'77 3+3 C30 Dually - "The "Sled"

[JCampbell]

That push bar is probably somebody's new washing machine by now. Had in on CL for a bit with no interest, so I scrapped it.

[JCampbell]

Needed to free up some space in the garage, so even though I wasn't *quite* as ready as I wanted to be, I dropped the cab back onto the frame.

It ended up being a pretty good motivator to get this thing back on the road.

[JCampbell]

I can't take credit for the idea, as I saw it on here somewhere, but if you ever do a frame off and have an extra frame laying around, they actually make a very handy cab dolly. Just cut off the unneeded sections fore and aft and weld on a set of heavy-duty casters underneath it and you can roll your cab around all over the place. Worked out great for me.

[JCampbell]

Mixed emotions tonight.

We recently decided to put our house here in CA on the market and relocate to the Pacific Northwest. Part of that relocation plan involved using the Sled to tow Shorty via car trailer up there. Needless to say, I had an epic amount of work ahead of me. Not only did I have to finish this truck by October, it had to be solid enough to make the 1,000 mile journey to our new home. As if that wasn't enough pressure, I'm already in the middle of a TBI swap on Shorty, and I still have to wrap up all the little projects that never seemed to get done so we can get our house on the market.

The stress of it all was starting to get to me. I have decided to take a SIGNIFICANT amount of it off my plate, by abandoning the Sled and buying a complete truck, swapping my suspension over, and salvaging/selling off what I can. Sucks. I really wanted to get this truck done, but I just don't see it happening.

I've narrowed it down between two, low mileage C30s; one '87 and one '88; both under $4k (there's no way I could finish the Sled for less than that). Hopefully I'll be able to strike a deal on one of them tomorrow and post pics of the new tow rig.

[darkgable79]

Man; sorry to hear that. Good luck with everything.

[NewType72]

Sorry to hear that as well. Would love to see her all finished up guess more ideas over a longer time so it should be even better holding out. Wishin you the best on everything brother
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[96twodoor]

Any updates on the 2 complete trucks ?

[JCampbell]

Off to the scrapper...

[JCampbell]

Picked up a '90 a few nights ago for $1,500. 454, Silverado trim, genuine Alcoas. Its got that cursed Chevy paint from the early 90's, but other than that, its real clean, E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G works, and it runs like a beast! Got 14 mpg on the 70 mile trip home at 65 mph.

Gonna clean it up, ditch the sleeper, new tires and put it in the weeds. Paint is in the works once I get up to WA.

Should tow Shorty around just fine.

[Jonboy]

That looks clean; nice score! You could throw a two tone on the top to cover the peeling and roll with that.

[JCampbell]

Got some work done on the "new" dually yesterday. Stripped the interior down to the sheetmetal, Simple Green'ed/pressure-washed the carpets, cleaned the door panels, and installed a woodgrain dash bezel I had laying around. Gonna dye the plastics maroon and clean/reinstall the seats today. Starting to clean up pretty good, I think.

C-notch is on order, new tires will be in on Friday. Gonna head over to the trucks stop and have the Alcoas buffed out. Gonna try to get this thing a little lower this weekend.

[NewType72]

Saweet man that was quick
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[JCampbell]

Picked up some SEM Color Coat and started dying the interior panels to match the door panels.

Never understood why GM left these white in the crew cabs.

[gafiredog]

good luck with your new dually, and your move.

[JCampbell]

Thanks!

[manimal]

Hey man, how'd the simple green and pressure wash do for your carpets? By the pics it looks great!
14mpg is awesome! 3.54s or 3.73s for gears?

[hick]

Originally Posted by manimal

Hey man, how'd the simple green and pressure wash do for your carpets? By the pics it looks great!
14mpg is awesome! 3.54s or 3.73s for gears?

I am curious as well what you have for gears

Stock would be 4.10 if im not mistaken, because i am running the same truck and I can't crack 4 mpg...

[JCampbell]

That's all, Folks...

♫ You gotta know when to hold 'em; know when to fold 'em; know when to walk away; know when to run...♫

[Devillusion]

....can't believe that cab went to scrap! Don't find many up here in that kind of condition....a few, but not many. New truck looks pretty sweet though...good luck with the relocation.

[JCampbell]

Thanks, Man. I've got another cab that I'm gonna scrap, too. Can't give the damn thing away out here.

Location, location, location...

[Jabes1]

That was kinda painful to see the frame and cab go... loved the look of that truck in stock form sat down.

[AntiGov]

I was wondering how you were gonna pull that off ( gettin the sled ready and making the big move by oct) lol......looks like you made some important decisions
and now you are several steps ahead..........nice score on the 90 too..

[JCampbell]

Originally Posted by manimal

Hey man, how'd the simple green and pressure wash do for your carpets? By the pics it looks great!
14mpg is awesome! 3.54s or 3.73s for gears?

Worked great! They weren't too bad to begin with, but they were dirty and there was some grease stains, etc. Layed them out in the sun, hosed em off, poured a bunch of 1:1 Simple Green on em, and went at it with a scrub brush. I let them sit for about 5 minutes, blasted them with the pressure washer until no more soap was coming off, then hung them in the sun to dry.

Yeah, I was *really* surprised with the hwy mileage. Not sure what gear set I'm running. Been busy with other stuff. Filled up on Thursday and discovered that I'm getting 10 around town - but 30% of that was towing a trailer (dump runs, etc.).

[JCampbell]

Getting the interior back together. Picked up the headliner yesterday and started installing my freshly dyed interior pieces.

Still need to get that back window reinstalled.

[AntiGov]

the interior looks great !!!....what did you do for the headliner...is it preformed..?