Great White North 59 Fleetside Build
 

Well I have had this truck for a year now so I think it’s time to start a build thread for it. First off I’ll tell you how this obsession started for me. I bought a Truckin’ Magazine in the early 80’s and I knew I needed to get me an old Chevy truck. So at the age of 17 I bought two a 58 long box and a 59 short box in September 1982. I took the two and made a 59 short box step side. I did a few basic mods to it. I did a very mild 454 with a tunnel ram because it looked cool and a turbo 400. It had power steering with a tilt column. A long the line I bought another 59 for a few more parts. With the help of my HD Mechanic Dad (him telling me what to do from his La-Z-Boy that was his way of passing his skills to me) I got it drivable and drove it to my high school grad in 83. I drove it like that until winter of 85 in which I pulled the motor and rebuilt it with way to much HP for a kid my age and rolled it spring of 86. So I bought another 58 this one was not in as good shape as my last one so it sat in the shop for years. In the meantime I got married had a couple of kids got a job as a welder/fitter which turned into being the manger of the shop to which I’m still at after 24 years. So in 93 I sold it or pretty much gave it all away. That brings us to the present day to where I bought a 1959 Chevy sb fleetside a year ago with the hopes of passing some of my skills to my son or just get him away from the PS3.

Re: Great White North 59 Fleetside Build
 

After reading some of the builds here and getting some ideas on how to do a Camaro clip swap we bought a 1980 Camaro rs. We leveled the frame and took lots of measurement, we were ready to start. I made a jig to get the core support mounts exactly in the right spot. After a weekend we were done, with the two frames leveled it lower the stock ride height 2.5" at the front with no drive train.

Re: Great White North 59 Fleetside Build
 

More

Re: Great White North 59 Fleetside Build
 

Clip installed

Re: Great White North 59 Fleetside Build
 

Looks like you have a good solid truck to start with. Do you have any pictures of your old truck, sure would be cool to see.

Re: Great White North 59 Fleetside Build
 

Thanks Cal 58 GMC I’ve referred to your build several times for inspiration. Here are the first two trucks I had, in which I made into one truck. The last one was a wild ride. I didn’t finish putting the bolts in the core support, so the fan hit the radiator dumping antifreeze all over the windshield and brakes. When I applied the brakes it instantly took a right into the ditch rolling twice. I didn’t have the box, the front fenders or the hood on. Way to light for a big block with around 500hp. But it sure was fun up until that point

Re: Great White North 59 Fleetside Build
 

Well it’s time to start working on my truck again; my winter obsession is done for me for another year. Although with the heavy snow pack we got this year in the mountains I could go for another month easy. All I’ve done really this winter is gather more parts inner box fenders, chrome head light bezels, gauge trim, and handles. For the motor I got the cam xe274, KB pistons and all the bits for to rebuild my vortec heads to handle the high lift of the cam. This weekend I’m going to bring the truck in the garage and start to rebuild the Camaro clip. Here are some pics of my winter addiction. Mine is the one with flames.

Re: Great White North 59 Fleetside Build
 

This one is looking good so far, I hate to hear your other one literally threw you for a loop or two. Can't wait to see more!

Re: Great White North 59 Fleetside Build
 

Well it’s be a busy summer but I’ve manage to get a few things done. I got the tranny and motor mounts fabbed and installed. I got the hydro boost bracket fabded up and installed. Just getting ready to paint but first I got to fill in some of the holes in the clip first.

Re: Great White North 59 Fleetside Build
 

Looking good. Keep the pics coming.
Kim

Re: Great White North 59 Fleetside Build
 

Made some more progress, I made a paint plastic paint booth which worked better then I thought it was going to. I just wanted to keep the paint from migrating to the rest of my garage. I put a couple of coats of Rust-Oleum primer then two coats of Rust-Oleum gloss black on the frame, then I used Rust-Oleum silver paint on most of the bolt on stuff. Now just to get it back together so I came make it a roller again.

Re: Great White North 59 Fleetside Build
 

Well I got all the front suspension on and tweaked the fit of the inner fenders. I set the fender on to see what my ride height was going to look like. I like but I need to lower the rear a bit. I want a little bit of rake to the truck but not that much.

Re: Great White North 59 Fleetside Build
 

Looking good. I like the color combo on the frame.
Kim

Re: Great White North 59 Fleetside Build
 

Got a few more things done since my last post, in September I took my truck to my work and finely striped it down.
Sandblasted the cab and found some hidden surprises, rust where I thought it was good and solid.
I guess for a 53 year old truck that’s never being garaged it’s alright.
Replaced the steps, corners and some custom made pieces it looks like I am finely making some progress.
Next on my agenda is to replace some of the firewall/floor panels with a custom made piece.

Re: Great White North 59 Fleetside Build
 

looking good. Slow and steady and you'll get there.
Kim

Re: Great White North 59 Fleetside Build
 

Yes it’s a very slow and steady process. I got a few more things done though. I got the complete firewall smoothed out I am very happy the way it turned out. I left most of the centre part of the wall in and cut the rest out. The next on the list was to fill in the gas filler hole. What I did was took one of my old cab corners and found the sweet spot, then trimmed it to fit. As you can see it fits with minimal tweaking.

Re: Great White North 59 Fleetside Build
 

Looks real nice.
Kim

Re: Great White North 59 Fleetside Build
 

Great job on the clip and the rest of the build. I think it is great when you get your family involved with the build and away from the video games. My fondest memories of my late father is the stuff he taught me and times we worked together on our builds. :ito:

Re: Great White North 59 Fleetside Build
 

I got a few more things off the list this summer. I rebuilt the 10 bolt posi went with 3.73 gears, new bearings and seals.I flipped the rear axle and notched the frame. Cleaned and primed and painted the frame.Designed a 1/8 alum the rear fuel tank and mounts. Just need to find the time to weld it up. Rebuilt the 400 tranny and painted it up ready to be installed.My 400 sbc is in the machine shop getting cleaned up and bore .030 over.Hope to have that rebuilt and in the frame before the snow files here.

Re: Great White North 59 Fleetside Build
 

Lookin' good. Was that "satin coat" sheet metal you used to build the firewall. BTW have you been out to see The Dens in Springbank?
http://thedens.ca

Re: Great White North 59 Fleetside Build
 

Frame looks real sharp.
Kim

Re: Great White North 59 Fleetside Build
 

Yes I used 16ga Stain coat for the firewall. The Dens looks like a cool concept.
Thanks Kim, keep up the great work I am looking forward to seeing your ride finished.

Re: Great White North 59 Fleetside Build
 

I had a busy summer on the truck got the frame mostly done and rebuilt my sbc 400. Here’s some before and afters.

Re: Great White North 59 Fleetside Build
 

Thats a big BBQ:metal:

Re: Great White North 59 Fleetside Build
 

The engine looks good sitting in there.
Kim