54 Chevy
 

Some of you might have read on the 73-87 board, that I was going to start working on a 77 SWB. Well, im now selling the chassis to a board member, and going to hold off on that project. Ill keep working on the cab/fenders/bed I have so I can use them on another truck later. That way when I get ready to use them, I can just buy a rusted up truck cheaper and use my parts.

Anyway, since the 77 is on hold...here is what im starting on. In the pic of the chassis you can see the crossmember has been cut. They had a newer model 6 with a auto, so to get the tranny low enuff to miss the floor of the cab they cut the crossmember up and dropped the whole engine/tranny down a few inches. Also in the last pic you can see where they had to cut to get the radiator back far enuff. Ill be using a 54 engine, so I can leave the radiator in the right place.

Couple more pics. This is the chassis I have in the barn that im cleaning up to use on the 54. Just ignore the dirt and weeds, I had just pulled it out of the junkyard :D. Instead of changing the crossmember on the other and changing rear ends (it has a newer model rear end, this chassis has the closed driveshaft type), ill just use this chassis.

BTW: After I pulled the chassis up here it was sitting down hill on a slight incline. I had to pick it up (by hand) roll it up the incline to level ground, then back it into the barn (by hand) by myself. Talk about fun :crazy:

Very cool project. Are you going to start as soon as your back heals ;)

Luckly I didnt hurt my back, but it did wear me out lol. Redneck workout routine, squat truck chassis :lol:

Nice truck.That's a much better project than hte 77 IMO,of course I'm a little bias;)

The 77 would be (and will be, sometime in the future) a good project also. The 54 did needed rebuilding more then the 77 tho...since parts are harder to find and it was rusting sitting down here.

I had originally planned on starting on this after the 77...but now they have switched spots :D.

Was raining all day today so not much to do. I put the front end off the 54 in the barn and done a little work (not much at all) to it. Today wasnt a good day to feel like doing anything but i did get the paint stripped from one fender.

Razor blade, paint stripper, and 10 mins later I had the paint off. I still have to do some sanding and bondo. No holes, but has a good number of pits from rust. Just need to glaze over them to fill them in. If it is raining again tomorrow ill probally start on the grill and other fender...if not I have other things that need to be done. BTW: In the pic that shows the whole front end, its kinda hard to see. I didnt have the lights on in the barn and just let the flash on the camera light it up enuff to see.

Man I can't wait to get to work on the body of the 49.This makes the urge much worse too.Looks good so far.These are awesome looking trucks anyway.