1967 Panel getting the 4x4 treatment - with pictures!

Presented for your review is my 4x4 project. The basics: 1967 90" Windowless van body going on the chassis of a 1987 K10 pickup. So far the van has been relieved of it's suspension and the truck of it's body, etc.. Next move is to join the two and then figure out steering and brakes and all the rest. Any input is welcome (especially concerning steering and brakes) and yes, those tires are the size I plan on sticking with. Here's a few pictures if I can get them to work:

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Safe to say the driver's side fuel tank from the truck won't be getting re-used!!


Chassis on it's way to the welder's. Gonna come back a lot shorter!!









Got a lot of work ahead of me, but I can see it coming together. Here's one more that I had to take...


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Cool project, how much did you have to shorten it, and is the chassis the right width to fit under the van body ?

Put the chassis over a clean, flat floor. Using a plumb bob, mark out on the floor the wheel footprints, chassis and mounts and areas where you need to cut the floor.
Then, block the body over the same area. You should be able to mark out very closely where the cuts will be required.

I'd guess that a driving position is going to be tough to get. You can rear mount the radiator for extra room.

Will be a lot of problems trying th put the body on the frame! Most of the 4x4 Early's that I have seen on here have just had the front axel, steering, rearend & running gear installed on them.... The engine position, steering, & radiator are gonna be a big problem I think??? Unless you are just wanting to build a monster truck or want a project to work on for quite a while I would look at the 4x4 vans in the members gallery's and consider doing a build like theirs.... If you do get the body on the frame & get it all together make sure you post a gallery....

It's supposed to look like a wanna-be monster truck when it's done. The inspiration was an early Ford Econo pickup way in the air on a Bronco or F100 frame that I saw at a car show a few years back. Ever since then it's been in my mind to do it this way. I wish I had my camera with me at that show to take pictures of the Ford, but I got to talk with the owner and he told me it was built by his dad in the 80's I think. His dad gave it to him after he fell out of it and hurt himself.

As far as lining up the chassis, I have a guy who's doing the final fit for me. He builds rockcrawling buggies and has done a few body swaps in the past. It might come down to making a few cuts around the doghouse to clear the engine, but I think the body's going to be up above the chassis enough that it will fit OK.

Going to try my hand at sandblasting this weekend and get the undercarriage all cleaned off and Rust-Oleum'd up while I still have such good access.

I’m excited to see this making progress.

Old Dirty, Is this the truck your thinking of? Man I think my second early will be a 4x4 also.

Big W, that's really close to what I saw! Your picture is bigger than the one that inspired me, but they could've been brothers. I saw one that was primer black with some lime green accents and it was sitting on 38-40" tires with moon disc hubcaps! It was so different and over the top, I had to have one. Originally i bought a Blazer and a '72 VW Bus because I was really into VWs at the time, but now I'm stoked to have discovered the early Chevy! More room, already designed for engine in the front, and it'll be all GM when it's done so I can try to convince people its factory

Can't wait to see the body on there

Cool!!!!

Went for it with the sandblaster today. Couldn't get it to work properly and I'm pretty sure its because the media I bought is way too coarse. It kept clogging up the nozzle and the valve. I was using "Black Beauty" medium grit for anyone that's familiar. It seems like the equivalent of what would be found on 40 grit sandpaper. Going to the supply store tomorrow for some finer material and hopefully make some progress. The plan is to strip all the old paint, undercoating and rust off the underside of the van and coat it with Rust-Oleum satin black while it is still accessible.

I'll put up some pictures of the process if I can get the blaster to do it's thing!

This is going to be very cool. Can't wait to see it on that frame!!!

Got snowed out today with the sandblaster. I did make it to the supply store for some finer material and I think I have the right stuff this time around. Bought some 5 gal. buckets too with pour spout lids to handle the material easier. (There's just nothing convenient about a 100# paper bag full of sand.) Along with a proper face shield and a new respirator it was a hell of a day at the store. Decided to cap it off with a trip to the junkyard just for the hell of it, since tomorrow its back to work until Sunday.

Here's my little blaster, can't wait to get it running right.


Always enjoy a walk through the junkyard, snow or not. (No early van stuff there though )



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Finally got a weekend away from snow, rain, work, Superbowls, and everything else and got to work on the underside of the van. My little sandblaster works great with the fine grade material and I was happy with the results. It didn't strip every last piece of factory undercoat or necesarily leave bare metal but at least it gave a good "tooth" for the paint to stick to. I could've done better, but sandblasting in a confined area under a vehicle is a miserable experience without a hood. I used a respirator and a full face shield but I swear every stray grit ended up in my ears, eyes, and down my pants! Anyway, here's a few update pictures for those interested...


All set up and ready to rock!




Leaving a nice clean surface!

Got this old gas tank out of the way...



Put down a much better looking finish...



And realized that I hate sandblasting. All in a day's work!

Looks pretty darn good to me! I hear ya on the sand everywhere,, even a hooded shield seems not to keep it all out. Looking forward to the rest of your build.
Digz

Thanks Digz. Ready to figure out how to lift the body onto the frame at this point. It's down to some sort of scaffolding/come-along method vs. trying to track down a guy I once met that owns a crane truck. Either way it'll be fun! Hoping to have it mocked into place and back to the welder's within a week or two. Once the two become one it's all uphill from there right?

Maybe they wouldn't do it, but we have used the local company that sets septic tanks when we have needed a sturdy Boom Truck once in awhile. If you can figure out a safe way to sling the thing it wouldnt take them long to set it. Just an idea

Nice job!!! Did what you did on my 64. Sure makes it nicer working under there now. No dirt and crap falling into your face

OD,
I know the feeling. Blasting sucks at times but having a "Clean Slate" so to speak makes all the future work that much easier. And like Chris said, not having crap fall into your face every time you crawl under it will save a lot of frustration. Keep up the good work and keep the pic's coming!

Dan

I'm just wondering Old Dirty........what do you plan to do about the rear drive shaft ?

In the pictures, as they are, it looks like the drive shaft is to be about 15" long on a 45 degree angle.

I mean, you can tilt the rear of the motor down, a bit, and shim the axle up, a bit, but, it still looks........


fN

freakNeck, I've been thinking about that alot too. The donor truck is set up with a 700R4/NP208 combo, and it's about the longest 4x4 drivetrain GM offered back then. My thoughts are to go with a TH350/NP205 and gain several inches of driveshaft length. Going to do a "slip yoke eliminator" on the NP205 to get it even shorter then angle it all down with some shims. After that, I'll do a shackle flip where the rear shackle becomes compression rather than tension to give lift without blocks and it also angles the pinion up a bit. With these modifications in place I should be able to order a CV driveshaft from one of these offroad places that specializes in custom/hi-angle stuff and I'm hoping I'll be good to go. Been having trouble getting ahold of the TH350/NP205 on my McBudget, but hopefully good things come to those who wait, right?

Got some more issues to figure out like steering and brakes too, but I'm in too deep to give up now!

Anyone got a line on a TH350/NP205 setup I'd love to know about it - got a 700R4/NP208 to trade or trade plus cash...

Man that looks great wish i had more money to get started on my 66 guess in time,keep us posted!