'71 C30 Flatbed Budget Restomod
 

So here's an old truck that's been around the farm awhile, but several years ago the old 350 went out with a bang (a few rods decided to peek out). After stockpiling whatever I came across for cheap/free all this time, I finally got it back on the road with a little more kick. It's an LQ4 6.0 with over 300k miles that I cleaned up and threw on a Holley 750 and LS6 cam. Runs very well and the bearings/cylinders were in excellent shape. Factory 4 speed, clutch linkage, and driveshaft. This poor SM465 has sat on the bed outdoors for nearly 5 years collecting rain and all I did before pairing it up was pull the drain plug and refill it; still works great! Up next is rebuilding the front end and swapping the rear end for something with a little less grunt.

Re: '71 C30 Flatbed Budget Restomod
 

And here's some numbers I came across after first building the truck. Not too impressive, but I managed to surprise a few who believed it to be a factory farmtruck.

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Nice truck .

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Cool truck! Love the C 30‘s. Spotlight is a cool touch on this truck. Look forward to seeing more pics along the way.

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So today I pulled the wheels off to get powdercoated and noticed the front lugs were different than the rear. The front studs are all 14mm while the rears are factory 9/16". I can only assume these rotors/hubs are for a much newer model truck, but not sure the exact year range. I had intended to swap the front end out for 73-87 setup anyways since most of the older parts are tough to come by.

Re: '71 C30 Flatbed Budget Restomod
 

Really like your truck project.
I've always had a thing for 67-72 duallys.
The LS swap makes it so much better.

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Nice Truck! Been thinking of doing this swap in my 72 c30. My 350 is low on power and uses antifreeze. I'd be interested in seeing particulars on your swap. I too would retain the SM465 trans if I go through with it.

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I can take pictures of anything if you need it, but it truly wasn't as difficult as I had imagined it would be. Lots of parts were interchangeable and the lack of fuel injection made the wiring super easy. Off my head I recall using ICT Billet motor mount plate adapters along with the factory rubber bushings and the power steering line was OEM, just had to swap the adapter fitting on the back of the new pump with the old one. Clutch linkage was probably the most thought-intensive project and it would've made a bit more sense to go with a hydraulic setup, but I was being real cheap on this build.

The trans itself bolts right up with the exception of a missing bell housing bolt, but that's hardly a concern with this setup. Flywheel is for a 4.8 or 5.3 LS that came with a 5-speed and the clutch is what comes with these trucks from the factory.

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Very nice.... :metal: Love it :chevy:

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I was wondering about the clutch linkage and flywheel. From the research I have done so far I figured that the clutch would be the toughest part. Flywheel sounds like thats the easy part, but the linkage not so much. The motor mounts, oil pan, and wiring looks to be all straightforward.

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The clutch I used was from Napa (1104064). It fit onto the Sachs 4.8/5.3 flywheel pretty much perfectly, a little bit of friction material hung off but no where near as bad as a 10" clutch would. The flywheel is so thick you don't need a crank spacer like you would with other setups. LS7 pilot bearing was used also.

Linkage will be subjective depending on exactly where you mount the engine. I originally bought the Scoggin-Dickey pivot ball adapter believing that would be the only thing I'd have to do. Of course, it became more involved than that with the SM465 bellhousing having different spacings on the bolt holes. So I used a piece of tube to space the bracket back, but now the entire geometry was off. I had to move the factory bracket on the frame rail back about 6" to be in line with the pivot ball. For the z-bar I chopped the arms off and welded on new ones made from a piece of 2" steel bar. It took a bit of time to mock it up, but that's where you will be changing the length and angle of both bars to get the best leverage. Other than that, the rod from the cab was never adjusted and I used a piece of threaded rod between the clutch fork and z-bar since the factory rod didn't have enough adjustment.

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Got in some parts over the week for the front end rebuild. Control arms, calipers, and some other hardware are piled up now. I'm planning on getting 3" drop spindles too and maybe pulling some leafs out the rear to get a proper stance.

Also ran into another truck a while back that is oddly similar. It's a 72 C30 6.0/4l80 in a bit nicer shape than mine. Dakota Digital dash, EFI, 14 bolt rear, and very slick flatbed.

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Been a while since the last update but the truck has gotten a much needed upgrade to the front suspension. I probably went into further than necessary but I'm pretty impressed with the cool factor seeing as this is my first air ride vehicle.

I went with OE style parts from a next gen truck save for the Airlift D2600 bags in place of coil springs. A 5 gallon tank was mounted under the bed and supplied by a reworked York compressor. There's still a few things to be buttoned up (gauges, tidying hoses/wire) but its come a ways since it was drug from the barn.

Also, just after pulling it out of the garage the ignition box failed so I built a standalone harness instead of going back the not-so-reliable MSD. I went with a DBW setup out of preference and threw on a TBSS intake to boot. Plan on getting a tune lined out here eventually.

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So after hours of hacking up the factory brakes to fit behind the York compressor, both the master cylinder and booster decided to go kaput at a really inconvenient time. Naturally, this is an excuse to upgrade another part of the truck.

With the help of some threads on here I was able to convert to a Hydroboost setup off a 99 Silverado. I managed to snag lines and all off a junk truck and it made for a very simple install for the most part. Just knocked the studs out of the hyrdroboost bracket, drilled some new holes and slid it in place onto the firewall. The clevis rod needed to be extended and the hole on the firewall enlarged a bit but nothing too bad at all.

Only problem now is the lack of ABS while I get used to this new braking power :lol:

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So cool. I'd drive that all day:metal:

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How do the brakes feel using the silverado master cylinder?

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Much more sensitive now, just like any modern truck. Before swapping I practically had to put the pedal to the floor to stop in a decent amount of time. This was partially because of the bad booster, but I also got JB8 calipers when I redid the front end which seemed to require a bit more pressure.

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I am doing the JB8 calipers and hydroboost off an astro van. But the astro van brake master/ reservoirs looks to small for my application. So I may have to use the Silverado unit you used. It will probably be a month or so before I will be installing them. I was wondering what model Silverado did the master cylinder come out of? 2500 3500? Also on your air ride did you modify your lower control arms? I'm installing 3800 airbags on the front of mine. I think they are 1/2 wider than the D2600s you used. Are you sunning stock height spindles?

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The hydroboost is from a 2500 with the iron headed 6.0. I can't really compare it to the astro master cylinder but it definitely holds a lot of fluid.

On the LCAs I cut off the bump stops to prevent rubbing on deflation put other than that they are stock '75 pieces. I bolted the bag cups to the bottom and thats about it. Spindles are 3" drop for the newer gen trucks because thats all the only thing I could find without going to a junkyard.

What bags exactly did you get because I'm looking for something real HD for the rear.

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Looking good! Did you end up going with drop spindles too, or just bags?

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Thanks! It's got 3" Belltech drop spindles,something I was hesistant to get but turned out alright in my opinion.

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Yea I’d say they worked out great. Looking at bagging my 62 c20 and I’ve been considering a set of drop spindles as well.

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It's been a bit, but I've still been gathering parts. There's something about this truck that make me want to keep coming back to it.

A buddy let me have a worn out DRW 14 bolt as a core to build up. As most probably know, the options given with the HO72 are limited and I needed something with a better gear set. I've got most of the parts, just need time to install them all. I want to do disc brakes, but I'm having a hard time finding a set that claims to fit with dually wheels. A lot of kits claim to fit the hubs, but since most are for offroad rigs they just run a single wheel.

Replacing the windshield evolved into a much larger project as well. After pulling the frosted/busted one out, there was way to much corrosion for me to ignore around the channel. So if the body work tools are already coming out, might as well fix the whole cab. The inner roof panel, rocker panel, and drip rail require the most attention. The rest seems to be surface imperfections which I'm not too concerned about.

I probably won't get the 4-link and air ride on by LSFest as I had planned, but I sure hope I can cruise there with a 3.73 and a clear windshield.

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Pretty cool truck.

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This thing is pretty sweet! I like the new lower stance up front.

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Thanks guys. I liked the stance too, but I can't wait until the truck sits level on the frame!

Here's another pic of the 14 bolt after blasting and a quick layer of paint until I finish building it. All the parts are in and look nice. However, I was a bit disappointed to see the Detroit Truetrac is a product of Taiwan...

Another interesting thing I found is the spring perches seem to be in the same spot as the factory diff, I think I recall reading those needed to be moved in along with flipping a shock mount.

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Forgot to update but the 14 bolt was installed a few months ago. After unbinding the leaf springs I found that 5 of the leafs had been split in half (yikes). Loving the new gearing as I can actually get to interstate speeds without fearing of projectile parts (an OD transmission would still be nice though). I had to go without rear brakes for the time being as discs don't quit fit between 16.5" wheels. I believe with a little grinding it will clear though, worst case a small spacer with get me that last bit of clearance.

https://imgur.com/Cx8Phha.jpg


I realized I'm going to need to set aside a bit of time to come up with a four-link that does what I want. I removed the flatbed for probably the first time in 40 years to work on the rear easier and it made me think about other options. I always liked the custom dually beds made with stepside fenders and thought about trying it out, but sourcing parts has proven very difficult without breaking the bank. I may have found a Longhorn bed which would be awesome since I could keep the 133" wheelbase. I really shouldn't get distracted with cosmetics at this point but I've gotten pretty obsessed here recently with making this a really cool build.

https://imgur.com/ofaB3h8.jpg

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I decided to take the plunge and go full resto on this old truck. I'm probably leaving the "budget" mindset this project was originally based on behind, but I'm tired of dreaming. It may take a long time but I want it to be perfect - no more regrets on how I should've done it.

https://imgur.com/4hxKn4w.jpg

The biggest challenge is going to be the bodywork. Even though the truck is fairly straight, the paint is pretty awful and the cab corners/rockers are pretty much wasted. I've stripped it down about as much as I can and am going to try pulling the cab. My thoughts are that it will give me the opportunity to blast the frame and fab up the suspension in the meantime. I also still want to pursue the fleetside/stepside hybrid, but that is less of a concern at the moment until I get further along with whats in front on me.

Choosing a paint scheme has also been more difficult than anticipated. These trucks just seem to look good with anything. The easiest would be to just redo white but I'm wanting something I can really shine up. I'm a big fan of gunmetals like thunder grey on the CTS-V and tungsten gray metallic on newer Silverados. Possibly having a white roof like this truck sans the trim molding and lower white section.

https://imgur.com/f0cUmdL.jpg

Re: '71 C30 Flatbed Budget Restomod
 

Just an FYI. The cab and chassis rear axle width is different than a standard pick up box axle width. A cab and chassis rear end is the same width as a normal single wheel rear end and a stock box will have just a little of the outer wheel hanging out. You will need a pick up rear end to use wide fenders and then get your 4 feet between the wheel wells. I've always liked the look of the standard narrow box with the wheel tubs widened towards the frame. Can't get a sheet of plywood int there though.

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Thanks for the tip. I noticed the wheels were barely past the cab when I last took measurements. Older duallies are puny compared to their modern counterparts.

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Modern duallies have a lot more GVW too. You'd need a C40 or C50 to match up with a modern diesel dually. Even a 1990 square body dually on gas had a lot more front and rear suspension than my 69 C30. I think the one I got a front end out of had at a huge diff under it. Made my 14 bolt FF look like a 10 bolt. Probably an 11.5" corporate.

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I don't have plans to do this, but just curious (sorry to jump in on your thread OP) are you saying on my 71 Cab and Chassis DRW I could put a pick up box on there (if the 157 inch wb was shortened) and the outer wheel would stick out just far enough to not allow the box to sit lower than the actual wheel/tire? So basically I'm asking can the truck be lowered tucking the outer tire/wheel?. I already knew the inside of the bed would be compromised with 71 stock DRW. Thanks OP for letting me ask on your thread!

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No. The outer just sticks out past the box. Just a little. Typically commercial truck fender rubber is added to the wheel lip to cover the tire. Looks pretty good actually. The first time I saw was about 30 years ago on what was probably a 133” 4x4 with a Longhorn box. I did a triple take. The truck needs to sit tall to keep tire contact with the box from happening.

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Thanks for the answer!

Re: '71 C30 Flatbed Budget Restomod
 

For a rainy weekend project I decided to refurbish an old heater control panel. I've got a couple more in good condition but this one was pretty far gone so I thought I'd experiment.

I 3D printed a new panel to sit inside the controls with labels that correspond to the VintageAir system if I ever go that route. I planned on getting some sticker paper that can run through the printer to put in the middle, but for now handwriting is used as a placeholder. I don't know if I'll even use this but it was an interesting project nonetheless.

https://imgur.com/OcZOVxH.jpg
https://imgur.com/T19oclh.jpg
https://imgur.com/Tkk4fOk.jpg

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How did you lower the back? And did I miss read u r putting on a box bed. Thanks for posting.

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The rear isn't lowered yet. I pulled the flatbed to fab up a 4 link with air and while it's off I decided to dive in and fix a lot of other things like the rusted cab corners and rockers.

I'd like to put a longbed bed on it just to have something different, but not sure exactly what I'm doing just yet. However, I'm fairly certain the flatbed I have won't be returning.

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For the first time in months it got warm enough to get some work done. The body and chassis are now divorced so maybe I'll be able to start the restoration process a bit easier. The cab bushings were unbelievably wasted and two of the bolts were already broke anyways...good thing I didn't take it autocrossing.
Attachment 1886231

Re: '71 C30 Flatbed Budget Restomod
 

Cool project!!


If you could find a Longhorn bed, you can build a dually without cutting your frame. To put a normal bed on it, you have to cut 6" in front of the axle and about 4" (IIRC) off of the end of the frame.


Here is a narrow rearend C-30 with a Longhorn bed.

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I cut down my frame and cut down step side fenders on my truck with a wide rearend out of a '97 C-3500.