[Project] My Second go at a build

[winchster]

I don't remember if I've introduced myself or not so I shall do so here. I will also introduce my latest dream. When I get an opportunity to translate the printed pictures of this truck into digital format I will add them to this thread.
We bought this truck in 1990 from the original owner. It was bone stock, complete and running. We then proceeded to put a 350 in it, along with a T-10 and a '69 C10 rearend. I don't have any pictures of any of that. In about 2002 I took possession from my dad and put an automatic, tilt column, and a front saddle from a '77 C10 under it. My son drove it to school for his senior year and then we parked it. I've finally decided that I want to do something with it so here goes.
This is what I'm starting with:


and this




I forgot to mention the goal here. I personally love Gene's truck and mine is going to go on a '78 K5 chassis with 33x12.50 I kind of got tired with the whole hot rod thing and I really want a 4x4 so I figured I'd give both these old trucks a new shot at life. I really wish I had posted all my original work back in 2003.

Thanks for stopping by. Any and all suggestions, comments, help, or constructive criticisms taken gladly.

[winchster]

Ok, so I have a question.

Is the '49 frame flat front to back? I ask because I need to figure out how I'm going to go about mounting the fenders and cab on the K5 chassis.
This is my theory, those of you that know better please chime in and correct me if I'm wrong. I think that I can mount the front fenders on the K5 chassis, with the fender sitting level to the frame. The rear fenders mount level to the frame and at the same elevation as the front. The cab lines up with the front fender mounting holes and sits level with the imaginary line created by the front and rear fenders.

[OrrieG]

I chime in. You are starting in the right direction. Aligning the cab and front clip on the AD's are hard. First get the fenders and radiator core so the front tires are centered in the wheel opening. Get the height you want (this is all mock up at this point). Now set the cab and hood. This is the critical part, cab angle, hood and core alignment. The radiator core, hood and cab must align first. Then the fenders are fitted to the hood and cab. Then the bed. There are lots of posts on here about hood misalignment because the fenders and cab angle were done first. Before starting make sure the frame is level front to back and side to side. $5 magnetic levels work great for this, I have 4 I keep on the frame when doing stuff that needs to be level, one for each frame rail and one for each front and back cross brace. Good luck.

[winchster]

Thanks, I think I understand what you're getting at. I'm going to have to find some build threads that match up to visualize. I've been searching but maybe I'm searching for the wrong phrases. LOL

[winchster]

Made some slight headway today. I will have some real progress made after Kevin and friends come relieve me of some "excess" material this weekend.

[Steve@OldSub.com]

Find a copy of Tex Smith's How to Build Hot Rod Chassis book. Look inside that book for the Frank Kozinski (sp?) article on subframing one of these trucks.

Right now Amazon has one copy available for less than $20.

Frank makes a jig that captures the relative positions of the cab mounts and the radiator mount. A jib like that would allow you to transfer the correct location of the radiator mount to the new frame once you made your cab mounts.

I think you may need to mock up the truck including the front fenders in order to make sure you get the fenders over the tires the way you want and then get the cab mounted in the right place. But using this approach should mean the front clip is mounted relative to the cab in a way that allows the hood to fit right.

Those are my thoughts on how you line the stuff up correctly. As long as you mount the fenders and cab high enough the bed isn't hard once the front is done. Of courses knowing its high enough probably means mocking that up too.

[winchster]

Steve, I have decided I am going to have to mock this thing up probably a dozen times. About the only hard and fast number I have is the dimension from the center of the front axle to the center of the front cab mount. I plan on mounting the radiator and core support, and leveling the cab in relation to that. Then I plan on finding the mysterious cab/core support/hood angle that makes these hoods close and work correctly. I don't doubt that I will get frustrated and want to quit, but I have decided that once I have this mocked up to fit, I plan on completely restoring this truck the way I should have done ten years ago. I have some hack job stuff that I did, that I need to correct, and there are things that were never addressed that need to be fixed as well. The goal is to have a truck that I can drive for the next 30 years and be proud of. Thanks for the suggestion, I will see about finding that book.

[winchster]

Started yesterday with "major" progress. Swapped the engine onto the new chassis.

[winchster]

Then the "real" fun was today. With help from a couple of fellow board members, one who "bought" some parts from me, the other along for moral support and muscle, we got the cab removed, the K5 swapped onto the '49 frame, and loaded on his trailer for haul off. During this process, they made a hospital run unfortunately. Latest word is, he will be ok, minus the tip of a finger though. I feel really horrible that this guy got hurt at my house helping me out.

[OrrieG]

Bummer on the finger, good news is flesh will mend and maybe grow back, bone doesn't. Hazard of the hobby, but ultimately everyone needs to keep their parts out of potential danger. Nice how all that stuff bolts up to the stock springs!

[winchster]

What is simply amazing is how little GM changed things over the years. Example: The front cab mount on the '49 is 31" give or take from the center of the front axle. On the K5, it is within an inch of that. The bed is sitting on the frame, exactly like it would sit on the '49 and the rear bumper brackets stick out far enough for a step bumper to fill perfectly. I haven't moved the fenders yet so....
Anyway, I just think it is funny how "close" everything is, even 30 years apart.

[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by OrrieG

Bummer on the finger, good news is flesh will mend and maybe grow back, bone doesn't. Hazard of the hobby, but ultimately everyone needs to keep their parts out of potential danger. Nice how all that stuff bolts up to the stock springs!

Oh, this one isn't going to grow back. They are taking the last inch of the bone out and shortening the finger.

[winchster]

Slightly more progress. First mock-up today, trying to find cab height and fore-aft placement. (Plus I just really wanted to see what it's going to look like)
Cut the bed down last night, looks like I will have to cut another inch off it.