Help me figure out what to do with this truck

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AaronW

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Hey everyone. Looking for some thoughts on what to do with the truck in the picture. It's a 1980 Chevy dually 2wd. 4 speed manual, custom deluxe, 350. This will take a minute to explain, so bear with me.
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Here's the story: I ended up with it for a year or so ago. I bought it for the flat bed that was on it, which I was going to cut down to size and put on my 89 crew cab. However, a friend of mine had a use for the flat bed as-is, and he had a flat dump bed that came off a 76 Ford High boy, that was a perfect fit for my crew cab, so I traded him (and got an engine hoist thrown into the bargain).

So now, I've got the cab and chassis of the truck in the picture. The guy I bought it from had a new front bumper, hood, both front panels, and the whole front panel that the radiator and headlights mount to, so I've got all the parts I'd need to fix the crunched front end. the cab corners are rotten, as are the bottoms of the doors, and I think it would need rockers, too. Engine runs, has 70,000 or so miles on it. I don't know what kind of shape it's in, though. valve cover gaskets are definitely leaking, but that's about all I know.

So here are my questions for the assembled multitude here:

1. As I said, I've got an 89 crew cab that's currently in the final stages of a complete rehab job. My son has the 75 GMC half ton 4wd, 4 speed manual, that's sitting next to it in the picture; we've just gotten started working on that truck. One option would be to scrap the dually. In this case, I'd pull the engine, and use it as an excuse to learn something and do a complete engine rebuild, which I've never done before. I could probably sell the extra parts I've got, and maybe chop off the rear end, and build a trailer out of it, with a nice 1 ton axle underneath, or maybe just pull all the suspension out of it, in case that might be useful on my crew cab someday. If I scrap it, is this substantially the same engine and transmission that's in my son's half ton next to it? Here, I'm thinking we'd have an extra engine/transmission that could go in my son's truck, if we needed it.

2. I could keep the truck and fix the front end. In this case, what would make the most sense would be to put chains on the back, put some 55 gallon drums of water over the rear axle, and plow snow with it. Here, I'd probably rig up some sort of redneck utility bed, mount a generator on it and a tool box, and use it as a utility vehicle on my 15 acres, you get the idea. Alternately, I suppose, I could go all out, rebuild the engine, hone some body work skills a bit more, and see if I could sell it.

There's probably a bunch of other options, but you get the idea. Basically, I just need to decide if it makes more sense to part it out, if that makes sense in light of parst that could fit on our other rigs, or if it make more sense to keep it.

What do you guys think? Ideas? Suggestions? (Alternately, if somebody wants to come give me some money for it and the spare parts right now, it's all yours :) )

Aaron
 

AaronW

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Am I right that, that engine could go straight into the 75 GMC? Or were there substantial differences between the 350's that would have gone into a 1 ton dually, versus into a half ton?

Aaron
 

Ricko1966

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Am I right that, that engine could go straight into the 75 GMC? Or were there substantial differences between the 350's that would have gone into a 1 ton dually, versus into a half ton?

Aaron
If the 75 gmc has a small block in it,yes it's a straight swap.
 

Turbo4whl

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Am I right that, that engine could go straight into the 75 GMC? Or were there substantial differences between the 350's that would have gone into a 1 ton dually, versus into a half ton?

Aaron
Yes, go right in.

Aaron, you already have a flat bed. Probably won't work well as a snow pusher even with the weight on the back. You want all wheel drive. Without the front wheels pulling, the the tires act as skis, hard to steer that snow.

Since you asked, I would bolt a wrecker body on the back. The truck would be a fine hobby wrecker. Used wrecker bodies for sale everywhere.
 

CalSgt

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Personally, I'd either de-crunch it and drive it, or de-crunch it and sell it as a usable truck.
^^^^ Yup

I’ll add,
let it sit as a parts truck until the ‘75 is done. All of the little parts needed really add up when bringing these things back to life. Even simple stuff like factory nuts and bolts are always needed and way nicer than anything you get at the tractor store or Oreileys
 

75gmck25

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The 1 ton dually is kind of niche model - only a few people need it or want it.

Do you have any plan for what you want to do to your son’s truck? The 350 from the dually would be a very easy swap, but you end up with a 1980 smog-era 350 with low compression and low flowing heads. Reliable and easy to fix, but not very exciting. A moderate duration RV cam with a good 4 barrel intake, carb, and headers will wake it up, but it won’t work miracles.

Switching first to Vortec-style heads (or equivalent aluminum) with 64cc chambers will get you to 325-350 reliable horsepower if you buy the right cam, but now that cheap swap is not so cheap. Add a switch to a retrofit roller cam to increase reliability and it will be an excellent combo.

I went through this process when I bought a Goodwrench crate engine for my ‘75 GMC, and then later started swapping parts to improve performance. It was great for learning, but it would have been much simpler to start out with a better crate engine.
 

OldBlueDually

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2wd you say....

I'd keep it for a rainy day.....then fix the front clip, or put on an front clip from another year that you like best. Get a box/fenders for it and slam that baby to the ground where she belongs!

Do a simple 350 build, put dual exhaust and Flowmaster mufflers on it and she will sound awesome.

Have fun, and look cool doing it

Honestly, you got a truck there with so many options you could do. All the guys here have great suggestions!! You gotta do what suits you best. Even selling like you stated, another good option too.
 

PhotonFanatic

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Yeah I'd fix it and sell it. Unless you just really need another truck for your land. But either way, fix the wrecked parts and have a good running truck to either sell or use. It would be a waste of a good truck and money to let it rot away.
 

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