Macs' last ride

[Racker]

Well here is the build tread of my 74 crew cab dually that I'm building in memory of my dad. As long as I could remember, my dad always had a square body in the family. Last one he had was a cab and chassis with a 12' service bed, he wouldn't let me bring it to Wyoming from Washington, so I bought this one for the build.

As far as i can tell, this one started life on the Air Force base in Cheyenne, Wy. , then moved to Douglas,Wy. as a rescue rig some time in the 90's. After that, it headed to a really small town, Glendo, Wy., as their rescue rig up until '02. At that time it sat around collecting dust and wasting away.

A buddy of mine bought it at auction for $500.00 and was going to scrap it out. Then he remembered that I was looking for one and gave me a call.Long story short, I bought it for what he paid. It sat in the my shop yard for a couple years as i was building my rock crawler.

Finally had time to mess with it now, so here goes. Ended up changing intake and carb since the original carb was shot, added a bed from a old project the boss had laying around and started driving it as a DD.

Here are a couple pictures really quick. First one is fresh out of the back yard and the other is what she looks like today.





Will add more as time is available for but for now I don't have any complaints for a $500.00 truck and about $300.00 added to it at this point.

[1badgmc]

Very cool.

[BGRAFX]

Sweet truck man! I like the '55 fender on there. What lowering kit did you use and tire size. Engine/Tran?

[RandyP]

Yes, the custom rear fender is slick. Will for sure set it apart from the rest.

[Devillusion]

sweet idea..........kinda wondered about doing that myself with a set off a 73-87 stepside. Would at least be metal fenders, and easy to manipulate if needed.

still might.......lol.

good work! subscribed.

[Racker]

Originally Posted by BGRAFX

Sweet truck man! I like the '55 fender on there. What lowering kit did you use and tire size. Engine/Tran?

Lowering kit, what are those,?

I ended doing a OLD hotrod trick. For the back I tore the springs apart and only used 5 of the 12 leaf srings. Also moved the front hanger and shackle mount to the top of the frame. For the front I just pulled the coils and cut 2 full coils off. A stiff in the front since it is sitting on the bump stops right now but I have new ones ordered. As soon as they show up i will cut off the front bump stop mounts and install the new ones. This was step one one getting the ride hieght that I want. Step 2 will be full air ride with a link set up in the rear.

As far as the motor/trans, they are still stock items,350/400, I have thought about a big block but why, this is a cruiser not a drag racer. Besides, I have been kicking the idea of a turbo or supercharger for the " JUST IN CASE " I need to school some punk kid in his honda balogana pipe ricer.

[Racker]

Originally Posted by Devillusion

sweet idea..........kinda wondered about doing that myself with a set off a 73-87 stepside. Would at least be metal fenders, and easy to manipulate if needed.

still might.......lol.

good work! subscribed.

I thought about using the those fenders but like I said, these where laying around from a customers rig and he didn't want them back. HINT: take you time on trimming them to fit and they will look awesome. WELD them on slow to reduce warping.

[gloriavoxdei]

The 55-66 fenders look wicked, never seen that done but want to see more. Awesome build and very unique.

[Racker]

Thanks, hopefully my winter rig will be back this week and i can park the crew for the winter. I'm hoping in the spring i will have my '51 running and i can finally do some work on this on again.

[babyJay]

Nice work! Nice custom touches is what sets trucks apart from the cookie cutters out there. Keep us updated.

[Racker]

Hello from the dead. It's some time since I posted anything but doesn't mean I left. I check on here EVERYDAY.
Well things (plans) have changes for this rig just a little! After selling off the small block and trans to a buddy for a S-10 build last summer, it sat outside without the front clip. Many side projects, mostly other peoples stuffs and a couple shop truck transmission swaps, I finally found the truck I was originally looking for when I found the crew cab.
So now here is the recent plan:
Stripping off the 74 crew cab body
Replacing it with a 55 Chevy cab with S T R E T C H E D step side bed to cover the frame.
Install the big block and transmission that I have been cleaning up
Cruz the hell out of it.
Not sure how the rules of this forum are going to play on the NEW build since it is going to be a 55 Chevy with a 74 frame under it.
What do you guys want? Want me to move this over to the proper page or keep posting?
Will get pictures of the NEW donor cab(s) soon.

[Racker]

sorry, was trying to post pictures

[72BlckButy]

Sorry man... The pics didn't come through.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Racker]

This is the truck me and my son are going to use for right now


Another shot


Here is one of the cabs we are going to use for a future crewcab


Here is another cab for the future build.

In total, we got 1 complete truck, a 55 cab, 58 cab, another short box without fenders, 9 total doors, drivers front and 2 drivers rear fenders. Oh ya, TWO titles.

Don't pay attention to the dates on the pictures, just changed the batteries in the camera before taking them. They were taken this morning.

[86c20]

i think that this shouod stay right where it is so we can see the coolness

[Racker]

Well fellow truckers, here is a little teaser from over the weekend. Will post more as time lets me.

[meter swinger]

X2 on keeping it here. Theres a few of us putting k10 4X4, or C10 stuff under 55-59's, in that section so why not here? I'm into both series trucks anyway. That will be a nice ride when its done. I would luuuuuv to do a LCF 55-59 truck on a C30 frame.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Racker]

Got a few minutes here so I will explain the build. It started as a '74 Chevy crew cab dually with plans on being fully bagged out. When I bought this truck I was looking for a '55 Chevy truck since that was my dads FAVORITE truck (yes another tribute truck but it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be building) but couldn't afford one. Found the crew cab sitting at a buddies place and after a few adult beverages we came to a price. So the build started from there, got it running, added a bed, chopped the front springs, took out 12 leafs out of the back and raised the spring hangers fro that lowered looked.
Life was good, drove it a few years that way while gathering parts. I say gathering parts but they were not the usual parts for a square body truck, they were Tri-five parts. Rear fenders for starters were cut and trimmed down to be added to the box to cover the dually wheels. Liked the look but they needed some work so I found another set to rework them and then take the wheel opening and rework the front fenders so the wheel openings would match. Found a couple dashes I was going to graft in for different look inside the cab. Even gathered up a '55 hood that the corners were rotted but it was ok since all I wanted was the center of if for a cowl hood after I Z'ed the frame 3 3/4".
Everybody kept asking me," If you want a '55-'57 so bad, why don't you just build one?" I would tell them," NO MONEY for the right donor rig."
Well as luck would have it, time was a virtue, the right rig should its head. It should up across the street from my shop. The PO was going to build but found another one in better shape. The part about this truck was it came with 2 extra cabs, 9 doors total, another step side bed and more misaligns parts that just keep showing up as he finds them. OH YEA, TWO titles !!!!!!!!!
So know that we are all up to date, let the NEW build begin........
Right now plans are to get it up and running on the '74 dually frame and ENJOY the HELL out of it. Future plans is to start on a new cab build for the frame. Yup, you guest it, a CREW CAB will be in the works over the next few years.
SORRY for the long drawn out post but this way you all know the story behind this build. Well off to work but will post more as progress continues.

[Racker]

Here is the old truck. Something happened to the old picture.