Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Monday, June 6, 2016

Made a tentative agreement today to buy a '56 Chevy car dashboard from a Craigslist seller. I had pretty much given up on this idea but this popped up cheap - $150.

There was a bit of a "thing" when seller said it wouldn't include the glove box door:rolleyes: just the "bare" dash. I told him those words were'nt in his ad but even if they were I consider the "bare dash" to include all the dash sheet metal, meaning of course the glove box door. He's chopping up the car with a Sawzall to get the dash out so I'll have to drill out the spot welds and remove the bits of car body that come on it. This is preferable to me than him drilling out the spots welds because I'm afraid he'd present me with a twisted up dash!

JJ (ChuckDriver) please chime in. I'm assuming I don't have to either lengthen or shorten the dash but I haven't measured yet. SO I'm guessing just trim the metal where it meets the truck cab metal and puddle weld where the spots are now drilled out. - Now that I think of it I'm wondering about struts or reinforcement of some kind BEHIND the dash?

Shopping eBay I see a new repop instrument cluster surround and speaker surround go for the low $300 range and the 3 pc. '55 aluminum dash trim are another $100. The speedo cluster itself I am unclear on. Looks like maybe $100 for stock (hopefully rebuild able?) to as much as over $800!!! For custom aftermarket non-stock unit - Yikes. The cost of installation whether bodyman does it or I do it MAY prevent me from doing it at all!

Any/all advice opinions appreciated.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

IMHO the 55/56/57 car dashes are killer in these trucks. If you have the time I would put it in.
I like the 59 Impala dashes also.
If you don't use it I may be just mental enough to buy if you're going to sell it.
Just one more mod to keep me from getting mine on the road.
Kim

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

(Begin shameless plug) Well Dan if you go for the Tri5 dash I have a cluster laying around that I could send your way if you couldn't find anything cheaper/better/closer (end shameless plug)

YIKES that all sounds very expensive!

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Yup, it does. If the price tag gets too high the dash will end up hanging on my shop wall for awhile - dammit!

I don't know much about the "guts" of a '55 car dash even though my Dad gave me his bought-new black '55 two door hardtop Belair as my first car at age 16 and I was so STOOPID that I didn't want it. I wanted and got a '66 Chevy van and he ended up giving the car away more or less ($450!) in '74.

I've got to see if the dash length is close to the truck's dash. What is behind it for reinforcement and is the centerline of the instrument cluster aproximately equal to where the truck instrument cluster is?

I found THIS photo online but I can't tell if the length difference is because of the photo angle or is real - and if so, is it significant? The centerline of steering shaft does look different though.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Check Bams build thread.
He put a 55 car dash in his truck and may have it detailed in it.
Kim

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

I think most car dashes are longer becasue the task force trucks have the running boards (under the doors) inboard of the body. So it makes the interior narrower....

No big deal though... just find an area of the dash that you can remove whatever length it needs to be shortened, make a clean cut and weld it back together.... Its never going to just 'fit right into place'... youre going to have to customize it.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Yes, I remember he did it already. Knowing his level of skill I'm intimidated, lol!

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

You just HAD to burst my bubble, huh?:lol:

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Dan, I'm not sure how the widths of the two compare, if anything I would guess the truck may be a little more narrow than the car dash. If so its nice and flat in the middle and wouldn't be hard to do!

The truck has a large brace behind the instrument cluster that you can attached to the car dash, which had two rods that bolted it to the firewall.

From what I've seen you do this is definitely something you can handle, so go for it!!

Here's some motivation for you!

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Thanks for the words of encouragement, JJ. Means a lot since you did a great job adapting the Impala dash into yours.

Yes, that particular photo along with one other I've seen with walnut wood in place of the factory aluminum trim got me all hot and bothered about doing this mod to mine. to me, it makes so much more sense to have the glove box located in the center of the dash nearer the driver, plus I like the dual humps and the bling of the factory trim. It's what I remember most from my Dad's '55 growing up.

Assuming I do this - still a bit worried about cost vs. time for the labor if I do it myself - I will take a lot of pic's and post them for future searchers both here nd in a separate post with better title.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Here's the other picture of a Task Force truck with a '55-'56 car dash installed. Both these look so great - to me.
http://i832.photobucket.com/albums/z...s30okbm93.jpeg

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

I have that picture too, I hope you go for it!

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

AHHHHHHH.... The pressure!:m6::lol::lol:

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Thats gonna be easy Danny....

im trying something like this.... :lol:


https://digi-tails.com/sites/default...Z-2000-6_0.jpg

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Wow, what kind of car dash is that? It'll be in metal or are you thinking of finishing it like thi in cloth or leather? Make sure to post up the work as it develops. Best of luck! Can't wait to see it.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Thats actually in a Camaro, I am planning mine around adding the hump like that (from a C2 Corvette) and blending it into the stock metal dash. Probably painting it two-tone to give an upholstered 'look' and keeping it very simple with gauges using that Dakota digital display. I will have some sort of skirt on the bottom but not that long. No glove box, and no center console (yet...)

Good luck on yours - the Tri-5 look is excellent! ;)

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Or there's always this interior.


http://i312.photobucket.com/albums/l...Slow/vette.jpg


Seeing some of the high-end work on these old trucks sure gives me an inferiority complex. I'm just a hack!

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Man, that is SO cool looking! Hadn't seen it before now.

I hope you're NOT saying guys that leave their truck interiors stock are "hacks"! I love the stock interiors in these trucks. I'm just on the cusp of trying something different because I've admired it in other's trucks.

I've got to text the seller of the dash I'm trying to get and make sure he got it cut out of the '56 he's taking it from. We'll see how this goes. I'll post pics if I pick it up tomorrow.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

No - just saying my fab work compared to some people's makes ME a hack. There are some true craftsmen out there! I can do functional and reliable - but making something look, well not so much. Guess I'm just left-brained, and often envious of those right-brained people that have the vision and artistic skills so make something look so good.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

The 59-60 Chevy car dash looks amazing in these, too.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

When you mentioned wood trim on the dash instead of the original bright work I didn't think it would look good, but boy was I wrong. That dash with the wood is over the top. Of course, the red one is beautiful too.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Not at all!!! its inspirational.... --- that truck is where my idea came from, she's a beaut!

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Saturday, June 11, 2016

Contacted the '56 car dash seller to arrange pick up today as agreed earlier in the week and he said he'd been sick, had forgotten all about the dash and wouldn't have it cut out of the car til "next week" and ended with "I'll call you". We'll see if this is factual or he's flaking on the sale, time will tell. I only pursued this dash because it was reasonably priced with no shipping unlike the few I've seen on eBay.:whine:

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Hope the guy's not jerking you around.
Good luck.
Kim

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Craigslist is a plethra of good and bad. Sometimes I find the best buyers and sellers on there and I have found the worst of both too. People buying set up times and dates to meet and never show. Sellers tell you come on by and pick it up and its gone when you get there! WTF??????

NO LOYALTY whatsoever! ---- I use paypal now for any sales. I tell them if you want it send me the money and come pick it up anytime you like.

If sellers dont have a paypal account then I dont even buy from them anymore, doesnt matter how special the part is they are as good as crack dealers.... :ito:

If the ad says "VINTAGE or CLASSIC or NOS" I dont usually even look anymore because they are overpriced parts by crooks that think they have a gold mine in junk parts...

rant over.... lol

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

I do the same with RATROD and PATINA buzzwords are a big buzzkill for me when buying

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Me too. I'm going to wait tip Wednesday or Thursday and send him a text.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Hey Danny.... heres some more 'dash inspiration' .....

From HELOCREWCHIEF build


http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1459904738

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

What's that dash from? I don't recognize it. Is it even from Chevy? Seems OLDER than a mid 50's vehicle.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Oldsmobile.... not sure what year, but mid 50 ish....

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

June 29, 2016

The works continues after a delay for the painter to complete some short term work for others.

The bedsides have been blasted clean and powder coated red to act as a primer in hard-to-reach areas like the stake pockets and bed rolls. The angle strips should have been removed before this but they weren't - a screw up. But the painter has now drilled out the spot welds and removed them.

Today he removed surface rust that was behind them and began the body work to make the interior bedsides pristine. And honestly? To me they were nearly pristine before given that they are over 60 years old. Anyway, I'll quit the jibber-jabber and just post the few pictures I took:
http://i832.photobucket.com/albums/z...systbxpt4.jpeg

http://i832.photobucket.com/albums/z...szlg4cuab.jpeg

http://i832.photobucket.com/albums/z...swxigm2ou.jpeg

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Yeah and those bedsides are a ***** to straighten out because a low spot in one side is a high spot on the opposite side so you can just pave over it - at least on the areas outside the fenders and stake pockets.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

they look pretty good for their age.
Kim

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

I agree. There are only 2-3 places where there was either rust-through or tear-out after the spot welds were drilled and the strips were pried off. And they're very small, maybe 1/4" in the longest dimension.

For those that haven't read the whole thread, I bought the truck from the 2nd owner that had it about 1 year before I bought it in 2011. It had not been registered with the DMV from 1999 til 2010. The 1st owner bought it new in 1955 and was too old to drive it after '99. I don't think the truck was ever used for much other than a daily driver & occasional weekend hauler. That must be why the bedsides are nearly undented. I lucked out.

PS: I'll be bolting on new polished stainless angle strips instead of spot welding and re-polishing. I plan to put a bolt through the front/back stake pocket and behind the fenders. How many places do you guys think I should drill? I'm guessing align them with the bolts in the flat bed strips to make it appear consistent?

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Bolting on the angle strips is a good idea, you might add some 3M panel bond and make it even stronger.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

JJ, behind angle strips to seal out further moisture or to actually increase strength of the connection?

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

I was thinking for strength. Several new trucks are built with the bedsides bonded to the bed.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Dan,
when is this $60,000 dollar truck going to be finished?

I need an example to show my wife what mine would look like If I actually took it all apart and put it back together again.

Oh, BTW, she has seen the all apart phase before.....................LoL That's why I need the finished pic.....
She knows I want to rebuild it as a retirement project.

I put a TPI 350 and 6 speed in a Mercedes 230SL, and I haven't finished that.
Just think what she will say IF I take my truck apart.... "what? You expect to live forever?" :)

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Honest answer, I don't know how soon it'll be TRULY done. By ext summer I hope.

Wow, $60,000? You're trying to make me ACTUALLY add it up - something I've been trying NOT to do so far, ha ha.

$4800 purchase in 2011
$2000 immediately to get it squared away as it was. Tune, belts, hoses, filters, fluids, starter, Pertronix, radiator..,
Another $1-2,000 in bumpers, grill, assorted niceties like new mirrors, Altman latches, etc.
$1200 (I think) for Fatman Fabrications IFS
And now the big bucks (for my budget) Probably $15,000 for body & paint.

Still well below $60K even if I'm way off.

Re: Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window
 

Just teasing.......You need a ZZ4 and a 4L60 with overdrive and lockup converter to get your money back in gas savings. BTW, gas is $2.11 here right now.

I won't add up my expenses. some how, some way, my wife will see it and I'll have to sleep in the truck for a while.

Just spent $120 for a radiator, and $150 to modify it, air conditioning shouldn't be over $500, but then window tinting, insulation, powder coating, etc. Just bought 2 tires for $300.
I don't think the drain on your wallet ever really goes away.

Course the tire thing is a good thing. it means I have almost 15,000 miles since I put independent suspension on it. it has almost 350,000 miles on it since new.