New to site,,,, 1957 Pickup, where to go now

[jmastersinc]

Hi all, new to this site but I dig it. Picking up this 1957 3/4 ton long bed this week. I already have some plans for it such as;
1- shorten it to a short bed

2- graft on some sort of modern-er frount end

3- either build the wee out of the 235 I6 (always wanted to give it a shot) or drop in this Vortech 5.7 and trannie I have

4- I have had this 9" with disk brakes for years and might finialy have a home for it

I have questions on all of these and maybe there is some threads you can point me to that some of the members have already done and posted about? Espically making it a short bed. Thanks and GREAT SITE!!!

[Kim57]

Welcome to the board.
looks like a real nice truck to start with.
Kim

[drivea55]

Looks like a great start!

Keep the long bed... IMO

Brian

[Sillyoldman]

Welcome to the board!

[1956chevtruck]

Great to have you
Byron

[Kabwe]

Hey man nice truck you have there. Do what you want to it its your truck

[hsdropout]

Nice '57 jmastersinc.
You might find a fleetside bed as an option to cutting it down, seems that would be alot of work, depends on your fab skills I guess. I think fleetsides first came out on '58 models except for the cameos. Long fleetsides look cool when lowered, jmo.
Is that your early '50s truck in the background? Looks clean. How 'bout some pix of it?



It's your truck, your time & your money, do what you want & have fun.

[Pop's C-10]

Welcome...built & dressed 235 look sweet.
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[OrrieG]

It's your truck, come up with a vision and proceed. I'd consider keeping the long bed, I think they look cool lowered. Take a look at the build threads for shortened frames to accomdate the shorter bed. IF you change the suspension please do not just toss the wheels and caps, some one over on the stovebolt.com site is probably looking for a set. If you go with a six see if you can find a 292 may as well start with as much CI as you can, lots of speed parts for them, they have been drag raced and circle track raced for 40years.

[jjjmm56]

Nice starter truck, we will all enjoy watching and helping in the progress. There are many who have cut down the bed and frames.Best thing to do is search it out, even thou it may not be the same year the process is still the same.

[longbike]

That is a great looking truck to start with, looks like its pretty much rust free from what I can see! You'll have fun what ever way you go!!

Do a forum search for the areas your looking for. It does work pretty good!

[55metalmonkey]

very nice truck to start with, By the look of the other truck in the back ground your not entirly new to vintage trucks. Personaly I like the long box just because their not as common (in my area anyway).... on the other hand a short box looks a bit sleaker.

I always wondered how good a I6 would be if it was built up with a modern cam, ported, poslished and what ever other go fast goodies are available..... If you go that route keep us posted, I for one would be interested in how it turns out.

[leddzepp]

Great looking truck! If I was going to convert to SWB, I would definitely start with a truck like this. This way you know it is done right when you do it yourself, and not hoping some PO did it right. It is YOUR truck, do whatcha like with it

[hotrod1]

Have fun and learn what ever you do. There are a lot of nice people on this site that will help you either way you decide to go. If fact, I have had people bend over backwards to help me expecting nothing in return.