77 C20 hauler to crawler

[F.S.F.W]

F.S.F.W submitted a new Build:

77 C20 hauler to crawler (I did something!)

Been lurking around here for a while now and finally got around to joining. Not really sure how to start this thread but here it goes...

Back in 2009 I bought a 77 C20 with a goodwrench 454 and a turbo 400. Actually when I bought it from my roommate for a whopping $100 he had robbed the engine and trans for his M715 build. After he lost interest in his build he offered me the big block and TH400 for $1000. $1100 for the truck sounded like a good deal to me. When my oldest son turned 16 I gave him the truck with the agreement that he would save his money for parts needed and he would also be helping me put it back together. After he drove it for a couple years he was offered $2500 for the truck while he was putting gas in it AND HE SAID NO!!! By now I was tired of working on it and honestly hated this truck. So I told him he was out of his mind and should have sold it. Looking back it makes me feel good that he really did love the truck and was proud of it and proud of all the work we had done on it. Soooooo... Knowing that this truck wasn't going to work for him as he left for college I thought it was fair to offer to put $2500 down on a more reliable vehicle and he would be responsible for making the remaining payments. So all together I had $3600 and a lot of busted knuckles into owning this...

After I put some miles on the truck and got some of the bugs worked out I started to understand why he didn't want to part with the truck. Even though it was a stock 454 it was clear that my decision to do long tube headers and flowmasters when we put it together was addictive. I absolutely loved driving it! Last April I took a job about 30 miles from home and between commuting back and forth in hot weather and hauling load upon load of scrap down the interstate with 4.56's at close to 4K rpm (yeah I know...) the goodwrench 454 started to make some noise. BUT... That wasn't a devastating blow. In 2013 I bought 3 other trucks and a pile of parts from a friend that was moving to Canada. in the mix was a freshly rebuilt 468 bbc with aluminum heads, Ultradyne roller cam, roller rockers, balanced crank and rods, and hyperuetectic pistons. So in it went along with a NV4500 and a McLeod clutch. What a stinkin nightmare that was! It wasn't a...

Read more about this build here...

View attachment 230353

 

[max 02]

I`ll watch!

 

[Phil513]

I'm in!

 

[F.S.F.W]

Yay spectators! Guess I better make this worth watching.

 

[blazinzuk]

Yep careful we heckle sometimes

 

[sreidmx]

That's a hell of a first post, this should be bad a$$

 

[76zimmer]

wait, you call that rot in the rocker panels??? they look pretty good from the pic?
Good luck, a roller aluminum headed 468, mmmmm!

 

[F.S.F.W]

Nothing major to post yet. I was wishing I would have dropped the front suspension when I had the motor out! I can definitely see a few areas of the frame that need boxed. I can't believe how weak the frame rails are. With jack stands on the front cab mounts there is at least an inch of sag at the front bumper. No biggie though. Got all the front suspension out, jackstands under it and leveled it all up. Pulled my springs out of storage and realized they weren't quite what I thought they were... I think they will be ok in the back but I need to make a decision on the front. The springs I was going to use are 55" (thought they were 52's) superlift spring packs that I was going to pull a couple leaves out of but each spring is 3/8" thick and they are 8" lift springs. I thought they might flatten out a little more than they did when I pulled them apart but I was wrong. The good news is even though they aren't 52's the rear factory springs are in pretty decent shape and have all the isolator deals on the ends. Any nay Sayers on using them in the front? I can cut weld build whatever is needed to make them work so I'm not worried about that. Not worried about front axle location too much either as I will need it moved forward to clear the 40's. I just don't feel like going shopping at the wrecking yard. But I will if I need to.


Although it's a little crusty everything here is in pretty good shape so it will find its way under another project... Someday.

Need to dig my 60 out and put it back together. Shouldn't take too long to get that taken care of then I can slide it under and get busy! Hoping to be able to put in a few hours after work this week.

Here is a small pile of parts. Nothing fancy but it will work and if I feel like upgrading later I have that option. The silver shocks are just rough country N2.0 that I had for my other rig. They seem to work good enough and I'm tired of kickin them around. They have plenty of travel and if they don't work I'm not really out much. I'll use the superlift shocks in the rear.

Here is a poser shot of my other rig. Yeah it's not a GM but it's still fun.

 

[F.S.F.W]

Oh and the rot in the passenger side is worse. I have to patch the floor also. And yes I love my roller motor! It's only around 8.25:1 compression but it still scream! I've had a few scary moments at the end of 4th gear when it was wound up way too tight for a cast crank.

 

[F.S.F.W]

Sorry... Nothing new yet. Didn't get my usual Friday off last week and had a meeting to go to on Saturday. Hopefully Thursday night, Friday, and part of Saturday will work out. Can anyone tell me the individual leaf thickness of a 52" spring?

 

[78K30]

Looks like a fun build! Specs on the dodge? Looks like a pretty well built unit

 

[F.S.F.W]

Looks like a fun build! Specs on the dodge? Looks like a pretty well built unit

High pinion 60 front, 3 link, 16" FOA's, 4 link rear, 241/241 box4rocks, tube backhalf, 42's... I know there's more but I'm drawing a blank!

 

[GWeakland620]

Very cool stuff. I like the direction this thing is going

The dodge is sweet too.

 

[F.S.F.W]

Finally got back at it this weekend! Didn't get as far as I wanted to but I can't complain.
Pulled a couple leaves out of my 8" spring packs and made the decision to use the in the back. Not sure how they are going to work but if they suck I'll do a shackle flip and stock 56".

It should sit about 2" higher than this with the tires mounted.

Trying to keep the ghetto fab to a minimum but I ended up cutting to top out of my 2wd crossmember and modifying it a little. Eventually I'll ditch it for something better but it'll work for now.

I wasn't really excited about using this rusty 4x4 and I actually screwed it up and cut it too short BUT it worked out better than my original plan. After I cap the ends it will be a good platform to build a bumper off of and makes a good place for a receiver and some clevise mounts.

Hoping to get my other NV4500 and 203/205 in it next week. Have to get my Frontend under it first. I keep losing my focus and bounce around like a fart in a frying pan but I think I'm finally getting ahold of myself!

 

[F.S.F.W]

I almost forgot about this... Been kickin it around in and out of storage for the past 3 years trying to figure out where I wanted to use it. Just have to figure out how to run the return line into it from the heater core.

 

[F.S.F.W]

Didn't get much done today but I guess I should still be happy. Sounds like everyone around here is or has had this crud that's going around! Built my spring mounts and got one of my shackles cut and drilled before every 9/16 bit I own crapped out. I still need to round the corners on the shackle and the frame bushing and sleeve are just sitting in the frame. Haven't settled on a final design. On the 2wd frame the e-brake cable runs through right there so I need to plate the frame to fix that issue.

 

[F.S.F.W]

After an unproductive morning trying to focus on ONE THING AT A TIME... I realized that my dodge 60 is the one with 4.56's NOT my Chevy 60. So rather than doing the gear swap I'm just putting my dodge 60 under it. The backspace on my wheels should work good with the narrower Frontend. So this is the only update pic I have! Tomorrow I need to spend a little time cleaning up before I break my neck! Haha! Then I'll get something finished for once.

 

[Bent77]

Not sure how I missed this thread

 

[F.S.F.W]

Not sure how I missed this thread

It hasn't been too eventful... Yet.

 

[Bent77]

That's alright, might catch ideas for my own build!