Plus Five

[donandal]

Well, I am to the point where I can start the build thread for my 53 Chevy pickup.
I'll start with the background info and some goals I have for this project.

I have always liked working with my hands building things, and worked at a tool and die shop
while I worked my way to a flying career. I started a hobby shop back in September of 2001
and have worked on various car and motorcycle projects. My uncles both worked on antique
cars and motorcycles and thought a pickup project would be a good choice.

My uncle found the truck locally, and I bought it and started the tear down in October of 2012.

I had a couple of requirements for the build.

It needs to be reliable, comfortable, and easy to start and drive.
It has to be easy to service with over the counter parts.
It needs to be legal, and as safe as a 60 plus year old truck can be.
It should look nice. It doesn't need to win awards. I am going to
drive it!

Oh, and my wife needs to like it. She will be driving it too!

So here's the thinking;

I was most concerned with the legroom issues in these old trucks. I have
friend who owned a 50 Chevy truck and the steering wheel was in your face
and there was no legroom. The seat back was also too vertical for my taste.
So the cab would need to be lengthened.

The old six banger it had could barely get out of it's own way, and didn't meet
the wife's drivability requirements. An engine swap was in order. New York State
can be pretty picky about inspections ( they recently required an emissions test
for my 2008 build year custom roadster, even though they initially, and for six
years, had issued the inspection as emissions exempt as it was originally
registered. ) so I wanted one with all emissions equipment in case they ever go
that way down the road for this truck. No I don't trust them!
Plus, a computer controlled engine and tranny should be easy to start and drive.

99% of this build up to this point I have done myself. I am not a painter or body
guy. I did paint the chassis and some other parts myself. I asked the painter to
check my work after the major mods were complete. He said the work was fine.
( although he did joke that he could turn my ugly pieces beautiful. ) My brother has
contributed some machining and he has helped with planning and engineering
on some of it...he is a tool and die maker.
The extras here and there I did for fun.

I'll be putting it back together soon and will try to post pictures of the progress
that includes the construction photos as well.

I'll also soon be getting into some areas outside my comfort level, so will be
asking for some help.

Sorry for the long intro, and thanks for reading.
More soon!

[Big Daddy Bear]

Welcome!!

Sounds like an impressive project! Be sure and post lots of pictures, especially of the build process.

[iowaboynca]

Good to have goals and think through. Always stick to the scope. I'd recommend start to budget against your goals and if it works stick to it, if not recalibrate then work on it.

Good luck!

[donandal]

this is how it started...

typical rust issues, tore it apart and started planning cab extension

[donandal]

sent the cab out for sand blasting.

had a bunch of bondo, lead, and brazing.

no worries, it will all be fixed

I built a rotisserie for all the work it will need, and to help
with painting the floor later

[donandal]

split the cab into three pieces.

stretched it exactly 5 inches, and widened the rear about 7/8 of an inch.
the cab tapers toward the front, so to keep the extension along the floor
straight, it widened the cab. This actually made extending the rocker panels
and doors pretty straight forward.

[Advanced Design]

Impressive metal work donandal! Tagging along for the rest.

[youngrodder]

Great work. Its builds like this that remind me of how awesomely talented a lot of you guys are on this site. Fantastic job so far.

Marc

[Chance48]

Very nice work! What kind of bead roller do you have? I need a good one.

[MIKESAD50]

WOW! very nice work. wish I had a small amount of your Fab talent.

[RockinKees]

This is some impressive metal work!



Makes me happy, just to look at it!

[donandal]

Thanks everyone,

I stopped by the paint shop today.

The cab is blocked and ready for color. Interior is already
painted the light champagne color I chose.

He sure does make my metal work look nice!

[donandal]

these two indentations were made for the firewall for extra
clearance around the heads.

[donandal]

usual cab rust areas were fixed.

I also rebuilt the hinge pockets...the back
bracket is stainless steel sand blasted for paint
should never rust out

[donandal]

This is where we are headed....

Just got this photo today

[wheelbarrow]

Looks Awesome! Your metal works looks outstanding!

[donandal]

We had a little bit of snow this morning, so I spent some
time in the shop working on the wiring.

I made a couple of brackets to hold the headlights about where
they will go and started the wiring. They will be wired thru
relays mounted up front under the hood.

The wiring runs down the tilt frame and up to the relays. This
fuse panel is just above the pivot and mounts on the inner fender.
The fuses are for the tilt motor, high beam, low beam, horn, and
cooling fan relay.

[Flysocal]

Impressed with your metal work. Also like your rotisserie

[47 Fasttoys]

Great work on the cab stretch +5, that a lot of work and craftsmanship to say the least. Now for my 2 cent son the tilt front end. I've done 2 of these and don't think I'll do another. My frame was boxed to the transmission cross member with IFS, I still had issues with frame flex which causes issues with clip alignment. One more note, you may want to review the cut pattern you have marked out, it looks like you would have limited access to the rear of the engine do to the point hanging out. Keep us posted truck looks like it will be a quality build.
Rob

[dug224]

Impressive. Need a lot of pictures!!!

[donandal]

OK,
I'm going to jump around a little.

Eventually I'll try to cover everything.

The rear end is simple. New leaf springs from Eaton Detroit.
3" drop and softer. They have the specs for the original springs.
Bilstein shocks on mounts that I made.

Late 70's camaro/firebird rear end. Sway bar setup I made
using mid 90's camaro sway bar.

[donandal]

The rear end was reworked by a local shop. New gears ( 3;42 ) and
new eaton posi and new bearings and seals etc. Brushed on tractor
enamel after they were done. They dipped it and it was perfectly clean.

The brakes are 1998 to 2002 Camaro that have parking brake thru the
disc type setup. I made the brackets and backing plates.

[donandal]

The cab was extended 5 inches so the frame and running boards were
also extended five inches.
I did the frame extension about under the middle of the cab.

[donandal]

the running boards needed 5 inch extensions, plus a rework
of the curved area that meets the rear fender.
I also reworked the bottom braces for strength and
to allow easier installation.

[BIGglaSS]

Nice work! I'm diggin' that front end.