Finally - 1953 Chevy Project

[akepler]

Finally found my project truck, will be picking it up Tuesday night.

[T Hilde]

that's cool

[MrTucker]

Its nice to see another long bed. Gonna keep it that way? What are your plans for it?

[akepler]

Here's my rough concept.. Solid driver/work truck.. I need a lot of help trying to figure out what are needed upgrades for a good driver and what are "nice-to-haves".

What I think I want:

- Upgraded suspension (not slammed but slightly lower than stock, need to know my options for this)
- Rhino lined chassis (other options?)
- Will keep the current 350 and turbo 400 for now but would like to do a 5.3 sometime.
- Ugrade to power steering, power brakes, and front discs
- Black steel wheels (know where I can get wider than stock steel wheels?)
- Hot Rod Flatz Iron Oxide
- Rhino lined bed and bed runners
- Old school bench seat cover (indian blanket or something)

Any alternatives to what I mentioned above would be appreciated. I certainly don't know what's best quite yet, and any resources (websites) that you know of with good parts would be helpful.

[BlueJeep]

Check my build out for some ideas, it's intended to be a driver/work truck too.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=384736

I wouldn't have the chassis lined if it were mine. I had part of the frame on my Jeep done before and it trapped moisture behind the liner and promoted rust. Plus, it makes it a PITA every time you want to weld a new bracket on or bolt something on.

[MrTucker]

Originally Posted by akepler

Here's my rough concept.. Solid driver/work truck.. I need a lot of help trying to figure out what are needed upgrades for a good driver and what are "nice-to-haves".

What I think I want:

- Upgraded suspension (not slammed but slightly lower than stock, need to know my options for this)
- Rhino lined chassis (other options?)
- Will keep the current 350 and turbo 400 for now but would like to do a 5.3 sometime.
- Ugrade to power steering, power brakes, and front discs
- Black steel wheels (know where I can get wider than stock steel wheels?)
- Hot Rod Flatz Iron Oxide
- Rhino lined bed and bed runners
- Old school bench seat cover (indian blanket or something)

Any alternatives to what I mentioned above would be appreciated. I certainly don't know what's best quite yet, and any resources (websites) that you know of with good parts would be helpful.

Suspension - there are many places to get lowering springs or a dropped axel that will lower the truck for you. A dropped axel will lower the truck a couple inches but allows you to retain the suspension travel (better ride). Lowering springs or mono leafs will lower your truck, but you will be sacrificing your hauling capabilities (wont be able to haul/carry as much weight). If you're hauling light stuff, this isn't a big deal.

Rhino lined chassis - take a look at POR-15. It's a super durable paint you can just brush on that will have a tough as nails finish and will only cost you about $40 to do the chassis. I've seen some Rhino lined chassis and I'm not a fan - but it's your truck.

Power steering/brakes and front discs - no brainer, just do it. There are several places to get direct bolt on kits for all of this.

Black Steel wheels - there's probably a million places to get some - any local wheel/tire shop, or pick a website. Try Summit Racing, decent prices.

Rhino lined bed/running boards - good idea for a work truck. you can get color matched Rhino lining to match your paint pretty well.


Sounds like you know where you want to go. Good luck and post up the progress!

[rollinrooster]

Nice truck,keep us posted.

[akepler]

Picked up the truck last night. The body had some spots that were a little more rough than what I expected but overall a solid truck. Needs the usual cab corners, floor repair, bed supports/floor and other various dents and dings.

One thing I wasn't expecting was that this truck is actually a 3/4 ton. Anyone have any links for 3/4 ton suspension upgrade parts? I'm not against losing some of the carrying capacity as I will not be doing any heavy hauling. Also, what are some better rear end options? Can I change the ring and pinion if I just want to change the gear ratio and keep the stock look of the rear end?

[Dan Bowles]

Check out Stovebolt.com for some info on 3/4 and 1 tons. There is a thread on the Tons O Fun forum that talks about using the 3rd member out of trucks up to '72. You should have the HO72 (round cover) and probably a 4.57 rear end that can be swapped to a 4.10.

Front suspension info is there as well as swapping to disc brakes.

Congrats on the truck. I lined up a 1 ton today for my house!

[akepler]

Thanks! Looks like after reading up a little, maybe a 3/4 ton suburban rear end would work in my truck? Some of these came with a 3.56 rear-end gear, anyone familiar with this?

[BIG CHEVY 3600]

Originally Posted by akepler

Picked up the truck last night. The body had some spots that were a little more rough than what I expected but overall a solid truck. Needs the usual cab corners, floor repair, bed supports/floor and other various dents and dings.

One thing I wasn't expecting was that this truck is actually a 3/4 ton. Anyone have any links for 3/4 ton suspension upgrade parts? I'm not against losing some of the carrying capacity as I will not be doing any heavy hauling. Also, what are some better rear end options? Can I change the ring and pinion if I just want to change the gear ratio and keep the stock look of the rear end?

All AD longbeds (non GM) are 3/4 tons. On mine I put a Heidts IFS which comes with disc brakes and pwr steering. I also put a TCI spring set bolted under the camaro axle. This dropped it 3 or 4 inches. Come on over to stovebolt.com for some additional discussion.

[Dan Bowles]

Not all longbeds are 3/4 ton. A REAL longbed is a 1 ton!

[53GMC]

my longbed is a 1/2 ton which i thought was weird at first because i believed mine was a 3/4 ton when i bought it....then the state of GA and the serial number told me differently but then again mine is a GMC so.......

[Dan Bowles]

While on the longbed topic, is the GMC longbed a 7'?

[MrTucker]

Originally Posted by BIG CHEVY 3600

All AD longbeds (non GM) are 3/4 tons.

Nope. All short beds are 1/2 tons. Long beds are either 1/2 or 3/4 (possibly 1 tons too, not sure on that one).

Originally Posted by Dan Bowles

While on the longbed topic, is the GMC longbed a 7'?

It's the same as the chevy longbed. Not sure the exact lenght, I can measure when I get home, but it's the exact same (except for the tail gate)

[akepler]

Okay, I think I decided on what I want to do as far as suspension and such. I'm going to use an S10 chassis to get my more modern suspension/brake/steering components that I am after. Anyone know of people doing this on longbeds? Looks like the S10 ext. cab shortbed with a wheelbase of 123" will be about perfect. I'll probably go about it by making my own mounting brackets as well.

Will the S10 rearend be sufficient behind a 350. I'm not going to be pulling/hauling much of anything with the truck other than normal home improvement type stuff.

THanks

[mr48chev]

The stock longbed wheelbase is 125.25 so you shouldn't have any trouble getting that extra 2-1/4 inches by doing a bit of spring pad modificatons. Or you could shorten the box and running boards by that much but that would make for a lot more work.

Or if you wanted to leave it a 3/4 ton you might be able to swap the front crossmember and rear axle out of a 71/72 GMC 3/4 ton and have it be a serious truck. You would have to watch what wheels and tires you ran though to clear the fenders.

[BlueJeep]

Originally Posted by akepler

Okay, I think I decided on what I want to do as far as suspension and such. I'm going to use an S10 chassis to get my more modern suspension/brake/steering components that I am after. Anyone know of people doing this on longbeds? Looks like the S10 ext. cab shortbed with a wheelbase of 123" will be about perfect. I'll probably go about it by making my own mounting brackets as well.

Will the S10 rearend be sufficient behind a 350. I'm not going to be pulling/hauling much of anything with the truck other than normal home improvement type stuff.

THanks

Mine is a longbed on an extended cab s10:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=384736

Originally Posted by mr48chev

The stock longbed wheelbase is 125.25 so you shouldn't have any trouble getting that extra 2-1/4 inches by doing a bit of spring pad modificatons. Or you could shorten the box and running boards by that much but that would make for a lot more work.

Or if you wanted to leave it a 3/4 ton you might be able to swap the front crossmember and rear axle out of a 71/72 GMC 3/4 ton and have it be a serious truck. You would have to watch what wheels and tires you ran though to clear the fenders.

I shortened my box and running boards 2.375" on my s10 frame.

[akepler]

Thanks BlueJeep your thread has some great info. Any way I can get better pics of your body to frame mount locations? Still trying to figure out what I want to do there.

Also, how do you like the 4.3 V6? Personally, I feel like I need a V8, not for any reason other than having a v8. Any thoughts?

[BlueJeep]

I used the 4.3 because I had it and it was free. It runs good, gets me around, and will spin the tires on wet pavement. I don't need to go fast or have lots of power so from that perspective it is fine. However, I think I could improve on the mileage if I had a 5.3 so one of those is likely in my future.

Here's the body mounts:





front:


rear:

[akepler]

Those pics were exactly what I was looking for, thanks!. I may go the same route; 4.3l now to 5.3l in the future. The S10 I'm thinking about getting this afternoon has the 5spd T5, would one of these work well with a 5.3l?

[va4cqd]

if its a 5 speed behind a 4.3L, its not a T5. its an NV3500, a 5.3 will probably destroy it

[BlueJeep]

They used the 3500 behind 350's in fullsize trucks in the 90's. Longevity might be questioned if used hard but it should last a while with normal driving.

5 speed would be more fun. I used the auto because I had it and my kids will ride with me...so the 3 seater is important to me.

[va4cqd]

the nv3500s in fullsize trucks aren't the same as s10s