68 GMC to a 2003 Tahoe chassis

[75Dually]

I finally got some actual work done today! I traveled every week the entire month of November... Yeah I know..., but sitting in the hotel room every night made me wish I was home wrenching on this project.

So today's effort was getting all the last items finished up so I can take the body of the Tahoe off the chassis. All the wiring is now disconnected from the chassis to the cab, the transmission cable was disconnected, and the e-brake line was disconnected too. Those were my last items to get finished up. The trans cable was not too bad, but I have never had an e-brake cable not fight me. I know they are not made to come apart, but really!!!

Yesterday our car club Banzai Cruisers held a toys for tots car show. It was a great success! We even had some high end trucks show up, Mr. Olivera from Vulcan Specialties brought out his Dodge crew cab dually. Such a cool guy, and an amazing ride! If you get a chance check out YouTube and you can see a couple of videos on this amazing truck. My son in law also brought out his very cool GTR Skyline. A poster car for his generation if there ever was one.

Time to get back to work and get the 68 mounted to the Tahoe chassis.

Stay tuned!

[Dieselwrencher]

That is probably the nicest First Gen Dodge I've seen yet. The chevy dually fenders look great on it!

[75Dually]

Bed work tonight! Actually bed lifting would better way of saying it. It was a very easy lift and that got it out of the way. Now I can roll the Tahoe chassis out from it's body and roll the 68 frame under it and get it out of the shop so I can start the real work on this project.

One cool thing on lifting it tonight was I used the hooks on the bed sides. I plan on keeping these hooks on the finished project, and they sure did come in handy this evening!

Tomorrow night I hope to have the Tahoe body lifted up and hopefully the chassis switched out. That's my plan at least!

Stay tuned!

[75Dually]

The UPS guy dropped off my 22" transport wheels today! He also dropped off the 2" lowered spindles. I have been super busy lately with work, church, and house honey do lists. So my project has suffered over the past couple of weeks. However I am going to try and get back on track with getting the Tahoe body off the frame as soon as possible.

Stay tuned!

[Trackbar]

Following along. Nice work so far.

[hewittca]

Cool project! I've been following on Instagram and just now realized you have a build thread too. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

[75Dually]

Originally Posted by hewittca

Cool project! I've been following on Instagram and just now realized you have a build thread too. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

I was just reading through your blog and thought the way you did the rear rims was really cool! I looked at my rims and they are simple welds about 7" long. I guess you just cut those welds and then flipped them and rewelded them? Correct? Did you run into any issues? Let me know. Thanks!

Very interesting!

[hewittca]

Originally Posted by 75Dually

I was just reading through your blog and thought the way you did the rear rims was really cool! I looked at my rims and they are simple welds about 7" long. I guess you just cut those welds and then flipped them and rewelded them? Correct? Did you run into any issues? Let me know. Thanks!

Very interesting!

Yeah it was really pretty simple. Cut those welds, knock the center section out, clean up the welds, flip the center and hammer it back in w/ wood block at the backspace you want, true up, and weld. The most critical part of course is truing it up. I put it on the rear axle and spun it by hand and measured runout.

[Jalapeno's 67]

You have a great project in your hands.. Keep up the good work.

[75Dually]

Originally Posted by Trackbar

Following along. Nice work so far.

Thanks! I hope it get's done enough before LST to roll up on the trailer!

Originally Posted by hewittca

Cool project! I've been following on Instagram and just now realized you have a build thread too. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

Me too! LOL! Keep following this should be interesting...

Originally Posted by Jalapeno's 67

You have a great project in your hands.. Keep up the good work.

Thank you very much!

It would be nice if the Christmas Elves would work evenings while I sleep and get this project knocked out!

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice new wheels! It's funny how busy a person gets and doesn't realize how much other stuff you really have to do. Keep up the good work.

[75Dually]

I have been waiting on this day for quite a while. I finally got the Tahoe chassis out from underneath the body. I then rolled the 68 GMC chassis under the body and rolled it out the door this evening.

I have taken several bodies off in the past, but this one was the most challenging... I would not allow anyone in the shop until it was all over. I took my sweet time getting everything right before I moved it out from underneath the body, so it took a long time, but in the end the patience was worth it. I'm just glad it is done!

So now the chassis is ready to start on. I am going to try and get the 68 cab set on it in the next couple of days. I can't wait to see what it is going to look like. I know I have a ton of fab ahead of me, but that is the stuff I enjoy so it is no big deal.

Stay tuned!

[thetucks]

Originally Posted by 75Dually

I have been waiting on this day for quite a while. I finally got the Tahoe chassis out from underneath the body. I then rolled the 68 GMC chassis under the body and rolled it out the door this evening.

I have taken several bodies off in the past, but this one was the most challenging... I would not allow anyone in the shop until it was all over. I took my sweet time getting everything right before I moved it out from underneath the body, so it took a long time, but in the end the patience was worth it. I'm just glad it is done!

So now the chassis is ready to start on. I am going to try and get the 68 cab set on it in the next couple of days. I can't wait to see what it is going to look like. I know I have a ton of fab ahead of me, but that is the stuff I enjoy so it is no big deal.

Stay tuned!

Hey that looks familiar.lol looking good keep it up

[75Dually]

After work today I got busy and got the cab on the chassis. As I have seen with other similar builds the 2 front cab mounts lined up with 2 holes in the frame. It still needs the rear mounts built, but those are the jobs I really like. I will try and take pics of all the mounts, hopefully I will remember the measurements, but remember I'm under the LST crunch timeline so I will do the best I can.

I have 2 style of frame mounts available, the Tahoe mounts, and the new 68 mounts I got from LMC. The 68 mounts are easily and inch shorter than the Tahoe mounts, and I will most likely use them on the front mounts, but everywhere I can use the Tahoe mounts I will. They are just better in every way over the 68 mounts.

The last portion of the evening I got the front clip torn down and put the passenger fender on to see what it looked like and how well it fit.

Over the weekend I hope to start on the radiator support. I have to take everything off the Tahoe support and then work out what I want to do to the 68 support to make everything fit. Another job I'm looking forward to.

Stay tuned!

[flashed]

Wow ,you are moving fast ,looks great too.

[75Dually]

Originally Posted by flashed

Wow ,you are moving fast ,looks great too.

Thanks! I'm under the LST crunch deadline! 62 days, 21 hours, 25 minutes, and 15 seconds, that's if your counting...

[69SCSS]

I've been thinking about that swap for a couple years now, glad to see someone's doing it. As cheap as 2000-206 Tahoes are right now, it's almost cheaper than building up your stock frame. Now you got my wheels turning again.

Great work, look forward to seeing how this goes for you!

[75Dually]

Originally Posted by 69SCSS

I've been thinking about that swap for a couple years now, glad to see someone's doing it. As cheap as 2000-206 Tahoes are right now, it's almost cheaper than building up your stock frame. Now you got my wheels turning again.

Great work, look forward to seeing how this goes for you!

It is way cheaper than building up your stock frame. Depending on what you want the truck to end up looking like there will have to be modifications and fab work, but hey this is our hobby, and that's what we do right!

Here is what you get when going this direction. A modern frame with ton's more rigidity than the C10 frame, modern suspension, anti lock brakes, 4 wheel disc brakes, LS!, 4L80E!, and all the other stuff that the Tahoe's have to offer if you want to add them to your ride. There is just so much going in your favor. I think what keeps most folks from going this direction is the lack of kits to make this work. Most guys (and this is not a bad thing BTW) just want to pick up the phone and order the necessary parts to build their truck. I'm cool with that, but if you have the tools and the skills I suggest you try this direction.

Another thing that is interesting is the Tahoe's wheel base is 116" and the short bed C10 is 115". Now for some history. The C10's front wheels are not centered in the wheel arch. They are set back (for what reason I can never understand...) aprox. one inch to the rear. Go look at a bunch of 67-72 C10's and you will start to see it. This extra inch is a blessing because it centers the wheel in the front wheel arch.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how this truck turns out and can't wait to see how well it drives.

[69SCSS]

I'm pretty far into my truck as far as chassis mods, so if I would do a swap like this, it would be on the next truck build.
But - if I did it I'd like to swap a 64-66 Suburban tub onto the Tahoe chassis, would make a great stealth hauler.

[Dieselwrencher]

Looking good. Do you have any plans to cut the cab floor to lower the cab down over the frame or are you just planning on dropping the suspension to get it lower?

[75Dually]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Looking good. Do you have any plans to cut the cab floor to lower the cab down over the frame or are you just planning on dropping the suspension to get it lower?

This will primarly be a suspension drop. If I don't have to cut the cab I won't.

[75Dually]

Today I got some work done on the core support. My best friend was over and helped me work through most of the issues. He was a big help! We got the Tahoe core support all torn down and the front end cleaned up a bit.

What we discussed was possibly using the old 68 radiator and getting it fitted with a big block core and adding the necessary outlets to run all the LS stuff, but seeing the budget is tight (Thanks Santa!) right now I'm going to try and use the stock Tahoe radiator. BTW the 68 radiator has the exact outlets and in the correct location as the LS radiator. Thought that was cool! In the long run I will use the 68 radiator because it really cleans up everything under hood.

I went back out to the shop tonight after dinner and got the 68 core support sitting in there with the radiator, the AC, and the trans cooler just loosely sitting in their respective spots. I will have to fab up some mounts for each of them.

LST is now 61 days 11 hours 29 minutes 30 seconds away! I've got to hurry up and get this thing put together!

Stay tuned!

[thetucks]

Its starting to take shape now.

[75Dually]

Originally Posted by thetucks

Its starting to take shape now.

I was talking about your ride today to my best friend. I was telling him about all the firewall work you did and the other stuff you did on your ride. Going to steal all the ideas I can!

[thetucks]

Originally Posted by 75Dually

I was talking about your ride today to my best friend. I was telling him about all the firewall work you did and the other stuff you did on your ride. Going to steal all the ideas I can!

you are more than welcome. honestly if I do it again I dont think I will use the stock tahoe airbox. Thats why I had to mold in the tahoe firewall to the truck. Its a major pain in the you know what. On the plus side ive got a 1972 chevy truck with dual heat and air...