Project: Rolling Thunder

[skchevota]

About a year ago I retired my 70 chevy from daily driver duty. I finnaly decided to start makeing some changes back in november. At this point I removed the bed and started a SWB conversion. Since then I have moved my springs forward, cut the frame made a few new crossmembers started filling all the extra holes and moved my hitch up in the frame. I have a lot of plans for this truck now, once I finish the rear frame work I will move on the the front. I am going to build a custom bed, with removable bed sides for off road, a front link style suspention and some engine maintnence and up grades.for now here are some pics of how it sits, progress will be as time and money allow, and right now if it would get abouve freezing it would help.Please over look some of the rough fabrication as much of it was done over 10 years ago and the truck was my daily driver then so it could not be down more than a weekend so I had to rush a lot.

[bad_turbo]

Nice mods! I like the unconventional motor

[Spray-Bomb]

Nice Cummins

[Ron 586]

Looks good. Take your time. Nice to see something different.

[skchevota]

Here is a few more pics.The center crossmember will be replaced with a stocker or refabed from scrach. The cummins runs great but leaks oil and has a leaking freeze plug. I attached the spid so you can see what it was originaly. This truck has been in the family since 72 and was a 2WD with a cab over camper, I inherited it when I was 13, so Ive had her for a while as well.

[GREASEMONKEY72]

thats a nice truck man goodluck with the build and i love the engine deal, you gona keep it brown??? dont see many brown vehicles around

[67ChevyRedneck]

Diesel's are awesome. Did you ever write down your mpg with it?

Are you going with an extra short shortbed or a regular lenght box?

This is gonne be a cool truck!

[Yukon Jack]

Tell me about the rear spring hanger for the rear axle. It appears the round tubing is a solid piece from driver to passenger side - is that how it is?

[skchevota]

Originally Posted by GREASEMONKEY72

thats a nice truck man goodluck with the build and i love the engine deal, you gona keep it brown??? dont see many brown vehicles around

Its a factory Dark Gold, I am thinking of staying with it, just because I have never seen any others that color.

[skchevota]

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

Diesel's are awesome. Did you ever write down your mpg with it?

Are you going with an extra short shortbed or a regular lenght box?

This is gonne be a cool truck!

Yes, I was geting between 18-20 MPG depending on speed and how much hiway. I will say its waaayyyy beter than the LT1 ever got,and about 3x that of the big block.

[skchevota]

Originally Posted by Yukon Jack

Tell me about the rear spring hanger for the rear axle. It appears the round tubing is a solid piece from driver to passenger side - is that how it is?

Yes it is a solid piece, It is 2" .150 wall tubing, I used a hole saw to cut the holes and then welded it both sides. I was using a reguler spring hanger upside down for the shackle flip but it did not give as much lift as I wanted and I had to run a rear block. Now I will not need a block. The rear springs are from a 2002 F250 superduty( there good for something ). I will be braceing the rear hanger further before I am done. I havent decided on the bed yet If I will build a trditional style flat bed but with the ability to bolt the bedsides on and off, or if I will make one out of tubing more like an offroad truck, also with removable sides. Either way it will be a stock length short bed, and I want it to look just as good with or with out the sides so when there off it wont look like somthing is missing. If I go the tube route, I will tie the tube into the rear hanger, if I go the flatbed route, I will just add gussets to the rear mounts.

[1lowdiesel]

diesel power

[skchevota]

Hey what do you guys think about useing Rustolium on the frame? I have used it in the past with good results, I was considering POR15 but is it worth the added expence. I will have my frame ground down clean, and there is no rust to be painting over so is POR15 still that much better?

[1969k10stepside]

Good luck on the project.
I used rustoleum on my 71 swb 4x4 frame.I was pleased with it.I blasted the chassis,I primed it,then shot the paint on.I am planning on a clear coat also Here are the before and after pics....Dont look at the rear axle and springs.The new lift kit springs werent on yet and I hadnt painted the axle...

[fastwillie 696969]

where can i get a set of those tires ?LOL

[GREASEMONKEY72]

Originally Posted by skchevota

Its a factory Dark Gold, I am thinking of staying with it, just because I have never seen any others that color.

dark gold is even better, looks awesome though and i hope you do keep it, makes youre truck even more unique

diesil power and dark gold paint

[kenm78]

Keep on keeping on!!! nice project.

[Yukon Jack]

My body guy bought some chassis black paint from O'Reilly's, don't know the brand, and it sure is holding up well. I know it was pretty cheap. It sprayed on nice.

[skchevota]

Ok, so time for an update.. I have not had much time to put in on the old girl lately as I would like but I have been making a little progress. I added some gussets to the rear spring hangers, I finished welding my gooseneck hitch in the center( not that I have a gooseneck trailer, but you never know)I removed the hacked up center crossmember and cleaned the inside of the frame rails. I also weldedin the exteahols on the driverside rear frame rail, I havenot ground them smooth yet though. I finished taking my bed appart and I cut the bed floor to size. I have not decided for sure what bed I am going with yet but I figure a shoet bed is worth more than a long, so I might as well shorten it and if I dont use it I will sell it later. I removed 12" off the front and 10" in the rear. I know I onlt need 8" in the rear, but I need to graft the rear channel and bed edge back on. I gave it a test fit on the truck and it looks good. next will be grinding the brackets off the rearend I dont need and then reinstalling it. Fabing up the rear shock mounts, fabing the center crossmember and finish grinding the welds of the hols onthe rails and finish stripping the old paint off the frame. From there will be the fuel tank mods and then paint the rear of the frame. After all that I will get back on the bed. So stay tuned this should be fun!

Oh the last pic is of the Diamond plate door panals I made for it a coulple of years ago , what do you think. Keep in mind that this was a daily driver/ offroad toy and is now still going to do some offroad duty so its not a show truck.

[CrashEd]

I see your SPID shows a 396.My 70 shows i have a 400 did thay change in that year. Or was it a option?

Love the deck plate side panels!!

[skchevota]

Originally Posted by CrashEd

I see your SPID shows a 396.My 70 shows i have a 400 did thay change in that year. Or was it a option?

Love the deck plate side panels!!

You know its funny, it said 396 in the glove box and owners manual, is says 400 on the fender, and the engine is actualy a 402( I still have the #matching block. I guess it was a transition period. Yours is a big block correct? do you know where it was made? mine was in the Fremont Ca. plant, maby it depends on the assembly plant.

[1969k10stepside]

They did transition from "396" emblems to "402" right around that year.

[skchevota]

Wow, its been a while since I have posted on this build. I have been doing lots of customer jobs lately and have not had much time for my own stuff.
If any body in the Denver metro area and north needs any fab work, tranny builds or engine / suspension work done, PM me. Any way, I have gotten all the extra frame holes I did not want welded up and ground down, I Painted the rear half of the frame, installed my modified center cross member( its located 6" forward for drive shaft clearance, and has a hole that I braced up to run the 4" exhaust through it), reinstalled the rear end, made the rear shock mounts , and made a mount for the rear brake line. Next will be a fuel cell, run a new hard brake line, and then start cutting the bed sides down.
My bed Idea has changed a few times, but for now I will shorten the longbed sides to short sides and then decide if I am going fleet or custom step. Stay tuned, I hope to make progress a little faster now.

[sandking]

Ha, I bumped it for ya. Looks like a great project. Its been over a year since you last updated this, how does it look now?

[boostin20]

Yeah, updates would be awesome.