actual short bed project trucks to sell real soon if that helps you in any way.

[NoStopN]

I also have a C2500 & thought of shortening it after seeing the "Gearz" tv show. But, then I thought about GM not building a short bed 3/4-ton truck. I've decided not to shorten mine after all, but your truck is your truck. Do with it as you wish. Here is the link (1 of many) for the episode of "Gearz". There is another episode broken into many parts showing him assembling a short bed from LMC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9zy08qsahk

[musicman75]

Very Nice build Reno. It looks really nice. Thanks for the video NoStop

[izzy_Britton]

Build it how you want ! cut the frame or dont cut the frame.

I just bought a 68 3/4 ton long bed and i bought it knowing i was gonna cut the frame. the only one that will know you cut it is you, and if your gonna keep it then who cares?

if your building the truck for you to play with, non stock engine and lowered and stuff then its technically gonna lose '$tock' value anyways.

if your gonna cut it to build a barret jackson auction truck then thats a whole other world and i have seen a lot of garbage cross the auction block that are way worse than any shortened frames might ever be.

do YOUR OWN thing. be happy with what you do. and lets face it, if you decide that you totally screwed the pooch by shortening your frame and putting the more sought after short box on it, then you could be one of the 1%'s that traded a long bed frame for a short bed and put your truck back to a long bed.

[musicman75]

Does anyone have the cad drawing of the fishplates used? I have access to a torch table if I have the cad of it.

[rlxrocker]

I'm brand new to the forums and this is my first comment. I have a 69 C10 Shorty that use to be a long bed. Okie Speed Shop did the conversion on the truck and I couldn't be happier.

If you are looking to do it yourself, I just saw Brothers Trucks came out recently with a slide in frame shortening kit, in my opinion is straightforward for the home mechanic.

[jocko]

Originally Posted by Gobuffalo

Be very careful where you cut the left frame rail. The trucks serial number is located in the area under the cab. In many states this must be inspected by law enforcement to be regerstered or titled. If the inspector believes the s/n has been altered, you my have great difficulty with the regerstation process.

I'm not so sure that will be an issue. Frame VIN on these trucks is normally on the fwd frame rail, kinda below the alternator. If there's any cuttin goin on up there, then the VIN won't really matter anyway at that point..

[jocko]

Originally Posted by rlxrocker

I'm brand new to the forums and this is my first comment. I have a 69 C10 Shorty that use to be a long bed. Okie Speed Shop did the conversion on the truck and I couldn't be happier.

If you are looking to do it yourself, I just saw Brothers Trucks came out recently with a slide in frame shortening kit, in my opinion is straightforward for the home mechanic.

Good point (and welcome) - Sam Memolo's garage did a show on that kit and it was pretty straightforward. I forget the name of the show, it's morphed over the years - used to be the shadetree mechanic, then he was on two guys until kevin byrd and the other dude took it over, now he has his own show. It's really a 25 minute advertisement with 5 minutes of more advertisements, but occasionally (as was the case in this episode) there is something worthwhile.

[musicman75]

Yeah I looked for this kit a while back on Br#thers site a while back and didn't find it. I looked again last night and now it's listed. It has a $400 price tag. I wished I could see the show that used it, would like to see it in action.

[musicman75]

Did some research. The show is called Sam's Garage....now I just need to set DVR to record til it pops up again lol

[lolife99]

follow @autorevolution on Instagram. They have pics and videos of using the Brothers short bed conversion kit.

[musicman75]

Sweet thanks lolife99

[COOP3726]

I don't understand what the big hype is about cutting the long bed down. Most all of these trucks have been altered somehow. Weather it be engine, transmission, rearend, or ETC. The truck is only worth what the other person looking for one is willing to pay for it. I just bought a highlander several months ago and it is going to be cut down, LS engine, and 4l60e transmission. It is your preference. If you want to cut it down, then make it your truck and let us see what it looks like when you get through with it. Good luck which ever way you go with it.

[Coley]

Find one of the bazillion 1/2 ton lwb frames around...and cut it down if you want a swb.
No shortage of these trucks around...but...as mentioned before, be aware of everything that will need to be shortened.
As well...remember....it will never have the same value as an original swb. Factor this fact into your budget.
All good
Coley

[izzy_Britton]

I hate to be the one that states the obvious here, but here it is.

We are not all concerned with the overall value of the trucks we work on with respect to what it's worth when trying to sell it. Most, dare I say all of us put way more time and money into our project trucks than we could every get out of them.

For me, the value of my truck is how much fun and happiness it brings to build and drive.

Just one example is my current project. I am currently working on an 86 swb, no frills, nothing special truck. I am doing the 5.3 / 4L60e conversion, and lots of other comparatively little things to it. When I am all done, I am not painting it, I would have to ask $10k for it to get my investment back out of it, that is out of pocket expense and lots and lots of time.

Bare in mind that this truck might blue book around the $4500 mark in exceptional condition, and this truck ain't THAT. However what this truck IS worth to me, is that it is giving me time to myself in my shop, where I may otherwise be out prowling the streets murdering prius overs or other such idiots.... But something has to keep is centered, right?

Do cut your trucks into little pieces and glue it back together with gorilla snot, do what you want, it is your truck and do whatever you want it, do whatever makes YOU happy!

We don't all agree with everything, we dont have to. This is what makes each of us unique.

Izzy

[derotoreut]

A couple of years ago I was fortunate enough to find a very nice original 71 SWB out of Arizona. I'm using that truck today for a total resto-mod restoration. The truck was an original California truck that spent its life in Arizona, so it had ZERO rust. In a way I kinda wish I would have done things differently. My restoration is using a custom chassis, with LS3 engine and 4L70E transmission. The sheet metal is all original, which is cool, but I could've gotten away with using piece-meal original sheet metal parts, or aftermarket sheet metal. Since the entire chassis is custom, it would have been fine to do that way. Instead I took the original sheet metal off the original frame and sold the frame, engine, complete drive train and bed floor to a fellow board member. I'm really glad that Jim got it, because he's a great guy. But hindsight being what it is, I wish I would have kept that truck together.

That being said, you have every right to do what you want. After all it is your truck. Sometimes we have a tendency to do things that seem OK at the time, but afterwards we wonder why we did them. I'm kind of in this situation right now. Don't get me wrong, when my build is done it's going to be awesome, but sometimes I wish I wouldn't have dismantled an original truck to do it.

Point being... Just think it through before you do it. Make sure that you're fully satisfied with your decision. Once you cut it, it's a done deal. Once I sold my original SWB frame it was a done deal. Enough said. Peace out!

[66clow]

The Brothers conversion kit

https://youtu.be/GDx7LBCC4ao

[musicman75]

After much consideration, I do think the kit is the best way for me to go being this will be my first frame cut. I trust my cutting, it's my welding that is rusty. I like the fact that I can bolt it in and then take it to get it welded. Thanks for the video 66Clow Just waiting for the weather to cool down a bit more where I can tear into my project. Also scored a 4.8L and 4l60E with comp and harness for it. Might do a cam swap on it, haven't decided yet.

[WarMonger]

Has anyone used the brother kit yet here on this site?

[ebaby35]

How long did it take to cut and reweld everything? I have a bare chassis and want to do the same as you or order the brothers kit but haven't seen any reviews. How much would you charge to have this done. I'm in oc

Originally Posted by bs46488

I cut the frame the same way Stacy from Trucks did. I followed LFD's "how to" on cutting down the bed sides:

Starting on page 8
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=223158&page=8

The best tip is the little screwdriver that LFD shows in post 201

I priced out using aftermarket bedsides, but I think it was like $1400 to get them to my house. No install or paint work.

Just remember that everything needs to be shortened, exhaust, driveshaft, brakelines, wire harness, etc

It took me and my father (visiting from NY) 2 full days to disassemble, cut, and reassemble the truck.

Here are some pics:





1st layer of body work


More recent with bed in epoxy primer