body swap

[dirty1ton]

i have a rusted 79 chevy cab and i'm getting a 84 cab to replace it. Can i keep the front clip and bolt it right on or do i need the front clip off of an 81-87? Is there any other mods that i need to be aware of. 1st time body swappin'.

[ToughBowtieTruck]

80s cab will bolt on, however to use the 70s clip you need the 70s wiper arms, 80s are longer.

Also, you need cab bushings that match the FRAME year of the truck, as the frames are different requiring different bushings but the cabs are the same.

Fenders pretty much bolt up, harness and all.

Other than that it's just straight-forward. When I did mine I went as far as cutting sections of the dash out so I could use the 70s wiper switch and stuff, to keep my entire truck all 70s.

70s 4x4 cabs use a bolt-in trans tunnel while the 80s are stamped. So, if the 80s is a 2wd automatic transmission cab, you need the 4x4 tunnel out of the 70s to add in, or else the trans/case will hit.  

Let me know if you have any other questions on it.

[dirty1ton]

thanx for the info. Keep getting different answers from people,but this sounds the most common.

[ToughBowtieTruck]

thanx for the info. Keep getting different answers from people,but this sounds the most common.

I've done an 80s cab swap onto a 70's chassis 3 times while keeping the 70s front clip.