Crew Cab build preview...
 

Some might have seen my posts that I was planning this build. It takes a lot of trucks and a lot or parts but it has officially started. Build thread to follow.

If you can post up the prior crew cab build threads, I read most of them I think but didn't save them.

Re: Crew Cab build preview...
 

Subscriped, this ought to be interesting...

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Sweet !!! And am in for the ride on this one :metal:

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Looking good, let me know if you need a hand. :metal:

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Thanks for the comments guys...I feel like going out there and welding that together
but the back of that cab is just for mock up, it is kind of cool mocked up though because It's all olive or olive and white. Makes it look more cohesive than it is.

For the final product I will be using a red and white 71 GMC cab and frame. I'm using that truck so the final product will have matching VIN on frame and cab and the 71 GMC Sierra trim level. I will probably put all the Sierra Grande items on it except the door panel inserts for the rear.

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I could use a hand if your available on Saturday, I need to lug the 3/4ton frame out of my backyard and into my garage so I can build the frame for this thing. I think it would be easily manageable with 2 people. I think I have your phone number but not sure, and I'm bad with names so cant remember your name right now.

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I was kinda wondering... because you've already got enough work to do, I was wondering why you picked a cab that was so beat up. Not impossible, but that's not a fun area to fix. Lookin' good!

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I'm free on Saturday so I can help you out. I'll send you a message.

Paul

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sub'd

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Thanks but I just remembered this weekend is the corvette swap meet in Puyallup, are you going to that? I'm going Saturday morning, can we do the frame Sunday afternoon?

BTW, your the guy that has the blue and white truck and bought the hood and grill from me right?

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Bumping this up so it can be found by another member.

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I guess since people are subscribed I should add something useful to the thread...

Last night I mocked up the "B" pillar on the drivers side. My plan is to cut down a drivers side door to make the 4th door so with that in mind I figured I would use a truck cab "A" pillar hinge area which should give me, strong hinge mounts, formed structure for the door jamb area, courtesy light pin switch location and weather-strip mounting lip.

As you have seen in other crew cab builds they have made their own "B" pillar to match the passenger side, I think that is too time consuming and I don't care if both sides are an exact symmetrical match so chose this method.

The suburban "B" pillar has the following problems to solve.

Its narrow and needs to accommodate, the hinges with door full open stop and the latch nut plate for the front door. Problem is the front door latch and the upper hinge is at the same height.

I will modify the front door latch nut plate to take up less space front to rear and put the door full open stop on the lower hinges. I will use front door hinges and cut off the front mounting bolt tab from the hinge and the "B" pillar, similar to the passenger side hinges. (only 2 bolts on each hinge to pillar attachment.

I will post a couple pictures of the solution tonight.

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Love crew cabs, into watch this!

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In

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looks like a fun build to watch:metal:

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Subscribed

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Very interesting, did you start with a burb body, hack off the rear, then add a truck back of cab? Or are you franken-fabricating the needed pieces for B pillars and rear doors?
Sorry if its obvious, I feel like I'm late to the party.

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Made a little progress past week or so. Repaired the driver side floor and rocker rust. I also made the driver side B pillar which mounts the 4th door, the door is full length for now, mounted and swinging. Next project is to shorten up that door.

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A friend asked me today if I had any pics of the build, I told him no and thought I hadn't made any progress since I had a big setback this weekend. Then I thought about the work I have done lately and decided to post up.
I found out the following:
Using the front door hinges will not work.
And measure before welding.
A couple pics of my progress.

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Well the door is now the right length hanging and swinging. The window regulator should work in the new position and the front interior panel of the door is the right shape to fit the contour of the B pillar. So I guess that is progress.

Problem is the hinges, they don't allow the door to open far enough because the front of door overhang on the rear doors is too great for the hinges. I found a set of 3rd door hinges from a member here on the forum and they are on the way, wont be here to work on this weekend but at least they are secured.

The door is now the right length and form except for the door skin at the front. The front of the door skin as anticipated will need be sectioned to match the contour of the back of the front door.

My other setback was when I sectioned the door lengthwise, I allowed some room for error, about a 1/2 inch in length to grind down for good fitment, well it fit so well on the first cut I welded it up and the door was too long when I hung it, then I remembered I cut it long on purpose so I got the pleasure of cutting, fitting and welding it twice.

As you can see in the picture I have a new helper...her name is Roxy. She is my sons dog.

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Im in for this one .

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I'm Sub'd also.
You are giving me some (bad ideas).
I got 29 or 30 inches behind my (cab and chassis) Cab with 157 WB.

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Then let me entice you, WB of crew cab short bed is 148, long bed is + 12 for 160, your right there

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Sub'd��

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Randy, if you need a hand with anything you know you can always reach out to me!

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Thanks, I appreciate that and will keep it in mind.

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Keep up the good work Randy.

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Thanks man, I appreciate the comment.

What's status of your crew cab?

I'm trying to figure out how many have crew cabs been completed and how many have real progress. If you know post up.

Weekend update to follow....

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I scored some parts I needed and put them to good use.
richard2717 from Maryland sold me the 3rd door pillar, the 3rd door hinges and some white rear door panels.

I was hoping to use the truck front door A pillar and hinges but I found out that wouldn't work. I did mock it up that way and the front of the rear door just has too much overhang in front of the hinges for those hinges to work, so I got the parts from Richard over the past 2 weeks and built a new drivers side B pillar using the one from the other side and used the hinges from the other side.
This weekend I built the B pillar, moved the 4th door upper hinge down 1.5" to match the 3rd door configuration and mounted the door.
The 4th door now opens nice and wide just like the other side.
I'm real happy with it and now can see the light at the end of the tunnel...

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I haven't worked on it since last March. I bought a square crew cab to drive while building this one and was building it. The picture of mine outside of the shop is the last pic I have taken of her. Been lining up everything I needed to do the duramax swap but keep the vehicle height to a minimum.

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To make the passenger side B pillar work took some real thought because it needs to be a mirror image of what it is, I had no idea if I could make it work or not but bought the B pillar just in case...I bought it prior to finding out I needing the door hinges.

So here is a picture of the end result.

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Looks good Randy.... it's all in the details

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I forgot yours was 4wd, I might convert mine after its finished, I'm trying to make the project manageable so just 2wd for now, I hope to have it all one color and driving it this summer.

I like your square body too, I built a shorty crew cab 73 with a 87 nose back in 99 (2wd), it was a cool truck and I like those years almost as much as the 67-72's.

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So here is how I managed to make the B pillar from the passenger side work on the drivers side, I think its unique but maybe its been done before.

The B pillar is 2 pieces, front and rear, I separated them, then looked at each piece, mostly the rear because It would be the hardest to make from scratch.
I finally came up with the idea that it has all the right shapes and if you cut it up in sections you could invert each section and use it on the drivers side, so I cut it into 4 pieces, turned each over and welded it back together. It turned out pretty nice. I meant to get a couple pics as I was building it but forgot.
I will number the pieces on the truck as it sits and explain it further, maybe it will help somebody out in the future.

One last picture of the side view...

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Got a few things done this week. 4th door lock knob is now installed and working. I used the pieces from a 3rd door, un-riveted them, flipped over the pivot plates then re-staked the rivets. Someone's crew cab build they had some problems with this so wanted to get it out of the way.
I had to cut and weld the lock rod from the pivot by the latch. I also had to reform the handle rod. The inside handle and lock now work as they should.
I also made a new window regulator as you can see in the picture.

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I made a burb window regulator with a new repro driver side regulator.
The regulator needed 1 arm lengthened and 1 shortened.
Where the arm is attached to the large gear also needed to be re-clocked to get the window all the way rolled up. Works nice. I will say this the repro regulators work smooth and seem to be good quality.

I took the skin off the door because the front of the door needs substantial thinning to line up with the rear of the front door.
I also need to create clearance for the window channel at the hinge mounts. I will finish up getting the window in the door and fully operational before I re-skin it with a new door skin.

I also got the rear of the cab cut off and in place. The red and white rear of the cab is the final piece for the cab, I will weld it on tonight.

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Very impressive & nice!

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Thank you, appreciate the nice comment

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You adding any inner skin to the roof, or cross braces, seems a long span for a single sheet roof

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If I lived near the original poster, I would be more than happy to come and help. Getting to watch the welding would be worth it.