57 chevy build

[Tanman]

First off you guys have an awesome site here . The truck has been in our family since the first owner. My dad got it from his cousin in 73 and my dad gave me the truck in 93 when I was 13. The truck doesn't have an engine in it now but my dad gave me a 427 and turbo400 tranny to put in it.

When I graduated high school I tore the whole thing apart and stared to work on it one piece at a time. The only rust it has is in the passenger door and the front bottom part of the cab corners. Oh and my dad took a plasma cutter to the passenger fender so now I have to find another one. I put the whole project on hold to restore my 78 cj5, and the truck has been setting since 2000. With being newly divorced and some inspiration from my good friend Matt I'm starting the project up. So far what I have is a front clip from a 79 Camaro ( I got it for $200). I still need to bring the cab and bed from my dads house to here in Tucson. My buddy Matt and I are going to make the frame out of 2x4x1/8 steel tubing. Im going to bag it so im going to do a 4 link system in the back. Its going to take some time but its going to be fun.

[Kim57]

Why are you not using the original frame and just grafting the clip on? Just curious.
Be sure and post lots of pics of the build.
Kim

[Rude Dude]

Just for your info I bought a 56 frame for short bed from Freds Truck Parts in Tucson for $200.

[Tanman]

I have the original frame but I don't want to chop it up. My friend and I want to see if we can build one. I will post pics as I go on with the build. My dad changed his mind on the 454 and gave me a 427 out of a corvette and a ten bolt rear end with posi. Im happy about that. That will save me some money. Im hoping to get the frame and suspension done by the end of august.

[Tanman]

One thing I wanted to ask everyone is what is a good brand of bags and air system to buy?
I want to do a 4 link set up in the back but all this is new to me.

[Tanman]

I finally got my truck to my house and got the motor pulled from my dads truck.
My motor came from a 69 corvette.

[OrrieG]

For the right person that 69 Vette engine might be worth some money. Might be someone looking for the original engine for their 69. I'd run a search on google to see if the engine #'s hit anything and check some of the Corvette sites. Could help someone out and get enough to buy a new crate engine.

[Tanman]

The motor has been im my family for a long time so I think im going to keep it. Thanks though for the idea. I took the intake manifold off and the valve cover and it is really clean in side the motor. The last time it ran was 91 or 92. I hope i don't have to replace any main components in it. The damn thing weighs a lot. I think I need a better engine stand, I had to put a block of wood under the motor because it was sagging bad.

[Tanman]

Well its Christmas in July. I ordered my poly rebuild kit for my camaro front end. Tranny mount bar, all the rubber for the doors and front and rear windows. Tail lights, patch panel for the dash, peep mirrors, cab mounts, all little miscellaneous rubber parts for the whole truck, master cylinder, front shockwave bags and rear triangulated 4 link with shockwave bags also.

[Tanman]

I got my front bags and 4 link set up. Hopefully I will start on the frame next week.

[Tanman]

We got the frame going and are mocking up the 4 link for the rear.
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[Tanman]

This is how deep the rims can go in the wheel well.

[Tanman]

One of the cab mounts.

[Tanman]

Cleaned up the rear end. The mounts were chewing up the sawazall blades so we used peanut butter as lube and it worked perfectly. LOL

[Tanman]

A side view of the triangle 4 link.

[Tanman]

Mock up of the 4 link.

[Tanman]

All this progress has been over the last month. I have been working 65 hours a week so I haven't been able to help my friend out much. But we are not going to be able to do anything on the truck next week because we are going to SEMA in Vegas woohoo!

[Tanman]

Starting to get the camaro clip cleaned up and stripping the paint off the cab.
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[hotrod1]

what size rims and tires did you go with? How wide is your rear end?

[Tanman]

The rims in the back are 20x10 and the tires I used are 255/50/20
My fronts are 20x8 and I haven't got the tires yet.
I would have to go to my friends shop and measure it.

[Tanman]

Some work inside the cab.

[Tanman]

More cab work.

[Tanman]

Camaro front.

[Kim57]

Looks like you've been busy with a wire wheel.
Kim

[GhostTown]

I'm no expert. Not at all. You and your friend are likely much more knowledgeable. But, I have shockwaves and a camaro clip with a triangulated 4 bar on my '50. I just thought I'd mention that I wasn't planning on running the shockwaves when we put the clip on, but if I had, I would have welded it in higher on the frame (Z'd it more, if you will) so that I could get the whole thing lower when fully aired out. There isn't as much travel in the shockwaves as I was hoping for. To make up for it I'll need to buy drop spindles, then I should be fine.

Good luck on your build. It's gonna be a nice truck!