|
1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
Well here I go starting what will really be my first build thread. Last year I bought a really nice 84 K5 and wanted to convert it to 3/4 ton. After considering it for some time and realizing that I didnt want to change an all original 80k mile truck I decided it should be kept stock. The thing is in too nice of shape to "tear" up. With all of this decided I was on the look out for another truck. One of my best friends grandpa had this old 76 1/2 ton that he wanted to turn into a mud run truck. He wanted to put 40in tires, 3/4 ton running gear and GM's zz572 crate motor. Before I bought my Blazer I tried for several years to buy the truck from my friends grandpa with no success, the thing is he had totally quit messing with it and I figured it would be a good start for me. We talked a lot about what he was and wanted to do to it and how nice of a relief it was to work on it, and that maybe one day he would sell it to me. Well lets fast forward things a bit and I am now the owner of said truck due to the passing of DW. I am happy to own the truck but unhappy with the way it came about, but thats life, and I will continue to build the truck with him in mind and hopefully he would approve to how its going to go.
Now onto the truck. Its a 76 1/2 ton with an 81 i think front clip. The original front clip was totally junk so DW found a new one and had it put on. He also found 3/4 axles and had them installed as well. Although they were put in a bit crooked in the read with some "custom" u bolts. A bit sketchy. It has a 350 with an auto tranny and obviously 4wheel drive. Here is a picture of it the day I got it and finally setting at my place. http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/.../Green76-2.jpg |
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
Ok, so now we move onto my plans for the truck. I will have some reworking to do to set the axles properly, but thats okay because I want to change this truck from a long bed to a short bed. I want to get rid of this late model front clip and change it back to the 73-80 style with the single round headlights. Im not really concerned about this being a show truck or anything along those lines, I want this truck to be able to be driven in the woods, through the weeds, in ditches, across rivers, and all sorts of mean nasty places were pretty paint wouldnt last. That doesnt meant that Im not going to try to color match and get some paint on the fenders and hood. But I will get there soon enough. If you notice the bed of the truck is just absolutley full of parts. I dig some digging and found a decent chrome front bumber, the correct 76 grille and bezels, 2 brand new chrome steps, an entire set of 8lug round hole steel wheels, 2 new round headlights, a new in the box ignition switch and key, and several driveshafts. The original front end was also in there.
|
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
First thing on my want to do to this truck list is to make it a shortbed. I considered cutting and shortening the original frame but decided against it. Doing it isnt what Im concerend with, but how well it would hold up is. This truck will have a 6in lift with maybe 35's and I dont want any sort of week spot in the frame. With this is mind I did quite a bit of searching and found what appeared to be a nice 73 shortbed frame, with a bed, and a brand new, NOS GM bedside. Not an LMC triplus foreign made bedside, but an original. Contacted the guy and for $300, the frame with 1/2ton 2 wheel drive axles, bed, GM bedside, 2 inner fenders, drive shaft, and a box of parts were delivered to my house. From the picture I assumed the frame would need a good sandblasting in order to be hit with some Por-15. Although this isnt a show truck I dont think that if you have the option to clean parts up nice you should just skip it. I want this truck to last so a bit of paint on the frame should be an easy job. Anyways, the frame is in really nice shape, still has coating on frame rails, and really only needs a bit of wire wheel work in order to be prepped to paint. Here is a picture of the frame before I got it.
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...9m20/76bed.jpg In all honesty I only saw this picture but did talk to the guy and was assured it was in good shape. I am more than pleased with how nice all the parts I got from this guy were. |
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
Here is a picture of the bedside.
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...0/76bed4-1.png |
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
The other side of the bed.
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...m20/76bed2.jpg |
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
Now that I have found and bought a short frame, and bed, I needed to find the correct front clip for the truck. Im sure every know this, but craigslist is just amazing. I have heard of some people having trouble on craigslist, but I never have had a bad deal buying or selling anything. This opened up a whole new market for people to get rid of the old garbage they have sitting around and thinking that no one would want. I can guarantee I would never have gotten my front end in this nice of shape this quickly without it. I found an entire fron clip off of a 78 that was posted at about 9pm the other night. After a very quick email I got a few pictures the next morning and a message telling me if I wanted these that I needed to let them know asap because they had several interested people. I called immediately and said I wanted them, then had to drive almost 2 hours to pick them up. Again trusting some old cell phone pictures and the seller on the quality. Here are a few of the pictures after I got them home.
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...frontclip2.jpg Boxes of extra parts and tilt column http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...frontclip3.jpg Grille, core support, bumper http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...frontclip4.jpg Really nice inner fenders, a couple valances http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...frontclip5.jpg All of these parts cost me a staggering hundred dollar bill. I think I made out ok! |
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
Thats where I am at for now. On deck for first work is to get the frame cleaned up and painted, get it ready for the 3/4 ton axles, get them under it and wheels and tires on it. Now if there were just more time. I have a good name for this project in mind. We will get to that later. Let me hear any suggestions, ideas, or just random comments if you have them. Be back soon!
|
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
I guess I should add that the front clip from the first picture will be available to buy at some point.
|
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
looks like a good start so far.
|
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
looks good man im doing the same thing but i already had the short bed 4x4 frame, i pust 76 11/4 ton army rear ends underneath it and am now curently swapping in a 427
|
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
These are my fenders after a good sanding some prep work and a nice coat of primer. I think they look pretty nice!
Here is one fender with my helper http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...0/DSC01061.jpg And here is the other http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...0/DSC01059.jpg |
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
Got some time to work on the truck. I dont currently live where my truck is so I dont get a ton of time to work on it. It is at my parents place 4hrs away so you get the picture. I bought a shortbed frame as seen in the pictures and being a 2 wheel drive the work involved to swap all of the parts over seems to be a bit overkill. Its not that I cant or dont want to do it but the frame was in such good shape that I didnt want to ruin it. Therefore I am going to try to sell it and find a 4wd shortbed frame which may be easier said then done, but we will see. Anywho I got the old front clip pulled and put on all the correct front end pieces. Looks so so much better. I will get a picture added of how it looks on there now.
|
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
Finally got some time to do an update. I found a 79 shortbed 4wd frame and decided to drive about 2 1/2hrs to go pick it up. All I was concerned with was wether or not the frame was in good shape, I was reassured it was.
Here is what the truck looked like when we got there. http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...m20/frame5.jpg Apparently it had set in a field for the last 7 years, news to me. At least they power washed all of rats nests out of the cab and it was fairly clean. Once we got it home we needed to pull the front clip off, easy as it sounds. http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...m20/frame3.jpg Next came pulling the bed. 4 bolts and we lifted it off. It is a really nice stepside bed that I will not be needing, so if you need one let me know. http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...m20/frame6.jpg Our next step was to pull the cab off and get the frame out from underneath. We were going to use the car lift in the shop but didnt want to move everything. So we used the block and plank technique. It worked pretty well. http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...m20/frame4.jpg Here is the frame coming out the frontside of the trailer. http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...9m20/frame.jpg The cab and front clip were completely junk, doors full of rust and some fiberglass repair attempts. No rockers, barely any floor worth saving. We stripped it of the parts we needed and then took it to the scrapper. I felt horrible doing it, but it was junk. http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...m20/frame2.jpg |
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
My next project for this truck is to get the frame ready for the body. Im going to clean up the rust and paint up the frame. Some of the spring hangers had some issues so Im going to pull the good ones off the green frame and use grade 8 bolts and bolt them to the short frame. Im debating converting the front springs to 52"s, so if I do I will but the kit from diy4x. I want a 4 inch lift and 35 all terrains. Now off to clean the frame!
|
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
nice start...........tuned in!
|
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
Its been almost a month but I finally made it back home to start working on the truck. First thing was to strip the frame and get it ready for sandblasting.
Here is a picture of the frame sitting on a set of jack stands ready for tear down. http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...m20/frame8.jpg As you can see the drivers side still had the leaf springs attached and those had to come off. Almost as easy as pulling of the nut and popping out the bolt. Unfortunately not when the bolt is locked with rust into the spring eye. Front drivers side turned out to be a huge pain in my you know what. Got the nut off fairly easy but then couldnt get the bolt out. Problem is the backing plate to the mount. You cant get a hammer or anything back there enough to put enough leverage on it to push it out. Solution: Drill a hole in the back side of the mount and use a punch to knock out the bolt. http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...cklemount4.jpg Here is my custom made punch. http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...79m20/bolt.jpg And victory! http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...acklemount.jpg It took several hard whacks with a 4lb sledge but it finally decided to come out! |
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
Passenger side front was already done. The PO obviously couldn't get the nut and bolt out so he used a torch. Not a problem though, as I can use the mount from the green truck to replace on the short frame. Not very pretty.
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...cklemount3.jpg Next was the rear drivers side and it came out without too much fight. The good thing is that once I got the nut off I was able to hit the backside of the bolt to knock it out of the eye. No mount in the way on the rear. Unfortunately when I got the the rear passenger side it was a whole other story. Nut came of fairly easily ( all nuts and bolts were soaked with PB blaster a few times by my brother before I came back), the bolt itself didnt want to budge. I spent a good 5 minutes hitting the backside of the bolt with the sledge trying to get it out but to no avail. http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...cklemount2.jpg Finally I decided to cut the head off the bolt and try to wedge it out at an angle. http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...cklemount5.jpg It worked pretty well actually. Here are a couple pictures of what the bolts looked like. http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...pringbolt2.jpg http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...springbolt.jpg |
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
After that was taken care of I went on to the gas tanks. I was hoping that at least one was still in good useable condition as I am only an going to run one tank. Not so much for being useable. The nuts we froze to the strap bolts and broke when trying to take them off. Passenger tank was empty and full of holes on the underside. Drivers side tank had some fuel in it so I was hopeful it would be okay. As soon as I lifted it from the mounts, fuel started pouring out of it. Appatently rust was holding it all in. Oh well. Straps were junk but had to get the rivets gone off the bottom of the mounts so I could eventually bolt new straps up. Picture is of mounts with rivets air chisled out.
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...stankstrap.jpg Here is the frame bare of everything but the brake and fuel lines. This was the last picture I took. http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...m20/frame7.jpg After this I pulled off all of the fuel and brake lines, proportioning valve and the steering box. Now the frame is ready for blasting. Thats all for now! |
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
Almost forgot to post this one. It is my green bench seat. Definetly looks old, but im kind of diggin it.
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...79m20/seat.jpg |
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...20/76chevy.jpg
This is how she is sitting today. The fenders are semi bolted on and the hood is just sitting on it. Figured it was safer to put them on then allow them to sit in garage and maybe get hit. |
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
looking good.....nice start.
|
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
Not sure if everyone one has seen one of these but I will post it anyway. This is a PPG colorchip page for GM. It shows all of the colors that were available for the trucks or cars in any specific year.
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/.../colorchip.jpg |
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
The medium lime is what my truck is, I think. The codes in the glove box are gone and I havent found another way to find out exactly. But I am fairly certain its the medium lime.
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...colorchip3.jpg |
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
looking good. keep at her
|
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
So I have a mini update to do here. I sold the nos bedside to a member here because im not doing a restoration that needs a part like this, and I would hate to ruin it when someone else could have put it to better use. The other part of this build is to do it on the cheap and as cost effective as I can. Therefore, I sold the single nos bedside and then used that money to pick up two perfect unused aftermarket bedsides. One driverside and one passenger side. I figure that for a truck that will see some trail time these were the best fit. Plus the price was right. Now to just find the time to go down and work on it!
|
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
Ok, I had a nice long weekend to drive down and work on the truck. First on the docket was to clean up the frame rails and get it ready to paint. The frame wasnt all that rusty, just a bit of surface rust. I used an angle grinder with a braided cup disk to do the flat spots while I put my wife on the air die grinder to hit the tight places.
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...20/frame-T.jpg We spent about 2 hours on the grinding to get the inside and outside of the frame rails as rust free as we could. Best part of the 2 hours, it was from 9am to 11am and was about 110 degrees with no wind or clouds. :) I did a lot of looking about the different types of coatings people had used on their frames and decided to do something that I hadnt seen anyone do. As a primer I bought a quart of Rustoleums Rusty Metal Primer. It has a rust arrestor in it and when brushed on is a nice thick coat. We decided to brush it on because I felt like I could get more paint in tighter places doing it that way. Here is what that looked like when we were done. http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...ame-primer.jpg The topcoat that I decided to use is a Valspar product called Tractor and Implement Paint which I got at TSC. We have used this product on all sorts of things and it always holds up well. I also got some hardener with it. The paint only comes in gallons so I got a gallon of the low gloss black. I mixed the paint with the hardener and then used my HVLP touch up gun to spray the frame. It turned out very nice and has been baking in the 100 degree heat for the past 4 days. Forgot to get a picture of that. |
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
My next project was to switch out the bedsides to make my new rust free shortbed. Here is a picture of what the bed looked like when I got it. Both sides had severe rust over the wheel wells and were in overall terrible shape.
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...9m20/76bed.jpg I was thinking that this was going to be a huge pain but in reality it wasnt. I sprayed on an ample amount of PB Blaster the night before and let it do its work. I used an air ratchet and those babies popped right off. Very easy process if you have never done it. As I said before I had one perfect NOS bedside that I sold to a member here then used that money to go and buy a set of aftermarket bedsides. I sent my dad after them and when I got to see them I was happy but not everything was the way the guy said they were. When I asked him if they had a round gas hole or square he said square. Which is fine, but he forgot to mention that someone had put about 5 dozen tack welds all around it to weld it shut. http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...dside-fill.jpg At the end of the day I(my dad) bought them for $125 less than the guy was asking. I paid $250 for the pair. Other than the welded gas door they are perfect. After pulling the old bedsides off I wire wheeled the scaley rust then hit the entire length with the Rusty Metal Primer. http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...20/bedside.jpg As far as putting them on the bed I had heard horror stories how these made in Taiwan repops like I have fit like a square peg in a round hole. When I started to put them on my wife was still painting so I tried to do it myself. To my surprise these things fit very well and were very easy to align and all bolt holes lined up perfect. It was a super wasy process. First side done http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...edside-fix.jpg Both sides complete http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...ed-rebuilt.jpg That puts me up to date on the project. My next venture will be to swap over the axels and put on all new brake lines and fuel lines. Hopefully it wont be so hot out! :) |
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
Corn looks a little dry (lol) but the truck looks good, great progress as well.
|
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
Thats Kansas farming for ya!:waah:
|
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
Went back to work on the truck but got side tracked after I stopped by Bass Pro and picked up a new gun. I went with some friends out to shoot and put about 100 rounds through it. Shoots like a dream. Its a Smith and Wesson 686 Plus .357 magnum. Its a 7 round cylinder that shoots .357 mags and .38 special.
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa455/l79m20/sw.jpg |
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
Whew, finally made it back to KS to get some actual work done, had a really productive weekend. Got a few pictures but nothing too Spectacular. First off the frame is painted primed and shot with valspar black with hardener. I got the front and rear ends pulled and swapped over to the freshly painted frame. What a pain in the arse. I then pulled the cab from the frame and set it aside. With that out of the way we unbolted the motor, tcase and tranny from the frame, left all the cooling system hooked up and pulled the motor, then rolled the frame underneath that and drop it all back in. Just for kicks we threw the bed on it and tarped the motor until my next visit to get something accomplished. Until then................
|
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
Sounds like some good progress, and a nice weapon.
|
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
Been working on the truck slow and steady for the last several months. I've got the mounted with all new hardware. Got the rear end pulled, cleaned, painted and re-installed with all new grade 8 hardware. Found a big pack rat in the truck after it sat all winter. Killed the bastard with a yummy helping of peanut butter. Finally got it all cleaned up and smelling better. I managed to get all the new brake lines in from the back to the front. Ordered new extended lines from Rough County, unfortunately the fronts dont fit. The hole is too small for the banjo bolt to go through. Ill find out more monday. Did some research, I do have the original motor. Its a 400 built in Tonawanda Ny on November 13th 1975. Hope to get this brake line situation figured out and have the wiring done by this weekend. Truck is really starting to come together. It was nice to sit in the truck and tow it down the driveway and make motor noises. The finish line is in sight! VROOOOM VROOOM
|
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
Here is the screwed up line from rough country. Its about 4 inches longer than stock and to mount it in factory locations it needs to be that size. I bought stock lines from Autozone and sized up the hole for a bit so I could drill out the RC lines. Got that all done and the brake lines on and bled all the way around. Happy to have that portion done!
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...9m20/brake.jpg |
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
After getting the brake lines on, mounted, and bled, I turned my attention to the mirrors. My truck originally came with the monstorous tripod mirrors which is still noticeable from the mounting screws sticking into the truck. I got me a set of mirrors from the local pick n pull for $10. Got those mounted up and they are looking great! I feel like its been a pretty productive weekend!
|
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
|
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
Subscribed!
|
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
Ordered a bunch of parts from LMC last Monday, they arrived at my door Tuesday evening. Got a set of clearance lights, new battery cables, battery tray, and misc nuts and bolts. Goal this weekend was to get all the sheetmetal on, locked down, and cab lights on. Heres to progress pics!
|
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
Drivers side inner and outer fender went on, got all shimmed up and looking great. Took all my nuts and bolts from tear down, soaked them in WD40 rust remover soak, and then painted them. This is the driver side, looking good!
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...0-14-37_98.jpg |
Re: 1976 3/4ton 4x4 Shortbed
Not soooo much on the passenger side. I cant seem to get it to line up very well.
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...10-14-25_0.jpg |
| All times are GMT -4. The time now is 01:10 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright 1997-2022 67-72chevytrucks.com