58 Fleetside

[Tchia65]

Last week was a bust due to all the rain and my lack of a roof. My frame is paying the price with surface rust. Finally got the panhard bar and airbag brackets tacked on and made the frame work that my tank, compressors and valves are going to mount too.

[71'tahoe]

Nice work!

GT

[OrrieG]

looks good. when I was fabbing mine in metal I would hit it with some rattle can primer, figured sanding off the cheap primer was no more work than attacking the surface rust. Just a thought.

[Tchia65]

Originally Posted by OrrieG

looks good. when I was fabbing mine in metal I would hit it with some rattle can primer, figured sanding off the cheap primer was no more work than attacking the surface rust. Just a thought.

I didn't have that much forethought. Thinking about clearing out the garage and bringing her home so I can speed up this process and avoid extra work like this.

[Tchia65]

Slow progress. Mocked up the core support and LS radiator, mounted the battery box and gauges. Got most of the fuel cell mounting made minus the straps. I wanted to be able to remove the tank without removing the bed. I re purposed one of the original crossmembers and a spare tire support. Is anybody else running an external fuel pump?

[Kim57]

Looks like a nice set up.
Kim

[hotrodrookie]

Looking sweet. I like the way the whole tank mount is removable and how the pump and regulator are tucked in close to the bottom of the tank, very clean. Im running an internal pump so i can't help you there..
What type of radiator are you using? I have a ls1 camaro rad w/ fans I thinking about using.

[Tchia65]

Originally Posted by hotrodrookie

Looking sweet. I like the way the whole tank mount is removable and how the pump and regulator are tucked in close to the bottom of the tank, very clean. Im running an internal pump so i can't help you there..
What type of radiator are you using? I have a ls1 camaro rad w/ fans I thinking about using.

When I got the truck it had a 68 Camaro radiator mounted on some decent aluminum adapters. I got a Griffin LS conversion radiator for a Camaro pretty cheap so I'm just going to use the same brackets. I couldn't find a shroud to fit the radiator the way I wanted so I'm just using a 16" high flow electric fan until I have time to make one.

[dicer]

I stupid question here. So when people do this lowering thing, is it lowered so the cab sits on the ground with no air in the bags? If not, I'd still be afraid of small rocks or what ever dinging the bottom when lowering it. Or a sudden loss of air while crusing down the hiway. I need some education here.

[Tchia65]

Originally Posted by dicer

I stupid question here. So when people do this lowering thing, is it lowered so the cab sits on the ground with no air in the bags? If not, I'd still be afraid of small rocks or what ever dinging the bottom when lowering it. Or a sudden loss of air while crusing down the hiway. I need some education here.

Yes it is only that low with the bags deflated. When mine is that low nothing is actually touching the ground, but I don't have more than a 1/2 inch of clearance. If you set up the system right there really no drawbacks, they can adjust better to loads, handle well, and ride much better than leaf springs. Plus for guys like me it lets us go low, but still be able to use it as a truck when I want to. If a bag ruptured while driving it would suck, but they are actually pretty tough. Big rigs use bags too.

[ratty 46]

Nifty build ... I'm in on it.

Ratty 46

[Tchia65]

Starting fitting the inner fender wells over the "A" arms and cutting the mounts for the bed. Trying to get the odds and ends dealt with.

[Kabwe]

Looking good Tchia65

[hotrod1]

What kind of motor mounts did you use? Did you use an adapter plate?

[hotrod1]

Oh, forgot to ask, but what about headers?

[Tchia65]

Originally Posted by Kabwe

Looking good Tchia65

Thanks Kabwe. Glad to see your build back up. I just need to get this thing moving, I'm driving it to Rhode Island in April

Originally Posted by hotrod1

What kind of motor mounts did you use? Did you use an adapter plate? Oh, forgot to ask, but what about headers?

You can see the mounts in posts #26 and #27. They were some generic ones that came with my suspension. I have a tendency to overbuild things and they were 16 or 18 gauge so I rebuilt them with 11 gauge plus I had to modify the crap out of the drivers side for the Rack spline. That notch is .250 tubing and 3/16 plate.

I found a pair of Corvette manifolds and cut the ends off and welded on a standard header collector but they don't clear my steering and the collector is too close to my lower "A" arm bushing on the drivers side. I waiting on these http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EDL-65763/ They should be here tomorrow, I hope they fit. Since my truck is so low I going to run the dual exhaust down the passenger side above the crossmembers and all my fuel, air, brake lines and wiring down the drivers.

[Tchia65]

Originally Posted by hotrod1

What kind of motor mounts did you use? Did you use an adapter plate?

Yes I used adapters and standard small block urethane motor mounts. It was either that or build stand offs off the cross member and wanted to keep it simple. I Did have to swap out to an LS1 oil pan though.

[Tchia65]

My transfer to Virginia is getting too close but I had to take some time away from the truck to remodel my kitchen so I can try to refinance and rent out my house. The Corvette manifolds I had hit the column and the steering shaft so I bought some Edlebrock street rod headers and they hit the double shear for my lower A arms on the passenger side. I figured I had to cut one of them up so I went with the free corvette manifolds, now everything fits, and sending the headers back will pay for my rear tires. Got the radiator modified and mounted, got the raised bed mounts welded on to the frame and the rear shock mounts tacked. Gonna try to make some head way on the exhaust tomorrow. My 16x10 rallys came in and clear the rear disc's and the offset looks like it will work, plus I picked up some baby moons for $30. Should be a lot more progress on this thing in the next two months since I'm supposed to be driving it to Rhode Island in April.

[ChuckDriver]

Nice work, those 16x10's look familiar!

[Tchia65]

Decided to get a different set of collectors so the exhaust will have to wait a week or so. I cut up some 3/16 plate to 1.5 inch squares, drilled them and tacked on some 1/2 caged nuts for my bed attaching points and welded them into my raised bed mounts. then I pulled the rear end, welded up the brackets solid and primed it. Also got the straps finished and mounted on the fuel cell.

[Tchia65]

Fuel cell mount is done, and got my parking brake cable in so we'll see how that goes tomorrow.

[Kim57]

Very nice.
Kim

[Tchia65]

Frame got cleaned up and piss canned. Start putting it back together tomorrow. Hopefully I'm on the downhill side now.

[Kabwe]

Looking good my friend, looking real good.

[Kim57]

Looks like your making good progress on it.
Kim