Raising Cain: Crewcab shortbox build

[Devillusion]

Like I needed to start another build.....not! But oppertunities show themselves and some of us (me) don't have any self control which brings us to the here and now..lol.

Been gathering parts now for a bit to build myself a clean custom daily driver crew cab short box 4x4. The start plan is to just build a crew with around 6" or so of lift, 16x10 steelies on 33 or 35's, two tone flat (not 100% sure on color yet but have some thoughts), simple resto mod style I guess.

Will build on the go as I usually do....and hope all works out. I know this is no wonderbuild by any means and there have been many done and underway, just thought I would share yet one more conversion and see how things go.



This is the day she came home, since these pictures were taken I have sold the service body and recouped $600 from my original purchase of $1300. Found alot of hidden issues with this girl once I started looking hard, but still lots of good parts to be had regardless.





Found a short box with a galvanized floor a couple miles from home for next to nothing (literally), and is more than useable for now but will eventually need box sides replaced.





Being the cab was completly rotten and not worth the time to fix, I cut my losses and luckily found another project already well underway that someone else had grown sick of and had a mint A/C cab, mint doors, front clip, decent rust free box, brand new 4 core rad, D70/D60 combo (sold the D60 for $700), new carpet, suburban swap grill assembly, drive shafts, glass, you name it I got 4 of everything (4 truck loads worth) of parts. Was also a steal of a deal. Got it all for $1300!




So now into the project for around $1300 total and have enough parts to build probably 4 of them....it's crazy. The guy also threw in a 1959 Cadillac rear clip complete with chrome, bumper and tailights that I plan on making an entertainment stand out of.

..how could I pass it up...lol, or at least that is what I told the wife.

[Dieselwrencher]

Dude, awesome score on parts and trucks! I'm looking forward to this build!

[joe231]

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[Mattman2010]

Going to be watching this one! Looks like you got a lot of good parts for cheap!
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[Devillusion]

well, some updates though not much.

So to tally up so far on the build (best I can remember):

Blue crew $1300
sold service body $600

Parts crew and truck loads of parts $1300
sold front D60 $700
sold rear D70 $500
sold Cadillac rear clip $400 worth of parts for my "crew'd attitude" build
sold box $700
sold dually rear fenders $500
sold dually steel wheels $300

So far that brings me to around $1100 in the green and have a complete running truck, plus another mint cab, frame, lift springs, brand new 4 core rad, minty doors, a mint front clip off a suburban (like I needed another one...lol), and a whack of misc parts 4 times over I'm sure. Good go so far...lol, now just to get some time to get it together.

...but on a negative note, thinking I might need a transmission (T400/NP205) as it was slipping but low on fluid. Hoping it didn't do to much damage.


Since I went and put all new plugs, new wires, new coil, new cap/rotor, IAC motor, and just a general check over to get things running better. Was missing like crazy, is better now but still not where I would like it. Still a bit rough idle that I might have to look into swapping out the throttle body or something.

[Devillusion]

Managed to make some time to tie into this thing again this evening. Got the front fenders and inner fenders and hood off the truck. Got all the bolts out of the cab to make the transition of cabs soon. Pretty much ready to swap, just need to figure out how the heck I am going to do it!

Found that if a person only uses a breaker bar instead of an impact the cab bolts come out without spinning the inner nuts as they are so famous for doing. Guess I have been doing it wrong all these years....ughh.

[Devillusion]

Cab is officially off and frame sitting out in the driveway. Did a bunch of scraping and such to get all the grease and years of build up off, then soaked it all with "spray 9" degreaser and cleaner. Tomorrow will get the fuel tanks off, and any other msc brackets etc that won't be used, then hit her with the pressure washer before she comes into the shop to be shortened.

She won't fit in full trim....hahahaha

Just have to decide if I am going to cut the frame to shorten it, or just move the bracketry forward.

Any opinions? And why?

[Devillusion]

Ok, time to post up some progress pictures. Been making alot of progress over the past few days, winter is coming and I wanted to at least get the cab swapped over, and shortened so that it will fit more comfortable in the garage. Would like to get her running as well but I have to do some colour changes on the cab before I start putting wiring back in and getting things up and going again. Not liking the colour the last owner picked out before he abandoned the project.

When looking at the pictures, be aware that I had to get creative when doing this swap as I was working alone...hahahahaha. Sketchy...but it worked!


Built a "gantry crane" to get the old cab off the frame, but ended up doing some damage that I was not willing to try on the donor cab.






Soaked the drivetrain in cleaner, let it sit overnight, then hit it all with the pressure washer. Was pretty thick in spots so had to do some additional scrapping and more washing. Nothing a few hours and a few thousand psi didn't take care of. Then hit it on the topside with some semi gloss black to clean things up a bit further. This thing is going to see gravel roads, winter, and every day abuse so not going to go to far on it, but I like things clean and tidy.

[Devillusion]

Next came the actual cab swap, interesting feat when you are by yourself and no hoist or gantry that is tall enough. So...got creative!







And there she sits, back on the running frame. Not bad for a couple hours by myself I don't think. Keeping in mind, it is only sitting there on two bolts at this point.

Donor cab is in pretty nice shape, with A/C but want to find a grey interior to replace the blue. Never been a big blue fan for some reason. That and I have brand new grey carpet sitting in the box for it as well. Though this carpet in the cab is brand new as well, I just don't like the black carpet due to where I live (sand). Seems to show up like dandruff....lmao! Made that mistake in my extended cab when I built it...never again.

[Devillusion]

Tonight I went and started removing rivets in all the rear suspension to just move the rear axle forward the needed inches......and realized something. The rear mount will be hitting the rear part of the frame in which will make the box tilt upward slightly, in turn making it look like the box is crooked. So this method regardless of what others have said is NOT fool proof and easier than the frame cut. I did the frame cut on my 2wd project and thought not my favorite and would prefer to just move everything forward....not as easy as it sounds.

"If" I decide to continue with this method the option will be to either notch the small area of the frame to accomodate the box crossmember......put in a 1" body lift then make a tapered block for the rear crossmember. Not sure if I am overly crazy about either to be honest.

I may retreat and go back to my other way of cutting the frame. Going to have to give this some thought.

[Devillusion]

Well, decided to cut the frame and do it right.

As of tonight, frame is shortened...box is on before I fully weld it to be sure the frame/body lines are straight...rivets in suspension and rear frame are all drilled out to 7/16 and replaced with 7/16 NF Grade 8 bolts and stove lock nuts. Will be a bit easier now as well when I decide to buy my shackle flip for the rear as I will just have to pull the bolts and all the drilling will be done when the box is on.

Starting to look like a truck again....will put up pics this week when I get a chance. Back out to finish up some stuff.

[Devillusion]

[Devillusion]

Well, finally got around to getting back at it for the last day or so. Interior is stripped out, sound deadener applied to back half of floor, rear glass is out, door jambs are scuffed, dash is scuffed, cab seams are ground and welded up, drip rails shaved, cab lights shaved, now just to get on some body work, foaming the roof, and scuff down the firewall before installing the doors to fit and get ready to spray the cab portion. Then we can get some glass back into it and seal it up so that it can get pushed outside to get the fenders/hood n such in paint.

[Devillusion]

Started drilling holes tonight for the body foam in the roof. Completed all my welding prior to putting the foam in place (fire hazzards obviously), and had a few sags in the middle of the roof as these roofs tend to do over time of the weight of snow etc. Nice long roof but not enuf bracing for what they are. I have done this in the past so this time was much faster and easier. Used the 1" fill foam this time instead of the gap filler as I wanted it to push up on the roof slightly to get rid of the large sag in the sheemetal.

For those of you that have not viewed my 2wd build, I did this on that one due to the problem of getting the roof straight during blocking. Was moving around and nearly impossible to get an accurate surface. And on top of that makes a massive difference on the sound proofing/insulating of the truck.

Here is what has gone down the past couple days.....

[Devillusion]

Foam ended up working out perfect, roof is pretty decently straight and very happy with the results.

Made some more progress today/tonight and managed to get a layer of duraglass on the seams, and fill plates on the roof lights. Got that all sanded away, and put the first coat of putty on the shaved areas and around 1/3 of it sanded down. Seems to be blocking out pretty nice, going a hell of alot better than the 2wd project did. Might knock this cab out pretty quick at this rate and then get some doors and pain on it sooner that I had predicted.

...keeping fingers crossed.

[LEEVON]

Nice build. I'm interested about the foam, was it a product specifically for body panels? Is is non-expanding? Any moisture and rust concerns?

[Devillusion]

Originally Posted by LEEVON

Nice build. I'm interested about the foam, was it a product specifically for body panels? Is is non-expanding? Any moisture and rust concerns?

Sorry, called it body foam.......it is 1" and under gap filler monofoam (off brand of). Not expecting any issues with moisture or rust issues, and don't see why as there should still be sufficient air moving around in there as this didn't fill it completely. But then again, I am not a fortune teller either...hahaha. Seems to work perfect with no known side effects to date in either truck.

[Devillusion]

Floors got all scuffed, cleaned and given a couple coats of chassis black.








Then a layer of Second Skin vibration dampner from top of firewall all the way back.







Then did some searching around for a readily available and affordable foam for under the carpet and to replace the old dusty/crusty firewall insulation. I have purchased the "replacement" piece from LMC and was not happy with it at all....used it on the 2wd project and it will now be coming back out. Was a complete waste of money.
This stuff I picked up at Home Depot worked out perfect, and is a dream to work with. Very plyable around difficult angles and contours with minimal cutting to make it conform. It is originally made for household under carpet lay. Has voided underside which in my mind will work great for making sure things dry out under there if they ever get damp, and looks very simular to the closed cell style sound dampner product sold at some places. Regardless it gets rid of that dust and water holding crap from the factory and looks a million times better installed. Only a quarter of the way done will get more pics up once I get some more spray glue.
Used 3M general spray adhesive on both sides and trim where necassary to aquire proper fitment. Waited 15 minutes for glue to tack and applied with great success. These floors are among the worst to get something to contour to. On the outer edges I took a scrub/cleaning disc on my die grinder and tapered the edge so that when the carpet is installed it won't leave a nasty line/edge. Will be duct taping the seams and edge to be sure of a decent seal from water etc.

Will be using this stuff on other projects in the future....as for sound dampning performace...that will have to be seen when the truck is on the road, but regardless it works as insulation at a minimum and is a clean look when done.

[Devillusion]

[Devillusion]

Well, been puttering around doing odds n ends for the last couple days just to take a break from the mundane body work crap.

Been sandblasting a whack of small parts in the cabinet, priming, and painting. Decided instead of trying to find some nice condition or spend/waste money on buying new inside and outside door handles etc. I blasted them up and they will all be getting blacked out except for the outside handles will be body color. As it will be a daily driver with kids n every other thing under the sun, chrome just don't last how I like it and these are an easy fix if something happens to them.

Nothing exciting for pictures, but something is better than nothing. :favorites37:

[Devillusion]

Speaking of paint color......having some issues deciding. Been pondering for months now and I keep changing my mind.



Ok, so here is my thinking, this is not going to be a full out show truck, will be driven every day, gravel roads, snow, and will work somewhat to earn it's keep but not going to get beat on either. Some light offroad stuff more than likely, but mostley just a nice driver 90% of the time. Kids, wife, dog, camping, etc etc etc. My thought is a low maintenance paint job, but not just going to whip it together either...still want to do it right and make it look decent. Even if I do the tried and true flat black or super dark green, I still want it to be detailed so that people don't just think it is another spray bomb job in a back yard somewhere.



1) Flat black body with gloss black striping and accent panels. Simular to the mid 80s wrangler stripe down the side, then some black and grey airbrushing inside that area.

2) New Ford explorer moss/pearl green with same idea except all pretty and gloss.

3) Factory silver with same idea...

4) Gloss white...

[canadian 4x4]

i say either 2 or 3!

[cochino12]

Build is coming along nicely. I say paint it silver

[Devillusion]

After some more research, I have came to the idea that I might try a flat metallic silver or flat pearl green. Kind of meets in the middle what I was contemplating.

[silvereagle07]

Nice work. I am interested in the foam in the roof as I am beginning my teardown to the frame. Where did you get it? I know you said it was a off brand product. I'll be following this one.