1995 chevy diesel crew cab shortbox 4 x 4 Started finally

[Tinason]

Well I finally started wrenching and cutting...and the build started finally. Im starting with a 1995 chevy extended cab 4x4 shortbox diesel 1500 and stretching it to put a crew cab on it. I was going to split it and add the 13" in to make it long enough, but I came across a 97 Z71 4x4 frame for cheap, so ive decided to use the front half of the heavy half diesel and the back half of the 97 light truck. I will keep the 14 bolt rear end of the heavy half but utilize the softer springs of the 97...dont want a rough ride for my daily driver.
So far i have removed the truck body and fuel tank and all the lines leading to back of truck. I then went and laid out where i was going to cut.It happened to be right on the middle cab mount which was good, due to that i wanted to extend them 1/2" out from the frame to line up with the crew cab mounts. I then decided to z cut the frame because I had alot of room...I made sure I rounded all corners....dont want any cracks starting. I finished off today cleaning up the cuts on the drivers side, and getting the frame down to bare matal around the cut. Hopefully by next weekend i will have the 97 frame cut up and ready to mate up! I have also removed the cross member that supports the driveshaft carrier bearing...once its stretched I will relocate in the proper place for the 2 pc driveshaft I have.
Here are a few picture I took tonight...got so carried away that I forgot to take pics from the beginning.

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This is the truck I started with

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Heres the donor 97 frame.

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The stripped truck with 6.5 diesel and tranny still in.

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The frame cut in 2 and the z cuts I ended up doing.

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The back of truck with the 14 bolt axle i will be using.

 

[Tinason]

Ok...now i have a few questions for those people out there that have done this before. Im sending my frame and suspension out to get sand blasted in a couple weeks, and i was wondering what people do about the rear diff...front diff? Do you leave them assembled, take them apart..dont even sand blast them? I would like to check all the bearings in them...but i have not much experience in total diff deconstruction...might not get it back together. My second question is...being this will be a daily driver, what kind of finish should go on the frame...por..chassis saver....epoxy...industrial enamel with hardener....rustoleum? I want to be able to paint the bolts while i assemble..so need something that can be touched up easily.

 

[jps4jeep]

Leave them together, just remove the rubber hoses and cover the breather on the diffs with duct tape, they should be fine. also if you tell the blaster not to strip the diffs, there is enough control that they can srip the frame and not the axles. I've only had two frames blasted, one was completely sripped the other was from a 46 CJ2a, we left the rear diff in to move the frame around, did as I mentioned and nothing got into the axle.

Very interested in watching this project, I have ambitions of someday stretching my ECSB to swap on a crew cab.

 

[Solid94]

I'm gonna watch this build for sure. Looks like a cool project. Any other plans after the cab swap and frame stretch?

 

[Tinason]

I might put a 4" lift on the truck and run some 35's. I am putting a 6.2/6.5 hybrid in...that will be the next project..once the frame is painted and i have a rolling chassis once again. This truck is being built for a high mpg highway cruiser for work and toting the kids around. If i find some good deals i might even try mounting tvs in the front seat for the kids to watch, and a decent stereo system that the tv can play through....but first things first...hopefully the frame will be back together this weekend!

 

[Solid94]

Sweet! I think they make the TV units now relatively cheap

 

[Tinason]

Well, Saturday turned out to be a decent work day. The 97 frame was brought into the shop after rough cutting it on the trailer. The diff on it was taken off as well as the torsion bar cross member and all the hoses and lines. I spent a good while laying out my cut lines so that it would mate up to the front and be the right length for the crew cab. I extended it 13" over all. I still havent rounded out the corners yet..but i rolled the two halves together and it seemed to have worked excellent...very happy indeed. Tomorrow I will round the corners...prep the joints so they are perfect...and grind the surrounding area so I can weld. I am not fully welding the frame right now..I will wait until its on the rotisserie to do the final welds..fishplates and bolts.
What do you guys think of this plan....once it is sandblasted, spray it with SPI epoxy and a gloss black industrial enamel? Any thoughts?

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A little grinding and will be ready to weld!!