J.M. Laflamme Build

[drivea55]

I after many years have decided to do a build in memory of my dear grandfather.

We all love old cars and after his death in 2004, My uncle and I (his son) Decided that doing a build would be a great idea in his memory.

I acquired a 1955 2nd series 3600 that I traded a guy for my hunting quad.

After reading all of you guys builds, I finally decided on the road to take. My uncle I call "uncle pecker head" and I have chosen to buy a donor truck and put the truck body on a newer chassis.

addicted2dunes and his build has inspired me to get a move on and make my grandfather proud.

here is how I got her.

[drivea55]

So we got the donor home and got to town on her.

I forgot to take pictures of the donor before it went "convertible"

donor is a 1992 chevy 1500 1/2 ton 2 wd...

or like some precise peeps would like to call it... 131.5 wheel base... lol

but here goes nothing!!!

[drivea55]

stripped the 55's cab bare and started cutting the floor out.

we decided to merge the new firewall and floor to the 55's cab.

[drivea55]

I think today we fitted the cab on about 50 times or so. cutting and fitting and trimming and throwing things and hammering and cutting.

mostly throwing things...lol

We found out that the length of the new cab was about 2.5 inches longer than the 55's. So with that said, we would marry the rear of the cab and give the firewall a 2.5 - 3 inch stretch.

[drivea55]

more fitting to get the cab to sit right.

notice the last pick of the rear of the cab, I pulled the sheet metal over the donor's floor which allows the whole body to "drop"

[drivea55]

more progress today

[DG Racing]

What year and model is your new frame ?

[drivea55]

1992 chevy 1500 with a 8 ft bed. 1/2 ton

[DG Racing]

Nice work
What kind of bed will you use with your 131.5 wheelbase frame ?

[drivea55]

i am planning to use a step side box and fabricate a utility tool box with side doors that will fill the gap between the cab and the bed.

I have a good image in my noggin... lol

[DG Racing]

or you can use a 9 foot box step side that was on the 135 wheel base 1 ton truck

[drivea55]

thanks for the input, I will look into it.

I am really undecided at this point, I have a long way to go before that gets taken care of.

Thanks again,

Brian

[kgmunro]

A ton of work done already....should be a great driver when its complete!

[drivea55]

Thanks for the encouragement!!!

Today we got the floor to fit better and repositioned the column.

she is fitting nicely and is almost ready to start fabricating panels. We achieved 5 inched of frontal cab leg room.

more pics to come on how we merge this into the cab.

here are some pics of today's progress...

[drivea55]

a couple pics of rough fitting the doors. Then the repositioning of the column, Which is now centered over the gauge cluster.

[Kim57]

Wow that's a lot of work. Very interesting build.
I'm curious as to why you didn't just add the cab mounts from the original frame to the donor frame?
Kim

[drivea55]

The floor was pretty rusty, but could have been done that way. I thought after reading "addicted2dunes" build that merging a newer set up would be cool to do.

plus now that I have 5 plus inches more to deepen the firewall, I can now possibly use the big plastic heating unit out of the 92. heater core and all.

its working out well in our eyes so far.

only thing i have noticed so far is that I am going to want a tilt column.

thanks for looking!!!

Brian

[Kim57]

Originally Posted by drivea55

The floor was pretty rusty, but could have been done that way. I thought after reading "addicted2dunes" build that merging a newer set up would be cool to do.

plus now that I have 5 plus inches more to deepen the firewall, I can now possibly use the big plastic heating unit out of the 92. heater core and all.

its working out well in our eyes so far.

only thing i have noticed so far is that I am going to want a tilt column.

thanks for looking!!!

Brian

If you had to replace the floor anyway then what your doing is probably about the same.
Keep the pics coming.
Kim

[addicted2dunes]

At least you're moving along a lot quicker then I am. I'm feeling pretty good after my injury and ready to get back on my project..... now you are inspiring me to get back to work. BUT, we are having rain storms like no other here in Cali. right now (of course).

[addicted2dunes]

Also, are you going to run the '92 drivetrain?

[drivea55]

No, I am not planning on using the 92's set-up. I am going to keep it carburated with no electronic controls. HEI Ignition at best.

I got rid of the electronic brake B.S. and grabbed a master cyl. out of a 78 pick up. Should be fine, Then I will just order a new wiring harness from painless and be done with it.

I am going to try to incorporate the 92's heater box and controls though. no AC or power anything.

I am not sure what I am going to use for a rear end as of yet, I have a 1973 350 sbc thats pretty much ready to go. If I find a good deal on an automatic tranny, then I will go that route to boot.

more sheet metal work coming up this weekend to start merging the firewall mess.

Brian

[drivea55]

more work today on merging the firewall mess.

[drivea55]

here are a couple more views.

[71'tahoe]

Looking good..Im curiously waiting to see this come together!

[my55chevy3100]

awesome build you have going on there keep it going...i will be looking into alot of people's build to figure out what i should do with mine...the floors in my cab are rotted out as well but a buddy of mine said we could just cut it out, clean it up and then slap some sheet metal in there and button it up...my bed that came with the buy isnt the original, it came from a 70's chevy...and about what you posted in my tread about the cab being 7 grand....yea, i think ill take my chance first at trying to fix the original...worst case scenario for my build, it wont be restored it will become a rat rod...which is a great look that im looking for but only as a last resort