CK5 - The Full-Size GM Off Road Community

I'm thinking about what I can do to lighten the K5, one of the thoughts I had was to skin the roof and hood. Hood is easy done it twice now on my dad's race cars but the roof seems interesting to me. I'm looking for opinions from anyone that has removed their half cab roof. What it consists of mainly. I'm hoping there are multiple layers of steel and I can remove a few and lose some weight but still have my roof that I can bolt my halfcab setup onto and have a pretty well sealed cab for storage purposes.

I just cut my roof off and it looks like the only place that you could skin it out would just be the center section. Cutting anything else might weaken the whole structure enough that you might want a roll cage in there. I dont think you would lose much weight there anyway but I guess it all adds up.

Have you though about skinning the front fenders? I just skinned mine out and they ended up being pretty light when it was all over. I also skinned the hood and I can lift it up real easy with one hand.

I am going to start on the rear tonight, I am gonna narrow it and maybe skin the rear fenders. I haven't decided but I was thinking about narrowing the front and not really skinning them. Definetally skin the hood. I will be installing a full cage so I'm not worried about that aspect.

I am in the early stages of narrowing the rear. I have the inner fenders out now and was deciding if I wanted to bob it at the same time. I cant decide if I want to keep the stock taillights or just loose them when I cut it down and skin it out some.

I may not skin the rear out too much. It might make it more difficult to reconnect the sides to the bed floor.

If you narrow the front, You have to skin out the fenders or there isnt enough clearance to pull them in up at the firewall. I had to skin the fenders, and trim down where the hood hinges used to go and also cut out the metal on the sides of the cowl area to get everything to clear without popping the back of the fenders out more. My front is areound 10" narrower on each side now. The fenders ended up being pretty light when it was all over. I did leave the inner fender in the very back and the front so I still had mounting points for them. I ended up using 1/2 rod stock to support the radiator support. So really, I could run without the fenders and the hood now if I wanted.

Let me know how the rear goes and maybe we could compare notes. I was planning on doing some cutting and maybe some welding on it this weekend.

I have off tomorrow so the bulk of the work will be tonight tomorrow I guess. The single cut down the bedside will be the hardest thing to do. I am going to completely remove the fender and just angle it inward say to about the frame. I think I will leave my taillights intact and the majority of the fender metal as well. I don't want to lighten the rear too much compared to the front cause of course I would like to be closer to 50/50 than I am now, not farther away.

me thinks that when u guys narrow/skin the rear of ur rigs you need to snap LOTS of pics so us non-narrowed guys can be inspired and stuff. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

j

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me thinks that when u guys narrow/skin the rear of ur rigs you need to snap LOTS of pics so us non-narrowed guys can be inspired and stuff.

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i concur /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

oh believe me I will be. i just cut my entire rear floorpan out in preperation. My dad and I were sitting around staring at the K5 trying to figure out how to make the body lines line up as good as possible, aka minimal gaps. The idea of narrowing is I love the way the K5 looks so narrower means, lighter and able to fit in spots I couldn't before btu still look like a K5.

My half cab was about 70# or so, so losing it really helped out. I would chop it off and put on a soft top. Actually that was the plan before the windshield frame bit the dust. Now my soft top is whatever I have to strap to the lid.

Like that mattress you used on the Rubicon? /forums/images/graemlins/rotfl.gif /forums/images/graemlins/rotfl.gif

I was going to go with a Bikini Top, not cut the frames on the door and come up with something that I can snap to the roll cage to more or less seal off the cab area and leave the heater on full blast. Should be bearable.

my only issue is outdoor storage in winter here in PA.

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my only issue is outdoor storage in winter here in PA.

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Car cover.

yeah but being sealed it nice cause mice love to make homes in such things.

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Like that mattress you used on the Rubicon? /forums/images/graemlins/rotfl.gif /forums/images/graemlins/rotfl.gif

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Or the ratty old blanket you can see in the pics from the Hollister BB? Or the tarps I usually have held on with a mess of bungies and tie down straps?
It might be time for a real top, even though the tarps are nice since they only cost a couple bucks if/when I tear it up.

What about my original plan: cut the hard top, graft on the early K5 (73-75) windshield frame, chop the door tops and use a 73-75 soft top? If you're doing serious work on the rear it may not work but it might be a good start. You could section the back of the top about as easy as you would section the back of the truck.

I was think of just going with a Bikini top that pulled down a foot or two in the back. I also was not going to cut the window frame on the door. The idea that the side of the top would lay over the frame on the door. I could shut the door normal but would have to reach up and push the top over the lip. That would keep me out of most of the bad weather. I was also thinking about the same bikini top material that could snap to the back of the roll cage. Maybe a few different parts that would cover openings to enclose the cab for real bad weather.

My neighbor makes boat tops and stuff for a living so he could easily build me some stuff.

I'm still in the figuring out stage of it. /forums/images/graemlins/thinking.gif

I dont think I'll have too much sheet metal in the rear when its over. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I'm not gonna skin my rear fenders. After an incident with the jackstands where I picked the entire k5 up by just the right rear fender then put it back down I want to leave that weight there and try to get a little closer to 50/50.

Don't put too much money in the top if you are getting serious in the rocks. In Moab this year I ruined a tarp towing to Upper Hell. Later, it started raining and I borrowed one from Stephen. Then, about 10 minutes later (if that) I fell into a rock and ripped his new tarp. A good top would not have been damaged on the way to the trail (mine was sun damaged/weakened anyway) but the fall would kill any soft top if it laps over the bars like most do. Tarps are cheap, I replaced Stephen's the next day (on sale! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif ) for less than $5 from the local Moab hardware store.