What do I call it?

[CheemsK1500]

Except for the 2wd cab being mounted on a 4wd frame. I know the insurance company will want it to be correctly named for the records.

How would they know though? Does your insurance agent personally visit your house and examine every component on your truck? Would said insurance agent even know the difference between the letters "C" and "K"?

 

[DoubleDingo]

How would they know though? Does your insurance agent personally visit your house and examine every component on your truck? Would said insurance agent even know the difference between the letters "C" and "K"?

I guess it boils down to how honest or dishonest one wants to be when getting it registered, and I am sure if DMV knows it's a frame swap, someone will want to see it. I know here, because I have asked about this, as I have to do a frame swap, so a frame swap requires highway patrol to inspect it and sign off that it is road-worthy before DMV will move forward to register it. In my case it is a C20 frame and C20 cab and body. In the case of the OP, it being a 4x4 frame, I know for a fact a highway patrol will know the difference. If the truck will never see the road then it doesn't matter. For legal reasons, it needs to be on the records for what it is, a 4x4. I don't make the rules, I just abide by them, whereas, some don't. To each their own.

 

[AyWoSch Motors]

My friend had a 93 c1500 chevy SCSB for a long time until it died, then he bought a 96 K2500 ECLB from his uncle, but it didn't have a title. So he just popped the VIN tag off the dash of the 93, glued it to the 96, swapped plates and off he went. Never even went to the DMV.
Then he moved to GA, went to the courthouse to get the title transferred, they just sent it threw no problem. Hes been driving that truck like 6-7 years like that. No issues.

Moral of the story, I don't think they're gonna care.

 

[CheemsK1500]

My friend had a 93 c1500 chevy SCSB for a long time until it died, then he bought a 96 K2500 ECLB from his uncle, but it didn't have a title. So he just popped the VIN tag off the dash of the 93, glued it to the 96, swapped plates and off he went. Never even went to the DMV.
Then he moved to GA, went to the courthouse to get the title transferred, they just sent it threw no problem. Hes been driving that truck like 6-7 years like that. No issues.

Moral of the story, I don't think they're gonna care.

Its also worth noting that Ford used to sell virgin replacement cabs for 80-96 F Series trucks that had been rolled or suffered severe rust damage. Salvage companies like Vanderhaags also sell stripped cabs that have been taken off of parted-out trucks (They all have VIN tags, but no titles. I think the purpose is to transfer the VIN of wrecked cab and discard the VIN on the donor cab since the donor cab's truck has likely been declared destroyed by the salvage company.)

With these examples in mind, it appears that it's legally acceptable to do cab and frame swaps in most places, as long as you obtain the replacement/donor parts by legitimate and legal means. Buying stolen vehicles and parts is obviously a big no no, even if you're unaware they're stolen.

 

[Matt69olds]

I have seen and heard enough people dealing with DMV and police trying to do the right thing, only to have a huge hassle So, I would prefer to keep the DMV involvement to a minimum, and involve them only if I was absolutely sure everything was absolutely correct with no gray area.

It seems not a week goes by that someone posts a question about title transfer, saying the BMV is telling them the VIN is missing numbers. The DMV people aren’t well educated on old iron, most don’t know prior to 1980 there was no real standards to vin. After 1981, they had to have 17 digits. Could you imagine the disgusted looks if you brought a stack of titles from all the donor vehicles?

The headaches would be worthy of a Johnny Cash song.

 

[justhorns]

I call mine Ralph.

 

[DBinWW]

Except for the 2wd cab being mounted on a 4wd frame. I know the insurance company will want it to be correctly named for the records.

Fully informed, the insurance company calls it a K10... half-ton 4WD. The VIN in 1979 is too short and doesn't fit the lookups, so I guess it's whatever you want it to be.

My real question was: How to I describe it to y'all? I just installed a 700R4 transmission and NP208 to replace the TH350 and I had to buy a 4WD tunnel from the junkyard to make room for it. Now there is not much to distinguish this badged Sierra Classic's origins, so I think I'll refer to it as a K20.

 

[DoubleDingo]

Fully informed, the insurance company calls it a K10... half-ton 4WD. The VIN in 1979 is too short and doesn't fit the lookups, so I guess it's whatever you want it to be.

My real question was: How to I describe it to y'all? I just installed a 700R4 transmission and NP208 to replace the TH350 and I had to buy a 4WD tunnel from the junkyard to make room for it. Now there is not much to distinguish this badged Sierra Classic's origins, so I think I'll refer to it as a K20.

Call it a Custom K Truck

 

[CheemsK1500]

Fully informed, the insurance company calls it a K10... half-ton 4WD. The VIN in 1979 is too short and doesn't fit the lookups, so I guess it's whatever you want it to be.

My real question was: How to I describe it to y'all? I just installed a 700R4 transmission and NP208 to replace the TH350 and I had to buy a 4WD tunnel from the junkyard to make room for it. Now there is not much to distinguish this badged Sierra Classic's origins, so I think I'll refer to it as a K20.

Whatever the majority of it is, is what I'd call it. You can put K20 emblems and badges on it and refer to it a "K20 clone build." This is actually pretty common practice in the muscle car world. For example someone may do an engine swap, change a few body panels, and add emblems and graphics to an old Dodge Coronet to make it look like a factory built Super-Bee. They often just refer to them as "clone-builds" to avoid confusion when reselling them.