Stock Flooring (Openly Discuss)

[NickZigaitis]

STOCKFLOOR Body Dropping (Open Discuss)

**Please try to provide pictures illustrating your comments**

I think I'm going to finally do this but I want to gather as much research on it as possible before diving in. Everyone keeps telling me that stock floor is the way to go but with that comes questions relating to a couple things seen in stock flooring vs traditional.

The following pictures are of my truck and what I have to work with. In my opinion and several others its a very complete truck, exterior, interior, etc etc. I'd like to preserve most of this as possible to keep it a complete looking truck.


















Right off the cuff I know the center console isn't going to fit. I'm not worried about that cause I can snap a new one together in no time. But I have questions which will follow that I'd really appreciate answers on. I think not only will they answer them for me, but for many others out there wondering the same. Hopefully, eliminating my own concern but also the repetitive questions you guys see.

And the questions come a roll'n on..............

(Please quote the question answered when providing pictures and discussions)

(1) I know the cab floor still has to be cut, just not as aggressively as a traditional. Please provide a couple pictures illustrating the initial cuts required in the floor to initially fit the cab back to the frame.

(2) Pictures of tranny hump moditfied

(3) Pictures of LEAST amount need to be notched out of the rear wall for the drive shaft. ^^ As seen in the pictures above I have a great sub box I spent too long on building to just loose it. I think I might be able to notch the box some to retain it.

(4) ^^ along with question 3, There is the notching of the cab for the gas tank. Where can a steel tank be found (resources please) and can someone provide pictures of a steel tank notched and welded back up? I have access to a Tig welder for nicely notching a steel tank.

(5) ^^ along with questions 3 and 4, who has an actual reliable resource for getting an aluminum fuel cell made that won't break the pocket book that WILL accept the stock fuel sender and pump?

(6) Pictures of the frame horns dropped and gussetted.

(7) Pictures of how you stock floored the frame and gussetted and what size tubing / wall thickness used.

(8) Building a new tranny cross member.

(9) ^^ along with question 8, pictures of how you routed the exhaust for a 2.2 and new hangers for under the cab with the increasingly limited room from stock flooring.

(10) Body Mounts. Thats a big one. I'm pretty sure you have to cut them off and move them down. How much and how did you do it? Pictures.

I think this is a good start. Lets discuss from there. My goal here is to do this with the least cost incurred. Because again my truck is very complete, I think this can be done. Everything seen on the truck will go back on, just in a body dropped configuration.

Thanks guys.

Answer time...............

[bdydrp18]

WOW!!!! that a lot of question. the best answer for all most all of your question is just look around on the bodydrop section. there is a lease 25 post on just the first page that you could have looked at that would have answer 90% of these question.

by the way nice truck very clean

[cbennett]

I uesed 2x3 3/16 wall tubing. Used stock front mounts lowered and moved back 1/2"



Also used stock rear mount to keep the gap the same.
Best shot i have of the rear right now.



Best shot i have of the tranny cross its finished and welded in now



I am just using a summit racing fuel cell I have seen people use these with a stock pump setup



And for exhaust i cant help you there i am running a sbc but i do have all spintech oval ss exhaust for it nice stuff. here is a link to it. http://www.ovaltubes.com/

[NickZigaitis]

Quote: Originally Posted by cbennett

I uesed 2x3 3/16 wall tubing. Used stock front mounts lowered and moved back 1/2"



Also used stock rear mount to keep the gap the same.
Best shot i have of the rear right now.

So the front mounts have to come down only 1/2"? What about the rear mounts? How much down for those.

I'm thinking I'll do what Milky did and just stock floor the frame right under the cab.

[NickZigaitis]

Quote: Originally Posted by bdydrp18

WOW!!!! that a lot of question. the best answer for all most all of your question is just look around on the bodydrop section. there is a lease 25 post on just the first page that you could have looked at that would have answer 90% of these question.

by the way nice truck very clean

Yeah I know, lots of questions. I was hoping to gather all the info into one central location (thread). Got a link to your build?

[got_u_sick]

Well...I'll try to help out as much as I can. Most of these pics I pulled out of my project thread. Click the link in my sig for more...I'll post a bunch for reference.

There is more than one way to do alot of those things. The floor for instance. You can either channel it out for the frame, or make new floor pans. Example of each:

Here is a new pan being built.








Here are some channel pics.

[got_u_sick]

Frame, here is one way to do it. Used 1/4" wall 2x3.










One way to build a tranny x-member. I just cut the old perch off, mounted it to some 2" round 1/4" walled tubing. Made perchers on my frame and bolted it in.


Bolted in

[got_u_sick]

Gas tank and tranny tunnel knotch

You also might want to look into getting a smaller tank. A 10 or 12 gallon maybe. I know those don't extend under the cab at all, so that would eliminate you from having to cut your cab up for it.
Frame horns dropped with gussets. Used 1/4" flat stock.



Body mounts
Also a few ways to do this. If you make new floor pans, you can just raise them with the pan the amount you need. The lowest you can move the front frame cab mount is about 2". So you will need to raise the one on the cab to make up the rest of your drop. .75" or more in your case.

Frame mount




Rear mount. Drop it the full amount of your body drop.








Also note...if you don't already know, that the stock 2.2 intake will not clear the stock hood. Don't know if you have the cavy intake or a low lying intake, but that is a way for it to clear. Don't forget also about having to make your tubs bigger (front, possibly rear) if they are not big enough already.

[bdydrp18]

Quote: Originally Posted by NickZigaitis

Yeah I know, lots of questions. I was hoping to gather all the info into one central location (thread). Got a link to your build?

yep

http://www.s10forum.com/forum/f143/m...s-10-a-313308/

[herseydestin]

so the back body mount is even with the top of the modified frame and the front body mounts is 2" below it.

[herseydestin]

and you cut out the floor, the body drops, and you weld up the gaps. i to am trying to get all my info before i start cuttn.

[got_u_sick]

Quote: Originally Posted by herseydestin

so the back body mount is even with the top of the modified frame and the front body mounts is 2" below it.

The back is not necassarialy even. Just drop it the amount of your bd. If you are doing a 2.75" bd, that is how far you will drop the rear body mount. The front can only go down about 2" because it will hit the ground, and you have to have room for your bushings. So you will have to either section the front cab mounts on the cab, or raise them with the floor to get the .75"(or how ever much) more that you need. The pic of the cab setting straight up, you can see where the mounts were origionally, and see how they were moved up.

[got_u_sick]

Quote: Originally Posted by herseydestin

and you cut out the floor, the body drops, and you weld up the gaps. i to am trying to get all my info before i start cuttn.

What you are referring to here is a traditional bd. Whole different ball game. That is correct tho.

[lowdime96]

First off i don't think you should body drop the truck. It looks insane as is. it is very, very hard to keep a body dropped truck looking clean if you like driving it around often. The bed is the hardest thing to keep clean (roll pan, bed sides).

(1) I know the cab floor still has to be cut, just not as aggressively as a traditional. Please provide a couple pictures illustrating the initial cuts required in the floor to initially fit the cab back to the frame.
There are two methods for stock flooring a truck. you can mod the stock rails or build new ones. If you mod the stock rails (ie welding 2x3 or 3x3 in the stock rails and cutting them down like i did) then you need to cut WAY MORE out of the cab. This is because you have a 1/4-3/4" taller frame rail than if you just laid the box tubing on the ground. If you lay 2x3 or 3x3 on the ground you will not have to cut the cab floor at all. The only disadvantage to ditching the stock rails is the extra measuring involved. With stock rails i was able to lay the 2x3 (1/4" thick) into the frame and weld it in without worrying about keeping the frame square, wheelbase, etc. body mounts were easy as pie too because i just cut the stock ones off, dropped them, and welded them back on. that might not be a possibility with new rails. also with new rails you should definitely build a frame table.






(3) Pictures of LEAST amount need to be notched out of the rear wall for the drive shaft. ^^ As seen in the pictures above I have a great sub box I spent too long on building to just loose it. I think I might be able to notch the box some to retain it.
the drive shaft notch is huge. also note how i notched the cab to retain a stock gastank. i can go down the street and buy a new tank and bolt it right in. not a very good option for you if you want to keep your system. you be able to notch your system for the shaft tunnel though.



(4) ^^ along with question 3, There is the notching of the cab for the gas tank. Where can a steel tank be found (resources please) and can someone provide pictures of a steel tank notched and welded back up? I have access to a Tig welder for nicely notching a steel tank.
If you want to go a route like this, your best bet is to find or buy a 13 gallon 1st gen tank. they don't go under the cab. to make it work you need to cut the sending unit port out of your 2nd gen tank and either weld or bolt it onto the 13 gallon. 1st gens have smaller sending units so you can't just bolt it on. i would think that would be easier than fabricated a custom tank and you won't have to worry about it leaking.

(9) ^^ along with question 8, pictures of how you routed the exhaust for a 2.2 and new hangers for under the cab with the increasingly limited room from stock flooring.
pretty much the best way to go with a 2.2, whether you have a body drop or not. no more issures with down pipes under the tranny.




(10) Body Mounts. Thats a big one. I'm pretty sure you have to cut them off and move them down. How much and how did you do it? Pictures.
I dropped the rears 3". the fronts can only go 2.5" you will need to take out the rest by notching the the mount under the cab for the front ones. what i did was i welded the floor in with the cab where i wanted it and the body mounts welded to the new floor sections already and bolted. this way i knew everythig was going to work out right.




I think this is a good start. Lets discuss from there. My goal here is to do this with the least cost incurred. Because again my truck is very complete, I think this can be done. Everything seen on the truck will go back on, just in a body dropped configuration.

Thanks guys.

Answer time...............[/quote]

I left some pics / answers out because it was already seen or explained. for more info and pics, check out my body drop thread in the sig and make sure to view the gallery on my website:http://northeastsyndicate.com/index....nails&album=10
some of the older pics in the gallery are towards the end.

[herseydestin]

so with a sfbd you do not let the floor drop...and when droping the mounts, we measure from the original frame....right?

with an sfbd, i'm guessing you move the mounts around to get rockers to lay?

[got_u_sick]

Quote: Originally Posted by herseydestin

so with a sfbd you do not let the floor drop...and when droping the mounts, we measure from the original frame....right?

with an sfbd, i'm guessing you move the mounts around to get rockers to lay?

Yup, measure down from the original frame. Moving them down allows the rockers to lay, and cutting the frame down to make it shorter is basiclly all for clearance purposes if thats the way you want to look at it. The only thing you cut on the floor on a stock floor is the floor pans and tranny/driveshaft tunnel.

[herseydestin]

so you cut the floor out around the front bodymounts of the cab, plus the trany humo and tunel....so the back mounts and everything towards the back can be left alone?

[got_u_sick]

Quote: Originally Posted by herseydestin

so you cut the floor out around the front bodymounts of the cab, plus the trany humo and tunel....so the back mounts and everything towards the back can be left alone?

You can either cut the floor around them and raise them up that way, or take a section out of the mount, or raise it with the floor pan.
The back mounts on the cab are left alone, but the ones on the frame are moved down the full amount of the bd.

[herseydestin]

man this is some damn good advice...thank you so much.
this thread should be stickyd...it doesn't get anymore laymen than this!

[got_u_sick]

No problem mayne.

[NickZigaitis]

Quote: Originally Posted by lowdime96

First off i don't think you should body drop the truck. It looks insane as is.

Thanks. Appreciate that big time coming from you body droppers. I just think it'll really top off my truck being bd'd. I've always wanted to do it but was just reluctant to do so. I'm getting more and more motivated to do it.

[NickZigaitis]

Quote:

If you mod the stock rails (ie welding 2x3 or 3x3 in the stock rails and cutting them down like i did) then you need to cut WAY MORE out of the cab. This is because you have a 1/4-3/4" taller frame rail than if you just laid the box tubing on the ground. If you lay 2x3 or 3x3 on the ground you will not have to cut the cab floor at all.

Can you confirm that I read that right. So, if I were to build a frame banch and tack the front and rear clip to it to keep them from moving and then place in there new rails, I would need to cut the floor at all??????????? Obviously except for the tranny hump. Then cut the body mounts off and transfer them to the new rails. Sounds actually easier.

[NickZigaitis]

Any chance I can get a picture from behind the cab with the tranny and shaft in place to see how large your notch in the back step is?



I'd like to see how your notch compares to the position of your shaft. If I can keep that notch in the back step as minimal as possible, then I think i could save the sub box, notch the bottom of it some and make it work.

[NickZigaitis]

Also, does anyone know if a 2nd gens came with steel gas tanks / and or would a 1st gen steel tank bolt up to a second gen? If I could get a steel tank and tig weld notch the bitch then I think we're in business with the sub box.

Edit: Disregard this question. LMC has them for the 2.2 2000 standard cab in steel for $130

[NickZigaitis]

By the way. Thanks fellas for getting on this and posting up some seriously detailed picks on the questionable shit I have.

Good on ya.

[herseydestin]

2nd gens came with steel and plastic tanks. i have a steel for mine.

[01_STL_X]

Nick your not doing it to this truck are ya?

[fiveinchbodydrop]

Quote: Originally Posted by NickZigaitis

Can you confirm that I read that right. So, if I were to build a frame banch and tack the front and rear clip to it to keep them from moving and then place in there new rails, I would need to cut the floor at all??????????? Obviously except for the tranny hump. Then cut the body mounts off and transfer them to the new rails. Sounds actually easier.

the floor pns will still have to be modded. it will be less and cleaner, but you will still have to mod the floor. the floor pan drops to much at the point of transition.