Body Line Question

[Racker]

Has anybody ever thought about making the body line on a '55 step side fender line up with the body line on the body? I understand that would raise the top of the bed also, maybe around the bottom of the back window area which I am find with that idea. Been playing around with the idea for the last couple of days. I have blocked up the fenders and stood back from it but only about 5' (run into shop wall, weather is to bad to push outside).

If some one could take this picture and photo shop it, I would be great full.

[Racker]

This is the actual truck I'm build this idea for:

Thank you again for any help/input from you guys.

[Kim57]

It has been done.
There were pictures of one being done at a pro shop.
I can't remember who posted it as it has been a while.
I understand they sectioned the cab and front fenders to line up with the rear fenders.
I may be wrong about that though.
It did look real nice.
Kim

[Racker]

Thanks Kim, guess I will do some more research and see if I can find it.

[G&R's57GMC]

Originally Posted by Racker

Has anybody ever thought about making the body line on a '55 step side fender line up with the body line on the body?

If some one could take this picture and photo shop it, I would be great full.
Attachment 1365317

Heck I've been thinking that since 1955 !

I've always wondered why GM didn't do that in the design dept.

I suppose if you had rusty door bottoms , steps and lower hinge pocket to repair. One could raise the bed to align the body line and trim and repair the lower part of the cab to match the step on the bed.

It would make the cab look a little less tall and may from a very low angle show the chassis. Something to ponder .

I just measured and were only talking about 4".

Now If the cab is good, raising the bed 4" and moving it back 1" to clear the back of the cab you would only have to add a 4" filler to the step to have it line up with the bottom of the cab.

[Racker]

I need to raise it so it will clear my duals when laid out on the ground.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by G&R's57GMC

Heck I've been thinking that since 1955 !

I've always wondered why GM didn't do that in the design dept.

I think it has to do with GM trying to reuse the existing stepside box structure across multiple design generations.

The mismatch extended all the way up through the 1987 versions (once you see it you cannot "un-see" it). Each subsequent re-design got a new cab and matching styled fleetside box but the stepside was essentially "carryover" box sides and gates with new fenders and steps tacked on (hence the mismatch). This saves GM tooling dollars but compromises the design process.

A friend sent me a write up on his pickup (a 40 Ford). I apologize for the Ford reference but it does show what can be accomplished when one has "an eye for the line". It also highlights the amount of hard work required to make it look effortless.

http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/paint-b...adster-pickup/

K

[OrrieG]

Originally Posted by Racker

If some one could take this picture and photo shop it, I would be great full.
Attachment 1365317

No photo shop but old school cut and paste. 4" top chop, 4" body, door and front fender channel. Body line line up and it all sits on the ground when aired out. To me it looks like a long bed, and the back fenders start looking big compared to the cab...

[Keith Seymore]

LOL!

"Old school cut and paste" = scotch tape and scissors.

I like yer style....



K

[1project2many]

Yep. When I built my first truck as a teenager many years ago I raised the bed. It took three hockey pucks, I believe. Looked good but too much space between bed and frame. I didn't have skills or tools to extend the bed sides and lower the step back then. Prolly wouldn't see it on a lowered truck anyway but the style back then was more height.

[OrrieG]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

LOL!

"Old school cut and paste" = scotch tape and scissors.

I like yer style....



K

Trained as an architect when everything was still hand drawn pencil or ink on vellum. Took me less than 10 minutes, would have taken that long to find the computer program and install it on this machine!

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by OrrieG

Trained as an architect when everything was still hand drawn pencil or ink on vellum. Took me less than 10 minutes, would have taken that long to find the computer program and install it on this machine!

Lol. I did a mechanical drawing by hand a couple weeks ago. The preproduction shops called and the "line" was down because they were trying to build a manual trans vehicle with an automatic trans body. I whipped out my drafting kit and had a body patch designed and dimensioned within about an hour and got 'em going again.

My managers got a kick out it; I ended up with a $250 "One Time Recognition Award" for that one...

[OrrieG]

Yeah, I remember those Jr. high drafting classes where you had to do the plan, elevation and layout plan for complex shapes. Still use those skills today. One of my favorite books is my great grandfathers 1900's plasterers manual that shows how to layout complex arches, coves and other shapes just using common carpentry tools (wooden ruler, square, pencil, string and nails). A lot of my work in on historic buildings so I have lots of old building and product manuals to help deconstruct the design. I have extraordinary respect for the guys like my family members who showed up with a box of hand tools and $1000 worth of lumber, plaster and bricks and turned it into homes and businesses the first half of the 20th century. Those skills are not being taught or passed on, I was lucky growing up to learn mine. I heard that 60 percent of the blue collar tradesman currently working will retire in the next 15 years and there are very few people interested or the trade schools or unions to train their replacements, everyone wants to be a computer guru.