64 crewcab question

[Vic45]

i have a 64 fleet long bed that i have been thinking about making it a crewwcab. has anybody ever gotten two cabs and welded them together to make a crewcab. or can somebody tell me what kind of problems i will be getting into if i decided to go this route. any information would be helpful.

[kieth]

There were Coach builders who did exactly that, none of the crew cabs were done by GM, they were done by independent contracters. If you could use one as a reference point you could very easily ? build your own. You could even improve on what they did. A lot of the conversions didn't have a lot of leg room and they varied as to the doors used and the door pillar that was used and how they filled the area between the doors. Do a search in this forum and you will find brochures from the body companies that show what they looked like. Kieth

ps one of the worst things that they did was not center the rear axle on the rear fenderwell and the rear axle was too far forward. To make one look the best I think u would start with a LWB truck, modify the cab, then stretch the frame and modify the bed to the balanced looking location for the rear axle. JMO

[Vic45]

kieth
thats for that info. i have been looking at them. thats kind of how i go the whole idea of making it a CC. that and the fact that i was thinking how am i going to crusie without my boys.

[Clyde65]

I agree with keith completely. here is my dad's crew he stretched the 3/4 ton chassis and made it look better IMO. it was/is an original crew from 1964 coach maker.

[kieth]

Just a quick note, if you could find a suburban that had been rear ended you might try grafting the back of the truck cab at the proper place for it to look good. might be a lot easier that grafting the 2 truck cabs together ???

[Vic45]

Clyde thats a nice looking truck. that looks just like what i want. one question were would i be able to get custom glass for the doors if i modified them.

[Vic45]

Kieth i thought about doing that a suburban but i already have the truck i think it would be easier then buying a burb

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by kieth

Just a quick note, if you could find a suburban that had been rear ended you might try grafting the back of the truck cab at the proper place for it to look good. might be a lot easier that grafting the 2 truck cabs together ???

that wouldnt get him 4 doors, suburbans of those years were 2 doors. I bet that would be nice as a big extended cab though.

[66Gilbert]

Here is a photoshop of my 2 wheel drive that was turned in to a 4 wheel drive. Back windows would probably not work but it looks cool.

[Clyde65]

Thanks Vic45, it is my dad's as I said and it is even nicer in person.

There was a guy here from Austin that had some rear doors from a coach limo that wanted to sell his project, I think he was moving to VA or something, let me see if I can find him....

[jonzcustomshop]

Originally Posted by kieth

Just a quick note, if you could find a suburban that had been rear ended you might try grafting the back of the truck cab at the proper place for it to look good. might be a lot easier that grafting the 2 truck cabs together ???

I had thought about this, but the subs roof crown is taller than a pickup.

the 2 biggest hurdles I see in this project are the roof skin, and the front portion of the drip rail, if you look you will notice that it tapers in to the front, even the top of the door kinda moves in, so that would have to be delt with.

[Clyde65]

Jon, I am not following you, can you elaborate? which roof are you referring to? a subs roof?

[padresag]

you could try Jonnie , http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=334846
as he did acquire doors, frames and a roof section from my ambulance. the doors are the same width as the frt doors so they are full doors. I don't know whether or not that he will ever use them or if he still has them
ron

[Clyde65]

Yea ron, that is him! that is the dude I was looking for.

[padresag]

Originally Posted by Clyde65

Jon, I am not following you, can you elaborate? which roof are you referring to? a subs roof?

a panel or suburban roof has a higher crown to it,
there was a thread recently(the fellow that shortened up a suburban), replaced the frt roof/windshield area from a p/u and had to elevate the frt sheet metal from that to match up with the existing roof
ron

[Clyde65]

Oh, ok, I see now, thanks ron!

[jonzcustomshop]

Originally Posted by Clyde65

Jon, I am not following you, can you elaborate? which roof are you referring to? a subs roof?

Originally Posted by padresag

a panel or suburban roof has a higher crown to it,
there was a thread recently(the fellow that shortened up a suburban), replaced the frt roof/windshield area from a p/u and had to elevate the frt sheet metal from that to match up with the existing roof
ron

the drip rails on a sub roof would be ideal, because they go straight back.

if you put two pickup cabs together the rear of the front roof is wider than the front of the rear roof, so that would have to be delt with...

you still might be able to use the roof skin off a sub, you would just have to section an inch or so out of it around the perimeter..

[PrerunnerRob]

I started my crewcab this exact same way several years ago. Ended up scrapping it due to not having the time or extensive sheet metal skills required to make it look right. There are MANY issues that you wont realize until you are midway through. Hers a few I had to deal with:
Rear doors-my original truck was a '63, and so was the donor cab. I didn't want a filler piece between the two doors, which meant the rear doors would have to swing suicide, due to the vent window being in front of the hinge line. This didn't even begin to include the inner workings of the door, or having to re-angle the leading ede of the rear door, or the trailing edge of the front door. The doors also angle in at the top towards the front of the cab, again requiring major re-working.
Inner roof-It has multiple contours and changes width from front to back, along with being a stamped piece of steel. There's a reason that suburbans use a conventional headliner, and it would take several truck roof sections to try to make it look correct.
Outer roof-the roof raises from front to rear, and blending the roof sections together would be difficult without a sheet metal shop at your disposal. Also the front narrows on the last foot or so, and would require several outer roof sections to stretch the length.
Under cab-there are some support rails that run at a diagonal angle, and would need to be replaced or fabricated to support the floor. Again, another cab would be needed to provide a filler section.
I'm not trying to deter you from taking this on, but when I started mine, I had no idea how many complicated issues I would run into. If you have any questions, I'll help as best I can.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Clyde65]

just to add to the great information above from PrerunnerBob, my dads crew doesnt have a solid inner roof, it does have support bars that sort of look like mini bed wood braces, there is the inner roof panel bordering around the perimeter but the center is a thin wood that is upholstered. hope this helps

[Captainfab]

I haven't looked into it in detail, but IMO using a Suburban or Panel would be the best aproach to building a crewcab.

[PrerunnerRob]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

I haven't looked into it in detail, but IMO using a Suburban or Panel would be the best aproach to building a crewcab.

My thoughts exactly. My suburban I currently have has a perimeter of sheet metal with a fabric/board inner panel. I'm thinking this is how the coachbuilders began with.
Posted via Mobile Device

[oklahomaduner]

The crew/ext cabs are a lot of work to do. I've been working through mine for a year now and this is where im at. I'm extending it 16 and a half inches and in just that length, the variations in width of the roof from front to back are very noticable. We decided to take all the panels apart and take it one piece at a time, strengthening every joint.

In the pics you can see the inner roof going in and some of the other stuff going on.

If you want a good look at a killer crew cab, check out dino63's
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=327006

[kieth]

Man that is a lot of sheet metal on that roof, I can see why it is so hard to do. I thought about the extended cab also and it seemed simpler than 4 doors, but nothing about this is easy..........My thoughts were add 1?" to a cab using lwb chasis and use a swb bed whatever that difference is (18") but as I looked at the project I thought maybe I will just finish this one stock and try the hard stuff later.....ha ha. Kieth

[oklahomaduner]

Haha if you're gonna put the time into it, make it what you want! Thats my philosophy anyways... Lol

We are putting this cab on an '86 1ton longbed frame and using a standard short step side bed. The crew cab idea crossed our minds too, but we would have had to lengthen our frame, and the rear doors seemed like way to much to tackle. But since we wanted to be different, the ext cab was the way to go!
Posted via Mobile Device
Posted via Mobile Device

[Vic45]

PrerunnerRob
never thought about all those issues. if i decide to go ahead and do this little project i will deffently be asking you sum questions. thanks for the info