Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Me too Steve, me too!
When do we get your buildthread??
It's about time, don't you think ;)

Thanks Kim!

At the inner fenders, which is part of the whole construction. These Jags have no apart chassis like our trucks do.

I had a '67 Volvo Amazon once, all bolts were unc and unf...and that's from Sweden :lol:
The British don't have the Metric system... yet...they don't have the Euro neither :smoke:


I also started with the wheelspacers out of airplain aluminium.
Pretty hard stuff, I must say!
This is what I started with:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-y...o/P1260033.JPG

After some turning and drilling I got to the point thjat I could testfit it on the wheelhub:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-V...o/P1260124.JPG

Fits pretty good, also in the wheel itself.
Now have to turn the inner holes at the right size, make holes for the countersunk wheelnuts and wheel studs.
I did draw the drill lines on the next one also:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-3...o/P1260123.JPG

I have to make these, because the tires are just not hitting the inner fender walls at the back, I want some more room to avoid future problems.
So few hours of work left, for me at home ;)

Tomorrow I get a towbar from a Trailblazer I belief. Hope it fits the '59 chassis. I have to unmount it myself and then get it for free, I'm a happy man :sexy:

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Kees, doing some nice work, and it looks great...Jim

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Nice machining work!

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

No buildthread yet, still working on my convertible bug...

It's going to be more of a winterproject, and just like you i need to get it registered first;)

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Today I bolted the rear calipers on, the radius rods the and torque arms.
Looks great and I think it will work as designed;)

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-8...o/P1260132.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-u...o/P1260130.JPG

Next I can bolt the halfshafts on, I have them at home, was buzzy turning aluminium things....:lol::lol:
Now I have the spacer size right, I can take them to the truck again.

I also drilled the bolt out of the front lower control arm.
I make all the bolts at metric M10, that's easier for me.
But then again I must also drill out the bolts for the lower shockmounts, they too are rusted in the L.C.A. More work, but I'll get there ;)

Get the towbar yesterday, unbolted really easy. It's just a little bit wider as the frame of the TF truck, so I have to make something to get that right.
Will do a search on that little problem.
The towbar came off a 90's Blazer.

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

awesome work!

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

maybe my english isn't as good as I hoped, but don't you already have a towbar? ("trekhaak" in dutch) atleast I see one on the first pictures you posted?

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Thanks akdg87!!

Steve, towbar is indeed "Trekhaak". ;)
The towbar the first pics isn't so strong, I wouldn't even put my bike carrier on that thing...

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Looking real good.
Kim

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Well, got the IRS completed today.
It's in and I hope it's never going to come out ;)

Few pics:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-F...o/P1260134.JPG

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O...o/P1260135.JPG

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-x...o/P1260136.JPG

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-x...o/P1260137.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-S...o/P1260138.JPG

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-v...o/P1260139.JPG

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Man, that's awesome work, you really showed how it's done.

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

After completing the IRS, I did a little work on the lathe at home.
As you might know, I'm creating my own rearwheel spacers, at the size I need them to be.

Normal turning is no big deal, but when you have to make big holes which can take a wheelnut and also a socket, a man has to be creative ;)

So i turned my lathe into a self made mill....
I made the milling attachment a few years ago, never used it, but now it comes in very handy :metal:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-l...o/P1260141.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-l...o/P1260141.JPG

It looks dangerous, but it's going very slow.
The drill is size almost 7/8" (22mm).

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-W...o/P1260143.JPG

The socket is 28 mm...so I have to drill some more.
With no drill at that size at home, I used a chisel in the chuck, again very slow.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-A...o/P1260144.JPG

Now I have done five holes, five to go in the other spacer.
And then some smaller holes for the wheelstuds at the backside, make them at the right thickness and we're ready to go :metal:

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Thanks Gary!!

But I showed how I've done it ;)

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

The rear looks great.
Nice fab work on the wheel spacers.
Kim

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Kees, excellent work, and nice thinking on the lathe...Jim

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Great work Kees!

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Thanks alot guys!!

I don't want to be IN the box Mark ;)

Today no work on the truck, been buzzy with pinstripe work for others...
Some cool stuff if I may say so :lol:
Maybe tomorrow I'll get the spacers ready, if I have the time.

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Finally finished the wheelspacers.
Those took a lot of time to make, but who cares??
It's also a lot of fun making them ;)

Here you see the outside:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/--...o/P1260145.JPG

I don't have the money to buy "real" Spider caps ($140,- !!), so I came up with these.
They are original Stainless Steel Thea Bag cups :lol::lol:
It says in Dutch on the cups: Theezakjes Houder.
I found them in a second hand store for 30 cent a peace. I have four of them.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-I...o/P1260146.JPG

The cups are held by three M3 set screws, or lock screws, don't know how you call them...
They look pretty good on the spacer. Maybe I let the text on the cups, just for fun :lol:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-D...o/P1260151.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-S...o/P1260147.JPG

Now I have to find out how the put the cups on the front hubs ;)

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Leave the letters on! What's the track width of the Jag axle?

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Track width is 58 inch I believe.
I measured between the tires and the width of the wheel openings in the bed...
I think the tires are scraping, so I made the spacers..

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

58 is pretty close to the original truck axle, maybe 1 inch less. I guess it depends on the offset of the wheels you will use.

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

I use old Caprice steelies, don't know the backspacing.
I like those rims, so I put them on and modify the truck to it :metal::lol::lol:

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Nice work on the wheel spacers! The cup caps are a great idea and leaving the lettering is perfect. I like it when we can reuse something in that manner.

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Real nice job on the spacers.
Kim

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Nice job...Jim

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

A.D, Kim and Jim, THANKS!!

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Wheelspacers fits like a glove!!
Looks like somebody build them for this car ;):lol::lol:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-h...o/P1260152.JPG

All torqued down :metal:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-r...o/P1260153.JPG

I think the teabag cups do a fantastic job there!
And I leave the lettering on :lol:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-U...o/P1260155.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Y...o/P1260154.JPG

Rear wheels on, measured the distance between them, and they should be in the middle of the rear fenders. Mission completed!

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-H...o/IMG_2459.JPG

Next I put the front springs in.
I made 4 threaded bars and pushed the springs in place with 4 nuts.
I find this way easier to do then I had done previous, with one bar through the middle.
The jack is there for support.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-e...o/P1260156.JPG

When the spring is in its place I put temporarily bolts and nuts to keep the spring there. According to an English forum you can "finetune" the rideheight, you can put bushings between the springplate and lower control arm, each bushing of 1/2" is about 1" lower ride.
So I'm going to try that when all the weight is on....

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-M...o/P1260157.JPG

And while I had the time of my life :metal: I also put the engine and trans in, so next time it's motormount and transmount fabricationday :lol:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-m...o/P1260158.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-T...o/P1260159.JPG

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Like like like

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Nice progress.
Looks real good.
Kim

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Kees, you are doing a great job on this build...Jim

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Extremely good work all around on this project from fitment and the creativity to use all your resources to get the job done.

I can feel the commitment of craftsmanship all the way on this side of the earth.

Jim

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Nice job!

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Thank you guys!!
Appreciate it very much!!
I do what I can within my budget ;)

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Made the transmount out of the old motormount.

First I took it to parts:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-A...o/P1260169.JPG

Tacked some angled steel to it and bolted it to the chassis.
Then I set the pignon angle and tacked everything together.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-z...o/P1260170.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-o...o/P1260171.JPG

I can adjust the transmount by adding shims under the trans itself to get it higher or at the chassis to get it lower, works perfect ;)

Then onto the engine mounts..
I took the old parts of the mount, tacked 3/8" steel to the chassis and the mount.

This is the old part...
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-o...o/P1260172.JPG

This I made from 3/8" steel strip:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-D...o/P1260173.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-W...o/P1260174.JPG

Set the engine in the middle of the chassis and tacked the steel:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-1...o/P1260176.JPG

Made a template and grinded out of the same in 3/8" steel:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-l...o/P1260177.JPG

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-w...o/P1260178.JPG

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-G...o/P1260179.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-E...o/P1260181.JPG

And then....I ran out of gas...:thud:

But the engine and trans are in!!
What do you think? Strong enough?

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Nice and strong!

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Looks good Kees. The triangulated plate steel should be sturdy enough. Maybe you could gusset fore and aft at the top on the mount? That would give additional rigidity.

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed
 

Looks plenty strong enough.
Good job.
Kim

Re: Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed