68 C50 Looongbed pickup build

[sweetk30]

fyi if the ball is to low in the truck box b&w makes a tall ball for there setup .

http://www.turnoverball.com/products...s/hi-rise-ball

i have a hidden gooseneck hitch for my k30 build it sure is masive over kill but well worth it i think .

main plate is 3 bolts per side to top of rails . front and rear each get 2 more plates that pickup the side of the rails . its 1 MASSIVE unit and basicly makes the back of the truck a new extra crossemeber . i still have to make the pull/lock rod .

[rkn463]

Originally Posted by 61_FL_Apache

Thanks for the updates! Looking great!

Thanks for hanging in!

Originally Posted by rusty76

Looking great.

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Coming together nicely Richard.

Good to hear from you Doug, how goes the burb?

Originally Posted by Deer_hunter_088

Richard, im ready for the 1st man. gotta get my wheeler fixed up after school so i can get ready to go the first day.

Git 're done!

Originally Posted by sweetk30

fyi if the ball is to low in the truck box b&w makes a tall ball for there setup .

http://www.turnoverball.com/products...s/hi-rise-ball

i have a hidden gooseneck hitch for my k30 build it sure is masive over kill but well worth it i think .

main plate is 3 bolts per side to top of rails . front and rear each get 2 more plates that pickup the side of the rails . its 1 MASSIVE unit and basicly makes the back of the truck a new extra crossemeber . i still have to make the pull/lock rod .

Sir, I am in awe of your overkill

But seriously, that is some fine work. Regarding the tall hitch ball, I won't be using the hitch with the bed on...

That's right, foreshadowing



-Richard

[sweetk30]

i cant take credit for my goosneck hitch . its a www.diy4x.com item he builds when requested . . .

[rkn463]

Originally Posted by sweetk30

i cant take credit for my goosneck hitch . its a www.diy4x.com item he builds when requested . . .

Thanks for the link, that could come in handy in the future!

-Richard

[Gokart Mozart]

How fast does it like to cruise?

[rkn463]

Originally Posted by Gokart Mozart

How fast does it like to cruise?

I have not yet connected the speedometer. Just guessing I'd say that it can easily handle 65 or 70.

-Richard

[Deer_hunter_088]

Originally Posted by rkn463

Thanks for hanging in!







Good to hear from you Doug, how goes the burb?



Git 're done!



Sir, I am in awe of your overkill

But seriously, that is some fine work. Regarding the tall hitch ball, I won't be using the hitch with the bed on...

That's right, foreshadowing



-Richard

Im walking into the sand for a while. the front left wheel bearing has a solid inch of play in each direction

[Deer_hunter_088]

So waiting on the update................... Killed a deer already...............................................................With my truck............................................................................................... .................................................................................................... ................................................................ Yeah not fun. shes okay though.

[jimdaug]

I've just glanced through the thread, so if this has come up yet my apologies. I'm definitely going to go through it more thoroughly when I have time.

How are you doing registration and insurance? Do you have CDL?

I'm wanting to something like Roadkill did with that F6 but with a Chevy, but I'm trying to figure out the titling/registration/insurance issues before I even start looking for a BIG truck to see if it's a non-starter.

[rkn463]

Originally Posted by jimdaug

I've just glanced through the thread, so if this has come up yet my apologies. I'm definitely going to go through it more thoroughly when I have time.

How are you doing registration and insurance? Do you have CDL?

I'm wanting to something like Roadkill did with that F6 but with a Chevy, but I'm trying to figure out the titling/registration/insurance issues before I even start looking for a BIG truck to see if it's a non-starter.

Hi Jimdaug, thanks for checking it out. My truck has a 19500 GVW which comes in under the requirement for a CDL. I forget the exact rating but it is 24k or more in Texas before we have to go there. That being said, if I latch on to my Gooseneck and put a tractor on it I will be over...

Registration: I assume you mean license plates? This is a ranch truck and runs farm tags which are way cheaper than commercial. It hasn't been tagged since they stated requiring a state inspection to get tags. When that went down the brakes were fried and it wouldn't pass inspection so I dropped the tags.

I do keep it insured, I just played dumb and gave them the VIN and they didn't bat an eye... there again, it is a farm/ranch truck in a rural area an insurance runs cheap here.

Was the roadkill F6 the bobbed wheelie truck? If you are not making something that will not be used anywhere near its capacity then you may want to get a big truck and a pickup and use/modify the pickup cab so that you can retain the VIN that is associated with a lower GVW.

I hope this helps.

-Richard

Apologies if there are typos, I did not proof read this post

[rkn463]

Some stuff I left out. There are a couple of reasons that I have not yet had it inspected and licensed; I still haven't worked out the rear bumper an dually fenders. There will have to be some additional lights on the fenders.

What has stopped me is clutch/ transmission problems that I need to work through, right now it is extremely difficult to shift. This all manifested in the 50 to 75 miles total that it has done since getting it running. To say I'm frustrated would be an understatement.

Anyway once that is all done it will get inspected and tagged.

-Richard

[61_FL_Apache]

If this is a private truck, do you need a CDL? It should fall under the same class as a large RV. No CDL needed for that.

[jimdaug]

Originally Posted by rkn463

Registration: I assume you mean license plates? This is a ranch truck and runs farm tags which are way cheaper than commercial. It hasn't been tagged since they stated requiring a state inspection to get tags. When that went down the brakes were fried and it wouldn't pass inspection so I dropped the tags.

I do keep it insured, I just played dumb and gave them the VIN and they didn't bat an eye... there again, it is a farm/ranch truck in a rural area an insurance runs cheap here.

Yeah, it's registration/tags that was wondering about. There's a guy at the place I work at in Farmersville that has a 40-50s Dodge that's got a Detroit Diesel in it. It may be a 1 ton though. I'll have to ask him next time I see him. He might be under farm tags too. A lot of the guys out there live on some decent sized acreages.

Originally Posted by rkn463

Was the roadkill F6 the bobbed wheelie truck? If you are not making something that will not be used anywhere near its capacity then you may want to get a big truck and a pickup and use/modify the pickup cab so that you can retain the VIN that is associated with a lower GVW.

Yeah, it's the wheelie truck.


I'll haven't totally dug into it yet, but are the cabs between the c10-c30 close enough that the fenders and hood from a c40-c60 match up decently? I've seen a couple of pictures where the gauge clusters looked almost identical.

[rkn463]

Originally Posted by jimdaug

I'll haven't totally dug into it yet, but are the cabs between the c10-c30 close enough that the fenders and hood from a c40-c60 match up decently? I've seen a couple of pictures where the gauge clusters looked almost identical.

The cabs are very similar, floor and firewall differences mainly. The medium duty truck sheet metal wouldn't be a direct bolt on but with some modification anything is possible. Depending on your body working/welding skills the two cabs can be grafted together resolving all of the problems

-Richard

[jimdaug]

I'm liking that idea.

It feels like there is a fair amount of fabrication either way, but then I don't have to worry about the paperwork as much with a 1/2-1 ton as a base.

[flashed]

Anything above 1 ton here in Ga according to my farmer Brother N Law is now considered Commercial so he just quit tagging some of his bigger trucks he rarely uses .

[truckfan]

subscribed

[rkn463]

Originally Posted by truckfan

subscribed

Thanks for joining the madness!


It has been a long time since I updated this. I now have the front bumper installed along with the tow hooks from the 89 donor. I also played around with altering some side marker lenses to replace the badly faded and cracked park light lenses. I'm not happy with what I ended up with. I'd like to find some NOS park light lenses...

Also, like I mentioned in my last update I'm having problems shifting. Currently the transmission is sitting on the floor. I'm going to put in a clutch and pressure plate, I'm hoping that is where the problem is.

-Richard

[truckfan]

update??

[rkn463]

Originally Posted by truckfan

update??

Thanks for the kick-start... When I last updated I mentioned that the transmission was sitting on the floor of the shop, it still is. I've had it out since late February or early March. I'm not proud of that.

Anyway, here is some of what went on since I updated.

First of all after switching over to the park brake mount from the 89 it was difficult to hit the high-beam switch. It was too far left (physically, I'm pretty sure it is politically neutral )



I moved it so that the left side of the switch was bolted down to the right side hole. Due to the curve of the floor board the right side of the switch was a little over a 1/4 inch from the floor.



I took an old brass pipe fitting and cut a piece to use for a spacer.



Here it is all bolted down in the new position:



I had to extend the wires a couple of inches to make this reach...

-Richard

[rkn463]

I also replaced all of the tail light and backup light lenses. Before and after:



-Richard

[rkn463]

The front bumper was one of the things that had worried me all along. The front of the frame is angled in a bit on the 89 whereas it is straight on the 68. Also the top of the frame is wider on the 68 and the top of the bumper bolts to the top of the frame along with side mounted brackets. A measurement of the outside dimensions of the frame showed that the 89 was only 1/4 inch narrower than the 68. So all I needed to do was add a bit or width to the top and drill new holes for the brackets.

Here is the frame with tape applied for marking:



And a shot of the marks up close:



Now the test piece held in place, I got the metal from left over bits that I had cut off the rear of the frame to make it match the pickup bed:



Holes drilled and edges beveled for welding (not easy with the grill in...):



All welded up and ready to grind:



A bit more to come

-Richard

[rkn463]

Here is the Driver side welded and ground, ready for paint:



On the sides I had to weld up a few holes and grind them flat so I could drill new holes - some of the original holes interfered with the spacing for the 68 model brackets. I'll spare you all of the "along the way" photos, here it is with the new holes drilled:



And now with the brackets bolted on. You may notice that I got lazy and didn't strip and paint the brackets; I'll do that when I find a perfect bumper:



You might be wondering why four holes on top instead of the two required for the bumper... Well the 89 had these nifty guys; I think they may be the same as they used in 68, just the 89 mounted them on the side instead of on top. The bolt spacing matched the bumper exactly :



Here it is with the bumper and tow hooks installed:



I did go back and replace all of the bolts holding the hooks down with grade 8 hardware. You may also notice a conspicuously white lower grill loop. I had a friend who is a metal magician straighten it for me. The top one is smashed, I found a less damaged one that my friend will fix when business slows down.

Other than a poor attempt at modifying a side marker lamp lens to fit the park light hole that has it caught up. I sort of lost steam with the clutch. If things go well I'll finish that up in August when I have some vacation time.

Thanks again to all who have followed this and my apologies for just dropping off the map for so long.

To all of the other posting your exploits, keep it up - I love seeing what you are all doing!

-Richard

[Whamo]

Brother! This stuff is cool!...Great work...

[Palf70Step]