1974 Chevrolet Motorcycle Shop Custom Truck Build Long Bed Fleetside One Ton

[joeyputt]

Hello everyone, I have been wanting to build a new truck for the shop and personal use for a while and a very close friend of mine decided he was going to let one of their family trucks go that I have always loved so I did some trading with him and it is now mine! I have owned several chevy trucks in the past and I am very happy that I will be able to build and keep this one!

The truck has been sitting for a few years and a engine and transmission did not come with it however I had a nice 1990 350 engine with the serpentine belt system that I just set in the truck and I am almost finished converting it from TBI to a carburetor. I modified and installed a factory aluminum intake manifold from a 1981 Corvette on the engine and rebuilt a nice Quadrajet to go with it. I also installed an HEI distributor for the ignition.

The transmission is a 700R4 and I had to move the crossmember so it is just sitting in place until I drill a few new holes to mount it. I was able to use the factory front driveshaft from the 1990 Suburban that the engine and this transmission came out of and the rear driveshaft that came with the truck to get the length I needed between the transmission and rear end. I am sure I will have some questions about the 700R4 transmission as I have had TH350 transmissions in most of my other vintage Chevrolet vehicles.

My friend said that he converted the front end to one ton springs and the rear end is a 14 bolt 10.5 one ton rear end I believe and he says it has 4.10 gears however I will confirm the gear ratio when I check the rear end.

I will take some photos of the truck and the work that I am doing to share as I have the time to work on her!

[joeyputt]

Here are a couple photos I took yesterday afternoon so that I could look at them while researching information to try and identify the rear end, I believe it is a 14 bolt 10.5 one ton rear end is that correct?

[Captkaos]

Definitely a 14 bolt.  What do the ends of the axle look like?

[joeyputt]

I have not taken the back wheels off to look yet however I may tomorrow so I can take some photos and add them when I do. I am going to clean this rear end soon however do you happen to know where the numbers may be located on it?

[Irish_Alley]

capt just curious but have you seen a 10.5" 14 (the one thats pointy, like pictured) ever be a sf?

or could we correspond the 9.5" 14 bolt for sf?

[blazing816]

That's a heck of a mud bee "hive" on the diff cover....pretty crazy!!!

[joeyputt]

Captkaos I removed one of the rear wheels this afternoon so that I could take a photo of the end of the axle for you, please share any information about this rear end that you may know as this is the first 14 bolt that I have had.

Yes blazing816 we live out in the county in Alabama and these dirt dobbers also like to fill everything with dirt, they fill atv and motorcycle air intake tubes and exhaust pipes so that the engines will not run correctly and they also love to fill threaded holes in intakes, cylinder heads, etc.!

You all will have to excuse how dirty the truck is as it has been driven on dirt roads here for years and she has been resting for the last three years however I am going to start cleaning and painting everything as soon as I finish getting her running. My good friend that I just got the truck from had put new aluminum rims on the truck right before they parked it and he let me have them with the truck as well however they will need polishing and new tires.

[frotosride]

IMPO, Good trade!! I am curious what the rest of the truck looks like so waiting of pics and good luck with getting her up and running. Not sure how much you've explored the site but there isn't much if anything that hasn't been covered here or that someone here hasn't/can't figure out on these old trucks.

[Captkaos]

Missed the cover pic the other day.  That is a full float 14 bolt. 
Look at my R10 turbo truck,  the dirt in my filter was most likely from dirt dobbers when I was bending fuel lines.

Chris Lucas
73-87chevytrucks.com
captkaoscustoms.com
squarebody.biz

[joeyputt]

Thank You frotosride! I have owned a couple of similar trucks in the past however I have always loved this truck and I could not believe it when my friend said he was going to let her go so I had to have her! I got her from one of my best friends too and he also gave me a lot of parts like new doors, a nice set of used front fenders that I am gong to put on as the ones that are on the truck now have been lightly modified for larger tire clearance, another dash pad, and an extra grille, etc.

I had planned on trying to take a few photos of the truck today so that I could post them this evening however my wife and I spent the day away from the shop so I only had enough time to take the rear wheel off to get the axle photo when we got back so I will try to take some photos of the body tomorrow and post them for you.

I should hopefully have the engine running very soon as I only need to run a few wires to test start her and then I can start working on everything else.

This forum is definitely a wealth of knowledge and I am proud to be a member here, I have been reading about the 700R4 converter this evening and I need to study more about connecting the tv cable to the Quadrajet carburetor and setting it still however I am sure there is a lot of information here about that as well!

Thank You for confirming the rear end model Captkaos, I added a photo of the axle end that you asked about for you as well. I was just looking at your turbo truck sitting on the dyno a little while ago, man that is going to be a nice truck! Dirt dobbers try to get into everything here at the shop!

[joeyputt]

I also meant to ask about u-joints for these rear ends, I had a hard time trying to find one to fit where the rear drive shaft fits into the rear end as the cups in the drive shaft and the cups for the rear end are different sizes and the set that goes in the drive shaft are closer together than those that go in the rear end. I found one that had both of the correct size caps and it fit the drive shaft however when I set the u-joint in the rear end I found that it could be a little wider. When we tried to find the u-joint for this truck at the parts store all of the part numbers we checked had even sized and spaced caps so we had to try and match this one to the measurements I needed. Is there a certain u-joint that most of you are using with this rear end? I am planning on building new side spacers that will be welded to the straps if we use this u-joint that I have now as it is the only one I have been able to find with the correct size caps.

[frotosride]

This has nothing to do with the truck pat of the thread title but rather the two wheeled part of the title. I assume your normal line of work is motorcycle repair? Customs? etc.. When I'm done with the truck I'm turning my attention to my daily driver M109r and seriously considering forced induction... Got a website for the shop?

[joeyputt]

Yes I have a website, is it cool to post it here? I am a new member and do not want people to think I joined just to advertise. I included that information in the title as this will be my new shop truck and it will get lettered with the shops logo, website, etc. after we paint it.

[frotosride]

Just PM me the link then you're not advertising or violating any of the 20pages of guide lines.

[Captkaos]

20 pages?  There is a lot of liability from running a forum.  I don't think there are 20 pages, but they are there to protect us all.

Joey, use your best judgement, if you wouldn't want me doing it on your site use the same rules here.  PM would be best...