heres the progress of the build of my 57 chevy

[yukon ratrod]

I ended up putting my picts on the welcome area. check them out and i will post the next batch on here tomorrow.

[OrrieG]

Make sure you have reduced the size of the photos to 125K or less. The standard MS picture viewer has an edit and resize function or you can use paint and resize the image. Then use "manage attachments" feature below the text box to find them on your computer and load them.

[yukon ratrod]

Okay I finally figured out how to add picts! this cab was found by a friend of mine in the bush near a river bank. it was a total loss but I managed to steel the rear window and the door hings. this is what began this whole build. I really like the 55 chevy and was having trouble finding a big window cab, so I decided to build one.

[yukon ratrod]

I was building a 71 chevy truck and a friend just had to have it so I traded him the truck for the trans am and a complete and running 454 with a turbo 400 trans. he also threw in the frame steel to sweeten the deal. the frame I built out of 2x4x1/8 steel. you can see in the picts that I raised the front clip a couple of inchs for some free lowering. the graft turned out really nice.

[yukon ratrod]

I c-notched the rear for diff clearance and built the crossmember to support the 4-link. I decided to add two inch sleaves in the frame rails just to be different. you can see here the rear frame section shaping up and the gas tank mounts.

[yukon ratrod]

up to this point I didnt even have a cab yet, but as luck would have it a friend of mine gave up on his mud bogger and after seeing my frame decided to donate his cab. sweet deal!! here you can see the beginning of the big window swap!

[yukon ratrod]

and after hours of cutting and fittiing I finally had my big back window cab!! This was alot of work and a little nerve racking at the time but well worth the effort!!

[yukon ratrod]

I had found these front fenders in the dump when I was a kid and remember my dad giving me the gears over them."when in the hell are you going to use thoughs?" well dad it took 20 years but I found a use for them! lol I remember I wasnt driving yet when we got these. see never throw away parts! you just never know.

[yukon ratrod]

If anyone has any 55 front end parts im looking. I need a rad support to at least mount up the front fenders. I have 57 grill and upper and lower grill parts, but would prefer 55. thats where im headed with this anyway.

[blackdiesel]

i vote for building it as a GMC. your cab is a GMC so it needs to match IMO. they are more rare and look awesome

[yukon ratrod]

I built my own 4 link and installed the trans am rear end. the trans am had a rear sway bar so i built a bracket to install it as well. I still want to clean up some of the brackets but turned out well. should stop with the four wheel disks.still got alot of sleaving to finish on the frame, but I was getting board with it and had to move on for the time being. finish when its sandblasted and ready to be bodyworked and painted.

[NONHOG]

Cool build !

[yukon ratrod]

was going to do something cool with the stock gmc dash but a friend had told me where there was a 59 impala that was in a guys yard and was going to be hauled to the wrecking yard as scrap so I jumped on it and got the dash for buying lunch. I had the gauge set saved from years back and was pretty much convinced this was ment to happen, so there it is! done deal!!

[yukon ratrod]

would like to do something like the 50s vettes and make a panel that runs up the center of the seats and around the back wall of the cab. need to find some low back seats that would fit the profile of the truck and not go above the lower part of the back window. open to suggestions!!!

[yukon ratrod]

and of course had to fill the gas filler hole.

[yukon ratrod]

had to smooth the firewall. havent done the lower part yet around the steering column. cant decide what im going to run for a column yet,or what to do in regards to the brake set up. would like to have a smooth firewall but like the convience of a brake booster that I can get at.

[blackdiesel]

hmmm... disreguard my last comment haha!

Whatd you do with that GMC dash???

[yukon ratrod]

not to sure where I put it? but I assure you I didnt throw it away.

[yukon ratrod]

heres what Im going for on the firewall. I did this for a close friend along with his dash a few years back. it all started because he needed a place to mount his boost gauge for his blower and like a fool I opened my mouth and said that I could do something nicer then the piece of road sign he had maped out instead. and for thoughs wondering the truck in the back ground is a 46 international ive been building for another buddy. been on this one off and on for almost 15 years now!! man time flies.

[yukon ratrod]

heres a few picts of my sweet heart and the love of her life( phil the ratrod). i build this truck with 4 of my closest buddies in a few weeks. this is the baby of the family and we drive it daily, rain or snow we dont care, its just to much fun to drive. you can sure tell someones personality just by their reaction to the truck. this is the 71 I gave up in trade to start this project.

[yukon ratrod]

found this in my pict pile. just goofin off at work. couldnt resist a shot like this.

[blackdiesel]

Dang nice work! looking awesome

[kalirodding]

Really cool stuff going on in this thread. I'm going to keep a close watch.

[OrrieG]

Originally Posted by yukon ratrod

heres what Im going for on the firewall. I did this for a close friend along with his dash a few years back. it all started because he needed a place to mount his boost gauge for his blower and like a fool I opened my mouth and said that I could do something nicer then the piece of road sign he had maped out instead. and for thoughs wondering the truck in the back ground is a 46 international ive been building for another buddy. been on this one off and on for almost 15 years now!! man time flies.

I'm really diggin' the dash that is the color combo I'm going after, with a darker blue on the upper.

[yukon ratrod]

what about going with a deep black with lots of blue pearl in the clear coat? that will give your dash a black/ blue/ purple hue depending on the light your in.