My 83 Crew Cab Short Bed

[SmokeShow]

Here it is...

Shot of the inside. As you can see, it's only got one seat and no flooring. It does have a good dash and complete door panels though.


Just a shot of it as it sits now:


Looking down the driver's side. It's pretty straight IMO.


General Pass. side view as it sits now:


Looking down the pass. side. Again, it's pretty dang straight IMO.


How it looked when the previous owner had it. He kept the wheels and tires and engine. Sig sorta explains that.


Front shot from previous owner:


Fuel cell in front pass. seat area. It was a pulling truck and still will be but it WILL be streetable. At least moreso than when it was a gas pulling truck.




That's it for now. Whatcha think??? I love it!!!!!

[SmokeShow]

I have the following wheels coming for it. I think they have a nice classic look to them to go with the older truck yet they aren't seen everywhere you go. I don't think I've ever seen them on a truck around here. Certainly not as popular as the common classic 8-hole wheels you see all the time. Though they look good, they are a little too common. This truck is all about being unusual.

[thrasher]

sweet looking truck, was it modified into a shortbed then?

[SmokeShow]

Originally Posted by thrasher

sweet looking truck, was it modified into a shortbed then?

yep. Previous owner bought it from his boss and a had a guy section the frame, weld it, plate it and bolt it. You can't really tell looking from the outside of the frame because it's ground smooth. You can see the bolt heads but most wouldn't recognize them as being "out of place". You can see the plate on the inside of the frame. A guy that stretches semi trucks did the frame mods so I'm confident it's done well.

I'll try to get some good shots of the frame section. the iphone couldn't get a good enough picture of that area due to poor light.


C-ya

[84 400]

Really cool shorty. So you said it will be a street legal puller are you going big block or Cummings or ??? Eather way it looks like a well done conversion and one hell of a project truck

[72BlckButy]

That is a sweet ride!

[SmokeShow]

Duramax

[G35MIKE]

whoa a future duramax squarebody.. nice!

[toomanytoyz]

Nice Project.............

Rick

[jdurant]

It's gonna be a really cool truck. The general should have made them like that.

[seanconnery]

...so by saying that it WAS a GAS pulling truck, does that mean that a monster oil burner will be finding its way in there?! By the way, excellent starting point for a rig!

[SmokeShow]

Originally Posted by seanconnery

...so by saying that it WAS a GAS pulling truck, does that mean that a monster oil burner will be finding its way in there?! By the way, excellent starting point for a rig!

Yes, the previous owner pulled it in a smallblock pulling class. I bought it from him less the engine, wheels and tires. Everything else is there.

It IS getting a Duramax.

I'm undecided on the transmission at this time. I love the Allison but it does pose some problems but nothing I haven't found answers for yet. What I don't like about the allison is the brain and size. It's sometimes hard to control them just how I want to for pulling. It is plenty stout though once properly built. I'm now exploring the 4L80 option though because it can be more controllable (heck I can even get it fully manual with NO tcm), smaller in size therefore fits better, it is easier and cheaper to adapt to the NP205 and finally, I'm now being told that they CAN be built to handle all the power and torque I'll want to throw to it. I would do the TH400 but as I said, I want to keep it street worthy and that'd be kinda hard with a low redline with a diesel and 4.56 gears. We shall see. My transmission choice will most likely come down to whether I get just a complete engine vs. a complete donor truck. If I have the allison already attached to the engine, it's gonna be hard to justify selling it off in favor of a 4L80 or TH400 but we'll see.


C-ya

[seanconnery]

Have you thought about doing a similar buildup like the one in that show "Extreme 4X4" on the Powerblock? They went whole hog on a Duramax with a twin turbo setup and all sorts of stuff from Gale Banks.

I'd actually like to toss in a turbo diesel into my 1981 2wd GMC shortbed. It would be a heck of a lot cooler than my 250 inline 6!

[SmokeShow]

Yes, the engine will be built up for truck pulling. Depending on how long I want to take to build it will depend on how much gets done - at first anyways. Longer I take to do it, the more parts will compile to be put on before going in. Just take a while to save the money to do all I want.

Immediate would be custom fuel system (modified injection pump, kicker pump, bigger pickup and lines, etc.), bigger charger (most likely start out in a smaller diesel class limited to a 2.5" inducer turbo), cam, rods, injectors, HD valve springs, built transmission, head and main studs, and some other unmentionables.

It should be fun. I likely won't ever be able to afford to be at the top competitively but should run good and draw a crowd wherever I go therefore, I'll still have fun even if I'm not winning.

[LEEVON]

Hey smokeshow, if you need a set of crew cab rear seat brackets PM me. I've got some taking up space.

[SmokeShow]

PM sent leevon...

[SmokeShow]

Does a regular FRONT bench seat fit for the BACK seat on these crew cab trucks?


C-ya

[LEEVON]

Yep, just swap the sliders for the brackets. The seat frame is identical and the holes are all there.

[SmokeShow]

Thank ya.

[Red_69]

Smokeshow, got anything else done lately?

[DirtyLarry]

That is a sweet truck! Somebody really went to a lot of work to make a pulling rig out of something with a sectioned frame??

Ditch the Ford rear axle and drop a 14FF in there. That fuel cell has to go as well. Pass on the Dirtymax swap by all means and go with a big block gasser like an 8.1L with a NV4500 as they are much easier to swap than a Dirtymax. You will have to cut the living hell out of the cab to make a Dirytmax fit (believe me…Cummins would actually be easier)…. Plus in another 18 months nobody will want to own a diesel truck anyway (you think the diesel fuel vs. gasoline price spread is steep now…just wait).

[semperfidoordie]

that's an awesome truck...can't wait to see the build thread for dropping the Duramax in it

[SmokeShow]

Sorry I don't have any updates really. I get married in less than two weeks (July 5th) and right now we are renting a duplex. So yeah, we gotta get a house first... and yes, shop is a requirement or a cheap enough house that I can afford to build a shop right away.

Then I can get a donor truck and get busy. It kind sucks right now cause I've had to pass on two really good donor truckks due to my living situation. I'm only 26 though so I have to excercise some patience and realize things don't always happen over night.


Side note, ain't no way a big block gas engine is going in this truck... at least not long term. I may through a cheap gas engine here before long just to make transporting it easier but that'd be the extent of it. It WILL get a Duramax even if it takes me 5 years to do it and costs a small fortune. Also, it doesn't have a Ford rearend. It has a 14BFF that will most likely get replaced with a Dana 80 or at the least, a modern day AAM 11.50 axle out of the donor truck. That's if I don't ditch the entire frame and driveline for the modern 2500HD frame and driveline.


Thanks for the support and words of encouragement though guys. I appreciate it. Sometimes I just stand and stare it for several minutes day dreaming about how it's gonna be. Is that crazy?


C-ya

[SmokeShow]

And if you all are interested in seeing super nice square body build up that IS getting a duramax in it, check out this link...

82 Chevrolet Duramax

This is gonna be a show truck with about a 500rwhp Duramax between the frame rails. Lonnie builds truly impressive machines! He and I have spoken on some details. I suspect I'll seek some more advise from him when the time comes.


C-ya

[Red_69]

Take your time and don't compromise.
It will be worth it!