73-87 LWB to SWB conversions?

[sixnine]

I've seen the 60-66's and the 67-72's done, but has anyone done a LWB to SWB conversion on the 73-87's? The easy way out is find a SWB chassis, but I'm looking for anyone who's cut and welded a LWB frame. What would it take?

[82c10]

Originally Posted by sixnine

I've seen the 60-66's and the 67-72's done, but has anyone done a LWB to SWB conversion on the 73-87's? The easy way out is find a SWB chassis, but I'm looking for anyone who's cut and welded a LWB frame. What would it take?

yes, some time, and something to cut/weld together with, there are a few, their usernames don't come to mind

[bigblock73]

Here is one

http://www.73-87.com/7387garage/chas...lwb_to_swb.htm

[Captkaos]

Leadfoot from my site did that write-up for us, It is also listed posted here with a few more pics for clarity: LWB to SWB conversion and although it works, I personally wouldn't recommend cutting it like he did. (found a pic)I would do it like ebfabman documented: http://ebfabman.com/0b9bcd20.jpg

[Zoomad75]

While I do try to do alot of things on my K5 on the cheap, cutting frames to make a SWB when there are thousands of 73-87 SWB trucks frames out there seems odd. I'm not bashing anyone's skills, but the reasons people are cutting LWB 60-66's and 67-72's is due to the striking rise in SWB pricing in those years. Limited supply of those SWB trucks (in comparision to the 73-87's) aids in jacking up the value. The other consideration, is just the SWB box for the earlier trucks are getting harder to find, so in conjucntion to chopping the frame, they are cutting down the LWB box to SWB dimensions.

Look at it this way, they make 7 years worth of the 60-66 generation of trucks with minor changes in the bodys through out the run so some things are more unique to a particular year. This adds to the difficulty in finding SWB. The 67-72's had a 6 year run with more standardization of the bodies, save for the 67-68 sloped hood. Cabs interchange, doors interchange as well as beds. Still the supply is limited to 6 years of what the general built and the supply goes down every time one is crushed. Compare that to the 15 year production run the 73-87's had. More than double the amount of production of either of the two prior generations individual production runs and two years more than them combined. We all know about the massive interchangeability of the 73-87 trucks and with the production totals in the millions, the supply is way higher than the eariler generations. (part of the reason these trucks are still somewhat cheaper than a 67-72)

Point is, for a 73/87 in my mind it would be a lot easier to find a SWB truck, rob the frame and box (if in good shape) and swap my cab/front clip/drivetrain over to the SWB frame. You don't have the stygma of cut frame if you ever have to sell it. Nor would there be a worry of if the welds were strong enough or did I brace it correctly. Plus if you are planning on doing this you probably could find the SWB box easier so it saves the cutting down of a LWB box. When you find the box, try to get the frame too!

I'm not saying it can't our shouldn't be done, but if I was to want to do this I'd spend the time to find a SWB doner. No worries of cutting the frame, welding it back square. Just a major parts swapping fest from the LWB frame to the SWB one. No welding required.

[Captkaos]

Rob, your points are valid, but he already knew that as indicated in his first post, he was just asking if anyone has done it, and they have.

[Zoomad75]

Originally Posted by Captkaos

Rob, your points are valid, but he already knew that as indicated in his first post, he was just asking if anyone has done it, and they have.

Pardon the diarrhea of the keyboard. Just took the long way around voicing my thoughts. plus I missed the part where he said the SWB frame was the easy way out.

[Captkaos]

No biggie, you posted valid points, so others that read it later will know...

[sixnine]

Chris (Captkaos) is correct, I know that the BEST thing to do would be to locate a SWB chassis at the very least, but I wanted to know if it had been done, how it had been done, and what the finished results were.

Zoomad75 - your points are very valid and are something that anyone looking to do a lwb to swb conversion should consider. In my case, I decided that I wanted to try it for several reasons.

1. For as long as I can remember, I've always wanted a square body short bed stepside.

2. The lwb I acquired had been severely abused in it's previous life as a delivery truck for a marble company. The entire bed is beyond saving. The cab and front clip, however, are relatively clean.

3. I'm already knee-deep in another project - which means I am very limited on garage space, money, and time.

4. Despite the fact that I have been tinkering with cars and trucks all of my life, I have never done any serious modifications to a vehicle. I thought that this truck would be a good platform to attempt any modifications I've been wanting to try, including - frame modifications, shaved door handles, replacing floor boards - maybe even eventually a body drop. The truck is ugly enough and was cheap enough that if I screw anything up, I won't be out a ton of money.

[454HO]

Anybody know of a shop in the Houston area that could do this frame hack... er um shortening for me? I would love to make my project truck into a SWB stepper.