67 C10 lwb to K10 swb conversion project

[68 TT]

This project started out as a CL search for a set of more daily driver friendly geared axles for my 78 K20 that had 5.13 gears installed by the original owner.

What I ended up with was a 74 K10 rolling chassis with cab and an 84 K5 roller. Both bodies were gutted & very rough and the K10 was very cancered out but I now have two 4x4 chassis and two sets of axles with brakes and two sets of wheels & tires.

After considering repairing the rust on the 74 cab and building up another 4x4 truck rather than completely tearing down my 78 and making it into something completely different than it came from the factory I decided I should resurrect my old 67 C10 lwb truck as a 4x4 and convert it to a short bed while I was at it.

The 67 C10 got 90% turned into a truck bed trailer a few years ago but I never finished the job as life got in the way and I needed to buy a bigger MIG welder to do it right. I did not get rid of any of the other parts from the 67 C10 purely for the lack of time to sort through it all and figure out what was worth trying to sell off.

As a 2-wd vehicle the 67 C10 is pretty worthless half the year where I live due to the fact that the county has only plowed our street three times in the past 20 years and you have to climb a steep grade up to a stop sign just to get out of my neighborhood.

I have seen a few 67-72 trucks put onto square body 4x4 frames before so it was a pretty easy decision to take my complete 67 C10 lwb truck and put the body onto one of the square body 4x4 chassis.

My first instinct was to put it onto the K5 chassis and make it an ultra short bed truck but the K5 chassis is too different from a truck chassis and it would require a substantial body lift just to get the bed on.

Here is what I started with.

[68 TT]

The first thing that needed addressed was to get the rusty cab off of the K10 frame so out came the cutting tools and off it came in pieces. I kept any parts that looked like I could use them on the 67 to repair any damage or retrofit square body components with. Made a trip to the recycle center with a full bed of scrap metal.

Pulled the Dana-44 out of the K5 (that the PO took out of the K10 and put into the K5) and put it into the K10 chassis.

Cut the double length welded together front shackles apart and made one good stock set, installed the correct U-bolt plate on the driver side and installed the K5 front sway bar.

Put the rear springs on the K10 chassis back together with parts from the K5 then bolted up the 12-bolt so it is now a roller again.

[68 TT]

Had a few minutes to work on the project Sunday morning so I cut off the square body rear cab mounts as they are on the wrong side of the frame to use with the 67 cab. Pulled off the saddle tank and the brackets left on the driver side and removed an unused exhaust hanger.

I test fit the K5 fuel tank and had to remove the brake line bracket and the rear crossmember for it to fit. There is a rail road track fabricated trailer hitch welded to the back of the K10 frame rails so it held the rails in place right where they belong.

I will cut up the K5 frame and pull out the rear frame section to get the fuel tank mount crossmembers and possibly the rear bumper mounts. This should fix the damage caused to the rear of the K10 frame when a PO welded the rail road track hitch to it. These parts will get fit up to the frame after the 67 body is fit to the 74 K10 frame as I may have to modify them and their locations to fit the needed fuel tank position and bumper placement.

[68 TT]

The next project will be fitting the cab, front clip and bed to the 74 K10 chassis.

With the bed and cab all lined up properly and the wheels centered in the wells I can fabricate the cab & core support mount brackets and space the bed mounts off the frame as needed to match.

With the square body frame the straight area to shorten to make it a short bed wheel base is behind the rear cab mount so the cab and front clip can stay in place for mock up of the drivetrain.

Once the cab and front clip are in place I will finish the roller cam conversion to the 88 TBI 350 that will be going into the truck. After that is done and I get the engine cleaned up and put back together I will bolt it to the 4L60E and NP208 I have for it & install them. I also have the transfer case crossmember and matching front driveshaft from the square body that the NP208 came from so they will just bolt right into the 74 chassis.

If the trans and/or transfer case hit the low hump on the 67 cab I will graft in the high hump tunnel from the K5 to give me the added clearance. I may just do this anyway to repair the hacked up tunnel in the 67 cab that a PO butchered to use a cheapo direct mount floor shifter. I may be able to salvage some other floor parts from the K5 to repair some other rusty or damaged areas on the floor of the 67 cab too.

After the drivetrain has been fit to the chassis I will cut down the 67 long bed box to make it the short bed length then cut down the 74 K10 frame to place the cab to bed gap where I want it to be. The square body wheel base is a little longer than the 67-72 so I have some room to play here even if I decide to keep the truck a long bed.

The next task at hand will be to get the TBI 350 & 4L60E plumbed, wired up and running.

I want to work all the bugs out of the chassis swap and drivetrain swap before I do any clean up of the body or chassis so I may drive it for a while as assembled to sort things out then tear it apart next summer (when I can drive one of my cars) to paint the chassis and give the truck a paint job & restore the interior.

[68 TT]

I have several square body optical VSS cable driven speedometers so I am going to retrofit a 67-72 speedo face with the square body TBI friendly mechanicals. This way I keep the looks of the stock dash but get the VSS info I need for the TBI system to function properly too.

I will re-gear the transfer case speedo gears to calibrate the output to match the 100 mph range of the 67 speedo and the height of the tires I will be running once it is on the road.

[68 TT]

I have a spare set of square body power window / power lock doors that I am considering cutting up to use to convert the 67 doors to power windows & locks.

The doors are similar in size with similar glass heights so I think this will be fairly straight forward fabrication to make the newer regulator assembly fit the older doors. I may buy a spare 67-72 door from the wrecking yard to experiment on for this.

The latch may take some monkeying around with the rods to get the power lock assembly functional but it should be pretty simple.

Anybody try this before?

I am probably going to retrofit a newer square body blade fuse type TBI vehicle under dash wire harness so powering up the windows & locks will be easy and all the circuits for the TBI system will be present too.

[Rob H.]

Thought I'd post here, looking good wanting to do this same swap myself. Been getting some ideas together and trying to do all the planning ahead of time. I'm hoping to get started on it later this year.

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by Rob H.

Thought I'd post here, looking good wanting to do this same swap myself. Been getting some ideas together and trying to do all the planning ahead of time. I'm hoping to get started on it later this year.

Thanks, it is coming along pretty well. Slow going as I am very busy with work and my two little girls but I am making progress.

I would definitely get a complete square body 4x4 chassis to do the conversion. It has made the process so straight forward and you can get one pretty cheap too. I got two for only $300.

[68 TT]

Made some progress and got the frame cuts all welded up so it will be strong enough to move around and do the rest of the fabrication work to mount the body.

After all the fabrication work is done I will tear the whole frame down, finish weld all the modified areas from both sides and reinforce the whole thing so it is stronger than it ever was before.

I need to get it into my driveway where I can level the chassis out perfectly then I can mount the bed securely to the frame where it needs to go and fabricate the cab mount brackets to match the new cab location.

First pic is 67 body on an unmodified square body K10 frame and the second is with it on the modified & shortened wheel base version of the same frame.

The cab & bed need to come forward a little in the second pic and are just loosely set in place to get them out of the way.

[Rob H.]

Well that's alot of the reason I was considering that way as I already have two square body K chassis'.

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by Rob H.

Well that's alot of the reason I was considering that way as I already have two square body K chassis'.

The truck frames will work great but stay away from the Blazer as the frame is substantially different out back and would require a ridiculous amount of body lift to get the cab lined up with the bed. They would make a great rear mounted fuel tank donor though. That is about all I am going to get out of the one I have.

[propanemudtruck]

Nice work so far. I'm doing a similar project in the 4x4 section, with a short short wheelbase final product for an ultimate plow rig. It's the same as the K5 wheelbase but using a K10 frame to start with. In my build link you can see that I took the kickup right out of the frame to get away from modifying the body with notches or anything for body/frame clearance. With two truck frames I think this might make for a nice LWB or SWB truck, just cutting the kickup right out.

Good Luck!

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by propanemudtruck

Nice work so far. I'm doing a similar project in the 4x4 section, with a short short wheelbase final product for an ultimate plow rig. It's the same as the K5 wheelbase but using a K10 frame to start with. In my build link you can see that I took the kickup right out of the frame to get away from modifying the body with notches or anything for body/frame clearance. With two truck frames I think this might make for a nice LWB or SWB truck, just cutting the kickup right out.

Good Luck!

I originally was going to make a K5 wheel base ultra short bed truck using the 84 K5 Blazer chassis but decided I wanted the truck to be more useful around the house so I went with the K10 chassis instead.

I don't care for the look of a long bed C10 but as a 4x4 it doesn't look too bad so I may just leave it as a long bed now instead of doing the extra work to make it a short bed. I did leave enough straight area of frame under the bed to be able to cut out the extra 12" to make it a short bed if I change my mind in the future.

I will take a look at your build and see what you have come up with.

[68 TT]

Made a little progress. Just too darn hot to do much.

Got the steering column hooked up so it was steerable then got it out of the back yard and into the driveway.

Got it leveled out and cut the bed shims to get the intermediate rear rail to clear the back of the wheel arch in the frame then drilled the new bed mount holes & bolted the bed in place.

Fought with the cab for a while trying to get it squared up but it kept pivoting around. Got it close enough I could measure for the cab mount brackets.

Cut out most of the 1/4" steel plate pieces to build the new cab mount brackets and drilled all the flange pieces for the mount bolt holes.

Once I find the body mount bushings I am going to use I can bolt them to the cab and get the cab mounts tacked together and in place so I can drill the frame for the mount bolts.

After the cab is locked down I can work on fabricating the core support mount brackets that will be welded to the front spring hangers and secure the front clip.

The next step will be getting the drivetrain installed and make this pig run & drive again. I'm considering dropping the engine from my Malibu into this thing to get it running sooner and putting the EFI motor into the Malibu instead of the truck.

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Looks like you have made some serious progress on someones hack job..

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by FRENCHBLUE72

Looks like you have made some serious progress on someones hack job..

It has been one battle after another on this thing with all the "work" that has been done over the years to this truck and the donors I had for it.

It is making progress and will be a whole truck again soon so I can get it back on the road where it belongs.

My wife thinks I am nuts for even wanting to try to rebuild this thing so I have to prove her right by finishing this project and making it look good too.

[madmopar]

Any updates??

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by madmopar

Any updates??

Not yet. Summer trips and limited time due to my work load have left me with very little time and even less money to work on the truck.

I'm hoping to get some time in on it this weekend.

I'm considering cannibalizing another project to get an engine into this thing a little sooner. My Malibu is completely torn down for paint & body work and interior replacement so its drivetrain is just begging to go into the 67 truck.

My wife wants me to turn the Malibu into a daily driver so the injected motor and an OD trans would be more appropriate for it so I will probably do it.

I don't know if I will put the 4L60E I already have into the 67 truck or pick up a 700R4 to go in the truck instead so I can make it computer free.

[madmopar]

i'm against computers in old stuff... but thats just me... I like the idea (reliability, effeciency, etc.) of it... but you pay extra for it up front and then when it starts having little problems and you spend 3 grand (or more) chasin' sensors and reprogramming computers, it doesn't make much sense... You could have a well built and very reliable old 350 for that kinda money... I'd put the sbc in there with a th350 and np205 and get on down the road...

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by madmopar

i'm against computers in old stuff... but thats just me... I like the idea (reliability, effeciency, etc.) of it... but you pay extra for it up front and then when it starts having little problems and you spend 3 grand (or more) chasin' sensors and reprogramming computers, it doesn't make much sense... You could have a well built and very reliable old 350 for that kinda money... I'd put the sbc in there with a th350 and np205 and get on down the road...

I have the NP208 already but don't have a 4x4 trans other than the 4L60E on hand. A T-350 would work well for this truck too and may be easier to find. We will see what I can come up with.

I may just drop in a 2-wd T-350 for now to get it on the road until I can track down the trans I need to make it a 4x4. I have several 2-wd T-350's I could use temporarily.

[nickp51chevy]

Looks like it's gonna be a fun build.

[jbclassix]

subscribed

[68 TT]

Got the rear driveshaft put in but the front driveshaft that came out of the transfer case donor is too short by about an inch. Apparently the Dana 44 is shallower than a 10-bolt front diff by a bit or the 4L60E is longer than the 700R4 that was in the transfer case donor. I will have to find a longer front driveshaft to make this work. It could be the old grease is hardened in the driveshaft and not letting me extend it the extra inch I need. I will pull it apart and clean it out & re-grease the thing to make sure.

I could always shift the drive train forward an inch. The rear driveshaft was a little tighter than I wanted with only 3/4" movement so this might be the route I go here just so I don't have to shorten the rear driveshaft and find another front driveshaft or lengthen the one I have. The rear yoke is extra long so it has plenty of capability to give up another inch with no issues.

Got a good look at the trans tunnel clearance in the daytime. Plenty of room for the NP208 shifter linkage below the floor on the low hump tunnel. I just have to do a little measuring to locate it properly so the handle is in the right spot to match up with the indicator and the trim plate sits on the tunnel right. Looks like I won't have to fit a high hump tunnel to the truck after all. I can even use the piece I cut out for the NP208 shifter to fix the hole a PO cut in the tunnel for a floor shifter.

[68 TT]

I just thought about another reason the front driveshaft may not reach. The front spring pack on this thing is five leafs and the other set I have from the K5 is only 2 or 3. Somebody may have had a plow on the front of the 74 K10 donor truck I got the frame from or it may have had a lift kit.

It sits pretty high and may not come down much with the rest of the front end on the truck. Not much weight left to add up there, maybe 300 pounds at most. Doubt it will come down four or five inches with that. I may need to put the smaller springs on the front to level things out.

I just went out and took a look at the front driveshaft angle. It is pretty severe compared to my K20. I didn't notice it from under the truck but when looking from the side it is pretty obvious.

The K20 front springs are curved upward in the middle too vs. the 67 with the downward curve in the middle so it sits substantially higher in the front than it should. Looks like I will be swapping out the front springs for the smaller stack to get it to sit right.

[madmopar]

Glad to see you're getting some work done... Too bad you're ruuning into so much trouble... I spent the weekend grinding and drilling out rivits... not fun... but its progress... Good luck... cool cluster idea too...