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I currently have a Mustang LS swap build going on, but I accidentally came across this 1985 Chevrolet C30 CCLB for $1k. I have been kinda' looking for a Chevy/GMC dually for a few years without much luck. Most were so worn and beat down that I didn't want to pay the 4k+ price tag that most of them came with. I happened to find this one and the post said "Pretty Rusty", but the picture showed a nice thick layer of dust on the truck in a barn with no engine. Price @ 1k. Couldn't believe it. I had some money that I was going to put towards my mustang, but this I just had a hard time letting go. So I took a half day last Friday and borrowed a trailer and brought it home for $900. Rockers are rusted out as expected, and the only large issue is a 12 sized shoe hole in the driver floor pan. But no other surface rust in that specific area. LMC still sells replacement panels for those areas, so fixing the rust shouldn't be terrible.
Getting it on and off the trailer was quite the chore without a winch or some willing friends, so I left it on the trailer until Saturday afternoon and took it to the car wash. I didn't get a picture of the mess that was inside the bed before the pressure washing, but it was about 1" of mulch/mud on the bare bed, a bed mat, then another inch or so of mulch/mud mixture. A couple u joints, some lugnuts, lots of random nuts and bolts and a fillet knife. But one thing that was missing, RUST HOLES!! There were none in the bed. Surprised the hell outta me!
Took it back home and unloaded it off the trailer. It cleaned up pretty well and surprisingly didn't leak water into the interior. This is where it sits now until I can clean up my pole barn and make some space for it.
Current Plans
It came with a 454/SM465, but the 454 was pulled due to a thrown rod and subsequently lost forever. I found that I can bolt my 5.3 LM7 up to the SM465 with some additional parts that, on average(Based on some checks with the guys at Pirate4x4), cost about $500. Seems this swap isn't all too uncommon like I initially thought. I'm going to buy the engine mounts specifically for this swap, grab a new bellhousing and all the goodies for the trans, and use all my fuel lines and fittings on the truck instead of the Mustang.
The plan for this truck will be air bag suspension front and rear and use it as a Daily Driver. Rust of course is something I want to fix early on, as well as cleaning up some of the wire mess that I can see without pulling parts off. I've always wanted to bag a dually and give it a nice clean paint job with a full set of 22" alcoa's. So that is my end goal.
Saddle gas tanks will likely be removed in favor of a sumped fuel cell to make room for the 4 link and I'll be putting all new brake lines in as most look pretty rusty and with Hydroboost, I'd rather just be safe than sorry.
Unbelievably pumped about finding a Crew Cab Long Bed Dually. I've never been a fan of the short bed duallies and I prefer 4 doors for the family.
As far as I can tell, here is a list of parts that I'll need to mate the SM465 to the LM7. I pulled these part numbers from Rockauto as that's the cheapest resource I could find at the moment.
It would also seem that the 1" setback plates that use the OEM BBC engine mounts will put the engine at the perfect spot to retain use of the OEM crossmember, Driveshaft, etc. PN# CSP2370-1114 @ $128.95
Finally got some time to do a little work on the dually this week. Got the LS flywheel and SM465 clutch put on earlier in the week. 3 of the 6 holes on the pressure plate and the dowels from the flywheel had to be removed, but it went on without a hitch. I also installed the LS7 pilot bearing and it fit the SM input perfectly.
I installed the engine last night with the dirty dingo engine mounts. Took some time to get it perfectly lined up since the trans was already in the truck, but after an hour or so, I got it mated up and mounted to the frame. From here, unless something is wrong with the tranny or I can't access something on the engine, it's not coming back out. I'm going to start installing the alternator, intake, PS pump, and see if my mustang headers will slip in there. If not, I'll just use the OEM manifolds and move on.
Also, I ordered 2 rockers for each side since they don't sell a full 4 door rocker panel, the driver side cab floor and both rear cab corners. That stuff won't be in until later this week. I ordered spot weld cutters that are much better than the HF cutters so I can hopefully remove the panels as cleanly as possible, which will be here on the 16th. so in the next couple weeks I plan on hitting the body pretty hard and removing the rocker and cab corner rust.
Thats a neat project. A few years we tuned one same body style on airbags with a 6.2/6l90 swap in it.
Thanks man. Airbags are for sure in the future for this truck. I've been wanting to bag an old school dually for sometime, but a larger engine is for sure needed. 6.2/6l90e, 8.1/NV4500 or 12v/NV4500 are my 3 top choices. Just not this year.
Hey man, I did this swap in about '08 (I used a 6.0L)...Early F- body manifolds work great. If I remember right, the truck manifolds won't fit .As far as rocker go...if you want a slick one piece rocker panel, I used the one's from a Suburban. I did a 3"-5" drop. Mine was a SM465 also, I tried that, but hated no overdrive, so I put a 4l80e in it.
Hey man, I did this swap in about '08 (I used a 6.0L)...Early F- body manifolds work great. If I remember right, the truck manifolds won't fit .As far as rocker go...if you want a slick one piece rocker panel, I used the one's from a Suburban. I did a 3"-5" drop. Mine was a SM465 also, I tried that, but hated no overdrive, so I put a 4l80e in it.
As far as I can tell, they no longer make the full 4 door rocker panel. They just have the slip on that covers some of it, but not the curvature's at the inner door frames. I was really hoping to get a 1 piece rocker, but no dice. If you have a link or know the name of a place to get one, I will absolutely look into it. I can easily return these pieces to summit.
I have a feeling I won't be a huge fan of the SM465 either. I figure it's there, may as well use it. I have a 4l80e that I was going to use for my mustang swap, so that may still be an option if I really can't stand the 4 speed.
As far as I can tell, they no longer make the full 4 door rocker panel. I was really hoping to get a 1 piece rocker, but no dice. If you have a link or know the name of a place to get one, I will absolutely look into it. I can easily return these pieces to summit.
91 Suburban.
LMC Truck part# 38-9055 and 38-9054 right and left. 1 piece, 72 3/4".
Forgot I had this thread on here!! Well, I guess I should update it.........
Since the last post, I bought a ton of stuff to get this project moving and I changed gears a bit for suspension. I got a deal on the spindles and springs, so I'm going to use those and grabbed the perches and Ubolts for a 6/8 drop. That way I can focus on getting this truck running as far as time and money and get the stuff I really want later on.
Holley Terminator X
3" lowering springs
3" drop spindles
Tons of electrical pieces and tools to install the cables and terminator X
Speed Engineering Headers
intake tube and filter
OEM replacement rad for the C30 and OEM electric suburban fans
Suburban 31 gallon fuel tank and fabbed up a frame mount in the rear
I built a tank mount for now to hold the suburban tank in the center of the frame and just low enough that the fill hose will fit between the frame and the bed floor. I will then move the fill hole to the back of the truck on the passenger side.
Between Monday and Sunday, I got about 5 hours total to work on the truck so I started installing the Terminator X system. I had to make new postive/negative battery cables for the truck, so I began there. Got the positive lead to the starter solenoid as well and cranked it over a few times to make sure it was working as intended. Got the ground straps made up and all of the efi system plugged in with the exception of the mat sensor. I have to fit the hose ends on the fuel hose and hook the feed/return to the tank and intake and she'll be ready to fire. Here are some additional pictures of the recent birds nest of wires for the terminator x system. I will move it to it's permanent location soon, I just wanted to get it fired up first.
Last edited by Andler2008; Apr 3, 2019 at 02:07 PM.
Also, the speed engineering LT headers do not fit perfectly with the SM465. The slave cylinder hits the headers on the driver side and removing the heat shield didn't give enough clearance either. My plan (Instead of completely redoing the entire slave cylinder setup) is to mount the slave cylinder closer to the clutch fork and cut down the rod between the two. Ultimately, it should fix my issue while still retaining the heat shield to make sure I don't have clutch issues later.
I could've gone with OEM manifolds and welded a pipe straight down from the collector to clear all this stuff, but I preferred having LT's over the stock manifolds or even shorties.
Had my first start up on the Holley Terminator X system today. Had a little hang up last night where I forgot to plug the EGR hole in the intake and it revved to 3k before I shut it off. Grabbed a 1 3/8" expansion plug for the quick and plugged the hole to get the truck started and idling. All is well and it's time to move on. Here is a video of the start up:
Over the next few days I'll be reinstalling the PS pump, Alternator, Alternator wiring and fabricating the battery box for the frame rail. Once I get those Items completed, I'll find a better place for the ECU and associated wiring and get the fuel lines 100% mounted.
The Daily Dually 
