68 GMC to a 2003 Tahoe chassis

[75Dually]

So most of you on here know me by the 75Dually that I have been building. Well that truck is far enough along that I wanted to finally start my 68 GMC.

Some brief history; I got this truck a year ago and it has been sitting ever since. I sold the V6 and trans out of it a couple of days after I brought it home. It is an original Lubbock truck with no rust, OK there is some surface patina, but no cancer... So thankful for that!

For this build I will be cutting down the bed to make it a short bed. I am going to be laying rocker. I have also recently purchased a 2003 Tahoe which will become the donor for, well everything below the body shell. I'm going to be using most of this donor and body dropping the 68 on top of it. That way I don't have to reinvent the wheel on all the sub systems. I bet that a lot of you have thought about doing this very thing, and I hope this build helps both of us figure out all the issues. I know I will need some expert help along the way so I hope this is going to be a good discussion. I picked up the seats last night, they are in amazing shape (Thanks Cody Anderson!), and I have always liked the 60/40 split seats from the OBS Chevy/GMC trucks. They are super comfortable and look amazing in my opinion.

I have some basic ideas on what I want to do, but I've built enough vehicles to know that plans laid down now always change, so hold on this is going to be a fun ride!

Stay tuned!

[Joseph2001]

Looks like a great start to an awesome build!

[75Dually]

Originally Posted by Joseph2001

Looks like a great start to an awesome build!

Thanks! I certainly hope that this is an awesome build. I was starting the tear down today on the 68, bagging and labeling all the parts. Lots of tedious work, but in the end it makes all the difference when you go to put it back together.

[Joseph2001]

Keep us updated, lots of pics!

[75Dually]

Tonight I pulled the front clip off, along with the hood and the front bumper. One great thing about Lubbock vehicles is they are preserved really well. One bad thing about Lubbock vehicles is the dust!!! It is in everything!!! Everything!!! Cough, cough, cough...

At least I got that part done tonight.

Stay tuned!

[Joseph2001]

I love Texas, except the dust!
I lived in a little town 50-60 miles out of Dallas called Union Valley, where I gained my love for these trucks, they were all rust free but dusty as hell.

Keep up the good work! Making me jealous I haven't done any work on my '72

[75Dually]

Lot's of hard work tonight! Got the cab off the old frame. Let me tell you that was zero fun... However it did come off and we got it down on the roller frame I made over the weekend. So now it is on to the bed. I'm looking forward to making it a short bed, should be very interesting to say the least...

BTW all the brown you see on the cab is West Texas dust, acres of it, but zero rot!

I want to say a huge thank you to my neighbor Aces Carroll for helping me out! Could not have gotten it all done this evening without you!

Stay tuned...

[75Dually]

To bring everyone up to speed, one of the things I am going to be trying with this build is to incorporate the firewall and some of the floor board from the donor truck into this 68 GMC. The reason for this is so I don't have to figure out what GM already spent millions of dollars designing. Simple things like the gas pedal, the brake assembly, the heater core and AC cores, etc.... You get the idea. It is a serious pain to try and relocate all that stuff in a vehicle that was never designed to house those parts, not that it can't and hasn't been done before, but because I don't want to spend all winter making mounts and everything to hold and connect all the stuff to the existing cab.

If it is done correctly, and it will be trust me, this will save me a ton of hours of fab time and allow me to get this project on the road a lot quicker. Also it will have the benefit of looking and working like an OEM product.

That is the plan for right now at least...

Stay tuned!

[72 tigger]

Tuned in- looks like a great project!

[75Dually]

Originally Posted by 72 tigger

Tuned in- looks like a great project!

Thanks! This should be a good project.

[Joseph2001]

Looks like you got it coming along good!

[NurseBen]

I'll watch.

[BlueBullet]

Subcribed

[notsolo]

You have probably seen this build, he should be getting close to the finish with it. http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=731246

[75Dually]

Originally Posted by notsolo

You have probably seen this build, he should be getting close to the finish with it. http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=731246

Thanks! I'll check it out.

[flashed]

Im in .

[thetucks]

subscribed.

[rwade]

Can't wait to see how it comes out. A friend of mine did the same with a 63 truck and a trailblazer.

Wade

[75Dually]

Originally Posted by rwade

Can't wait to see how it comes out. A friend of mine did the same with a 63 truck and a trailblazer.

Wade

Thanks Wade!

[thetucks]

In order to lower the truck you most likely will have to raise the height of the bed floor anyways.

[75Dually]

Today was a very busy day in the shop. I worked on taking the long bed and making it into a short bed. Lots of measuring and then laying the tape out.

The reason for the zig and zag on the passenger side is that there was some rather large past body damage, and taking out the section the way I did took most of the damage out. Now I can just tack it back together and keep moving forward. The drivers side was a lot easier compared to the passenger side...

I used cut off wheels to cut the sheet metal, and I used a sawzall to cut the bed floor. Speaking of the bed floor I will not be keeping it. I plan on putting in a wood bed. This metal bed is so tore up and dented it is just not worth the time to do anything but throw it away.

Tomorrow I will finish cutting out the front bed floor and then begin tacking it all together. Tons of fun!

Note all the dirt on the floor, every time you touched this bed it rained dust and dirt. Like I said before, no cancer, but it is well preserved in all the Lubbock dust!

Stay tuned...

[75Dually]

Tonight I got the rest of the floor cut out, and then spent the balance of the evening cutting and notching the rear piece to fit over the frame rails. Had to break out the plasma for that little bit of fun.

Don't mind the fit right now I just clamped the parts together to get a rough look at what needs to still be trimmed to get the proper gap before welding everything up. So now I have some body work to do, and the passenger side will be the bulk of that. However the zig and zag cut I made was actually really tight and even gave me some slight trimming material to make everything lay correctly in the end. The gap that you are seeing right now on the drivers side is only there because the bed floor needs to be trimmed up so it will fit correctly.

One thing I thought was interesting was the scratch on the lower front on the passenger side matches up perfectly! How in the world did that happen, oh well I take it when I can get it...

Stay tuned!

[Pancho_peso]

Subd

[Joseph2001]

Looks to be coming along great!

[75Dually]

Tonight the mosquito's were trying to carry me away! So I had to stay on the move all night, can't wait until they all die off for the rest of the year!!!

However I did get a lot done. I got the rest of the gaps down to 1/16" and then mocked it all up and measured for square, and I was right on the money the first time! So happy for that result!!

After that I got to grinding off all the old paint so I could start tack welding all the cuts. As you can see I got the drivers side front tacked up. I did the easiest one first. The rest of the are just as straight forward, ok except the passenger side front, that one will be a bit more difficult. Speaking of that, I got the panel pulled out where the big dent was and then started body working the entire area. I still have the lower portion by the wheel well to finish, but that is for tomorrow and the weekend.

I should be done tacking everything up by tomorrow night, and then I can start doing all the finish welding.

Stay tuned...