Author Topic: My 79 swb build  (Read 5433 times)

Offline Joegibbstruck

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My 79 swb build
« on: May 03, 2017, 09:09:38 PM »
Figured I would start a build thread to keep track of my progress. I bought this 79 swb c10 a few weeks ago for 1500, it ran and moved under its own power. Has a 350, with coated headers, edelbrock torkwr intake, edelbrock 600 carb, 274 cam. It also has a turbo 400, and 12 bolt rear. The lower half of this truck is 95% rust free, the main rust is where the firewall and cowl meet and some pin holes around the windshield. I have pulled the bed, and front clip to see what I'm working with. Someone has already stripped most of the frame and cleaned it up and painted  most of it black. They also installed the 81-87 front clip which I will be returning to original. I have already bought a donor cab and stripped it down, I removed the dash out of it today, and am currently coming up with a plan that will be the easiest swap. I was originally going to disassemble panel by panel until I got the parts I needed. However now I think I will probably graft the entire front of the cab onto mine in 1 piece.


This is what I started with








This is the rust I'm replacing






They slotted the cowl for the later model hood hinges



My donor cab, with rust free firewall.


Current state of the truck



Donor cab stripped and the dash removed




Offline Joegibbstruck

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Re: My 79 swb build
« Reply #1 on: May 09, 2017, 06:42:10 PM »
Pulled the front and rear windows  off the truck today to see where I need to cut the donor cab to splice it onto my existing cab. Found more rust than I was expecting around the front lower windshield and the passenger side pillar.

Driver side lower window.
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Passenger side lower window


Passenger side pillar


Below the dash is completely rust free so I think the project is still worth moving forward. I think im going to cut  the pillars where they are joined at the factory, and probably below the lower firewall joint so I don't have to reapply seam sealer. So basically graft the entire front of my donor cab onto my original cab with nothing but weld.

This is where I'm going to cut the pillars at the roof.

Offline AZ4X4SQBDY

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Re: My 79 swb build
« Reply #2 on: May 12, 2017, 10:29:00 PM »
This looks like a ton of work. Wishing you luck and patience to get it done. Not everyone lives where trucks last like around here but lessons I learned long ago when I lived in PA was it's tough to fix a rusty truck.
1987 GMC Sierra Classic 4x4 short, fleet, 1985 Chevrolet Silverado 4x4 short, step side, '87 Chevy Silverado short fleet, '91 Dodge Ramcharger LE 4x4,
2005 Porsche Boxster S,1982 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce

Offline Joegibbstruck

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Re: My 79 swb build
« Reply #3 on: October 03, 2017, 09:47:24 AM »
Well I have made a little progress on it, I have the firewall removed from the donor cab and removed the cab from the chassis unfortunately I guess I can no longer host pictures from photobucket and have no clue what to do now. I will be shaving the a/c holes as I will eventually run a vintage air setup. I am also going to convert from power to manual brakes for a better feel and cleaner engine compartment. I bought a full msd ignition setup for it and a fast EFI. Things will hopefully begin moving quicker on it as work slows down for the winter. Sorry for no pics, I evidently cannot host pictures from photobucket anymore.

Offline VileZambonie

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Re: My 79 swb build
« Reply #4 on: October 03, 2017, 05:11:52 PM »
Photobucket is garbage. Either use google drive or another image hosting service. You can add attachments here as well but they preview small and have restricted file sizes.

,                           ___ 
                         /  _ _ _\_
              ⌠ŻŻŻŻŻ'   [☼===☼]
              `()_);-;()_)--o--)_)

74 GMC, 75 K5, 84 GMC, 85 K20, 86 k20, 79 K10

Offline Joegibbstruck

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Re: My 79 swb build
« Reply #5 on: October 13, 2017, 10:21:59 AM »
Let's try this and see if it works.

Donor cab reference point




Donor cab cut line





Donor firewall removed


« Last Edit: October 15, 2017, 12:42:32 AM by bd »

Offline Joegibbstruck

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Re: My 79 swb build
« Reply #6 on: October 13, 2017, 10:54:54 PM »
Existing cab removed from frame



Existing cab cut apart and donor ready to go on


Firewall installed and attached I'm 6 places





Now just gotta zeuce it all back together
« Last Edit: October 15, 2017, 12:41:55 AM by bd »

Offline JohnCaldy

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Re: My 79 swb build
« Reply #7 on: October 24, 2017, 12:25:14 AM »
Glad the pics are up again.  :) I agree, Photobucket is trash.

Offline VileZambonie

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Re: My 79 swb build
« Reply #8 on: October 24, 2017, 04:33:46 AM »
Nice job
,                           ___ 
                         /  _ _ _\_
              ⌠ŻŻŻŻŻ'   [☼===☼]
              `()_);-;()_)--o--)_)

74 GMC, 75 K5, 84 GMC, 85 K20, 86 k20, 79 K10

Offline 505 Mike

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Re: My 79 swb build
« Reply #9 on: October 01, 2019, 04:40:51 PM »
Would it be possible to receive these pics by email?