"Crewcab Jake" the 84 to 74 conversion
 

Since Scarlett sold I had some money in my pocket and a empty spot in my shop. So the question I had been asked by many, is "What's next?" I want sure what the answer was, but I have the desire to build something different.

I looked at several Blazers, but everything I found that was cheap was rusty. The nice projects were expensive, the the already finished were really expensive. I considered an extra cab, but once again cheap was rusty, nice was expensive. That left me with something I have wanted for many years, a squarebody crewcab..

I had hoped to start with an all original 73-80 with nice paint. Those have become scarce, and all the likely candidates would require me to fly out and look it over. That wasn't a viable solution, so I looked in my region. I realized pretty quickly that it wasn't going to be easy. It was becoming frustrating until I got a text from a buddy.

Re: "Jake" the 84 crewcab
 

My philosophy has always been "but as nice as you can afford " when it comes to paint. This truck was the exact opposite of that theory, but it was close by. Something compelled me to go look at it. I text the owner and he sent several pics. He was very open about the issues that needed attention and shared several pics.

I had planned to convert it to a short wheel base, and that was already done. I had planned a full restoration, but a complete paint was not part of that plan.

Re: "Jake" the 84 crewcab
 

Heres a sneak peak at a rendering for Jake. Josh Meyers is the artist.

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Wasting no time! Along for the ride on this one too. Looks like a solid rig and may have some different challenges than the last couple. Looking forward to see what your vision is for it.

Re: "Jake" the 84 crewcab
 

I am in as long as you promise to keep the "Back Off" mud flaps on it.

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I am in, with or without the mudflaps! :D

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Im mudflap in-tolerate......but in for this build.....lets go............

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I'm following!

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Looks fun, tagging along too.

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I have learned from the previous builds theres no such thing as starting to early. No matter how hard I try, i'M sure it will be down to the wire once again.

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Thanks for joining in guys. Unfortunately those sweet mudflaps were no longer with the truck when I bought it. Trust me, I asked. I may have to find a pair just to keep y'all happy.

Re: "Jake" the 84 to 74 crewcab
 

This is going to be nice. Excellent that the CC is already shortened! Best of luck! Enjoy! Also, are you going with the early 70s interior as well?
Mike

Re: "Jake" the 84 to 74 crewcab
 

That looks like a really nice one to start with. I never thought that 73-80 crew cabs would be hard to find but they sure are. I'm in to watch this too.

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That's no lie! My 78 crew is in "ok" shape and was the cleanest I've found around me here in Texas but it still needs rockers and some floor repair.

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I would love to do 77-80 style door panels, but so far I have no found a good donor. I have almost everything needed to keep the 81-87 style panels and dash. I plan to do the seats with a 74 vibe to compliment the 84 to 74 theme.

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Its ironic how often I ran across super clean C20s just a couple of years ago. I had an opportunity to buy one that seemed a bit expensive at the time, but was VERY nice. Couldn't fit it in the budget, so I passed. Man I wish I had dug a bit deeper in those couch cushions and found the coins to buy that truck.

Re: "Jake" the 84 to 74 crewcab
 

Yessir, it wasn't that long ago I could find very clean crew cabs everywhere and now they're scarce, you can still find em but guys think they're good now lol. I just missed out on an immaculate 91 K30/V3500 crew cab here local. I drove past it sitting at a mechanic shop for about a month then stopped in and the owner had it there to rebuild the blown big block and wouldn't sell....so a couple months went by with it still sitting unmoved so I stopped in to ask about it again and it had been sold that morning for $1250, I offered the new owner $5000 like it sat and no dice, I was heart broken, he rebuilt the engine and now has it for sale for $24,500 lol

Re: "Jake" the 84 to 74 crewcab
 

Joining in

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Nice! I feel like I saw that truck either on Craigslist or my Facebook feed. I remember thinking it looked pretty good for the money. I just don’t have room for any more vehicles at my house. I’m looking forward to seeing what you do with it!

Re: "Jake" the 84 to 74 crewcab
 

It popped up on Facebook Marketplace one evening. My buddy messaged me and I went that night to look at it. I called my painter buddy and got a rough estimate to do the repairs and paint it. Initially I passed, but the seller was motivated so we struck a deal. It went quickly.