67 C20 Build

[MN67C20]

Hello Everyone,
I am new to the site and new to owning a 67 C20. The truck was my grandfathers and has been sitting behind the house for the last 35 years. My brother and I have decided to fix the old girl up. The school I teach at has a hot rod class and they are going to do most of the work to it with a little help from us. The truck is a bone stock 67 C20 with the inline 250 6 and 4 on the flour.

The plan is to turn it into a short bed but keep it a 3/4 ton. It will get a 5.3, 5 speed, air ride and they will repair all the rust. We want to keep it true to what it is but give it modern ride and feel. I hope to keep this build up to date and provide as much information as possible.

I am open to any ideas or thoughts you guys might have related to the build. there is lots to learn and you guys are the experts.

Thanks For looking.

[Saclandman]

Cool truck. Looks like you'll need some rot repair. Drop in a crate 350 and do a disc brake swap, you'd be good to go. Good luck with it.

[MN67C20]

Good evening everyone,
Just thought I would post a few more pictures. One when it was fresh out ground. Hard to believe but the tires still had air after 30+ years. The rest are from the location it is going to spend the next year. Tear down has started and I found out how bad the bottom of the cab was. Corners shot but the main floor was in decent shape. First couple of questions for you guys. Is it best to just cut the whole floor out and replace it or piece it together piece by piece and keep as much as possible from the original? The other question has to do with the look of the truck. I am having a hard time deciding to keep the original patina of the truck or fix what needs to be fixed and paint it? The patina idea will take more work repairing doors and fenders and other things and painting it will only take replacing parts with new ones. Thanks for any input you might have.

[swamp rat]

personally i think your beyond trying to keep the patina just by looking at the doors, tailgate and passenger bed side.

Before you decide on the floor you should finish stripping it down to the cab and have it media blasted so you can see how bad the rust is, have a good look at all the floor supports. How does the inner headliner above the visors look?

[Shaky]

Agree with swamp rat - after you get done with all that rust repair, it will be tough to keep the patina. I'd repaint it in the original color.

It'd be nice to keep the original hubcaps. I plan to get rid of the split rims on mine, transfer the clips to the new steelies I have, and put the stock caps back on.

[rustrunner]

Looks like cab corners, inner and outer rockers, cab supports, post bottoms, repair floor, and maybe bottom of back of cab. I would remove the heater box from the firewall, and look for rust behind. Bottom of doors will need work.
Fix and repaint looks to be the only option.

[MN67C20]

Morning and thanks for the replies. The top of the cab under the visor looks to be solid with no real sign of rust. I am starting to think that just replacing the complete floor might be best and more cost effective. The only way I think i could keep the patina is to replace everything south of the bottom body line and keep the top 2/3 original. The box is whole different story because I would like to cut the truck down to a short box and I am not a big fan of hacking up the whole box to make it into a short box. i do like the ratty old school look but don't want it to look like Frankenstein monster when it all said and done. The other thing I have to keep in mind is that the truck will be in the hands of a bunch of juniors and seniors for most of the body work. The kids have skills but I don't want to overload them with an impossible mission.

[MN67C20]

Hey everyone, It has been a long time since last spring and the begging of the High School build. The kids showed up in the fall ready to work. It was slow at first but they are cranking away at it and everything is starting to fall in to place. I thought I would let you guys know where we are. During the summer we picked up a load or two on parts including a 5.3, NV4500, doors and front fenders. We have decided to swap out the front end out of a 79 c30 and do a disk brake conversion on Eaton or replace that with a 14 bolt that came in the parts truck we picked up. The 67 is down to the frame and rear end and the is getting ready to be cut down to a short box. Here are a bunch of picture that tell the story. Thanks for looking.

[MN67C20]

Here are a few more

[MN67C20]

Last few for now

[swamp rat]

The Eaton is a full floating Ho52, if ya want to convert it to disk all you need are conversion brackets for a 14 bolt.

Google this: 14 bolt disc brake conversion brackets

In my case with a dana 44 i used the same rotors and calipers from the front but you don't have an E brake that way, you can use Eldorado calipers that have a mechanicle E brake. I used a stock master but i replaced the distribution/proportioning valve for one designed for 4 wheel disk that i got thru Inline Tube.