Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

I would find another bed and close the gap, making an 11 foot bed but the endstate is a quad cab so I can tote around the family. That and I'm leaving shortly for the magical world of afghanland and don't have the time or money to put into it at this time. But I did have the heavier valve springs and 4K governor spring kit...got that installed the last couple nights! Unfortunately I may or may not have bent a lifter...looks like more parts in the short term for this never ending money pit!! But I'll tell ya what, this truck sure runs like a top and looks damn good doing it in my eyes. It ain't a show truck by any means but it works, is reliable, and is a head turner for sure. Oh and it leaks oil like an old truck should!!

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Are you sure you bent a lifter, or did you just not get the push rod set back in the tappet on re assembly? If you bent a tappet, I doubt the tappet would move without getting ate or breaking some hard parts.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Diesel wrencher, that's what I meant, push rod. Ha! Even took a picture of the darn thing and called it the wrong name. You know how tight the guide is for the push rod at the bottom, it must have just got caught on that lip and when I went to crank it over by hand it bent it. Has anyone done the 4K governor spring kit? That's why I was swapping out valve springs and wanted to know how much difference the gov spring kit makes.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

I've done a few. It makes a big difference IMO. Even a 3k is better than stock.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Got the new push rods installed and everything tq'd down and sealed up. Took it for a test drive and man, what a difference. I was concerned about starting it up because everything I've read has said that there are shims under the governor springs and yet I couldn't find any. None. But when I fired it up the idle was spot on, it runs like a new truck, no downside to it in my opinion. It use to struggle to do 75 down the interstate and now it'll do 85-90 and have extra throttle.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

definitely in to see the finished product!

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

We just did it. Turned out great!

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Greetings and merry Christmas from across the world!! Hope everyone
Is having an awesome holiday season! Christmas came early once again! Just had a friend back home take a look at this burb...the crew cab will be reality soon after I get home!! Hope everyone's holidays are amazing and blessed!

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummins chassis
 

i've got a lot of time on my hands out here and have been looking around for a very particular bed idea. it's like a welder bed except completely flat like a flat bed, maintains the bottom of the rear fenders to cover up the frame and maintain body lines, and chop the tail gate to have it still be functional and have some storage. best i can do is a drawing for now, i'm gonna give it a shot when i get home around april time frame. oh, and i think i'm going to go with avitation gauges and build a custom dash/gauge cluster. i want functional and i've never really liked the way the bottom four gauges are kinda hard to see and that the cluster is flat. plan on angling the panel at a 30 degree angle, works for our helicopter, should work here....

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

That looks VERY COOL!! One think I would do for the gauges that would (in my opinion) make it look better, would be to stagger the gauges, they look too boxy and structured to me.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

tinkered with it a bit, could change it to this...

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

here is what we came up with

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

what gauges are those?

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

back from over seas and the quad cab build has begun!! the burb tear down was hindered by the rain but we got the front clip off, interior stripped, and body mount bolts removed. not bad for only working three hours on it. body is in ok shape. rockers, both inner and outer, and a bit of the floor needs replaced but thats what i expected.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Got some parts brought to me from my dad; an extra cab, doors, inner fenders and a wood flatbed. Worked on seperating the outer roof skin from the inner in order to splice into the burb roof. Spot welds suck!

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

I'm curious why you don't go ahead and do a crew cab while you're at it. I guess it's the length of the frame you're trying to match but i think it would be worth the extra effort. Either way it will still be cool. Nice progress!

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

I actually am making a crew cab as we speak! That's what the extra cabs and roofs are for. Got the burb and all, just gotta find the money and time now...

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Oh alright cool!. I guess I need to go back an re-read everything

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummins chassis
 

made a good amount of progress lately. got the suburban 4th door panel removed and am working on integrating the truck a-pillar and the burb b-pillar into one. to maintain the "factory look" and not something hideous i've got to do a bit of metal work. thought on spliting the truck a-pillar and mounting the door latch to the front of it for the front door. i would lose the top front bolt off the a-pillar but i think it would still be able to support the door and allow adjustability... thoughts?

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

any updates?