Need advice on build.

[firestorm13666]

I am looking for some advice on a possible build of a std. cab long bed. To start with i have 1983 K10 with a rotted body that also has damage on the driver's side about a foot behind where the fender and door meet. When the damage was done it pushed in what was left of the rocker,floor,kick panel, and bowed the door on the driver's side. The cab corners,rockers, driver's floor,are just about gone and the windshield has a few small leaks. With all this it's still drivable.

Now i have a good friend with a 1987 C30 which i believe is a C&C. The cab dose have rot but no body damage. It has the normal rot i.e. car corners,rockers, and floor. Also i do not think the windshield leaks. Now the rust is less then on my K10 all but the floor. The floor has some holes in it behind the seat. I believe the rust behind the seat is where the cab mounts are. The good thing is the truck runs and was drivable when it was parked. It is a 350, manual trans with hydro clutch, and SRW 14BFF. He is asking $500 for it.

As of now i have some parts gathered for a build. So here is a list
197? K20 rolling chassis with 10B front, 14BFF rear, manual trans with NP205. Also have a Ford divorced NP205, TH350/NP203. C&C DRW 14BFF, and IFS bolt on dully adaptors. I also have all the cab sheet metal, both floors,cab corners, and rockers.

I have more tools then i would need for the work to be done, and will get what is needed.

So if anyone has any advice they would like to share by all means do so.
Thanks

 

[andyblack]

Sounds like you have a good start. If I were you, I would go ahead and buy the '87 for $500. That sounds like a steal! Then I would use the good parts of the K20 cab to fix the floor and try to put the good cab on the K20 frame. The 350 from the '87 should be fuel injected, so I'd keep it unless the TBI was just totally trashed. If the engine is shot, well you've got two good cores to turn in. If the TH350 is good, I'd keep it. I'd sell the divorced Ford 205 and keep the 205 from the Chevy and the 203 and get one of those doublers with the money I made off the sale of the Ford t-case. Throw on a lift and some tires and presto! Ready to wheel.

On second thought, maybe I'd keep the rear springs off the C10 and use them for the front of the truck I was building (if it was going to be an off-road only truck for the most part). I think those would still be 56"s. Not sure. Oh yeah, maybe I'd try to sell the other 14ff and get a D60 front.

I wonder though if it would be easier to fix the C30 cab and try to swap it over to 4wd. Hmmm...either way would be a lot of work. I guess the fuel pump and/or tank(s) would have to come out of the C30 for the TBI engine too.

 

[firestorm13666]

The K10 is somewhat of a daily driver. So stealing parts form it right away is a no go. As for the C30 the door sticker had 4/87 on it but my friend wasn't sure off hand what year it is. It is carbed, and looks to be the older 2 piece rear main from the looks of the valve covers. Has vacuum brakes. It also has a utility bed on it that i can sell off. My plan was to get it for the body and manual trans parts.

As for a build i would like to do a frame off, so i can put all new stainless lines and such on the frame. As for the frame if i get the C30 i will have two frames which to pick from. To the best of my knowledge the frame rails are the same between two wheel drive and four wheel, but differ from 3/4 and 1 ton. So what would i be better off with using as a frame?

For lift i was thinking of running 37 or 40 inch tires. Now i don't mind trimming as i do not was some sky-high truck just for the looks. I plan to have a flatbed of some kind and will trim away as much of the front fenders as need be. I was thinking 52's or something along those lines up front. A shackle flip and not sure what springs for the rear.

I plan to cage this truck right from the start if i can. And later on maybe add a exo cage as well. That's about all i can think of for now. Thanks for any, and all help.

 

[andyblack]

Sounds like a good plan. I think the later model frame would be in better shape and less likely to get rust. Also if you keep that one, it would be easier than swapping a 14ff to the 3/4 ton frame because you wouldn't have to cut off and move the spring perches on the axle tube. I think the SM465 from the C30 has a different bolt pattern than the 4WD model, so I don't know if you could use it or not without an adapter. Not sure though. You should probably do a search or start a thread in the Garage about that. I know I've seen several guys on here talking about that but I can't remember what they said.

There's a user on here named Howdiy or something like that. He has a build thread where he converted a 2WD Suburban to 4WD. I think it shows what he did as far as crossmembers and such.

 

[firestorm13666]

Well nothing much has happened yet. I have been off of work due to a knee injury, and i am now back to work. So not much has happened sense the injury. The only good thing that came about was finding a building to rent, and use as a shop. Now that i have a shop to work out of i can get things rolling.

So i work at a wheel and tire warehouse/shop. I was looking around at wheels and saw a wheel made by Ultra i like. It is their type 173/174 Nomad. We happened to have one at another warehouse of ours and i got one to test fit. The one i tested was a 17X9" 8-6.5 with 5.47" inches or backspacing. It did clear the tie rod on the front 10bolt i have with about 1/4" or so of space. Now they also have the same wheel with 5" of backspacing.

Now with that info on the wheels. I would like to in the end run around a 37"-40" tire, and end up with a dana 60 in the front with the lest amount of lift needed to fit them. So would these wheels with their backspacing work with what i want? Also on a side note i am thinking about Staun internal beadlock for down the road, or something like them.

Any advice or info would be grate.

 

[andyblack]

I've heard of some guys using HMMWV wheels (something like 7" of backspacing) on dually front hubs on their D60 to make up for the backaspacing and create clearance. I think that if you don't use spacers or something, you will get some rubbing with those wheels and 40" tires for sure, even if they're the 40x13.50s . I think the truck might look funny too. I think you need about 3" to 4" of backspacing (with stock hubs and no spacers) to be about right. The wheels do look cool though.

I've heard good stuff about the Stauns. They're expensive.

 

[firestorm13666]

Thats about what i was thinking. And it does seem hard to find wheels for anything that is fourwheeldrive over a 15 with the right backspacing. If anyone has any ideas for wheels let me know as i had a hard time finding wheels to fit my daily.

An i know that they want a lot for the Stauns,but i would rather deal with a tube then a ton of bolts.

Thanks.