'88 RCLB C3500 "Roscoe P. Coltrane"

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Erik the Awful

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They're typically not rusted at all. The rear window had been poorly resealed at one point and fell out while my buddy had it parked in his field.
 

Canadian Rust Bucket

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Mine was a winter beater in Ontario for a decade with a piece of plexiglas as the rear window slider, and it doesn't have any rust on the roof. Flinstone's holes in the floor, yeah, but nothing on the roof.
Bad luck on that sealing job
 

Erik the Awful

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"I found the title... oh, wait... it says it has a lien on it. Hmm... I paid that lien off twenty-five years ago... and this bank closed twenty years ago... Lemme see if I can find the lien release paperwork, or get in touch with the Oklahoma Tax Commission and get a clear title on it."

I can't complain; it's a free truck. I'm going to download and complete the paperwork for a Vermont title, and if he hasn't found the lien release by next week I'll submit it. I don't want to be demanding when he's already given me a truck. At lunch today he said, "Hey, I found the dash surround for that truck in my shed."

"It had the dash surround. I've already painted it, and I also already have a spare, but thanks for offering to bring it."

In case you aren't familiar with the Vermont titling loophole:

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Erik the Awful

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Not much progress lately. I'm still trying to drill out the seatbelt bolt, but my 3/8" bit is pretty trashed, and my shoulder doesn't tolerate pushing on that drill very long. I need to order a pack of 3/8" drillbits.

I've been painting interior pieces, and every time I think I'm nearly done I find another stash of parts I've forgotten to paint. I think I'm down to the door panels and rear carpet.

I am at a crossroads as far as the motor is concerned. My big plan is to swap Way Cool Jr's nice 350 into Roscoe. It's a 4-bolt main block with Vortec heads, a big lift, short duration cam, and 9.7:1 compression. When I towed Roscoe home, the engine had more than enough power. However, I'll need a transmission, and I'd really like a 6L80 to aid the 350 in towing duties while also improving mileage. The transmission controller is $900, and I'd still need to keep the Holley Sniper to run the engine. I could keep the Sniper with WCJr and get a Holley Terminator X Max for Roscoe, but then I'd need an intake setup that will work with the X Max, and the X Max only controls 4-speeds, and not the 6L80. I could just do a complete 6.0/6L80 swap into Roscoe, and I have to admit it's tempting, but I'd rather have a small block in Roscoe and an LS in WCJr if it's getting relegated to toy truck status. If I do swap the 350, do I take the opportunity to go through it again? Port the Vortecs and punch it out to a 383? Then again, LS3 heads are only $600! I could build a 600hp 6.0, but I also spotted an LS3 on FB for under 3 grand. An aluminum block would be awesome if I try to get WCJr down to 3000 lbs. But I already have plenty of parts to make a new SBC build for WCJr easy, and I have a line on another 4-bolt 350 block. AAAAACH!

Too many options, but typing this out helps clarify my decision.

Roscoe's getting the 350 out of WCJr, with the Sniper - it looks like the intake manifold is seeping at the china wall at the back of the motor, so swapping it will give me a chance to fix that. I'll be hunting down a 6L80 and a controller to go with it. That's a solid plan, front to back. I'm not going to punch it out or remove the heads. Once WCJr is down, I'll need to get Roscoe up quick. This is probably six months to a year down the road.

WCJr will get a fresh small block engine build. I'd like for it to get punched to a 383 with some AFR heads and a cam that makes the current cam look small, but that's at least a $4000 motor, and if I'm spending $1500+ on a transmission and controller for Roscoe, while also trying to get the funds together to replace the Mustang, that's going to be a while.

Still, that won't stop me from looking ahead. The Chickasha Auto Swap Meet is tomorrow, and I think I'm going to be on the lookout for a decent Super Victor manifold and some 1 3/4" primary long tube headers.
 

Dravec

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If you're still looking at the k2500 frame swap, what I will say is that I've always preferred the way tortion bars ride compared to coil springs in these trucks. So in my opinion, it would be a great time to to take the K frame, and do the GMT800 knuckle swap, and then use 2wd hubs instead. They use the same knuckle between 2wd and 4wd, as far as I can tell. My grandma has an '02 1500HD 2wd, and a buddy had an '01 2500 4wd. Knuckles looked exactly identical. And when I worked at AutoZone, I compared the corresponding hubs off the shelf. Same bolt pattern and spacing.
 

HotWheelsBurban

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Yes the hubs are identical except for the 4x4 one having splines inside for the axle. On our 06 Yukon XL Denali the main thing about changing them was having a very short 15mm socket for the 3 attachment bolts, to fit in the narrow space,and a 35mm/ 1 3/8" socket for the axle nut. But on a 2wd you don't have the axle nut,so it's just the 15mm.
 

stutaeng

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If you're still looking at the k2500 frame swap, what I will say is that I've always preferred the way tortion bars ride compared to coil springs in these trucks. So in my opinion, it would be a great time to to take the K frame, and do the GMT800 knuckle swap, and then use 2wd hubs instead. They use the same knuckle between 2wd and 4wd, as far as I can tell. My grandma has an '02 1500HD 2wd, and a buddy had an '01 2500 4wd. Knuckles looked exactly identical. And when I worked at AutoZone, I compared the corresponding hubs off the shelf. Same bolt pattern and spacing.
The GMT800 2500 suburban 2wd also have front torsion bar suspension, as well as the 2500HD 2wd. I thought they changed to torsion setup as part of of the increase to the GVWR, at least on the 2500HD (9200# vs 8600#). The 2500 suburban was still 8600#.

Only the Silverado 2500 (Non-HD) 2wd had front coil springs. I'm guessing those were still 8600#? I didn't think to look at the wrecking yard last time I saw one there.

BTW, I think those 1500HD of that generation are monsters compared to the "regular" 1500s. A 1500HD crew cab 6.5' bed is as massive as a equivalent 2500HD. A CC 1500 looks like a kid in comparison. I read an article that said GM used the "1500"HD on those just to get into the crew cab game, since Ford and Dodge were already churning out crew cab 1500s by then. There's no or very little comparison on 1500 vs 1500HD as far as drivetrain goes.

That swap you mention would be cool on an early GMT400!
 
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