swapping 1976 C10 body to 1979 K10 frame

[1976Scottsdale]

Well, now you know what my project has been recently. I am building my first vehicle and, being a bowtie boy, I had a friend with a 1976 C-10 Scottsdale that was hiding out in his horsebarn. He was gonna let it rot in there. So, I made the decision to part with my 1980 Honda Odyssey two stroke to trade for the truck. So, I got it running and brought it home to live with me. A week ago, I spent 100 dollars on a rusted out 1979 K10 Silverado. My ideal first vehicle was a longbed 4x4 from the 73-80 range of the 73-87 series(I like the front end better from 73-80). However, No one wanted to part with a 4x4 of this year range that was in good shape. So, I decided to piece one together myself. I just swapped the bodies over Saturday and Sunday of this last weekend. Unfortunately, the bed did not sit level, it was 2 inches up on one side, as there are no thick mounts for the bed, I already knew the problem, bent frame, bent two inches to be honest. Oh well, I will take a torch to it and use a B.F.H. to pound it back into shape. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, When you swap a 1976 4x2 cab onto a 1979 4x4 frame, you have to cut out the ENTIRE center hump from both cabs and do the same to the 4x4 cab and then weld the 4x4 hump into the 4x2 cab. Then the transfer case will clear the cab. I also got to drive the truck before I bought it, the trans and transfer case were both very firm when shifting, as the vehicle was rarely driven. I will keep everyone posted over the next few weeks about my project. Any tips or tricks would be appreciated. Also, the body swap kind of made me not want to do any more exensive work on my truck, most of this was because out of a four man crew, I had to do 90% of the work myself, this would not be a big deal, but I am new to everything except engine work. So, my question is, did I choose a good year range to start with? I plan to restore my truck totally, but before I spend money on anything but the 350 engine(already have 1500.00 into it), is the truck worth the cash?

[JIMs70GMC]

Sounds like you like the truck. Don't get discouraged, been there done that. I got my body swap project on the road now. So there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Pics would be nice.

[1976Scottsdale]

Engine is going in this weekend. Have also decided to spend $60.00 on a two inch body lift so that the bolts from my center hump section out of the 4x4 will not put more holes in the bellhousing of Turbo 350 HD trans. No cracks in the bellhousing, just two little 5/16 holes that slowly wore into the metal. I will fill them in and not worry about is. My 4x4 had cruise control on it, which I removed, however, the speedo cable runs through a joining box with some vaccum lines attached to it for the throttle solonoid thing. My question is, can I remove the vacuum lines and just leave the cable attached at the joiner? The underlying question is, will it still work, or do I need to go to the local salvage yard and get a complete speedo cable off of another K-10? I know the one from my c-10 won't work. The next project will be to convert the front end from a plain, capped hub setup to a set of Warn lockouts. Do I need to buy the coversion kit as well so that the truck will still move(I was told that an np203 requires a special lock ring and washer kit to use lockout hubs.)

[bisquik65]

How about a 80/k20 suburban frame with a 86 cab and 83 front end and a 90 burb 454 tbi motor with a th400/205 setup and a 2001 chevy van one ton rear with a 9ft flatbed dumper with dually rear wheels and singles up front? I have less than $2000. in this thing and can make my money back hualing gravel up steep winding driveways at $100. a load. About 2.5 tons . Not bad huh??? I will try to post pics soon. ????? A little of both