I finally got my frame donor truck

[soopernaut]

I woke up and looked out the window and the truck was out in my driveway. I was hoping to get it last fall but glad to finally have it. I just hope I can find the time to work on it now but my grass wont stop growing so I have to mow it.

It is a 77 D150 with 70,000 miles on it. I was thinking it was a D100 but it isn't. It has the original 318 engine and automatic transmission in it but probably hasn't been on the road for a couple of years. Some work was put into it because the seller was going to put it back on the road before he decided to sell it so it should be good for what I want to use it for. I'll have to spend some time looking it over better and figuring out how I'm going do this swap.

I have no pictures until I develop my film. Do people still do that?

[OleRed66]

what's film?? We put our film camera on the shelf, I just can't remember which one!! My wife keeps complaining, we don't have any pictures of the kids to put in their book. I'm too lazy to go get some printed I guess.

[OregonDodgeboy]

..I'll have to spend some time looking it over better and figuring out how I'm going do this swap...

Cough! Cough! Seriously though, let me know if I can help.

It is a 77 D150 with 70,000 miles on it. I was thinking it was a D100 but it isn't. It has the original 318 engine and automatic transmission in it but probably hasn't been on the road for a couple of years. Some work was put into it because the seller was going to put it back on the road before he decided to sell it so it should be good for what I want to use it for.

Absolutely perfect for your swap! My advice is to get it drivable before you tear it apart. In fact, if you can, drive it daily for a month or so. Seek out any repairs that will need to be done to the chassis, because it's better IMHO to do that when it's apart then after you get it going again. I mean, if the trans needs rebuilt, why not do it when the body is out of the way? I didn't have that luxury before I did mine, and had I been able to I would have gotten a different chassis. The front end was shot to he**, and I didn't discover it until I started driving it.

I can't wait for the picts! Curious though; Does anyone even make film anymore? I heard that Kodak stopped, but not sure about it. Do we need to get you a digital camera?

[soopernaut]

OregonDodgeboy, you have already helped a lot with this swap. Some things about your truck are different though since you have a 72 and a flat bed. I might have to move the front 2 crossmembers for the bed but not sure yet. They stick up above the frame rails and since the gas tank is mounted under them I may not be able to flip them over. I just don't want to have the body sit high above the frame or anything.

I probably won't have this truck on the road before the swap. It has no bed on it which means no lights on the rear. It also isn't registered and has no plates so if I can avoid registering it I will. The radiator is in the cab right now too.

I plan on using a transmission that isn't in the truck right now. It is attached to my 360 and supposedly both were rebuilt about 8,000 miles before I pulled them several years ago.

One strange thing about this truck is the VIN plate says D10, the sticker under the hood says D100 and the sticker on the pillar behind the door says D100. The VIN itself decodes to be a D150 and the remaining fender badge says D150. Mid-77 was when the first D150s appeared so that could have something to do with everything having different designations. Also the VIN plate is on the door itself. I wonder how many doors were swapped on these trucks. The sticker under the hood is kind of interesting because it lists all the equipment on the truck.

In some ways I want to build this truck too. I actually planned on building a Lifestyle truck before I got into Sweptlines.

[OregonDodgeboy]

OregonDodgeboy, you have already helped a lot with this swap. Some things about your truck are different though since you have a 72 and a flat bed. I might have to move the front 2 crossmembers for the bed but not sure yet. They stick up above the frame rails and since the gas tank is mounted under them I may not be able to flip them over. I just don't want to have the body sit high above the frame or anything.

I'm glad to help!

I would be surprised if there's any difference in the bed mounting points. IIRC, the bolts go through the frame and (by measure) were the correct distances apart. I don't think that crossmembers really have anything to do with it, but we shall see. As far as my using a flatbed, that was for two reasons; first was because I went from a short wheelbase to a long wheelbase, and because I specifically wanted a flatbed. I could have had a bed, but I built this truck to easily haul stuff.

The only thing I don't recall measuring is wether the core support mount is the same height as the rails under the bed area. The old frame is flat front to rear with the exception of the rise over the axles. The newer frame dips down under the cab area, but I believe it returns to the same height up front.

As far as ride height, You probably won't have a problem. With the core support sitting on it's original body mounts, I had to put about a 3-4" body lift to get the truck floor parallel with the frame. Despite that, my rockers are 12" off the ground with 31" tires on it.

I can't express how badly I have been wanting to have a place to do another swap. This time I'll not only make it even easier to do (by developing a bolt-on adapter kit), but I'll document the heck out of it! If you are game, I'm open to working with ya to develop it.

Anyway, I will be anxiously awaiting your results.

[slick]

The rear crossmembers are an issue..They stick up above the frame and won't allow the bed to sit on the frame. They can be flipped or cut the bed...I will post pics when I get home...

[ufo]

I have read reply's about these rear crossmembers and got to thinking,How about sectioning the inner side walls? Basically raising the floor of the box.

[soopernaut]

The rear crossmembers are an issue..They stick up above the frame and won't allow the bed to sit on the frame. They can be flipped or cut the bed...I will post pics when I get home...

I knew that you flipped the rear crossmembers but I thought that was because your truck was sitting much lower than stock. Where did you put your gas tank?

I don't want to cut my bed because that would be a lot of extra work and my bed is nice. I also have a nice dual exhaust already in the frame that runs along the opposite side of the gas tank. There are a couple of places it may need to be modified if I flip the crossmembers.

[OregonDodgeboy]

The rear crossmembers are an issue..They stick up above the frame and won't allow the bed to sit on the frame. They can be flipped or cut the bed...I will post pics when I get home...

Well, that throws out my "simple bolt-on-swap" idea. Just how far do these things stick up?



..............I need to find the ketchup, I might be eating my words.

[soopernaut]

I finally found some time to work on it. I got the hood and doors off and was planning on getting the front fenders of too but I ran into some inaccessable lock nuts holding the inner fenders to the outer fenders. I might have to remove them as a unit but I'll need to check things out when it is actually light out. The hood and doors are lighter weight than the Sweptline ones especially the hood.

The truck sits higher than my Sweptline and the rockers are higher off the ground too with comparible tires. Hopefully the Sweptline body will sit lower on this frame or else I may have to lower the suspension some.

[slick]

These are the 2 crossmembers that I remember giving me problems. I don't remember if there was anything else that was an issue..

This is how I was going to flip them. I don't know if there would be any driveline issues with the truck at normal height..Of course the crossmembers are held in with those awesome rivets

[soopernaut]

I don't get things done as fast as some people but I made some more progress. The whole front clip is now off as is the A/C stuff and most of the underhood wiring. I'm working inside the cab removing things now and the gauges and gauge panel are out. I took the seat cover off and the original seat was light blue vinyl with plaid cloth. It is in good condition but isn't exactly my taste (or anybody's ?). I could probably just pull the steering column, the master cylinder and a few wires and lift the cab off but I want to take most of it apart if I can.

[OregonDodgeboy]

Which of these are you stripping out at the moment, the donor truck or the Swept?

[soopernaut]

Which of these are you stripping out at the moment, the donor truck or the Swept?

The donor truck. I don't think I have enough room to do both and there would be parts that could really get mixed up. I'll have to pull each truck out of the garage to get the cabs off and the bed off the Sweptline.

[soopernaut]

The cab is loose and ready to be pulled off. I removed the windsheild and ended up breaking it so I'll probably leave the Sweptline windshield to someone who knows what they are doing. I pulled the dash, the steering column, brake booster, e-brake cable and removed the cab mount bolts and I could lift the cab off the frame(a little). If it isn't raining the cab may come off tomorrow.

[steven]

Sounds good Bill, you got a digital camera?

I've also been wondering how you've been doing down there. You must be on high ground, I've seen some nasty stuff in your area...

[soopernaut]

Don't let anyone tell you that doing a frame swap is easy. I got the cab off today and that thing is very heavy. I realized the seat frame is bolted on from under the cab so I removed that first and pulled the seat out. I wasn't sure if lifting from the top of the cab was going to work so I hooked my straps to the cab mount holes and lifted it through the door opening. I didn't think about the front being heavier so I had to move the front hooks to the cowl openings so the cab wouldn't tilt nose down. It took a little manuvering and it was off.

Trying to put everything back in the garage proved to be a lot of work. There is a little rise from the driveway to the garage and this thing isn't light. I got the cab in and then realized I couldn't set it down because the legs of the hoist were under it and I couldn't lift it or slide it off by hand. I was able to get one side down and put an old style high lift jack under a corner on the other side. Then I moved the hoist to the back of the cab and raised it, pulled the jack out and let it fall. It worked out ok.

Next was trying to put the frame back in the garage. It turns out the rear wheels weren't spinning freely. They would spin but with a lot of effort. After some unsuccessful attempts trying to push it I took some of the weight off the rear with the hoist and got it most of the way in til the front wheels had to go into the garage. If I picked up the back too far the truck wouldn't stay straight. I had to move the hoist to the side of the truck, towards the front and lift the frame. I had to loosen the mirror on the 70 to get the hoist through. I got one of the front wheels off the ground and had to lift the other side by hand and push to overcome the rear wheels not wanting to turn. I also had to use the steering column a few times to turn the front wheels.

Several times I was thinking I'd rather be at work.

I did take some pictures but not of the digital variety. I should have some by next week.

There has been about 10" of rain in the last 2 weeks but most of the flooding you see on TV in near rivers and I'm not close to any. I did get water in my basement and had to rip out all my carpeting down there. I don't really use the basement for much and the area I plan on using for a music studio stayed mainly dry.

[soopernaut]

Here are some photos. They are too big to use the upload attachment feature on this site so I'm doing it my own way.

[soopernaut]

I figured I'm not going to find another truck that I want so I started working on this again. I got the 77 cab stripped as far as I plan on and it is ready to get rid of. I will still have to check the door locks and make sure they aren't the same as my ignition. If they are I will have to pull them. I think everything else from this truck is ready to go besides the engine and transmission which are still in the frame. I bought a wire wheel for my drill and started cleaning up the frame. I tried drilling out the rivits for the front cab mount brackets but I might have to get a grinder instead.

Now I've encountered more problems. It appears that the frame crossmembers below the bed stick up 3.25" above the frame rails. The Sweptline bed has braces that end 2.25" below the bed floor. I will have to put the bed 1inch higher than it is on the Sweptline frame. But here is where it gets worse, the 77 frame has a section above the axle that curves up 4 or 4.5 inches. This won't work. This means I will have to raise the bed even further or have it slant down in the front. Pretty soon this thing is going to be 10' tall. I also found a rust hole in my rocker panel. It wasn't there before and the truck has been stored inside for years. I don't know where it came from. It is small enough that a pencil won't fit through it though.

I might look around and start measuring some other vehicles to see if there is another frame or front crossmember/k member I can use. I can also have somebody cut and splice these 2 frames together.

[fosh69]

I tried drilling out the rivits for the front cab mount brackets but I might have to get a grinder instead.

Tip: use a 4 or 4.5" cut-off disc and make an "X" in the head of the rivet, then just a hammer and chisel or air chisel the head off, and punch the rivet out using a flat tip punch... works way faster and you won't destroy your bits.

It appears that the frame crossmembers below the bed stick up 3.25" above the frame rails. The Sweptline bed has braces that end 2.25" below the bed floor. I will have to put the bed 1inch higher than it is on the Sweptline frame. But here is where it gets worse, the 77 frame has a section above the axle that curves up 4 or 4.5 inches.

If you want to you could try raising the bed floor 5" to clear everything: look here: http://www.classictrucks.com/tech/0801c ... index.html

Also, from my experience, you might do all your suspension mods on the new frame (including the wheelbase you want) before you start trying to fit the body on, but then get the cab where you want it and work your way out. Good luck!