Me and a buddy have been going back and forth on a trade. He wanted my 71 K20 and I wanted his unibody. We finally got it all worked out. I should have it at my house in a couple of weeks. Its running a Mopar torsion bar front suspension. I believe it has a Ford nine inch out back (not positive). And the Ford guys will flip, but it has a very nice 350/350 Chev combo for power. It was a long box and he cut down the rear a little. So I'm going to have to get some good side shots of it and compare it to stock short boxes and decided if it looks goofy or not. May have to move the rear end and wheel wells forward a bit. I have a couple of ideas of where I want to go looks wise (one mild and one wild). Definitely going to be built in an earlyish 60s style though. The wheels on it right now are just rollers ... I'm leaning towards chrome steel wheels ... or chrome reverse. I plan on doing the paint and upholstery myself this time ... gonna be a first for me. Ill add build pics to this thread ... when I make any progress lol.
I had one of those 3 year ago almost gave it away. it was a big window neat trucks yours looks good what are your plans?
I'm not familiar enough to know if it proportional with a stock short wheel base but it looks cool from the shots posted.
i like the way the bed looks better then factory. At least in the picture you posted. i dont think its that noticeable, not even worth touching in my opinion.
We have been thinking about this deal starting back in 09, and back then I asked the question here about wheel bases and bed lengths. Got this answer Well This is according to the Standard catalog of American light trucks. The 1961 Styleside (smooth side box) came in a 6 1/2 ft. bed with a 114in. w/b and an 8 ft. bed with a 122in. w/b. So I guess depending on much he cut off the back of the box I may need to move the rear forward as much as 8 inches, that would be stock shortbed. I wish he would have kept it stock length. I like long beds. I really like the tire and wheel combo on Coby's van, thats what Im leaning to right now. Just not sure if I want 14 in vs 15 in.
Ya need some MERCURY trim and tailgate on that truck! I'll see what I can find! Truck looks and sits right! Great score! -Shiny
I have a couple of ideas in my head, but Im open to any suggestions. The Mercury parts sound pretty cool. Give me a shout if you run across any. Mark
Bitchin.... I have a whole big window custom cab assembly if your interested. I think the wheel base looks fine. Stick with 15"s on the rims
Looks like a few inches taken out in front of the tail light cap. Who in their right mind would even want one of those as a long bed, yuck!
Long bed owner here too. The bed looks like it's a touch longer than 6.5' to my eye, but I kind of like it. It's done much better than the shortened ones I've seen. The long and short beds had different tailight pockets, so that's usually a giveaway. The hood/fender/cowl gaps look very nice!
Well your truck is a HUGE inspiration for sure! Course everything you do is inspirational, you have incredible skills. It wont be at my house for a couple of weeks, but when its here Ill post up a side view and get opinions. I was talking to another buddy today and he said he thought it would be cheaper and easier (since I dont have the skills to move the rear forward) to just find donor parts to put the rear of the bed back to stock length if the proportions dont suit me. As far as getting that big back window that would be cool, but way outta my budget Im sure. I love Chris's shorty with the big back window. I haven't talked to him in ages. Not sure if he even comes on the board anymore. Mark
Lowered via Mopar front suspension graft, and not 100% sure on how rear was lowered. I do know it has some sort of blocks and possibly lowered springs. I did find out today he took 10 inches off the back and it is c-notched, so that means i will not be moving the rear and the fenderwells forward. Way to much work and expense. The front and rear suspension was done by a pro shop and if got in there and tried to tweak with it, the truck would just end up in the scrap yard lol. So now I need to find a parts truck or something so I can add the 10 inches back to make the proportions better (in my eye). He said he didn't know how I was going to be able to do it, but it seems like it should be fairly straight forward. Cranium I need to get your tire and wheel size, yours look perfect except I want to go with a thinner white wall ... Nice truck you have.
Here's a couple pics of my short box at similar angles to yours. You might like the longer wheelbase, it may ride better than the shorter wheelbase. It will also make people scratch their heads when parked next to another 61-66 truck. SPark
I'm building a '66 short styleside now. I really like how yours looks as it is. It's just different enough so that it will stand out in a crowd but only someone with some knowledge will pick up why. My vote is leave it alone.
If it were mine I'd swap wheels and tires make it one color and drive the wheels off. 9 out of 10 people wouldn't even notice the bed length.
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