86 k 20 project "cletus"

[palposity]

Here we see the pics from where I cut the hi-hump out of the four wheel drive cab.

[palposity]

And---For the first time ever--I am offering a sneak peek at my super secret parts truck! This is a minimal rust cab on an absolutely rust free frame and an absolutley rust free bed! This truck was originally a state fleet vehicle for the state of Delaware. They must not used road salt in Delaware because this thing is in great shape--Very rare to find in my area! I picked up this truck in a planning ahead phase of my life about 3 years ago! It has a factory 4.3 V6 which is non-functional, but is backed up by a TH400 tranny. It won't hurt my feelings to have a spare TH400.

The cab from this truck will be used for Cletus. The frame and bed will be used for my "Pops" C10 project.

[palposity]

Got the old cab just about stripped down. I decided to drill out the spot welds of the dash and remove the whole thing. And I discovered why my shift indicator never worked - most of the needle is missing!

[palposity]

Also started stripping down the donor cab. I ran into a little trouble with the cab mount bolts. The front ones came out without too much trouble, but when I got the back ones a little lose they just started spinning in place. I'm a little nervous about what that means. I tried to lift up on the cab with the crane, but it is still attached in the rear of the cab. I guess I need to grind off the bolt heads next.

[glimmertwin01]

that sounds about right man.... youre on the right track

[palposity]

I know I am derailing my own thread for a moment, but I just wanted to share this work I did on my daily driver last night:

Last night I stayed up late and installed a B&W Turnover hitch on my truck! I love it!

I bought the thing on ebay for $380 and was trying to find someone local to install it for me. No luck. The only place to actually quote me a price was $338 + Tax. No thanks. I took my time, paid attention to the instructions and 3-ish hours later I was ready to go with my new hitch. (minus the safety chain U-Bolts. I will do those tonight because my kit was missing one of the lock nuts and I didn't have the 1/2" drill bit to drill the holes).

Anyway...here are some pics!

[palposity]

I got the donor cab removed from the donor truck. I have a little more work to do than I was hoping. There is a rust hole on the driver side so I will need to order a replacement panel. It is also rusted through on the bottom of the kick panel where it meets the floor pan. Fortunatley, the rockers, etc are in great shape. I also have to replace the cab corners, but I'm not very concerned about the difficulty level of those.

[palposity]

Here is a shot of all 3 of my remaining cabs I am working on. The two on the far left are the donor cab, and original (junk) cab for my "Pops" project. The one on the right is for Cletus.

Also a shot of my buddies gooseneck dump trailer that he is very kindly sharing with me. This is coming in handy for my runs to the scrap yard to haul away rusted truck cabs and other parts. The rest of the time I will be using it for my rental property business that I run with what is left of my spare time after my regular job, facilities responsibilities at church, and truck projects.

[Stitch]

That dump trailer is nice. I think I'm gonna build a trailer like that outta the dump bed I got from you

[palposity]

Thanks Chuck. Yes, I'm very pleased with it. It has a 14K capacity and twin piston lift. Now that I have a gooseneck hitch installed on my truck I am all set.

Although, when I sandblast the frame for this truck (hopefully within the next couple of weeks I am planning on sandblasting and repainting this trailer as well.

[palposity]

And please post of pics of the trailer project as you build it. I would love to see it!

[Stitch]

I'll definitely be making a build thread for the dump trailer but it'll probably be in the alternative tinkerings forum here. I don't know whether I want to leave the front lip that would go over the top of the cab ion the dump bed or plasma cut it off. I need to look at some pictures of dump beds to get an idea.

[palposity]

I'm betting you will want to cut that front lip off if you make it a trailer. I can't imagine any benefit of keeping it if you are not mounting it onto a truck.

[Pop's C-10]

nice build

[palposity]

Thank ya. It doesn't feel nice yet because I am still dismantling old crappy parts, but we'll get there pretty quickly. I am planning on working some late nights this week. My goal is to have the cab and bed off to the painters by week's end! I need to strip the cab completely, swap dashboards with the original cab, replace the driver floor pan (assuming the new one shows up in time), swap the transmission hump with the original 4x4 cab, and change out the cab corners. Lot's to get done this week!

[Stitch]

yeah i would imagine the wind would just get up under that lip and want to cause some serious drag on the trailer...I think I'll use it for hire meaning I'll rent it out to people...I'll take it and drop it off and they'll pay per day they have it and also for the dump fee...if it's a 4 ton trailer, they'll pay for 4 tons whether fill it or not...I'm assuming that's how that goes....lol

[palposity]

Sounds like a good plan sir! I think that lip added a lot of drag as I was pulling it down there to meet you. My load coming back pulled a lot easier

[Stitch]

Lol. I bet that cab and bed weighed less than the dump body. Lol.

[palposity]

For sure!

[palposity]

I started the process of changing the cab corners last night. I wasn't really prepared for how to separate the outer corner from the inner. I ended up cutting both off in order to locate all the spot welds to drill out. Then, tonight after work, I will weld the original inner corner to the replacement. Then weld both on the truck.

For future reference, do any of you know of a better way?

[joe231]

the way I did my corners was to hit the area where the spot welds are with a wire wheel, then you can see to use a spot weld cutter to cut the spot welds out.
here is the one I used from Harbor Freight.


http://www.harborfreight.com/3-8-eig...ter-95343.html

it may be cheap but it is effective, it also helps to drill a small pilot hole in the center of the spot weld to keep the cutter in the right place

[palposity]

Originally Posted by joe231

the way I did my corners was to hit the area where the spot welds are with a wire wheel, then you can see to use a spot weld cutter to cut the spot welds out.
here is the one I used from Harbor Freight.


http://www.harborfreight.com/3-8-eig...ter-95343.html

it may be cheap but it is effective, it also helps to drill a small pilot hole in the center of the spot weld to keep the cutter in the right place

Great idea! Were you able to locate all the spot welds that way and leave the inner cab corner in tact?

[joe231]

Yes I was able to remove the outer corner and leave the inner intact.

[palposity]

Good to know. I will try it that way on my next build.

[joe231]