1972 C-50

[marksp]

Hey guys I'm new here and I have a few questions about my recent purchase. Its a 1972 C-50 Dump, it has a small block, 4-speed, and a 2-speed rear. The cab and doghouse is in pretty bad shape and was thinking about swaping a cab from 1/2 ton pickup. They look the same, would it work? Does anyone know if everything would bolt up?

Thanks
Mark

[special-K]

Hey Mark,welcome to the site.
I`m afraid it won`t work.The cabs are 90% the same.It`s the 10% that messes you up.Since the front clip is totally different,the areas in the cab that mate are different.I believe the fact that the medium duties sit on straight frames makes them mount differently.

[72freak]

Yep........totally different.......It just doesnt look like it. Cab, doors, fenders, grills heck...even the instrument bezel is a little different. Rust free replacement parts are rare as hens teeth. I have been looking for decent fenders for 5 years.!!! I think you can use regular replacement rockers and cab corners. When searching for fenders.....remember there are about 3 different ones to be had. The width of the fender flares is the difference. The only good parts I have ever run across are on complete trucks. There was a junk yard down here (actually around the corner for Travis Tritts house) and he had about 20 of them with some pretty good parts. I got some body parts and a complete power steering set up from him. I went back about a year ago and he said he crushed them all! I had offered to buy one fo the complete front clips from him and he would not sell it. I guess crushing it made more sence!!?!?!

On another note....I re-did my complete brake system and all the parts can be had. Carquest had everything except the booster (under the floor) and I got it from Atlanta Safety Brake

Good luck..........I love mine and use it regularly

[Shyguy]

The medium trucks are becoming more rare every day. It seems for one reason or other they are being crushed. I have a '77 GMC 6500 tilt-cab I have been able to get some parts from at a truck salvage yard up near St. Louis, Mo.

I go to a web-sit sometimes that has a discussion form for medium duty trucks and they might have some information as to where you can get parts.

It is "stovebolt.com" and then I look under "Big Bolts".

Danny-Southeast Missouri

[marksp]

Dang, that sucks. The cab & fenders are beyond help. Guess I'll looking for a parts truck this summer. Thanks guys

[sdkid]

I wish I could find a c50 - c70 around here. I need a work horse

[special-K]

School buses are a good source.

[72freak]

Originally Posted by special-K

School buses are a good source.

Yes they are.....I have looked at a bunch and they seem to be a bit different though. Im sure the parts will work one way or another....but you would probably should do the entire clip. inner fenders, fenders and grille.

Its been a while since I have looked at one...but most busses had the medium or wide fenders and I dont think they have the small lower fender piece because they are not going down to the running/step boards. I dont remeber if you could use a narrow lower fender piece on a wide fender upper????

You medium duty guys who have actually taken one apart and compared a buss to a truck....PLEASE correct me and educate me if Im wrong.

[67_C-30]

All the school buses I've looked at had different fenders than my '67 C-50. I did pick up a nice grill that I'm going to put in it one of these years.

[72gord]

Hey 72, the rockers are different, but the cab corners are the same. Rockers are 2-3 inches shorter in front because of the larger front tires and fender wheel openings...also doors have a cut off at the lower front corner. Did use a C-50 cab on a pickup once but looked odd with the short rocker and door corner cut-off, also had to deal with different guage cluster....can't remember what else, been about 24 years ago

[72freak]

Originally Posted by 72gord

Hey 72, the rockers are different, but the cab corners are the same. Rockers are 2-3 inches shorter in front because of the larger front tires and fender wheel openings...also doors have a cut off at the lower front corner. Did use a C-50 cab on a pickup once but looked odd with the short rocker and door corner cut-off, also had to deal with different guage cluster....can't remember what else, been about 24 years ago

Thanks.........I knew the doors were different but I have never looked closely at my rockers. A standard gauge cluster will work but there will be a small gap behind the steering column.

Thanks for the info!!!

[marksp]

I was crawling all over my truck last night and I also noticed that the recess in the center of the firewall appears much deeper than a pickup cab. The extra depth is probably needed because of the shortened doghouse.

[Longhorn Man]

pardon my ignorance... what is a dog house? The only doghouse I have ever heard of on a vehicle is the engine cover on a van or P/30 type truck.
These med duty trucks show up from time to time around here in the junk yards, and the bodys are generally better than the pick ups... more beat, but less rust.
However, with the high price of scrap, and the low desirability of the parts (in general) they get scrapped quickly.

[special-K]

Originally Posted by 72gord

Hey 72, the rockers are different, but the cab corners are the same. Rockers are 2-3 inches shorter in front because of the larger front tires and fender wheel openings...also doors have a cut off at the lower front corner. Did use a C-50 cab on a pickup once but looked odd with the short rocker and door corner cut-off, also had to deal with different guage cluster....can't remember what else, been about 24 years ago

I wonder how that was done?

I`ve heard alot of people refering to front clips as doghouses lately.Dang youngins goin`round tryin`to change everything,dag nabbit!

[72gord]

How what was done? If your referring to the cab on a pick-up I just took the front clip off of the C50 and the related braces and bolted up a pick-up front clip...all the holes were there (on the cab) for the pick-up fenders except the ones on the the bottom at dog leg/rocker area. Seems like there was an issue of the mounting of the steering column, but must have worked it out....drove the truck for a year and sold it to a neighbor who had it up until a couple years ago...like I said though this was 20+ years ago, some of the details are kinda fuzzy in my memory!! Just remember the 2-3 inch gap between the front of the rocker and the back of the front fender and the door corner angled off, but hey it was a fairly rust free cab for real cheap and I was a poor teenager at the time!!