getting my truck today

[53lochevy]

Lookin good alot of progress my advice since you have it torn down completely and doing quite abit of repair to the body, yank the straight front axle and put in a nice suspension up front or your gonna be sorry later when the truck done and it rides like a stage coach heheh seriously though you will be very happy with the new stuff in it yea it cost out of your pocket alot more but no comparison on the ride difference. But if you keep the the stock front end in it take two leafs out and take them and have the straighten at a sheet metal shop and then put them back in other wise its gonna be too soft and bottom out when driving it with the motor and the front end back on it. Or you can do it like we did in the 70's get the weight on it and heat the springs until she slowly drops to where you want it and you dont have to take anything apart.

[pugs]

im use to these old trucks and how they ride, had a 54 a few yrs ago and took out 2 leaves, ok for me to cruise around with it. I did think about a clip for the front, but at this point i think im just going to get on the road for the summer and change things around next winter

[pugs]

its been alittle while since i posted, busy back at work. I did manage to get some time in on the truck thu, got the cab corner welded in and did alittle body work on it, step all welded in, and patched the rear inner area of the door jam





but as it usually happens with some of us we take 2 steps back, as i was finishing up on the front spring bushing and getting the shocks bolted and unbolted the front bumper, i really noticed the front of the frame is messed up, so now to decide to get another stock frame or go with something else, i did find a 64-66 swb frame in a local bone yard. so at this point i will continue getting the rest of the cab in shape until i find a frame

[55dude]

whats your tape measure say? from the pic's hard to tell whats wrong.

[pugs]

drivers side behind the front shackle (bumper bracket hole) is pushed in the in front of the shackle its tweaked out and twisted. i will try to get a better pic and show it. looks like the the whole front rail is twisted

[55dude]

if your front crossmember is still square measure the diagonal get the hammer and the torch going looks fixable. porta-power would help also.

[1-ton of fun]

torch and a come-a-long

[pugs]

well 53olchevy's, I took your advice, only on the account that i happen to run across a 75-79 nova clip for $20. so today i pulled the m/t turned the truck around, set it up on stands and commensed to cutting the frame, but olny after bracing the frame, well 3.5 hours later i have it tacked. then i kind of set the fenders on it to see where and how much i need to trim off the front horns

[pugs]

well more progress this past week,steering column hooked up





picked up a m/c, booster, pro valve and pedal out of an s-10 and got it all mounted up along with the gas pedal





going to bolt up the doors again and set the fron fenders so i can mark off where to trin off the front frame horns and set up for my rad support will get more pics tomorrow

[55dude]

looks like it's coming right along. like the "low buck" nova clip. keep the pic's coming

[GATORBUILT '59]

Good job!

[pugs]

thanx guys, its slow going here onthe truck. I did bolt the front end together, but i do need and upper and lower grill bars a mine are all bent the heck up and it thowing the front end off abit as far as gaps and such. still ned to get the clip totally welded up but over all its looking like a truck again will get pics tomorrow or over the weekend

[pugs]

well its been awhile since i posted anything about the truck, its still slow going but i did find a 57 grill, complete wire harness out of a 64-66. got the ign, turn switch wired together i did swap out the ralley's for an older set of camaro z wheels. also got the wiper motor fronthe same 64-66 truck,flipper the motor 180 and made mounts for it, i used the stock 57 arms but did have to extend the pass. side alittle over an 1". also dummped some fuel in the carb of the engine and it fired right up the 1st time
wheels

grill

fuse block

wiper motor

[GRIMSS]

I like the wheels. It's coming around.

[pugs]

thanx i think it looks better with the wheels, and once i get the clip welded up correctly im taking it to my buddies shop and we are going to lower the front down some by cutting a coil off the springs

[pugs]

i had the chance to hitthe boneyard again this afternoon and isnagged the heater system out of a 64-66 and mounted in my 57 oh and yes the hood clears, made sure of it





inside



also picked up a tank an yes its from a VW, but hey it will work. i took the stock sending from the truck and modified it to work inthe tank just need to figure out to mount it, fillwill be inthe bed

[pugs]

hey All, been busy as usual at work and other things. did manage to finally get the nova clip welded in along with some box plates i made up, took my buddy about 2 hours to do it. cant see in these pics but we also added 2x4 retangular tubiing to the front on the clip to bolt up the bumper





now of course i cant leave well enough alone so today whil eat the bone yard trying to find some nicer front fenders which i really need, i came across an old 53-54 dodge royal with a nice dash and gauges, I know a dodge but hey for $30 why not. so came home and started cutting, will have it buttoned up in a day or 3, will get more pics then as i did do some filling and changing things onthe dash

[jds319]

Wow. Great mod on the dash. Impressive work.

[pugs]

thanx, its fun playing with dangerous tools LOL

[GRIMSS]

Looks like the dash will not need too much to finish. Cool idea even if it came from a dodge.


Please remove the dodge emblem.

[pugs]

i did manage to get the dash tacked in tonite. i did close a few holes up onthe dash and since i didnt have the complete ashtray for the the dash, i cut the one out of the stock dash and welded it in its almost like it belongs in there. hope i canget it all welded up in the next day or so and i will pull the truck out and get some better pics of the dash

[pugs]

well really didnt want to but i couldnt pass it up, didnt want to see it go to the shreader, actually a few good parts left on it and the cab is a heck of alot better then the one i started with.

[Daniel U]

I'm afraid I'd done the same thing.

[pugs]

by the way its a 55, and the thing is it would actually take less time to repair this can then it would be to finish the original cab i been working, so i mite starting over again

[Daniel U]

My parents did the same thing when they bought a "parts" truck for my mom's '54 long bed. The short bed parts truck had a Camaro front end with a 350/350 already set to go and a 10 bolt posi. The things you run across when you are looking for parts.....