73-87chevytrucks.com
73-87 Chevy _ GMC Trucks => Body, Glass & Paint => Topic started by: DanielD on July 10, 2010, 08:32:48 am
-
I have 2 trucks in poor condition. I want to make 1 "good" truck out of the two.
The first is a 1977 fleetside with a new motor, front end bushings and ball joints. The cab on this truck is shot; rust everywhere.
The second truck is a 1980 stepside with a good cab, good stepside bed and beat up front cap. It does not have a motor.
Can I pull the cab from the 1980 and install it on the 1977 model without any mods? Can I swap the stepside bed to the 1977 without modifying?
My final question is this: How in the heck do you get the cab from one truck to another? Do have to have 4 or 5 guys for a half a day or is there another way to do it?
Thanks
-
Not quite sure what you mean be front end cap?
I am assuming they are both the same wheel base?
Are both trucks the same trans type ( auto or stick )?
The cab, and bed will be a direct swap. If you have access to a backhoe, or some sort of gantry, and a chain fall it can be done with one, or two people. If not then you will need 5 or 6 people to help you lift it from one to the other. Once you have it unbolted its only a matter of an hour or so with extra help.
You have transmission, or clutch linkage to deal with, brake lines at the master cylinder, steering column at the rag joint. 4 cab mount bolts, 2 core support mount bolts, a couple ground wires, and the wire harness where it bolts to the firewall side of the fuse box / bulkhead connector. As far as the nose it can be swapped with the cab or without. If you remove it there are 2 bolts in the back of the inner fender well, 1 underneath at the front of the inner rocker, 1 behind the door above the top hinge, 1 under the hood at the rear just ahead of the windshield, and the core support mount bolts. You will need to remove the grill to get to the top side of them. Then the whole nose will come off as a unit.
There will be a plug under the rear of the bed for the tail lights, providing someone hasn't butchered it! The fuel filler tube unscrews from the bed side around the filler. You will have to swap the step side filler neck onto the other truck too.
As far as the nose, and motor wire harness they are close enough that they may interchange, but would be one less worry if you used the harness with the new cab.
-
I have done it by myself with doors off and a 4x4 piece of wood through the cab. I centered the cherry picker and it was easy. Just take your time and reposition the 4x4 as needed to get the cab to lift off straight and not be front heavy...
-
Sounds like it can be done if I rent a cherry picker and take my time. As far as my terminology I mean that the front fenders are shot, though one may be salvageable. Thanks for the advice; I'll keep you guys posted as to how this thing pans out.
D
-
If you dont have any means of lifting the cab, you can go down to your local Home Depot with a 12 pack of Tecate...
-
I've run into an issue here. The 1980 cab does not have air. The 1977 cab does have air. Guess what?
They're different... I'm planning on doing a bit of welding, drilling and cutting to make the holes match so I can put the air in the 1980 cab.
Are there any tricks to this or am I not seeing something here?
By the way, its' so giggered hot outside the progress is very slow...
-
Easiest trick is to not swap air into a non air cab!!!
-
Easiest trick is to not swap air into a non air cab!!!
Gotta have air in this heat. Not an option.
-
I preffer the 260 ac 2 windows down 60mph.
-
Well, the '77 cab is off the frame.
Tomorrow I'll cut/weld the '80 for the air conditioning package and then mount the cab on the '77 frame. I may wait though if I decide to change the cab mounts while its apart. That will push the attach to next weekend.
The 4X4 post with the engine hoist worked great by the way.
Thanks for the tip.