Five + 1/2 into 2

[kanuck]

Typed a big long intro to the project, but my computer crashed it while uploading pictures. Will put up some pictures and then explain later when I feel like typing it up again. LOL

Frame I am going to use and move all parts onto and the truck where most of the suspension and the cab will be from.

[kanuck]

Truck # 5

Another parts truck that I picked up last week. Most of this will be for a second build using the 1980 papers, as this is a 1974. First project is using a 1981-87 Cab.

Can anyone tell me what gear ratio I would probably have as the fender tag shows a G80 posi rear, but doesn't list the ratio.
It's a corporate 14 bolt.

[mooseknuckles]

Originally Posted by kanuck

Typed a big long intro to the project, but my computer crashed it while uploading pictures. Will put up some pictures and then explain later when I feel like typing it up again. LOL

Frame I am going to use and move all parts onto and the truck where most of the suspension and the cab will be from.

I love it when that happens!

[kanuck]

Guess I should try again to say what it is I'm working with and see if the computer doesn't crash it. Arggg

So truck #1 was bought two years ago and is a plain jane 1980 swb stepper. It was bought cheap, ($350), for a kinda street/strip truck. It came with a rusty cab, the six cylinder was gone, truck 4spd is there, manual brakes and power steering. The stepside box is decent, new inner and outer front fenders, newer rustfree after market doors and interior is rough but complete.
Also had a good set of ralley rims on it and has clean registration papers.
The bad when I got to looking at her when I had it home was rust on one spot on the lower frame right inside the cross member between the cab and the rear end.
Will post in sections so as not to lose, so here are pictures of truck #1.

[kanuck]

Truck # 2, (1983), came in to help out for parts and hopefully have a clean frame.

It was cheapish in price at $450 and came with again, new inner and outer fenders, recently done turbo 350, decent cab needing rockers, a fleetside box rusty around wheel wells, very clean frame and decent interior. Also came with clean registration papers.

It was a started project that had not got to far. Did pay extra for a new in box, thick core aftermarket aluminum rad which cost $400 and I got for $200.

And again the pictures.....

[kanuck]

Ok, #3 I probably should not have got, but it seemed better originally.

It is a 81-87 cab on a fairly clean frame that was another unfinished project.
The good is that it was lowered and has BellTech drop spindles, new rotors, new brakes, drop shackles and lowering shocks, new rust free inner and outer fenders, new rust free doors that someone kicked a big dent in, another rebuilt at some point turbo 350, new standard rad, headers and the big thing is an absolutely rust free cab that must have come from some dry place down south.

The so-so or bad....No papers, fleet box has rusty fenders though good floor,
suspension components are still older pieces, and no interior. Also the price was not so cheap at $900.

Pictures again.......

[kanuck]

My 1/2 truck came in from looking at a fresh rebuilt posi rearend that was forsale. Was $250 for the rearend from another abandoned project that was parted out. Took the rear and then the guys dad started to tell his son to clean up the rest from the yard.

What came was a sandblasted and painted swb frame that was the cleanest I've seen with no pitting or any damage at all for $100 so I said YES. Then they started pulling stuff from sheds and the basement and included it in the deal.....3 sets rear springs, all sandblasted and painted control arms and cross member, steering box and parts, rad support and a bunch of other pieces.

Did buy one other piece from them and that was a clean stepper box with gate for another $400.

Hmmmm, time to stop collecting parts......
Pics...

[kanuck]

So last week we cleaned the shop and set up the clean painted frame on stands. I checked the square and found it to be within less than 1/4inch front to back and no questionable corosion anywhere on it.

This week we pulled the drop spindles out of truck #2 and most of the suspension pieces and I started to make a list of parts needed.

Found the front springs seemed to be cut as there was no flat surface on the one end. Should I order proper lowering springs or will cut ones work OK??

Also, since I just found out there was a difference, I found out all but my frame under #2, (the 1983), are 1980 and older frames, and the cab I wanted to use is a 81-87 frame. Will this effect me in using a 81-87 front end?
How will the radsupport and the bumper match up??

[benoit454]

wow nice collection of 73-87's I'd like to have one of them lol. a short bed with a 73-80 front end.

[kanuck]

Couple of questions I've got as I move along...

1) Should I reuse the cut coils that came with the lowered frame or order proper drop springs?

2) What paint works well over a painted frame when you don't know what was used on it?

3) What problems will I have with using a 1980/earlier frame with a 1981/later cab and a matching later front end?

Thanks for any help

[SS Delux]

Since you are doing a ground up build I would go with the proper drop springs and forget about it. I used the ruberized undercoating on my frame and it looks great not to mention druable. What are you doing with that tach cluster from truck #5 ? willing to sell it ? What about the rims from truck #2 ? and last question, where in canada do you live ? looks like you are getting some great deals. Great build keep goin.

[kanuck]

I am located on Vancouver Island in BC.
Still looking at what I am going to do with the 1974 cab and interior.
The rims your asking about are the chrome ones??

Seems to be an abundance of trucks around here in all sorts of condition from OK to rotted. I've been collecting for 2 years now and time to start putting something together. LOL

[SS Delux]

Yes I am talking about the chrome ones but shipping would probably kill me even if you had the tires removed.

[kanuck]

Got close to the cab removal on the 1974, but had to wait for a lift. Something tells me I may have to wait a bit longer.

[kanuck]

We normally don't get much snow here, much less the cold.....-7c

[Twisted78SS]

I think I can respond to your question about the difference in frames, cabs, and front ends. From my experience, I was working on a 1978 frame and cab and was looking to put a later (89-91 suburban) front end on. Here is what i found was needed to make the swap

• Core Support (in my case 89-91) in your case (81-87 I think)
• Front fenders and inner fenders
• Cowl Panel
• Wiper linkage (which for me required drilling another mounting hole)
• Hood and hood hinges for 81 - up
• Front bumper and brackets for 81 - up
• Grill and lower valance panel to match fender style
• wiring harness to match if going to/or from a single headlight to dual

If you use the later cab, just make sure you use the later cab mounting bushings. Same for the core support, as they differ between the years.
I didn't have any issues between the frames as the front bolted on easily.

The cabs are a bit different where the wiper cowl panel is due to the way the hood is designed post 1980. they do not interchange at all. I realize you are using a newer cab and looking to use an older style front end, should be even easier than what i did.

Good Luck!

[kanuck]

Thinking the best would be to use the 74 cab as the frame is a pre-81 and then use early fenders which I had from the 1980 I bought and finish with the 74 grille pieces.
I will have to repair the rockers on the 74, but at least I have a complete together interior, minus the falling down headliner.
Have the registration papers for the 1980 to hopefully get it back legal.

I will save the rust free 81-87 cab and put it with the frame from truck #2 will see if I get that far to put together a second truck. Should have all the parts by the time I sort through all the stuff I collected and the green cab would probably bring in a couple of bucks as it is in not bad shape.

Seems simpler to put them on original frames, though I will not get the rust free cab this round.

[kanuck]

Thought I'd post a pick of another truck kicking around. Had no plan to have it, but I was owed storage/rent money due to an estate settlement and being there was no cash, the lawyer told me to take the truck.
They couldn't get it to start by jumping, but I put in a full charged battery and it started right up. There is no key, but the ignition is in the farward position and so the steering is unlocked. I drove it home about 2 miles with aaaahmmmm......no plates, but it ran great for having sat for a year.

Seirra classic with 350ci backed by a 700R4. Rear wells are rusty, but the front fenders and under hood is very clean. Exspensive parts truck??
Rather sell it complete to someone who could use it, but no takers locally yet.
Thing only has 136000 KM or in miles thats about 80,000 miles.

[Twisted78SS]

I just remembered the 79-80 had slightly different headlight trim rings, and some had square headlights. I don't know if that means the grill is different on them or not. One thing I have done over the years is to use the drawings in the LMC catalog as a reference. Let me see if I can post a pic of the fronts

Yup, figures.. the 79 is the same grill, but the 80 grill is different, as are some of the lower grill moldings.

Take a peek

[SS Delux]

If it turns into a parts truck do you mind parting with that tail gate filler panel ?

[kanuck]

Well I am still at it, got the rear end mounted under the new frame and cleaned up and sorted a lot of parts. Found the springs I decided to use were heavy half so had to drill out the rear hangers and move them back and the drop kit from the parts truck had relocating front mounts so had to drill those out as well and bolt on the drop hangers.
Rear end is a 373 positype, don't know the name , but it has the little lever inside that flips over to lock up the rear????? (if that makes sense...LOL)
Anyone know how strong this type of truck 12 bolt posi is?

Thanks

Also picked up some more parts that a guy was clearing out from a 1991 Jimmy that he parted and these were the left overs.
And price for 2 door, one tail gate and rt and lt aftermarket rocker panels......... $70 for all.......Hehehe

He took the power motors and switches but......rust free GM doors RH LH



and the tailgate with ceased hinges and 2 minor rust spots on the top each end by the glass, but perfect bottoms.......

[kanuck]

Forgot I also picked up two marine 454's that I am checking out for rebuild.
One didn't turn over but has forged .030 speed-pro pistons I need to try and get out of a rusty block and the other was a trin to it with hyper .040 pistons which I managed to get the motor totally stripped down. Both motors had next to nothing for hours on them, but water managed to get in a couple exhaust ports.

Not quite sure what motor will end up in the truck, a big block 454 or a done up small block with a little power added.
(check out picture in first posting, behind frame above the red tool box!!!)

2nd motor unloaded


Hyper pistons with low hours


recently redone bottom end with resizing and ARP rod bolts


Stuck block but lick new in pan. Cam and lifters came out easy


Forged pistons stuck in block

[kanuck]

Did manage to get the 1973 cab I want to use off the frame by myself....LOL.
Not a safe job at some points, but it worked out.
Underside looks mostly good except for the inside rockers are gone and a few pinholes where the inside rockers roll up to the floor pan. Floor pan still has clean original paint and outer rockers and cab corners were done in the late 90's when it was last painted and then garaged for the last 9 years.




Frame will be off to scrap along with diffs. Advertised it locally and no takers at scrap prices. (14 bolt posi)

[kanuck]

Don't know if I actually got anything done or just moved parts around for the last couple of months.

Did do some work on the frame I'm using and it is mostly together, but got held up putting the front springs in as I had no way of compressing them.
Should have that issue solved and have the front suspension done with in the week.

Been working on the underside of the cab I am going to use. For a truck that had the frame rust right through and the front fenders rusted out, the cab is in surprisingly good condition.
The rockers had been replaced in 1998 with GM panels, but the inside rocker panels were not changed. Insides of the rockers and the bottom of the inside cab corners are rusty, along with the cab braces to the outside of the front cab mounts, but the rest of the braces and the cab floor came out great under the thick under coat that has been on there since day one. Paint underneath in most spots looked like it just came from the factory.



original burgundy paint


front cab brace


inside rockers, can see original GM tag on replaced outer rockers


more of the clean rust free floor

[kanuck]

Been cleaning up as I need to get rid of what I am not going to use.

Managed to sell one cab and a pair of 81up fenders to a guy redoing a 88 1 ton dump that he wants to use for fire wood hauling.




ready to go for scrap metal along with a load of stuff inside the cab


While it was being stripped of any usable items


just before disassembly