prep for body swap - what parts to order?

[malcolmzilla]

Thinking ahead, when my 68 tub is patched, primed and sealed, I will need some new parts on hand to complete the tub swap and mount the 68 on the 77 chassis and get it running/mobile. With the Canadian peso being relatively strong, and the delay and cost in getting parts up here from the US, I was thinking of ordering fairly soon. Early Merry Christmas to me! ;D

Need to have onhand:
-Poly body mount kit
-Body mount hardware
-Wiring harness, if Centech
-Windshield gasket
-Windshield hinge seal
-Poly rad bushings

Can anyone think of anything else I am missing?

Fuel, coolant, brake lines I can get locally, maybe also a Painless harness.

New hardware, fuel filler lines and weatherstripping would be nice, but I may be able to salvage some of that off the 68 and 77, along with other knick knacks, and for weatherstripping I don't know what I need since I haven't decided what top to run - hard, half cab or soft top. Most likely a tarp for the time being! ;D

 

[Matt_W]

I did this same thing only i used a body from 67. The main problem i had was adapting the 77 plastic fuel tank to the 67 fuel filler. The hoses at the filler on the body is a different diameter than the hose where it mates with the tank. I just got a hose of the bigger diameter and cut a small section out of the smaller diameter hose and used the smaller diameter hose as a sort of gasket that went inside the bigger hose.
The 68 and 77 used different emergency brake setups so you will need to change the equlizer mount on the body to either the 77 or 68 setup and use those e-brake cables.
The last problem that you are going to run across that i can think of is the front inner fender on the 77 is bent to allow for the collapsable power steering column. The 67 and most likely 68 did not have this so you will need to take a hammer to it. I just welded the one from the 77 on to the 67 body. Depending on what you do the windshield frame will either attach using bolts or welds....my 67 was bolts but i wanted to keep the electric wipers of the 77 so i cut the top of the 77 frame and welded it to the 67.
Overall it wasnt too bad to do.

 

[malcolmzilla]

Right on, good tips, thanks!

I had noticed the inner fender slopes down a bit on the 77, to make room for the master cylinder with a PS booster / bracket? Which oddly enough seems to have been deleted from my 77? (can't see any evidence of a bracket on the firewall... ?:? )

I never noticed any differences for the column, I will check it out - thanks!

I also noticed that I'll have to make a recess on the 68 core support for the PS box...

E-brake I'll have to use the 77 setup, nothing was on the 68, in fact the brackets look to have been torched off... %)

Any advantage to ordering a new windshield hinge, maybe stainless? The 68 already had electric wipers added to it, I think it's newer frame as it has factory mounts for the electric wipers.