My 55 Re-Do

[dcmalone]

I've been lurking here since I picked the truck (1955 2nd, small window) up a few months ago. I've done alot of reading on here and already had quite a few questions answered though the oh-so-handy search button. I sold a motorcycle so that my son (12) and I could have a good father and son project to work on. We are doing all the work ourselves and are having a blast so far. Just wanted to say hi and start a build thread that I'll be horrible about updating. These are a few pictures when we got the truck home, one of which is the custom front suspension.

[dcmalone]

A few more pictures. My son (needing a haircut) working on the front bumper and one of the interior after taking out the ziptied Fiero bucket seat and putting in a $40 junkyard mid-eighties chevy bench.

[Kabwe]

Hello and welcome to the site.

Great looking project and its even greater that you and your son will be building it together. Good luck to the both of you and enjoy the build.

[dcmalone]

Thanks, didn't recognize your screen name, but I recognize the truck. Still one of the most inspiring builds ever.

[mknittle]

Originally Posted by dcmalone

A few more pictures. My son (needing a haircut) working on the front bumper and one of the interior after taking out the ziptied Fiero bucket seat and putting in a $40 junkyard mid-eighties chevy bench.

You need do do something about the color on the seat though!JK
Looks like fun.

[dcmalone]

Originally Posted by mknittle

You need do do something about the color on the seat though!JK
Looks like fun.

What, you don't like the natural foam color? We actually already have it recovered in black after replacing a few bad foam spots. We've replaced the front shackles, shocks, rebuilt the brake cylinder (until we can get a dual master), replaced front brake lines and are currently working on the interior. I'll get some more pictures posted tonight.

[STEVE60]

Great looking truck. My daughter moved out this summer for school and she is all I got. That might be why my truck is still in a shed and not being worked on. My girl had purple hair and she turned out alright, so don't be to hard on him. Good luck with the build, always pictures. They motivate the rest of us (me anyway).
Steve

[OrrieG]

Your wooden bump stop reminded me that in 1974 when I worked the docks in El Paso the chicken smugglers (yes there are such a thing) would bring these 52ish chevy turtle deck cars over the border to load up. One of the tricks was to jack up the rear bumper and put a 4x4 between the axle and frame for "over load". Behind the seat was basically a tub with a carpeted lid. They even built boxes in the front fenders so they could load frozen chicken thru the headlight openings. Quite creative. They were not checked on the US side and would bribe the Mexican side border guards. At that time we sold a 2# fryer for around 45 cents, they would sell them in the barrio for a buck a piece door to door.

[mknittle]

Originally Posted by OrrieG

Your wooden bump stop reminded me that in 1974 when I worked the docks in El Paso the chicken smugglers (yes there are such a thing) would bring these 52ish chevy turtle deck cars over the border to load up. One of the tricks was to jack up the rear bumper and put a 4x4 between the axle and frame for "over load". Behind the seat was basically a tub with a carpeted lid. They even built boxes in the front fenders so they could load frozen chicken thru the headlight openings. Quite creative. They were not checked on the US side and would bribe the Mexican side border guards. At that time we sold a 2# fryer for around 45 cents, they would sell them in the barrio for a buck a piece door to door.

I thought that was chicken chokers.lol.
the things people do! there is no shortage of live entertainment.A we don't even need a tv.

[ChuckDriver]

Welcome to a great site! I'm sure you and your son will have a great time working together. Keep the updates coming!

[hotrodrookie]

Welcome to the site. It's great to see parent/kid projects. Make sure you take lots of pictures of the truck for us to see, but also pictures of you two doing the work together. I get a kick out of seeing pictures of my dad working on his cars in the 70's, so one day I'd like to do the same looking back at mine.
Anyways, what are your plans for the truck? drivetrain, suspension, bodywork?

[dcmalone]

Originally Posted by hotrodrookie

Welcome to the site. It's great to see parent/kid projects. Make sure you take lots of pictures of the truck for us to see, but also pictures of you two doing the work together. I get a kick out of seeing pictures of my dad working on his cars in the 70's, so one day I'd like to do the same looking back at mine.
Anyways, what are your plans for the truck? drivetrain, suspension, bodywork?

The susupension is staying stock for now, really want to get it drivable for a while. It has a 350sbc and TH350 with a 10 bolt rearend. Everything is being done by us at the house. The body is pretty straight, but I get to re-learn some old body hammer skills that I haven't used in awhile.

More pics to come.

[dcmalone]

Of course the inner cab corners had great ventilation to the outside air. We pieced together a template with several pieces of cardboard and made a master afterwards. We then cut some sheetmetal to fit and after about a million tack welds and a liberal amount of seam sealer and paint we have deleted the cab corner hole. I really need to be better about taking pictures during the process.

[dcmalone]

Getting this truck for me and my son resparked the hot rod desire in my dad. He and I spent many a day working on my Chevelle when I was 16. Long story short...we found this a few weeks ago, had it pulled out of the woods, and delivered it to his house today. It was under water during the flood last year, but the oil is amazingly clean considering.

[dcmalone]

The delivery to Alabama.

[Root2812]

I like the side mount spare on your truck. My 1950 is also a short box but doesn't have the fender with the dimple to do that. Do you know if the shape and mounting is the same as the earlier AD's without the side spare?

Edit: sorry your fathers truck... I had to re-read the post.

[Kim57]

Welcome
You can't tease us with these pics and then not keep updating the build.
KIm

[Rude Dude]

Welcome gald to see your son involved, remember when my Dad was a live he always had us working on his and our projects.

[Kim57]

Looking good. I like the dash colors.
Kim

[dcmalone]

Originally Posted by Kim57

Looking good. I like the dash colors.
Kim

Thanks, it's all rattlecan work with alot of wetsanding. Low budget build but alot of fun. It actually looks better in person.
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[Kabwe]

Looking good buddy keep up the good work.

[dcmalone]

Originally Posted by Kabwe

Looking good buddy keep up the good work.

And thank you!!

[mknittle]

lookin good!

[dcmalone]

Originally Posted by mknittle

lookin good!

Thanks!!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Looks excellent. I'm in process on the same dash rattle can work with my '55. I also redid my instrument cluster and added a custom color as you did. You may have seen this on another thread but in case you didn't:


...and I'd like to patch the floor holes - clutch pedal, floor starter, etc "while I'm in there" but I've got to learn how to MIG weld first! I guess since the patches will be under the insulation and the mat/carpet no one will know how lousy they look anyway! Your photos inspire me to keep at it, thanks. Oh and MORE PHOTOS please!