Introduction for 620slodat and his diesel build

[620slodat]

Wayno offered me a 720 diesel King Cab frame, and because of the way it will make things easier for me I took him up on the offer. Also, I found out that the 620 cab is a direct fit onto the 720 frame. I picked up a rusty floored 620 KC cab and temporarily put it on the 720 frame. I don't know about the 620 bed yet, but I will find out soon. It may not be today as I have a memorial service I want to attend, but the 620 is now on jack stands which will give me enough room to wiggle underneath and get the bed unbolted from the frame.

[wayno]

What year is the kingcab that is an exact fit?

 

Edited February 10, 2019 by wayno

[wayno]

As I recall the 620 kingcab is close to a 10 inch extension as a guy that built a 521 kingcab on a 620 kingcab frame/chassis only had room for 10 inch extension, I do not know how big of a gap you will have between your cab and your box as I used a stepside box on my 521 kingcab turbodiesel truck, when I made the 520 kingcab I extended it 14 inches also, and when I decided to make it a Ranchero type I had to cut the front of the box off because it was too long, I originally thought the 620 kingcab frame/chassis was shorter, but now I am not so sure, you will be able to tell us soon.

Edited February 10, 2019 by wayno

[620slodat]

It is a 12/1977 build date, so I'm assuming it is a 1978. I slid the KC cab onto the 720 frame, dropped the rear body bolts into the cab/frame, and then proceeded to make the cuts into the inner fender for the steering gear. I ran out of time to finish everything so I went back the next day and finished. I had to trim the length of the center body mounts just a little bit to get the KC cab to drop down onto the frame. At that point I dropped the center and front body bolts into the body holes, and they went directly into the frame holes.

 

From my measurements I will have about an inch or a little more between the cab and bed. My measurements are rough, but I will know soon as I plan in the next day or so to temporarily put the 620 bed on the 720 frame. 

 

Got to leave now for the memorial service, but I will check back sometime this evening.

[wayno]

Are your front wheels centered in the front fender wells?

Do you have a title for this 620 kingcab shell?

Edited February 11, 2019 by wayno

[620slodat]

I got a slightly damaged right front fender and hood with the cab to have something that might be usable for patching the rusted out rocker panels in the extra cab section. I put the fender on and the front wheel appears to be centered in the opening. No, I didn't get a title with the cab, didn't think about it. I figured I would take the roof and extra cab section and put on my  standard cab. The floor in the extra cab is real rusty and has several holes rusted through, so I figured that repairing the floor would be more work than putting the roof and extra cab section on my cab.

 

On a side note, I was real surprised at the lack of turn out for the memorial. The guy was a barber and had a shop in downtown Albany for 49 years and should have known a lot of people there. I found out that nothing was put in the local paper about it. This guy's brother was married to my Dad's sister, so I sort of knew him, besides being my barber for many years. I only found out about the memorial service because my niece saw it on facebook and told my daughter about it. He was 85 and ran his shop up until the last few months.

Edited February 11, 2019 by 620slodat

[wayno]

It's not going to be easier to extend your regular cab, but you do not have a title to the extended cab so I do not see much of a choice.

Floor boards are easy to replace as you do not have to be perfect, but the exterior needs to be perfect for it to look like a proper vehicle.

I suspect though it might work out better for you than it does when I extend a 521, you are just adding on something that already exists, if you take your time and measure everything a dozen times you might be able to mate them together like it was made that way without having to make extra pieces, I just don't see a way to make it much longer without it looking strange, so lets hope that the box mounts on the frame/chassis and it doesn't need to be extended any more than the stock extension.