Welding 2 cabs together?

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sewlow

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Being an interior guy would you have any examples of clean and resourceful ext cab bench/factory jack delete builds? Not crazy on stereo though will do something nice in that regard as well. I’m thinking storage and such for basic tools, floor jack and roadside emergency essentials for removing and hauling parts for future builds as well as being prepared for myself and friends/family as well
Not much experience with modding ExCab interiors.
Most times I work on them it's for other's & that's usually getting them cleaned up & serviceable again with the repairs typical to these trucks.
Carpets, headliners & driver seat outer edge foam & cover repairs.
Any mods are usually done by the owner & then I work around them.
The modifications can vary as they're owner-dedicated to their individual requirements.
Not saying that I couldn't do, but...my shop rate.
1 day. 8 hours. $600.00.
Plus materials.
If an owner is capable, I don't blame them for doing the mods first. Even if that same job took them 2x as long!
Not capable? No harm. No foul. I know someone. (!)
Just don't attempt & then bring me something I'm gonna turn around & rip out anyways. Waste of time for both of us, + the materials.
The 400 interiors that I do have experience messing with have been RegCab's. Mainly...mine.
Fabrication of mods can be a bit of trial-n-error, depending on the owner's needs.
'Time' can add up.
I have a total of 40 hours just into my '98's seats & console. $500.00 more for materials. $3500.00 all in.
Even then, they took way longer than they should have as I had to sneak them in & around the paying jobs.
Most customer's suffer a wave of stickershock when I tell them that. I don't blame them. Pretty hard to justify $3500.00 for seats/console in a $6000.00 truck.
Hell, for those kinda costs, as a customer, I couldn't even afford to hire me.

There is more than a few members here that have modded their ExCabs according to their needs, but a lot of that info is hidden within owner build threads.
Post up a 'Q'. I'll bet you'll get a lot of responses with different ideas you could utilize.
 
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Brothajack93

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Not much experience with modding ExCab interiors.
Most times I work on them it's for other's & that's usually getting them cleaned up & serviceable again with the repairs typical to these trucks.
Carpets, headliners & driver seat outer edge foam & cover repairs.
Any mods are usually done by the owner & then I work around them.
The modifications can vary as they're owner-dedicated to their individual requirements.
Not saying that I couldn't do, but...my shop rate.
1 day. 8 hours. $600.00.
Plus materials.
If an owner is capable, I don't blame them for doing the mods first. Even if that same job took them 2x as long!
Not capable? No harm. No foul. I know someone. (!)
Just don't attempt & then bring me something I'm gonna turn around & rip out anyways. Waste of time for both of us, + the materials.
The 400 interiors that I do have experience messing with have been RegCab's. Mainly...mine.
Fabrication of mods can be a bit of trial-n-error, depending on the owner's needs.
'Time' can add up.
I have a total of 40 hours just into my '98's seats & console. $500.00 more for materials. $3500.00 all in.
Even then, they took way longer than they should have as I had to sneak them in & around the paying jobs.
Most customer's suffer a wave of stickershock when I tell them that. I don't blame them. Pretty hard to justify $3500.00 for seats/console in a $6000.00 truck.
Hell, for those kinda costs, as a customer, I couldn't even afford to hire me.

There is more than a few members here that have modded their ExCabs according to their needs, but a lot of that info is hidden within owner build threads.
Post up a 'Q'. I'll bet you'll get a lot of responses with different ideas you could utilize.
Yea this truck will cost me that just to get together so I will just end up finding some seats that clean up well. Interior money will be in the vinyl floor, broken panel replacement, bucket/console, headliner and seatbelts (colour change). I also plan to do either upgraded cluster or pillar gauges with a couple extra temp sensors for better temperature readings on oil and trans. Also want to do the ddin dash bezel upgrade. First I need to get it on the road so I’m just worried about the floor, painting what I’m not waiting to replace and getting it to certified on the road. It’s bad enough it’s gonna take me this long to get a solid body with a crappy drivetrain. Don’t need to waste money on interior except to do the things I don’t want to tear out again. Just as you said. Plus the west coast was 12 hours away when I lived in Alberta. Don’t think I’d want to drive there to have my truck seated repaired upholstered. No worries though dude I just thought maybe you would have some inspiration on something like that but I’m sure you’re right about there being lots of builds that guys could show off to me for some ideas in a thread. Thanks man
 

sewlow

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Yea this truck will cost me that just to get together so I will just end up finding some seats that clean up well. Interior money will be in the vinyl floor, broken panel replacement, bucket/console, headliner and seatbelts (colour change). I also plan to do either upgraded cluster or pillar gauges with a couple extra temp sensors for better temperature readings on oil and trans. Also want to do the ddin dash bezel upgrade. First I need to get it on the road so I’m just worried about the floor, painting what I’m not waiting to replace and getting it to certified on the road. It’s bad enough it’s gonna take me this long to get a solid body with a crappy drivetrain. Don’t need to waste money on interior except to do the things I don’t want to tear out again. Just as you said. Plus the west coast was 12 hours away when I lived in Alberta. Don’t think I’d want to drive there to have my truck seated repaired upholstered. No worries though dude I just thought maybe you would have some inspiration on something like that but I’m sure you’re right about there being lots of builds that guys could show off to me for some ideas in a thread. Thanks man
One thing that I do highly recommend is some sound deadener.
Makes a big difference.
Eliminates miscellaneous rattles.
Decreases wind noise.
The A/C & heater are more efficient, less taxed.
The truck will feel more substantial rolling down the road.
One of the best things I've done to my trucks.
 

Brothajack93

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One thing that I do highly recommend is some sound deadener.
Makes a big difference.
Eliminates miscellaneous rattles.
Decreases wind noise.
The A/C & heater are more efficient, less taxed.
The truck will feel more substantial rolling down the road.
One of the best things I've done to my trucks.
100 percent dude I already had intentions of doing the deadening foam putting subs in. I cannot stand rattly vehicles with Subs blasted. I’ve got an already stripped cab too so it would be dumb not to. I did some research and the only ‘95 part that I have to deal with is the steering shaft. Once that’s out (rag delete while I’m at it) all my ‘95 problems go away so long as I don’t get ‘95 parts at all. Wiring and trans will come from rotted ‘97. Trans is getting a rebuild even though it is recently rebuilt cause I can’t really trust that a guy who took that little care of his truck would get a rebuilt trans from a reputable source and there’s beefier parts you can put in the 60e to not be so much a 60e lol. As far as I know there are no signs of wiring issues but if I find corrosion when I tear it down I’m just going to buy a new harness for a 5.3 cause that’s what I’ve decided is going in it anyway. Was going to try to keep it OG vortec but 350s are hard to come by here and sell for a lot and on top of that I can’t find e pre-1999 sbc rebuild kit in stock anywhere right now so they’re flying off the shelves faster than the machinists making them can pump them out…. Entire 5.3 assemblies are a dime a dozen though and since it’s going to be a daily driver I wouldn’t mind saving the couple bucks on fuel costs so I’m going to rebuild one of those for my drivetrain. I’m up for the challenge. I didn’t know anything when I started and in all the media I’ve consumed I can say I understand a lot more about mechanical and these trucks. Engine rebuilds don’t even look as bad as some people put them out to be. Finding a good and trustworthy local performance shop machinist seems to be the biggest challenge for most. Or people who just try to throw a kit in a block without having the professionals going over it and cleaning it up as needed to make it possible for the engine to run smooth again. Don’t need any power or anything so I will just rebuild with the basics but do a full rebuild so I’ll hopefully not have to worry about total engine failure as long as I have it. I hear nothing but good things about lm7 engines too so that’s comforting. With a higher powered, more fuel efficient and more reliable (I think that one’s up for debate but everyone says they are) engine being cheaper and in greater supply it’s really a no brainer and at the end of the day my only requirement is that it’s a Chevy engine. I haven’t looked into what it takes to make a harness. I know as a Canadian though I’ll have to sell my soul to buy one from a supplier though so imma figure it out. I was gonna grab a 350 harness the other day off a 98 z71 just in case there were corrosion problems but dude selling it was just dumb and could not communicate at all so I just gave up on that. Honestly I think the build is going to be easy in comparison to how long it’s going to take me to acquire everything I need. The more I tell myself to just wait to do something till it’s on the road the more I think about how I don’t want to tear it down again. But anyways rant over lol. Point is I’ll be 95 only in registration when the build is complete.
 
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