Needle in a haystack! WHAT A FIND, NATE, I'm glad you found that! So cool when a guy finds what he is looking for and at a really good price. Did PO have a project or just a cab to sell? Thanks for all the pics., I'll be watching for progress reports.
Finding That Needle You're more correct than you realize Steve ~ GM really cheaped out from '67 ~ '87 using decidedly low quality steel then making no effort to rust proof it whatsoever during the initial build so they rusted away in a short time . I can find cabs everywhere but the junkyards all want $500 and most are rusty with holes every where , I did find one with *perfect* floors , 'A' Pillars , corners and so on but the rain gutter was rusted clean though on one side and no discount so I passed . This one ca,me from a guy in my '67 ~ '72 Chevy / GMC truck club , he runs an informal junkyard and had 40 +/- trucks plus numerous loose cabs just lying around . I wanted the '72 1 Ton low hump (! RARE !) cab he had as it had the optional clearance lights but he said he's putting that one on his slant back car hauler . I visited my truck again and they've not yet touched it ~ I'm going to wait one month then take it back And give it to another guy I found , this other guy builds lots of GM trucks , several have graced " Classic Trucks " Magazine covers but I wanted to use a closer to me Body Shop so I can keep a weather eye on it ~ I just found and purchased , an original 6 cylinder tachometer for it , WOO - HOO ! .
CONGRATULATIONS, Nate!!! What a score!!! Love the photos! Hopefully it will be painted up soon, then the real fun begins!
The Original Cab Here we see a tiny bit of the gaping rust holes : Here you can see how the floor board pinchweld has COMPLETELY parted from the toe board.... When I was zooming up and down the canyons I felt the cab shifting 1/2" . You have to click on the second picture to blow it up to see what I'm talking about here .
That almost looks like my 71 did My 71 "G" did the same thing. When I pushed the clutch in, the whole front of the cab would lift up. It had all of they typical rust, being in the salt belt. No cab corners or rockers. When I went to replace the cab with a 72 deluxe, I found that all that was holding the cab to the floor was the gas tank and about 9 inches of the original seam in the middle back of the cab behind the tank.
Cab Rust Oddly , this cab only had rust wherever the leaves collected , the floors were O.K. and the rain gutter and lower rear corners are *perfect* ~ the windshield pinchweld , I'm lucky the glass didn't fall out on hard stops Shame on GM for dropping the ball on an other wise very well engineered truck , many are still doing yeoman duty 40 + years later ! .
You know, honestly, Nate, I think the 67-72 Chevy trucks were the last really good looking GM trucks made. The 73-up boxes were ugly IMO, even though I had one. They squared the fender openings after that and still do to this day. My 2001 2500HD looks ok, I guess, but, not like the old days. I kinda liked the trucky looking hood on it. I don't mean to offend anybody on this Chevy truck forum, just my thoughts... Maybe I'm just remembering my youth, cause I don't like the looks of new cars either. The new Camaros and Mustangs are an attempt at classic good looks, but, fall a little short. My brother is really close to buying a brand spanking new Challenger, and I'm excited for him. I was never really a Mopar guy, never grew up with them, but I think his will be fun to drive. I guess I do own a Mopar, a Jeep, or is that a Fiat? If I have to admit I drive a Fiat, I think I will be sick. Anyway, I'll quit rambling on and I'm glad your gonna end up with a real cherry.
Interesting News The painter called me this morning , said he wanted me to come by and approve the # 505 (IIRC) paint before he begins painting the cab . He greeted me with a worried look and asked me to look closely at the frame ~ the Mechanic who'd assembled the new ball joints and tie rods etc. had measured the frame and it was BENT , had two cracks right at the leading edge of the right side cross member to frame bolts and it also was slightly bowed up right at the VIN . When he cut out the rivets holding the forward most frame cross piece , it sprang apart ~ he'd taken my assurances that it was straight because it drove so well , I guess back when it was new my 130,000 original mile truck was wrecked and repaired . Damn . No worries , he's already gearing up to fix it , he's pulled the frame into proper alignment and will soon remove the cross member to properly weld then straighten it . Whew .
I learned the other day these old (1950) trucks frames must not be heat treated. Mine had some very minor flange distortion and I was able to correct it with a giant adj. wrench. You CANNOT fix modern big-truck frames that are tweeked. Thay also say to never weld or drill the flanges on them because they are heat treated.
Oops : It appears I dropped the ball on this thread , here's some more pix of the works : Bare frame ready for bead blasting : Piles 'O parts : Poor old thing :
Pix The frame on these is fairly willowy , they're LIGHT DUTY trucks and so flex a lot to have better ride :
Zig Which part of it did you like Zig ? that post sort of meandered all over the place . Of course , the damn fool curbstoner kid with the black V-8 of course jerked me off big time , he shopped it 'round , I waste my time with him . Good thing I'm old now as I'da punched his lights out twenty years ago . Kids simply DO NOT get taught good manners and honesty these days it seems . We have quite a few good ones here I am happy to say but try to do any business on cragislist and you'll pull your hair out .
So many threads... Nate, you have a I-6 teardown thread, a I-6 refurb, paint and rebuild thread, a six-banger AC thread, and this kind of overall build thread. I like 'em all, and I know you're on a nation spanning way cool adventure, but, I'm really wondering about the paint jail. We all need an update.
The Paint Jail Good morning Steve ; Oops ! I guess I kinda dropped the ball here eh ? . Do you want the many photos and details of lost / destroyed / carelessly thrown out parts too ? . I'm in Waldoboro , Maine now , been working on my Brother's '87 Mercedes 300SDL S-Klasse all the way across America , I had to buy him four new tires in Kansas etc. . I'm days behind on my E-mails and tech writing do please keep reminding me as I have some pix in my iPod thing I carry in my pocket . I hardly ever get replies to my posts here so I didn't think anyone cared .
