****** Board members who have contributed parts, ideas and most importantly, encouragement to this project!!!! ******

YOTE1234, BOWTIEOGRE, BILLSBOWTIE, PCMCOBRA, DARKFOX71, RON586, SMOKEY02, OJOE, UNCLE, JOE FABRIS, GMC PAULS, FUELCELLGUY, KRUE, ROKCRLN, RAM-MAN, PORTERBUILT, PUTTER, GRINGOLOCO, FRIZZLE FRY, JAMIE (Doug Thorley Headers), HOTRODMTODD, .........

Can't forget my buddies Chris Chambers, Tim McGriff and Todd Crutchfield who contributed a lot of manual labor, :).

**If I left your name out, please PM me, :D. **

The thread that got this insanity started, :D:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=205329

and led to this........

Just got back from a 1700 mile road trip this weekend to pick up the CrewCab, aka the BEAST (or Donkey, :)). A buddy of mine pulled it from Phoenix (thanks YOTE1234 for storing it) to Junction, TX. I pulled his newly painted 65 stepside from Pensacola and we swapped. Man that thing is huge!!!! 160" wheel base. I plan on eventually chopping the frame (DONE!) and installing a shortbed, fixing the front doors with square door frames like the suburban and installing 5.3/4L60E (DONE!). I'm going to take everything off but the cab and doors which will be media stripped and then epoxy primered.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=205329

******** EDIT: LIST OF COMPLETED WORK 8/01/08 **********

Custom Chassis:
Custom built using the front section of a LWB chassis and the rear section of a SWB chassis. The cab was originally stretched 33inches, so that's what I added between the front and rear cab mounts. The 2 sections were mated together using a 45 degree cut and then braced by welding in ECE stiffener plates. 4" exhaust cut-outs were also installed in the trailing arm crossmember along with a CPP bolt in c-notch, ECE rear frame crossmember, ECE transmission crossmember and ECE hidden hitch. It was then sandblasted and sprayed with 3 coats of POR 15.

Other stuff done to the chassis:
- Completley rebuilt front suspension (ECE components) with new balljoints, bushings, bolts, nuts, rotors, calipers, Raybestos pads, new rubber hoses, etc.
- Professionally rebuilt 12 bolt GM rear axle, OEM 31 spline axles, Yukon bearings/seals, Richmond Ring/pinion (3.73), Eaton 3 series posi unit, rear brake hoses, raybestos brake shoes, vented drums (ECE components), etc.
- New ECE brake booster and master cylinder setup with proportioning valve.
- All new stainless steel brake lines from Inline Tube.
- Stainless E-brake cables from Inline Tube.
- New 67 emergency brake handle with cover
- New KYB Gas shocks in front/rear (for lowered suspensions)
- New ECE 2"/4" dropped coils
- New ECE super track bar
- New ECE shock relocation kit
- New ECE rear gas tank cross member
- New ECE hidden hitch
- New ECE front sway bar kit with 3/4 ton sway bar and new poly bushings
- New CPP bolt in c-notch
- 5 OEM 15 X 8 ralleys

Engine/Transmission
- 2000 Chevrolet 5.3L Vortec (< 30K miles) with 4L60E AOD and cable throttle body
- All factory accessories (A/C compressor, power steering pump, alternator)
- Perfect OEM fuel injection harness
- Rear mounted 20 gal aluminum fuel tank (FuelCell Guy) baffled with in-tank fuel pump
- New ECE 5.3 motor mounts/stands
- New ECE transmission mounts
- New 4-Core radiator w/ factory radiator shroud
- 98 F-Body exhaust manifolds
- New Stainless Steel Magnaflow mufflers

Body:
- Entire body Plastic Media stripped and epoxy primered
- Original rust free hood, hinges and latch
- 2 OEM Suburban doors (for the B pillar conversion)
- Cowl antenna delete
- Perfect OEM Take-off tailgate and hardware :metal:
- Perfect OEM grill/latch
- New polished aluminum headlight bezels
- New clear front turn signal lens
- Bed splash guards
- New Goodmark (Tri-Plus) front sheet metal (fenders, inner fenders, core support, splash apron, outer rockers)
- New triple chrome plated front bumper with brackets and bolts
- New triple chrome rear bumper with new rear bumper brackets
- New sliding rear window
- New complete body bushing kit from GMC Pauls

Interior:
- Complete New Autometer Pro-Comp 7 gauge setup (including 3 3/8 Water temp gauge, :D) w/new chrome bezel.
- Complete rebuilt factory tilt column (with all new handles and OD shift indicator)
- Setup for Vintage A/C
- New Painless 18 Circuit replacement wiring harness
- Complete set of electric leather bucket seats out of late model extended cab (with center console and rear seat).
- High hump auto tranny cover
- 2 sets of perfect steel door panels

Pics

More pics:

sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet :metal:

:agree:

I want one!!!!!!!! The longer the better!!!!!

Cant wait to see you get started on it, keep us posted with lots of pics.:)

Dont cut it short! It looks so nice, and long... I love it! :) You have too much money/garage space/shop space. Makin' a lot of guys jealous, lol.

Plus that truck looks like its winking with the 1 headlight [_]======[O] . haha.

Goodluck, you do some great work, cant wait to see what happens to this one.

Man...where do you guys find this stuff!!!!!!! Awsome project. Makes me wish mine was done! We better see lot's of pics!:metal:

My God that's an awesome truck!

Man if I had one of those I would drive it to work everyday instead of my company truck and claim mileage. That is sweet. It you ever decide to get rid of it let me know.

That's very nice! I like the way that conversion was done!

Very nice find, wasn't that an Ebay buy? Where those 67-68 buddy buckets? keep me in mind when you go to sell. I have ways to get down there and pick them up. Thanks...

Mike

Cool truck. As for the rear end it is a corporate ho52. Good luck on the project.

Very nice find, wasn't that an Ebay buy? Where those 67-68 buddy buckets? keep me in mind when you go to sell. I have ways to get down there and pick them up. Thanks...

Mike

Changed my mind about selling them. I've redone them for my suburban, :D.


http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?p=2079024&posted

Cool truck. As for the rear end it is a corporate ho52. Good luck on the project.

Any idea what it is worth?

hi rob. are you happy with the truck? kinda what you expected? already wish i had it back...oh well. enjoy! dave

sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet man crew cabs are so nice!! i ve been looking for one on top of my '69 c-10 for a daily driver

String and duct tape, a real chevy tool kit!! Body work on cab looks good. Square doors might help. Keep us in the pics.

As I said before Rob, that thing is a flagship! I think the wheelbase on that thing is more than the overall length of the Burb in the background!

didn't the guy selling it claim that GM built it, what are your thoughts on it now that you have it at home. Was it a dealer crew cab, homemade fabrication or factory test truck? I think that you need to start a build thread for sure and give her a name...

Rob not sure on value of the ho52. But parts are a pita to find for them. Brake drums are worth money as they are impossible to find. Id probably post wiw thread on just that axle and you would probably get some more hits on the guys that mess with them more than I do. Good luck.

Coming from out west that could have been a US forest service truck I have seen pics of several of them but I don't know any thing about them, how many were produced etc. I just know they exist.

Please don't be offended by this but...
I used to have a 1998 Explorer. Once in a while I used it to pull my bass boat. That scared me. I can't imagine pulling a 5000+ pound truck!

How did that work? I hope you didn't use overdrive.

It looks like a 4 door. If so I have never seen one that was an original dealer build/early custom build/factory build. Only couple I have seen were modern 1 only custom builds.

None of the trucks were factory. They were all conversions done by an aftermarket company. These trucks are rare, but they are out there. This is one of the nicest I've ever seen (the back of the cab doesn't look retarded.)

I'm pretty sure this one was an original aftermarket conversion.... I think this truck was one of two that another member has or had.... my memory sucks :confused:

More on this truck here (http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=205329)

The original ebay auction claims:

This is it. This is the only factory built crewcab pickup built by GM from 1967 through 1972. This is from the GM Proving grounds here in Arizona and I don't believe this truck has ever left the valley. This was built as a mule to see how much it would cost to offer a crewcab for sale and since the rear left door has to be built from scratch, it was just too expensive for Chevrolet to consider. There were many conversions done by aftermarket companies, but if you've ever seen one, they are pretty ugly.

The construction quality on this truck is outstanding. They even went so far as to duplicate the corrugations in the steel headliner. All of the doors open and close well and the tolerances are so close that they will hit each other without the factory weatherstripping.

^VERY INTERESTING! I wonder if there is anyway to verify that????

Hey Rob nice buy looks great can't wait to see it in a build thread...Keep me in mind if you go to sell the whole front clip.......

Eric

if ur making it a short box what do you want for the box???(whole tailgate, sides, floor, bulkhead)I NEED ONE!!!!:lol: :o

Rob, LEAVE IT LONG!

This is just an observation but the back glass a 67 type. The hood and fenders are 69 and up. The grille is either a 67 or 8. If it were me it wouldn't matter either. I would put a 502 and a NV4500 in it and pull the hell out of my car trailer with it.

This is just an observation but the back glass a 67 type. The hood and fenders are 69 and up. The grille is either a 67 or 8. If it were me it wouldn't matter either. I would put a 502 and a NV4500 in it and pull the hell out of my car trailer with it.

You're mistaken. The hood, fenders, grill, bed and cab are 67, :D.

Please don't be offended by this but...
I used to have a 1998 Explorer. Once in a while I used it to pull my bass boat. That scared me. I can't imagine pulling a 5000+ pound truck!

How did that work? I hope you didn't use overdrive.

My buddy pulled it with the Explorer (and yes he said he was scared a couple of times). I pulled it with my 03 Suburban and it pulled fine.

if ur making it a short box what do you want for the box???(whole tailgate, sides, floor, bulkhead)I NEED ONE!!!!:lol: :o
Link to bed for sale:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?p=2022691#post2022691

^VERY INTERESTING! I wonder if there is anyway to verify that????

If I could I wouldn't customize it, I would restore it.

Hey Rob nice buy looks great can't wait to see it in a build thread...Keep me in mind if you go to sell the whole front clip.......

Eric

I'll have it listed soon.

You know what would make this truck extra unique? Keep it long and mount in a quadra-steer rear axle from a late model sierra.

Just my .02.

Hows that other crew cab coming?

That truck is so cool! I would leave it long, bag it and use that as your tow rig.
It will probably look good with a short box,:but: it just looks sooooo right as a long box.

Sorry about that. The front view made it look more vertical on the hood than it is.

Sorry about that. The front view made it look more vertical on the hood than it is.

No worries, :).

That truck is so cool! I would leave it long, bag it and use that as your tow rig.
It will probably look good with a short box,:but: it just looks sooooo right as a long box.

:but: It would have the turning radius of a limo!!!

looks like you got a pretty cool project,lets see that suburban finished and see that truck pulling it down the road

If I could I wouldn't customize it, I would restore it.


You may want to check this thread out, particularly the threads by user qksilver. He may not have proof, but if what he says really is, then it's very plausible. You may want to PM him before you sell off too many pieces.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=188993&page=6

:but: It would have the turning radius of a limo!!!
:but: Getta quadra-steer axle!

Maybe more trouble, but totaly unique.

Cant wait for this one to take off, I envy your garage, trucks, and skills.

You may want to check this thread out, particularly the threads by user qksilver. He may not have proof, but if what he says really is, then it's very plausible. You may want to PM him before you sell off too many pieces.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=188993&page=6

The truck listed in that thread is the one I bought. (Starting with Post #142 )
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=188993&page=4
The story sounds good, but I don't know how to prove it.


:but: Getta quadra-steer axle!

Maybe more trouble, but totaly unique.

Cant wait for this one to take off, I envy your garage, trucks, and skills.

Thanks for the compliment! Quadra-steer would be cool, but probably way over my head to install.

Did the body by fisher tag survive?

Did the body by fisher tag survive?


Where should it be?

DO IT ! http://grantkustoms.com/images/customers/1.jpg

looks like a nice project. what are your plans for it?

Jay

I put the "beast" on a diet :D.

so it was once yellow, must have looked like a big banana...

Neighbors gotta love you with that in the front driveway! LOL!

Neighbors gotta love you with that in the front driveway! LOL!

Luckily I'm the only house on a cul-de-sac as of right now, :metal: .

so it was once yellow, must have looked like a big banana...

:lol: I pulled the gas tank and it looks like the original color was light bronze.

Looking Good!

I don't know about the factory prototype thing.IIRC most manufactureres started destroying their prototypes in the early 60's.The liability on untested technology is so high nowdays there's no way they woould let one out.

I don't know about the factory prototype thing.IIRC most manufactureres started destroying their prototypes in the early 60's.The liability on untested technology is so high nowdays there's no way they woould let one out.

Even if it were a true prototype, I can't prove it. So, I'm going to build it the way I want (meaning not back to original). :D

Hey Rob ... i think you right there we all build them the way we want....lol We just sometimes share ideas.....

Eric

Hey Rob ... i think you right there we all build them the way we want....lol We just sometimes share ideas.....

Eric

I appreciate all ideas, that's what I love about this board. I'm going to try and keep this project somewhat simple (yeah I know I've said that before :lol: ). I just purchased another project that has nearly all of the parts to merge the 2 together and make one truck. I'm seriously considering making a rat-rod shop truck out of it to be my DD.

Picked up some "goody's" for the Beast, :D. New front fenders, inner fenders, core support and a lower cowl piece.

How do you like my vintage 1952 roll around cart.

Also picked up a new completely rebuilt SWB frame, 5.3/4L60E tranny! :metal:

Now thats just sickening, how do find a roller like that :barf:

Thats sweet :metal:

you just happen to find that SWB!!! too many projects, send the new one up north!

Now thats just sickening, how do find a roller like that :barf:

Thats sweet :metal:

It's been on the board for about 7 months :hm:, :) .

you just happen to find that SWB!!! too many projects, send the new one up north!

This is the last one for a while. It was too good of a deal to pass up, now I've got most of the stuff to finish the Crewcab. :metal:

Picked up a few more parts for the CrewCab:

Grille - needs new trim but no rot and is nearly perfect
Perfect cowl piece
New 4 core radiator

nice to see some progress, cant wait to see more

oh and i love the roll around cart btw:metal:

nice to see some progress, cant wait to see more

Parts gathering is going to be the only progress I make for a while.

oh and i love the roll around cart btw:metal:

Sure beats a Craftsman!

Chassis comparisons....SWB to LWB CrewCAb....:jdp:

hey, put the crew cab on the SWB just for fun! It would look like the Hummer SUT! :lol:

sweet, updates. So did ya decide to keep it as long as a train still?

sweet, updates. So did ya decide to keep it as long as a train still?

I'm putting a SWB on it so, it's going to be long, just not as long as before.

hey, put the crew cab on the SWB just for fun! It would look like the Hummer SUT! :lol:

Kinda like this....

Maybe a couple inches longer on the bed. Make it like the new 1/2 ton crew cabs.:metal:

Kinda like this....

with a shorter tail:metal: Just enough for a cooler!

with a shorter tail:metal: Just enough for a cooler!

hhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmm.................

I got the front section of the new chassis. Should be getting the rear section this weekend.

R

Just playing around with the door window frames. I've got an old set of suburban doors I'm going to use.