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Shorty the crewcab. (Been saved from the chopping block)
- Thread starter shady
- Start date
81 CC short bed conversion
The random thin leafs in the middle have got to be add-a-leafs. I've never seen them change thickness like that.
It may be an optical illusion due to dirt... I think they are pretty much all the same thickness. Who knows though. I'm going to try and find a used replacement for now.
I want to go with customs when I lift it.
I want to go with customs when I lift it.
I see the dirt now, you might be right. Either way, yes those are very toast. Lol
red EOD
1/2 ton status
Reminds me of the old rear leaf springs in my crew cab, only the main and the bottom overload were intact. Swapped out to the 64"s that have a bunch of upper overload leaves.
beags86
Eastbound and Down
Huh, why am I not surprised.
It's the current plan. But who knows if it will go that way. I originally bought the bee for parts not as a whole for use.
Just decided to build it some because I had it and couldn't afford a K5 or another burb to put it all in. Now I have this.
I didn't have a shop when I got the Bee. And now that I do I need a 4 seat DD so I can sell my Silverado. It's too tight for comfort having them all at once.
Just decided to build it some because I had it and couldn't afford a K5 or another burb to put it all in. Now I have this.
I didn't have a shop when I got the Bee. And now that I do I need a 4 seat DD so I can sell my Silverado. It's too tight for comfort having them all at once.
I worked on this thing some more. I've been hitting the OT pretty hard, so time for it has been sparse.
Brake lights didn't work but turned out to be a missing fuse.
Amazingly aside from that, a burned out lowbeam, and a bad marker light, they all worked.
Brake leak is a passenger rear wheel cylinder.
The spark plugs and wires I got are 90* at the plug and won't work with my manifolds. I kinda messed that up
. Any way you turn them leaves the wire touching the manifold. Ill use these on the Bee engine and pick up another set of straights.
I came up with a temporary plan for the rear springs. I'm going to pull them both apart, remove the busted leaf and the matching one from the other side, then reassemble alternating each leaf side to side. The leaves from the non flattened pack and the arched ones should cancel each other out and make them even enough to get me past inspection and until I can get new springs.
I haven't drained the oil yet. That will tell me if my fears are correct. Just pulling the dipstick shows BLACK oil with 70's lowrider style metal flake. Which was the reason for thinking I may have to swap engines.
My cheap tires seem to be holding air. That's a huge plus.
And I still have to figure out how and why the hydro brakes work great but power steering doesn't at all
. I'm guessing the steering box is all gummed up.
After I get the inspection and title process finished I'll hit it pretty hard. Getting stuff cleaned, fixed up, and painted. But for now I'm just doing whatever needs done for that.
Brake lights didn't work but turned out to be a missing fuse.
Amazingly aside from that, a burned out lowbeam, and a bad marker light, they all worked.
Brake leak is a passenger rear wheel cylinder.
The spark plugs and wires I got are 90* at the plug and won't work with my manifolds. I kinda messed that up
. Any way you turn them leaves the wire touching the manifold. Ill use these on the Bee engine and pick up another set of straights. I came up with a temporary plan for the rear springs. I'm going to pull them both apart, remove the busted leaf and the matching one from the other side, then reassemble alternating each leaf side to side. The leaves from the non flattened pack and the arched ones should cancel each other out and make them even enough to get me past inspection and until I can get new springs.
I haven't drained the oil yet. That will tell me if my fears are correct. Just pulling the dipstick shows BLACK oil with 70's lowrider style metal flake. Which was the reason for thinking I may have to swap engines.
My cheap tires seem to be holding air. That's a huge plus.
And I still have to figure out how and why the hydro brakes work great but power steering doesn't at all
. I'm guessing the steering box is all gummed up.After I get the inspection and title process finished I'll hit it pretty hard. Getting stuff cleaned, fixed up, and painted. But for now I'm just doing whatever needs done for that.
Today I actually pulled this thing apart even farther. But it was actually in order to steal the open carrier for the rumble bee. I want to 4wheel with it a few times before I cannibalize it for this truck. So in a way it's for this in the long run lol.
Started by pulling the less than optimal time rod off. But I have a replacement
And amazingly I had the outers off and diff out in in about an HR. With a few beer pauses in there too lol. A good impact works wonders......
Oh , and NOT being an Iowa truck lol.
Started by pulling the less than optimal time rod off. But I have a replacement
And amazingly I had the outers off and diff out in in about an HR. With a few beer pauses in there too lol. A good impact works wonders......
Oh , and NOT being an Iowa truck lol.
Diff looks good. Little dirty, but good. I'm going to take a crap shoot and use the bearings and shims from the bee diff on this and just see how it comes out. Not worried about new bearings and all that until I add a locker of some kind
Just throwing a pic on here for the hell of it. I'm kind of in a dilemma of whether or not to just re gear and rebuild the front on this now, or swap the carrier to the bee and use those axles on this later.
I have no idea when I'll be able to swap a 4l80e into this. The 3.73s the bee has would be better for this while it's a manual 4 speed. Being that it'll be a DD.
But the 4.10s it has now would be better after it gets OD. Which may be a while. Kind of an odd choice.
I have no idea when I'll be able to swap a 4l80e into this. The 3.73s the bee has would be better for this while it's a manual 4 speed. Being that it'll be a DD.
But the 4.10s it has now would be better after it gets OD. Which may be a while. Kind of an odd choice.
I've thought of multiple color combos, and Final looks for this truck. And there's so many I like.
But I keep coming back to my first try at owning a Squarebody CCSB. I loved the look of that truck and constantly think of it when day dreaming of this one. So as of now I'm planning on pretty much mimicking this one, but done correctly.
It will be 2" lower, have different tires, and a black interior. But for the most part it'll be just like it looks wise.
I'm not against a correct style color stripe of some color later down the side.
https://ck5.com/forums/builds/shadys-crew-cab-short-bed-project-sold.380/
![DSC02592[1].JPG](https://ck5.com/forums/data/attachments/256/256526-699782c83808c0f4e8a78c3bdad43e6c.jpg "DSC02592[1].JPG")
But I keep coming back to my first try at owning a Squarebody CCSB. I loved the look of that truck and constantly think of it when day dreaming of this one. So as of now I'm planning on pretty much mimicking this one, but done correctly.
It will be 2" lower, have different tires, and a black interior. But for the most part it'll be just like it looks wise.
I'm not against a correct style color stripe of some color later down the side.
https://ck5.com/forums/builds/shadys-crew-cab-short-bed-project-sold.380/
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This is the new addition to this build.. plan is to strip the srw one down to the frame and start building that. I'll get it down to just a frame, springs, and axles. Do my shortening work. Then have it sand blasted and epoxy primered.
After that I'll re-run all lines, wires, etc. And get the drive train installed.
Then swap this 2wds cab and front clip on to the 4x4 frame.
The 2wd dually will be my DD until the swap is ready. I'm still trying to decide what I'm doing after that with the spare parts. I may put the 2wd back together with the 4xs cab and make a lowered dully ratrod out of it on the cheap. Time and space will tell.
After that I'll re-run all lines, wires, etc. And get the drive train installed.
Then swap this 2wds cab and front clip on to the 4x4 frame.
The 2wd dually will be my DD until the swap is ready. I'm still trying to decide what I'm doing after that with the spare parts. I may put the 2wd back together with the 4xs cab and make a lowered dully ratrod out of it on the cheap. Time and space will tell.
just a bit of leaf spring info :
yes these older style packs tend o all be the same leaf thickness per leaf .
but the newer stuff rides so smooth for 2 reasons .
#1 = longer eye to eye length
#2 = #1-#3 leafs thicker as they work a bit more then the rest thinner so its not as hard a ride when on them .
lots of the newer packs are setup this way .
and to the o.p. nice project !
yes these older style packs tend o all be the same leaf thickness per leaf .
but the newer stuff rides so smooth for 2 reasons .
#1 = longer eye to eye length
#2 = #1-#3 leafs thicker as they work a bit more then the rest thinner so its not as hard a ride when on them .
lots of the newer packs are setup this way .
and to the o.p. nice project !
The shortened frame will get 3"-4" custom springs when that time comes. Length determined by builder. I want it set up to still be able to tow the big trailer, but ride as nice as possible under normal use.
As is for now I'm still going to try and get the older CC titled for possible future use. Hopefully they don't pay attention to the springs n chit when it gets inspected.
As is for now I'm still going to try and get the older CC titled for possible future use. Hopefully they don't pay attention to the springs n chit when it gets inspected.
pic a nice soft spring and add some air bags and daystar lower cups . bam good ride and still hold weight .
Showed up at a small dealership in my town a couple days ago. I've been frequenting his site lately because I knew he gives high trade values and he usually has at least a couple cool things out there.
It's actually the lot I bought my kids old 72 K5 from.
I've looked it over and it's pretty clean really.. only part I've seen that bothers me is there's a bunch of silicone around the top cab marker lights. And none around the half screwed in sunvisor screws.
Sunvisor, cab lights, brush guard, mud flaps, and the little bumper marker poles will all come off soon. Most likely the running boards too.
It's actually the lot I bought my kids old 72 K5 from.
I've looked it over and it's pretty clean really.. only part I've seen that bothers me is there's a bunch of silicone around the top cab marker lights. And none around the half screwed in sunvisor screws.
Sunvisor, cab lights, brush guard, mud flaps, and the little bumper marker poles will all come off soon. Most likely the running boards too.
beags86
Eastbound and Down
Clearance lights?
Might not have a c/k30 anything without the clearance lights.
Blasphemy.
Might not have a c/k30 anything without the clearance lights.
Blasphemy.
