mpg won't be good from either one really BUT I would do the Caddy depending on what year it is. I do know the torque of a late 60's 472 is considerably higher than the BBC but I'm not sure of the 500. During the early smog years when they were produced they took a hit so you might want to check it out
For example my friend just sold a 1987 Ford BBF motorhome for $2K redone motor, new tires, and brakes. They are hard to sell.
From all reports I've read about guys swapping BBC in their trucks for the 500 mileage was greatly improved. Torque of the early 70's 500 was 500 ft lbs.
i have a 40 coe thats on an 87 chevy 1 ton chassis, 454, th400 with a gearvendors overdrive and 4:56 in the rear, it's an excellent driving truck and good at 65-70 all day.it has an 18' flatdeck with a beavertail and i have hauled all types of cars the heaviest was my 68 biscayne 2 dr sedan ,427,4spd.i used 49 anglia seats , if you want photos or help ...just email me at [email protected]
5w32, that is one cool truck!!!! If you don't mind me asking, do you use ramps to load and unload??? Or is the deck a tilt unit?? I can't make it out in the pics you posted. I've been wanting to build one of these for a long time now, and I'm just about ready to get one started.
Thanks for the info. It looks like there is a lot of good choices for a donor chassis. Is frame rail width and front track width narrow enough for the COE body? I'm going to have to start measuring everything I come across. I think the motorhomes might have less miles on them and less wear and tear on the drivetrain than the others but I'll look at everything.
I think the 500 I can get is a '76, so it's a low compression smogger but that might be OK because I don't know if the early 70's high compression 472/500's would run on todays low octane gas. Maybe doing a good valve job and ring/bearing replacement with a slight milling of the heads would be about right? What do you think?
Now that's exactly what I'm looking for! Damn close to what I want, right down to the color. Very, very nice truck and the wheelbase looks about right too. I think a sleeper might even fit too except I would hate to cut out the back of the cab to do it. Front track width looks just right to because the tires look like they fit the front fender openings very well. Rim/tire size? 16' or bigger? Did you use the stock steering box and just relocate it forward? Any other issues with that? It looks like the engine is in the stock location. Did you keep the stock engine cover and if so, is legroom pretty tight? Sorry I have so many questions because seeing your truck gets me excited! I'll email you for some pics. Thanks for posting!
I was just looking on Craigs list in South Dakota and don't see much of any real values there. Something else you might consider would be to find an older school bus. Many of the old GM buses used Chevy truck motors, and I've even seen one with a 427 in it! And, you could use the frame to support your ramp truck and custom build whatever you wanted to add to it. I figure a 6-10" channel would more than support whatever you wanted to put underneath it. Or, you could completely use the bus suspension and use an overdrive setup to cruise down the road. Nice thing about the length of the bus chassis is that you wouldn't have to 'shorten' the frame to shorten the wheelbase. You could just move the axle forward and reposition the rear spring shackles. Then lop the frame off where you wanted. Also, if you wanted, I know of an old/ugly GM chassis under a small motorhome that belongs to my dad. He's got it here in Oklahoma about 90 minutes south of me here in Tulsa. You might also want to check out Craigs Lists in other areas and states close to you, and if you're willing to travel for what you're wanting, you could always come down here to Tulsa to find them. RVs are cheap and plentiful here, and you can always find something for a great deal. I just thought of another place you might try to look. Check for a Uhaul hub in your area. They tend to sell their old box trucks after they get to a certain amount of mileage or repairs on them. I've seen some go relatively cheaply. Those trucks are supposed to be well maintained regardless of the mileage. Plus, you might get a nice storage box for a shed as well, or sell it and recoup some of your investment.
16" wheels, stock steering box location just turned up, 7o's chevy van column, the engine has been moved slightly and a custom doghouse was made, my chassis was an 86 chevy long wheelbase 1 ton flatdeck, but i built a second one from a long wheelbase gm bread van. the better choice is the 1 ton flatdeck because it has a kick in the frame and you can get the cab lower easier. i use ramps that are stored up under the deck at the sides and a 12,000 lb warn winch for non runners. the truck has air bags to help with heavier cars( the biggest load was a 4,000lb 68 biscayne)
i have a low mileage (45,000)69 caddy 472 complete pan to air cleaner and fresh rebuilt th400 if you need a good torque monster powerplant! comes with rare rear sump pan ,pickup and new hei distributor
Goztrider, Thanks for all the great suggestions! I did a pretty thorough check of SD, ND, MN, NE, IA a few days ago and didn't find much either. I did see some stuff around Des Moines but it looked too nice to scrap out. I think that the older folks around here that might have an old inop motorhome probably don't even know what Craig's List is or even have computers! So I'll have to maybe put an ad in the local shoppers and little newspapers to see what that brings in. 5W32's suggestion to use the GM 1 ton long WB flatdeck like he did for easier cab mounting looks like a very good way to go, because his COE looks just perfect, wheelbase, track, stance, everything! There is a truck salvage company near me so I can check with them. Old schoolbuses are plentiful around here too because of the huge rural area of SD. I even see the back part of them used on a lot of farms for hog farrowing and calving operations. I wonder how close those frames are to the 1T flat deck chassis like 5W32's.? I plan on keeping it fairly light duty because I won't be hauling anything over 3000 lbs, and the lower height of 16" tires and their easy availablity and lower cost. Is your Dad's motorhome a Class A or the Class C and what is the wheelbase? Shopping for one down south is a good idea too as long as they could be driven back. I don't have anything big enough to haul something back, so the further away it is, the more expensive it gets. The suggestion for UHaul trucks is a great idea too. They might have a low deck 1 T truck too. I even see that some of them have a air ride system for lowering the truck for loading. That would really be great. I'm going to check UHaul's website for more info. Thaks again for your suggestions.
Thanks for your email and the great pic's. And the very good information, too! Your taste in rides is great, love your 5W and Roadster, and your Chevy pickup project too. I can see the kick in the frame and how it gets the cab low on the frame. Is your front suspension (independent A-arm), the same as a 1 T crewcab pickup? I like the idea of staying away from the bigger truck stuff because of the weight and expense to rebuild. The steering box mod sounds like it's a easy fix too. I'm wondering if I can still do a mid-engine style and have enough room under the bed if I kept it flat like yours. If I stick with the ramp style there will more room to work with, but the flat deck is more usable for hauling other stuff. Thanks for the great info. I like using a proven idea from someone that has done all the thinkin and figuring! I'll PM you about the Cad too.
The old man's motor home has been sitting for at least 10 years, and wouldn't run to save it's life right now. It's only about a 18-20 footer, and was a super ugly setup. I know it had dual wheels on it in the rear, but then again, I know that doesn't mean anything. I'm pretty sure he bought it for the chassis, but like I said, it'd be some work to make it drive back. If you're more interested in it, I can see about finding more information about it. Something you might consider is to come down this way, pick something up, strip it of the body, drop the driveshaft, hook a towbar to it, and drag it home. There was a 24 or 27 footer motorhome on CL here near Tulsa a few weeks ago that had pretty bad water damage inside. The poster only wanted $600 for it and claimed it'd run! And, it had a supposedly good fridge, water pump, generator, and other items all included. I think it it were stripped down, you'd only be looking at a maximum of 2-3000 pounds of weight to pull.
If you want to get off your wallet,call Vander Haags in Iowa;it's a truck salvage place and usually has NEW chassis,leftover from Winnebago but are PRICEY.
Here's a large truck salvage yard near Sioux City, IA, that you can check with: http://www.candhtruck.com/
They have a store in Sioux Falls that I was going check on tomorrow. I used to know the manager because I sold him my last house. I'll ask about the new stuff but I'm sure they are waaay out of my cheap ass budget!
Just saw this one on the Tulsa Craig's List tonight. Looks like a pretty smokin' deal for $500. '76 Ford E350 chassis. http://tulsa.craigslist.org/rvs/825713255.html
Thanks for the tip, but I'm hot on the trail of couple of local long wheelbase Chevy C30's, and one already has a Caddy 425 motor in it (thanks to Malcolm)!
My '39 COE project took another couple of small steps forward the last few weeks. Last week on Craig's List I found a 1978 Chevy C-3500 350/4 speed 1 ton truck with the needed 160" wheelbase that even runs and drives for just $550 delivered to my door. This afternoon my friend Bob gave me a 1976 Cadillac 500 with a Turbo 400 that was running when he pulled it from a car going to the crusher. My next step will be pulling the Chevy truck cab and drivetrain so I can see how the COE cab will fit the truck frame and then how the 500 will fit them both. <table style="width:auto;"><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From 1939 Ford COE Poject</td></tr></table> <table style="width:auto;"><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From 1939 Ford COE Poject</td></tr></table> The Caddy 500 and Turbo 400 <table style="width:auto;"><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From 1939 Ford COE Poject</td></tr></table> I am hoping to build a COE as nice as this beautiful one owned by Steve - 5w32. Thanks for all the info so far Steve! <table style="width:auto;"><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From 1939 Ford COE Poject</td></tr></table> <table style="width:auto;"><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From 1939 Ford COE Poject</td></tr></table> <table style="width:auto;"><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From 1939 Ford COE Poject</td></tr></table>
Pretty cool Jerry! Might want to also talk to ElPolacko and MilesM. Steve built a Chebby hauler for Miles and has some good ideas that may be of use to you.
There is one runnng around the SOCAAL area. Battle ship gray. Channled and laid on a late model chassis. Set up as a dualie but not as a flat bed hauler. Truly it was a nice. It was a the big three last year. Anyone got a pic?
The COE Car Hauler project almost died and was on life support when I received my cab from North Carolina. As has become a normal practice it was completely misrepresented by the seller and is rusted beyond use. Very heavy rust pitting (not the surface rust described), body seams on the cowl and roof rusted out, and the drip rails completely rusted off made it unusable. I will save the grill and headlights and that's about it. A good sandblasting would have made most of it disappear, and what was left would have had to had a complete skim coat of mud. That's not the way I do things so I thought I would abandon the whole project. Not to be easily discouraged (too stupid??), I kept looking and did find another COE from Montana that appears to be in much better condition and nearly rust free. It's much more money but I guess the old adage "you get what you pay for" is still true. I am working out the details to look at it first before I fork over the cash and pick it up. I'm hoping for better luck this time. Here are some pics of it. It is sitting on a 1 ton Dodge chassis that will be dumped in favor of the 1 ton Chevy chassis. I also will be using one of the oval grilles I have and selling the '47 grill. <table style="width:auto;"><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From 1939 Ford COE Poject</td></tr></table> <table style="width:auto;"><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From 1939 Ford COE Poject</td></tr></table> <table style="width:auto;"><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From 1939 Ford COE Poject</td></tr></table>
There was a really cool 40 style coe at hershey this year in the swap meet;anybody get a pic? It was slammed in front with a small sleeper and a flatdeck. I talked to the owners nephew and he said it was built on a Chevy one ton flatdeck chassis;was in red oxide and had a great look.
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