The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts 55 lcf questions

Hi all, it looks like I am working my way towards every body style chevy truck made I got a ‘70 c50 box truck awhile back from a guy and I talked to him yesterday and asked how his 55 lcf was coming, long story short, I am going to go get it in a month. It has been an year since I saw it and what I am thinking is putting the body on another running/driving chassis to have an updated work truck. He started down that road too, so I don’t recall what all is left of the truck other than he did tell me yesterday that it will roll.
So, my questions:
1. What is the track width on the front of the 55, he says it's a 2.5 ton, if it matters, I think 20" wheels. The chassis I am thinking of using is an S line IH with air brakes, so I am a bit worried that the 55 is too narrow.
2. Are there any special parts or good reasons to keep the original chassis?
3. I think he said it was a winch truck, what engine and trans would it most likely have? I don’t think it has the winch anymore.
Any thoughts or ideas will be appreciated,
Thanks,
jason
http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/macgyver37/55/

It would be a 2 ton, and it would have had a 265 V8 with an SM420 trans originally. The front track width is 63.74", with overall width at the fenders is 80".
Unless the original frame is damaged, I really can't see a reason to replace it. If the spring pads line up and the track width is ok, you may consider installing the IH axles to the Chevy frame. That'll preserve the body to frame relationship by keeping the cab on the mounts it was designed to fit.

bill thanks for the measurement, after i posted, i went back 15 or so pages and saw some similar threads. the truck is 2 hours away, so i am probably getting way ahead of myself and will have a different idea and plan once i get my hands on it. i have done quite a few swaps of drivetrain, bodies etc and i was weighing the options and thought that it might be quickest to do the body swap and hook up the controls. that 80" is pretty narrow though.

jason

Jason,
I am putting together a 57 2 ton Crewcab LCF. I a putting it on a 2003 GMC w4500HD chassis(isuzu NPR). I am taking the 2003 cab off and putting my body on. I think the front axle from the IH will be too wide. these trucks are quite narrow. If you do a search on my posts you will find some good information. I was even able to bolt the old 6 lug 22.5 wheels on the new chassis.
Shane

well everyone, i am headed to go get the lcf and bus saturday. i hope to drive the bus home with the lcf in pieces on the back with my buddy in my little 1/2 ton behind me. wish me luck. it should make a good story anyway.

shane, if my hood ornament is in good shape, i may be able to get a good casting off of it for yours

jason

update:

things were not going as planned the first day i went to bring these two home. I ended up bringing the IH bus home, it ran great too. we ran out of time, so i left the 55 there to get later with my trailer at a later time. i went and got it this past sat. it went much better this time. we had to get the bed off of it, so that took some time but it went pretty smoothly. i got sick about as soon as i got home, so i just dropped the trailer and have not had any motivation to play with it. both the bus and truck were given to me and the big bonus to this project was the thought of it being a smaller budget. i am going to have to really do some measuring and such before i ultimately decide what to do with it. i really like the idea of using the bus chassis, but it may not be worth it, i'll have to decide later. see pics here: http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/macgyver37/55/