Early GM truck info needed

ncjeepers

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Joined
Apr 13, 2005
Location
Locust, NC
Early (67-72) GM truck info needed

I need a quick education on the 67-72 GM trucks.
I am picking up an unknown vintage 3/4ton 4wd chassis. Looks to be about a 68 or 69 based on the fenders. It has an Eaton rear, SBC, SM465, and NP205. I want to mount a 67 C10 small window cab and 6' step side bed.
- What is the difference between the early (67-72) and later (73-87) 4wd suspensions?
- Why are some lift kits for the early GM's listed as only fitting 68- or 69-? Was there something different about the 67 and 68 suspensions?
- Is the C cab a bolt-on to the K frame (besides the obvious wheel base concern)? Seems to me I saw some comment about the tranny tunnel being different.
Thanks for any and all info.
TC
 
ncjeepers said:
I need a quick education on the 67-72 GM trucks.
I am picking up an unknown vintage 3/4ton 4wd chassis. Looks to be about a 68 or 69 based on the fenders. It has an Eaton rear, SBC, SM465, and NP205. I want to mount a 67 C10 small window cab and 6' step side bed.
- What is the difference between the early (67-72) and later (73-87) 4wd suspensions?
- Why are some lift kits for the early GM's listed as only fitting 68- or 69-? Was there something different about the 67 and 68 suspensions?
- Is the C cab a bolt-on to the K frame (besides the obvious wheel base concern)? Seems to me I saw some comment about the tranny tunnel being different.
Thanks for any and all info.
TC
Click to expand...

The steering setup is slightly different on 67 and some 68 trucks.

All 4-speeds and 4x4s have a "high hump" tunnel cover. 2wd column shift and automatics have a "low hump" tunnel cover. That's the only difference.

73+ 4wd rear springs are farther apart than 67-72s.
 
Thanks for the tips.
1972 K20 + 1967 C10 = ?
From what I gather, it sounds like a fairly straightforward process.
I'll need to remove 12" from the middle of the K20 frame. Anybody ever done it?
K20.jpg

c10_LFQ.jpg
 
You don't need to do any cutting. Believe it or not, you can swap all the front frame pieces that are riveted on between those two trucks and turn the stepside into a 4wd if you want to. A common thing to do with 4wd Blazers of 69-72 vintage is to rip out the front suspension and drop in a C-10 crossmember and suspension to get a 2wd Blazer since they were extremely rare and are very pricey now.

Don't get too fast with your work, let me keep plugging away at my '69 K5 and get it nice before you get too far along... ;)

Any options in that '72 cab, like a tach dash? I might be interested in a few smaller pieces once you get things taken apart.
 
aj... cheap my butt... nothin' but the finest wore out stuff money can buy!
mav... pretty sure it's a 465, unless the 420 has the tic-tac-toe webbing on the side as well. I'm a little out of my element with these chebbies, so y'all will have to spoon feed me.
onlyonedr... why would anyone turn a perfectly good 4x4 Blazer into a station wagon!? Oh yeah, greed. So... swapping out the front xmember is a possibility. What about the rear spring hangers? I guess I'd end up fabbing those anyway so I could lift it using stock spring with no blocks. The 72 cab is pretty crusty, maybe restorable by rust belt standards, but more suited as a mouse motel around these parts. It has a gauge dash but no tach.
Regretably, nothing is gonna happen in the near future with these. The 67 runs (barely). I have all the makin's for a brand new 250 with some hi-po goodies in boxes, but who knows when I'll get to that. I haven't even had a chance to look at the 350 motor in the 72 yet. The manifold is just laying on top of the motor... probably not a good sign.
 
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