Project 30 Be Low
 

It has been 10 years since I have started a build thread, so I guess it is time to get started on my '71 C30 that I intend to slam on bags with a custom dump flat bed.
This will be a budget build as my last one was so I will be custom fabricating the rear frame and suspension and most of the front. I have so many ideas running through my head and I am sure it will morph in final result.

I drove 6 hours one way with cash in hand to dig this fossil out of the hills above Fresno Ca. with a fork lift. The body is in remarkable condition, and it has Alcoa wheels that I like although they are only 16" and I would have preferred at least 18".

So if I have your interest join in for the ride, it is going to be a slow build but it has been one I have been thinking about for 7 years.

Re: Project 30 Be Low
 

Joined

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Looking forward to watching this one

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Great find, looks like it was well worth the drive. That thing just barely gets up on that trailer, good thing it wasn't a few inches longer. We like lots of pictures..

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Yeah barely fits is an under statement. It did not fit by about three feet. But we were already up there with no other options. U haul is the only company that rents their trailers and you can return them somewhere else. All the other companies I looked at wanted their trailer back up in Fresno.

We figured since it did not have a bed or a camper on it the tongue was still the heavy side, but it was just 36" longer than my C20 long bed. If you look close in the picture you can see that there is a 4x6 wood beam that spans the frame rails about 3 feet in front of the rear axle. We used the custom camper leveling jacks to pick the back dualies off of the loading ramps and strapped the hell out of it. It road pretty well without much sway at 65 mph. It took a fork lift to get it on the truck and some back yard engineering to get it off since I do not own a fork lift at my house.

Old51: I like to post lots of pics, and this time my build will not rely on file sharing sites like Photobucket. I will upload directly to maintain the integrity of the build.

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Oh geez, I had even noticed that before. That is crazy. Awesome amount of making happen right there :metal:

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nice find cant wait to see it slammed.

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Yeah the Dualies are just kind of floating on the ramps with only about 100# on each. We could push hard on the ramp and they would still slide in and out. The straps are more so the ramps did not slide out on the freeway rather than supporting the truck.

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Subbed as well. Going to be a fun build it looks.

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I had some time to kill this afternoon so I decided to remove the seats and carpet so I could inspect what lurked underneath. I pealed the carpet back from the rockers and was pleased with the initial first peek. After I got it all out and a quick dust pan cleaning have to say this is the cleanest cab I have ever come across. If it wasn't for the gaping hole on the back this cab would be perfect. the guy I bought it from had a donor cab in the field and he said I could have anything on it except the floor pans. He needed them for a project. I cut the back window passthrough panel and called it good.

I sold/traded the seats for $500 plus a rear window. So that should pay for my new F350 seat and reupholstery.

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Lots has changed in my plan for the build as I have spend most waking hours mentally designing the build when I should have been doing other things.

So hunting around the junk yard I found a pretty nice 8 lug axle out of a Silverado 2500. The axle that is in the C30 now I believe is a 4.56 Eaton rear end which is really hard find freeway gears and find other parts for it so I will just sell it to some rock crawler guys and fund the build. The Silverado axle is 3.73 from first look so it will be only seals and bearings that need to be replaced not the whole third member.
Also out are the 16" Alcoa wheels for some 20" wheels that will fit around the large disk brakes. The axle is about 5" wider than the original but since I am planning a custom flat bed the width doesn't really matter as much. The extra width will actually help in designing the four link bagged suspension.

The 402 BBC and TH400 are also on the chopping block to make room for a 6.0/4L80E combo.

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It has been a while since I have seen the cut cab like that. Forgot that they had whacked them like that for the camper/motor home setups.

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Yeah I guess Chevy let various companies do the mods because Mine was literally torch cut rather than blade cut. Good thing the PO had an extra cab lying out in the weeds, he said I could cut a patch from it.

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In & following along for the updates.

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So the Axle I got is the 11.5" ring gear HD full floating axle. I think this is the same as the 3500 axle. I believe the only difference between the 2500 and the 3500 Silverado is the spring pack that supports the truck. I think the 11.5" gear is the biggest, toughest axle offered in the 14 bolt housing.

Can anybody confirm this?

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Sounds correct to me. The FF units were the heaviest-duty for sure & I don't recall ever seeing a GM corporate axle larger than the 11.5" 14bolt.

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Part of the design build process is mocking up components that you have not built yet or have not purchased yet. Wheels are first on the list, making sure they do not interrupt any suspension components or steering arms. Back spacing is a variable so part of the mock up is adjusting the back spacing in various geometries.

The axle has large disk brakes and the 16" Alcoa wheels will not fit. But also the spring perches are set for a single rear wheel not a dually set up. If I shave all of the brackets off I will have to re weld new ones on and probably have to straighten the axle for an additional cost. The way I am designing the new brackets for the four bar suspension will utilize the existing spring perches so no welding will be necessary. But it will require knowing for sure where the inner wheel will be so I can design the suspension components around the wheel.

So wheel mock up needs to be simple and I don't want to spend $500 for a kit. Also I don't want to buy three or four different tires that may or may not work. So I started work on my version of a wheel simulator. A piece of 3/4" EMT and an old saw blade. I milled the saw blade with the 8 x 6.5" lug bolt pattern and 4.5" bore. Then I rolled the EMT into a 20" wheel perimeter. I will tack weld four simple stand offs at 9.5" back space and then bolt it to the rotor front and rear.

I had to turn an arbor plate on the lathe so I could mount the saw blade in the rotary table ensuring the I got the bolt pattern and bore exact.

Last photo is checking bolt pattern against the old inner wheel. I still have the bore to mill out.

Re: Project 30 Be Low
 

Interesting.

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Cool project!
The aam 11.5 is used with duramax and 8.1 big blocks. Its pretty stout. Holds a gallon of synthetic gear oil.is it an srw axle? You might save time getting a drw axle and its matching 6 wheels. Unless the drw hub allowed those old alcoas. Your old ho72 is very narrow. The drw 11.5 would be wider
Speaking of duramaxes,one would power this truck nicely and get decent mileage? 2wd donor trucks aren't that expensive.

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Yes I thought of going Diesel but a line on a 6.0 LS with a 4L80E just dropped into my lap so that is the route. I have been super pleased with my 5.3 in my '69.

I am not too concerned with the width as it looks like it will be around 5"wider in total, so about 2.5 on each side. not too bad and it is going to be a flat bed so not too much extra width will be noticed.

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I finished the wheel sizer enough to get a rough look at it. I still have a bit more material to relieve from the center bore but the time got late so I got it close enough to trial fit.

I had to ensure that the saw blade hub and the EMT rim were in exact alignment So I mounted them on my rotary weld table and did the measurements from there. I also turned a center hub that held the saw blade at 9.25" off of the weld table. I used all thread as stand offs for variable off sets and back spacing. Securing all down to the table it was ready for welding.

The back spacing on the dually wheels are 9.25" on an 8.25" wheel. The wheel sizer is designed to be able to change the back space and off set values. The overall diameter of the wheel sizer is 21.5" which is correct for an actual 20" wheel. I am getting a couple of junk tires from the recycler as a trial fit but a stiff donut of cardboard will suffice too.

As expected the back spacing encroaches on the spring perch. but since I am merely using the perch as a mount for a four bar suspension it should not be enough to modify wheel choice thus far.

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It fits pretty well except for the hub tolerance, that will be fixed tomorrow.

The pic with the red lines are the mock up of the proposed suspension bars and airbag in relation to the frame and wheel. I believe, although close to the spring perch, I have plenty of room to design a fully articulating four bar suspension.

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You can always offset the link/bars (to some degree) to help clear the wheel/tire combo.

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The bars are going to be more constant in relation to the axle. The airbag is what I am more concerned with clearance issues. I have to factor in axle rotation not just straight up and down movement. The four bars are always going to be a set distance from the wheel once it is bolted in place. The top bracket of the airbag mounted to the frame needs to have enough tolerance to allow suspension to be fully compressed on one side and fully extended on the other.

The frame is going to be rectangle tube and internally fished at any joint and can also be jogged in at any point to allow adequate articulation.

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Gotcha.

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Dang it. I wish I would have known you were getting rid of the buckets. I am looking for a set for our Burban (Was original equiped with them but PO kept them)

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I would not fret too much. A feral cat had its way with the seats and they were pretty rank. Everything except the metal frame had to be removed and nuked. You’d probably spend just as much recovering everything rather than just finding a good set in somewhat good condition

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The 402 the TH400 and the Eaton rear is still to go. (this is not an add for sale just describing my build process :lol: )

The reason I am changing the OE drive train is to update to a modern driveline that is more reliable and I can tweak anything on the computer I need to. So I just picked up my 6.0/4L80E combo from Jayson! it is going to be awesome!

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Do you plan on well wells or raising the dump bed much for the drop?

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Not sure if you have thought that far out yet but what are you planning on running for motor mounts? Are you planning on doing the same as you did on your C20 or something different this time? I am trying to determine the best mount for for our 5.3 while still retaining the LS AC in it's original spot.

Let me know if you ever need an extra set (or 2) of hands pulling that old motor/trans. I have a 402 sitting my garage too that was going to go in the Burban, but then got bit by the LS bug.

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Yeah you know I went kicking and screaming into the LS swap sub culture but then as my dad and I were talking one day he said back in the 50's we used to take old '32 Fords and drop '55 flatheads in them. Back then a 1955 flat head was a new modern engine. That kind of sealed the deal for me. I love the platform and how well the engine was thought out. Even the gaskets are O rings! genius!

As far as the motor mounts go I am going to fabricate them but not as overkill as the last set. I learned a lot last build and this set will be smaller and more user friendly. The last set was so beefy that it is hard to maneuver a wrench in place because the hardware is bigger than it needs to be. I think the design will be the same just using smaller tubing and bolts.

I will take you up on that offer when the time comes, I am gong to be removing the entire front clip before I yank the engine to make it that much easier but where I have to work on the truck now is outside and the driveway has a bit of a slope right where the cherry picker will be. It is definitely going to be a multi person job.

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I am kind of waffling back and fourth on wheel wells. I plan on designing trap doors that slide forward on each side above the wheels so that the bed can be positioned at the classic height, then the truck can still be aired down and put the frame close to the ground and the tires protrude up above the bed floor. When the trap doors are open it would be nice to have wells to keep the dirt from flying around when driving. If I find a set that is around 31" in circumference then I may just buy them instead of fabricating a custom set. Definitely stainless steel so I don't have to worry about rust or chipped paint. Lining them with bed liner is an option but I think it may not be the right look for the truck.

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Made a little progress today. I was able to score a back cab panel when I bought the truck. He had an old cab sitting in the field that he said I could cut whatever I wanted out of it except the floor. I cut the patch panel sizably bigger so I could patch where I wanted to. Near the floor it got a little wide because the two cabs were not punched in the same factory because the inside top section which is double walled was not very close profiles. I had to hammer it to get it close enough to MIG a tack in place. I wanted to make real sure that the outside where the glass rests is water tight.

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Awesome. Nice work on that big patch so far!

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Yeah unfortunately this big truck is not running and it is way too long to fit in my garage so I think I am going have to build a wind block so that the MIG gas does not blow away and leave me with Swiss cheese.

The panel is pretty big so I have to take it slow so I don't warp the blank sections of the metal. This is why I cut the panel big to put the welds near corners so the the distortion would be minimized by the geometry of the steel.

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Another weekend, another progress report,
I am going to be mocking up the rear frame soon so I need to get the rest of the truck closer to the ground so I know the angles and geometry that will be necessary. Most of this will be done on the computer before I cut anything but in order to even get the dimensions to put in solid works I first need to do some measuring.

I spent the day removing the front clip to make yanking out the 402 and TH400 easier, also to make changing the height of the truck, and to make balancing the truck when from the cab back is cut off.

The day was productive and I got it all torn down just it time for it to start raining. It is a good thing most everything getting rained on right now is being replaced.

Pictures to follow when the sun comes up and the rain stops.

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Very cool project, following along

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The 402 is in bad shape and unless I find someone who wants a challenge I will just give it to the junk yard. The TH400 condition is unknown but I don't need it anyway so I am not going to invest any time into fixing it.

Basically the plan is everything you see in the engine compartment will be replaced with new. New (rebuilt) LS motor and trans, new front cross member and control arms, new master cylinder and booster, deleted AC system (vintage air system under dash).

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I’d be interested in all the pulleys and accessory brackets (alternator, power steering, a/c and water pump pulleys) if you decide to sell them.
Engine Frame mounts too.
I’m converting my 70 longbed to a big block.
Anything big block specific you plan to get rid of.

Re: Project 30 Be Low
 

Well I am not supposed to broach the "for sale" threshold being that I am pink.

Although I am still trying to fund the build instead of just junking everything and you brought it up. Like I said ^^ if I find someone who wants a the whole thing I will go that route, but if not I am sure there is a way to figure something out.