NEW BUILD - 66 GMC on Roadmaster / Caprice 9C1 Chassis

[Nobondo]

My 14 yr old son and I are graduating from a '62 Cub Cadet restomod that we built together to a '66 custom shop truck for the family repair business.

We have a crusty '66 GMC LWB coming in that will be converted to a shortbed and then dropped onto an LT1 powered chassis. I've heard of a few people that have done this build, but can't find much concrete information out there at all, so I'm assuming this will be interesting.

This will be more of a ratty/patina style truck built to be a driver. I'm hoping the conversion will provide a challenge, but also give us some reliability on the road for long hauls, decent gas mileage, decent handling and braking, lower stance, etc, etc, without braking the bank on new parts from a catalogue. Plus we're up in Canada, so multiply that by 1.35 per USD!

We're just going to take it one day at a time and see where it goes. We'd appreciate all your advice and will begin posting pictures and details as we get rolling.

[padresag]

why not leave it on the 66 chassis and upgrade that with later components hich would be simpler and maintain the legality of the orig chassis.
there is a bit of a difference betwen a riding lawnmower and a truck.
welcome to the site
ron

[Nobondo]

Well Ron, that was a really professional way to welcome a new member to this forum. What planet are you from?

You're making assumptions that are very disrespectful.

There's only like a billion people out the building rods on custom chassis' these days. Open a magazine.

This is not a purist's build. It's an interesting and challenging project. Ordering parts from a catalogue and bolting them onto a 60's frame like a 1000 other people have is kinda boring in my world....

[padresag]

Originally Posted by Nobondo

Well Ron, that was a really professional way to welcome a new member to this forum. What planet are you from?

You're making assumptions that are very disrespectful.

There's only like a billion people out the building rods on custom chassis' these days. Open a magazine.

This is not a purist's build. It's an interesting and challenging project. Ordering parts from a catalogue and bolting them onto a 60's frame like a 1000 other people have is kinda boring in my world....

I only referred to the orig frame because of the legal issues and there is usually nothing wrong with the orig frames' but if you are that good and that sensitive, good luck to you.
I never said anything about ordering anything out of cataloques did I; talk about making assumptions. at least I never graduated from riding lawnmowers
I quit reading car magazines about the time that cub cadet was being built.
ron

[jtrichard]

WELCOME..... for the most part most of the guys use the original frame (much easier than building all new cab,bed,radiator and front wrap mounts) and do full upgrades to it .... you don't have to get much out of catalogs look at some of the BUILD posts and you will see use the front cross member out of a 73/80 and rear from the same also power steering gear or some go with rack and pinion ..... engine and trans mods ... the possibilities are endless

[WOLFMANmike]

Originally Posted by Nobondo

Well Ron, that was a really professional way to welcome a new member to this forum. What planet are you from?

You're making assumptions that are very disrespectful.

There's only like a billion people out the building rods on custom chassis' these days. Open a magazine.

This is not a purist's build. It's an interesting and challenging project. Ordering parts from a catalogue and bolting them onto a 60's frame like a 1000 other people have is kinda boring in my world....

this site can and will have so much good info and plenty of help from its members the amount of info you get from here is priceless . so keep that in mind NoBondo i believe that what Ron was trying to do was to be helpful and give you an idea that may not be so taxing and also be more cost effective to you by saying to maybe try to keep the original chassis and build it to a new technology .. i have to say i have not seen so far many of these trucks done with other chassis on here yet so it would be really cool to so your progress on such a build . tho it may be this sight can help you with the truck part of things and may have to find a Buick road master / impala site for the chassis part of things . one thing i am wondering tho on this chassis you have in mind is isent that chassis a bit longer than our trucks ? i will be watching to see how things go good luck in your build and welcome the the Best chevy truck forum you will ever find on the innerweb Happy Truckin

[Slow Build]

Welcome from one of the 1000 people that live in that world you find so boring.

[65sub]

Welcome Nobondo. There are at least 2 builds on here using the roadmaster/ caprice frame on 60-66 trucks. search " roadmaster caprice frame" at the top of the page. Lots of info there. Doing the swap will take some cutting and welding but just sounds like fun to me.

[BigDan3131]

Welcome from the third person out of thousands who prefer our trucks to be trucks. Good luck with your build...and finding any easy build info.

[padresag]

this is one of those frame swaps and t he other is in the build section but haven't seen anything on it for a while and cannot remember the members name
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=533641
there is a lot of work to these swaps and getting the w/b correct sometimes gets sluffed on these types of operations.and if they ever have to get inspected and certified for the road a lot of them fail. he talked about all this stuff in the car books; yes they look wonderful, but how many of them ever get really driven on the streets(trailer queens)
I live in B.C. and he lives in Ont and we get lots here that come from there and a lot of Alberta vehicles. the funny thing about B.C, that any older out of prov. vehicle has to go through inspection before you can get them registered here. it has been the death of more than 1 vehicle.
if I was building a vehicle with a 14 rar old I would want to build it with a positive success scenario for when it was finished and not the possibility of being burned out by the detours in the build and giving up in the end
ron

[scuderia]

Welcome!
these guys did a body swap on to a late model truck chassis. http://www.trucktrend.com/cool-truck...966-chevy-c10/
Bit scary in that it took pros three months to complete but then you're not building a show truck so...

[Nobondo]

Well, maybe I should have posted my resume first, but the reality is that this project fits completely within my skill set other than some potential wiring issues that will be new to me. However, what good is a project if you can't stretch a little.

So no disrespect to all of you who want trucks to be trucks. I've never done things mainstream, just ain't me. And.....it's all worked out OK. If I wanted a 'truck' I'd just go buy one done...

Those of you who welcome another crazy build to the forum, go ahead and tag along for the ride.

[Nobondo]

Originally Posted by padresag

this is one of those frame swaps and t he other is in the build section but haven't seen anything on it for a while and cannot remember the members name
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=533641
there is a lot of work to these swaps and getting the w/b correct sometimes gets sluffed on these types of operations.and if they ever have to get inspected and certified for the road a lot of them fail. he talked about all this stuff in the car books; yes they look wonderful, but how many of them ever get really driven on the streets(trailer queens)
I live in B.C. and he lives in Ont and we get lots here that come from there and a lot of Alberta vehicles. the funny thing about B.C, that any older out of prov. vehicle has to go through inspection before you can get them registered here. it has been the death of more than 1 vehicle.
if I was building a vehicle with a 14 rar old I would want to build it with a positive success scenario for when it was finished and not the possibility of being burned out by the detours in the build and giving up in the end
ron

Thanks for that link Ron, very helpful although it will take some time to get through it all. I know a guy up in Winnipeg who is a professional hotrod builder who just completed a build like the one I'm suggesting. The wheelbase is within 3/4" of a SWB truck. He lopped a big chunk of the back of the Buick frame and moved the gas tank forward a few inches. He lopped a bit off the front as well. He used the Buick steering column and even the cluster, which was mounted in behind the factory dash opening. Much like the Suburban project, he had to notch the cab supports, but really he said it was pretty decent. They worked on it eves and weekends, started in Nov and were driving in the spring. Put it for sale in this fall and it sold in a day for $13K - said it was pretty near the first time he made his labour back on a 'fun build.' So I guess what I'm saying is that this is all really doable.

[ejn74]

Good luck with this build, will be cool to watch!

[padresag]

you also have to look at this from the other side. I didn't have a problem with what you were saying as I just replied with a simplistic view of it. I look at it(except if your truck has rear leafs which can be converted over) as basically the same suspension as the later buick; coil springs, a/frames etc. that buick with the lt1 is still 20 year old iron at best. they all run on bearings and rubber tires and can all be changed. rest you have to upgrade is motor and trans with whatever electronics your going to use. they are doing to ride pretty close to the same in the end.
you do get a lot of people with a lot of dreams that never get fulfilled that pass by these forums
and I am not one of those people who run to the corner store. there are some poeple on here who have some good products that are helpful and wont break the bank. one of then who you will more than likely here from is Captain Fab with his adaptors and mounts
ron

[Dans1960SWB]

Well first off growing up with a Dad that restored two National First 1930 Model A Fords in my life I have a very good understanding what it takes to restore a antique car. But that being said ordering parts that were made to bolt together is much easier than taking parts from a Caprice and bolting them to a 60s vintage truck.

Doing a project like your talking takes some real talent. Anybody can bolt stock parts together thats easy...

[Nobondo]

Well maybe you guys can try to convince me of a new plan before I buy a donor car.

I'm going to spend about $2000 on a donor car with decent miles and that budget includes the car, plus parts to freshen it up, and a few goodies for the engine. They are very cheap to buy and lots of guys are finding low mileage funeral home and grandma cars. There are also many 9C1's out there that are low mileage and well cared for. I really like the fact that I buy the car and basically I'm done the 'hunt' as far as the chassis goes. I don't have to drag any more wrecks home or crawl around in a scrap yard looking for this part or that part and paying all the associated costs. Putting another alternate engine/trans in place requires a lot of time & money as well just to get all the other systems in place (noted below).

My truck currently does not run, although it likely will, but I'm thinking the I6 would need to be pulled and thoroughly gone over, new clutch, etc, before being anywhere close to the Roadmaster drivetrain. That being said, the 'other' route would most definately involve an LS transplant. Either way, I'm going to want a modern lump for the type of work the truck will be doing. I can recoup some money by selling the frame and drivetrain as a complete roller.

Remember, we are building a ratty/patina truck, starting with a relatively undesirable rusty old truck. I am not destroying a well optioned SWB BBW.

My route I get:

1. LT1 w/ mods (son has discovered what a nice cam sounds like)
2. Front, and potentially rear (9C1) disc brakes (which I know are unnecessary in a truck, but cool none the less)
3. All the associated braking upgrade components already done
4. Posi rear end, 8.5" (9C1)
5. Great highway/towing drivability, reliability, and fuel economy - I haven't looked at weights but would gather the truck body to be lighter than Buick?
5. We get the lower stance we want, plus the Roadmaster tow package has rear air ride
6. Power steering
7. Cruise control
8. 5-bolt conversion
9. Exhaust is done, likely already a dual exhaust system
10. No custom driveshaft to buy/build (alternate engine)
11. No transmission mount, cooler, lines, controls, wiring (alternate engine)
12. No gas tank/fuel pump issue (alternate engine)
13. No rad, trans cooler issue (alternate engine) although I will have to make a custom rad support of sorts, although speaking to previous builder, it is relatively simple
14. Modern instrumentation vs. aftermarket for alternate engine
15. A/C, if I go that route is halfway, or more, done

So the bigger task of grafting the body to the new chassis is going to eat up time, but not so much money. And, I think it is time well spent with the boy. There is some nice fab work, measuring, and problem solving that won't necessarily be there with the many cookie-cutter solutions that all you good folks have figured out well before my time. And, of course, don't forget he gets to dismantle the Roadmaster too - what kid wouldn't love that project. ;-)

We can no doubt recoup some funds from the Roadmaster/Caprice/C10 by selling some parts on eBay/Craigslist/Kijiji.

So, that's my case and maybe this should have been my first post.

[Clyde65]

Welcome to the forum from Texas!

Even though your build idea isnt my cup of Joe, nor is it anywhere close to my skill set( more of a bolt on guy) i will be following along with everyone to see how it goes. Good luck my friend!

[LostMy65]

I can understand a purposeful challenge, but this just seems to be going to the same place but doing it with such unnecessary effort.
It's not like someone is going to say 'cool, it's on a caprice frame.'
But, if it brings you enjoyment, then I guess don't let other's views discourage you.

[63 & 64 Bowties]

Welcome to the forum. Interesting build. I had a '93 9C1 years ago. One of the best handling cars I ever owned even though it looked like a turtle-tank. When they were used for police cars, many cops called them 4-door Corvettes.
I moved this thread into the Project and Builds section for ya.

[LostMy65]

Reading your latest post, I see you've really put a lot of thought into this. It's something that interest you, so go for it.
I'll be watching.
Welcome to the forums.

[66ChevyMax]

Welcome and post PICS, lots of PICS!

[Nobondo]

Originally Posted by LostMy65

I can understand a purposeful challenge, but this just seems to be going to the same place but doing it with such unnecessary effort.
It's not like someone is going to say 'cool, it's on a caprice frame.'
But, if it brings you enjoyment, then I guess don't let other's views discourage you.

I do think people will say, "Cool, it's on a Caprice Interceptor frame." I think they will because it's different from the norm. Maybe in the back of their heads, they wonder why we did, but for sure, our police interceptor C10 will be cool.

Now what people have to say about the build is not what's driving me to build it. I just think to get my list of goodies noted above, it would be a lot more expensive and time consuming to do it the normal way.

I guess I'll know the answer to that when I'm done. And, when we do the next one, we'll have the knowledge and experience required to make an educated decision.

Thanks for your input.

[65sub]

Here's the other truck on a caprice frame http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=492640 The direction you choose is really just a personal choice. Both involve some thought and fabrication. Personaly I like the idea of the Caprice frame Just because its less common. Either way I'll follow along

[ETsC10]

Nobondo, I personally think it's a rockin idea! I have a friend with a pristine Roadmaster, the handling of which is fabulous!

As for the few who have not encouraged you and in such an unkind manner, don't get upset, just simply build your vision!

Isn't that what hotrodings all about? Subscribed!!

...........................

PS...Gentlemen, please be gentlemen ... or else!