1956 las vegas or bust build

[1956cameo]

You got a rare score and didn't even know it. The rims themselves do look to be quite old. I would say late 40s at the newest.

[Bigblue29]

Very cool build. Looking forward to more progress pics.

[purplehavoc]

Cool build,and nice work!

Like the dogs.Have an English and a Bull mastiff myself.

[CAL 58 GMC]

I like what you have done so far! Cool dogs too!

[61superman]

alright its been a couple of days since i've posted
sorry to report not much progress because of the waiting game.
but since i was waiting i decided that i needed a 10 inch table top drill press and a 20 ton hydraulic press in order to assist in the build, here they are

[61superman]

i have drilled out the old style tie rod ball in order to put in the new tie rod ends with the heavy duty bar. once i drilled a hole in the bottom of the ball then it was a hammer and punch to press out the ball, the hole allows for the sides to collapse inward while the ball this being forced out. It was pretty simple.
I also received the new spindles from Sid at www.droppedaxles.com and they are perfect already took the old ones off and the new ones on but it was to dark for a photo. once again Sid you are the man!! thank you

[61superman]

alright yesterday i had one of the wild hairs again and put the whole front end together just to see the tires and the front stance of the truck. i know i'll have to just take it all apart to redo the front brakes but the suspense was killing me. the rear end just has a jack lowered to the ground and it still was not level the drums were resting on the ground as well. i should gain a couple of inches once the rear mono is in place so here is just a sneak peek.

hope you'll enjoy as much as i did......

[alden]

wow, that looks great!

[packrat42]

That makes me want one real bad....

[terd ferguson]

So far so good. Can't wait to see the back laid out. I wish my '63 would sell so I could do the exact same thing, lol.

[bensimmons_05]

niiiiiiice!

[Kim57]

Looking good.
Kim

[jchav62]

Awesome!!!

[61superman]

well the front end is complete its all in place and greased it looks good if i might say so today i start the rear end
taking out the rear end and welding in a small c-notch the 6 in reverse mono leaf hope it goes as smooth as the front
i post some pics later

[ChuckDriver]

Nice work! Great pic's also!!

[kulturekat]

used to not be a big fan of the 56 57 chevys but this one i love ive been to the viva las vegas many times and love it. great truck

[61superman]

First off let me apologize for my lack of posting these last couple of weeks and keeping you guys out of the loop.
that said
hello all
let me complete the front end postings:
there will be three photos that i borrowed from a CPP article because i was not able to take pics during this process.
the drag link is the piece that connects to the pitman arm on the steering box to the upper steering arm. Where the drag link and steering arm connect there was a horrible angle, and this angle causes bump steer so i needed to get rid of the angle. I heated up the steering arm with a rosebud till it was cherry-red and with some channel locks bent the steering arm slowly till i felt it was level, then i needed to heat up the area just behind where the drag link attaches to the steering arm to make that piece flat. this should take care of any misalignments.

[61superman]

if you can recall when i drilled out the old ball style tie rod ends, i replaced the tie rod with a new adjustable one.

[61superman]

Alright now to the rear end: here are a couple of photos just so you know what i am dealing with.
Because i refused to take off the bed ( i was going to lose the original boards) i had to drill some holes in the truck by the step side. Why you ask because when you are trying to take out the shackle shaft it bottoms out if you will against the truck. therefore holes have to be drilled so the shaft can continue on its journey out. and as you might see i suck at lining up holes i drilled once then had to oblong it to get to the correct area. I suck oh well

[61superman]

i had all intentions on putting in a c-notch kit but i thought I'm only going 6 inches right? so i decided against it but if i feel after cruising it awhile that i need one i'll just do it then.
but i didn't decide that until i took the rear end out. i disassembled the rear end put on the rear 6 inch reverse mono leafs a new shackle kit and torqued it all down then added the new dropped shocks and bump stops.

You know what the rear end is DONE!!!!!!!!

[Coronas56]

Looks Good!

[alden]

wow that looks great!

[Bigblue29]

Looks great! How is the ride?

[ChuckDriver]

Looks awesome! Let us know how it rides!!

[BluTooth]

looks good, keep going!