Dug's 1959 Fleetside

[ChuckDriver]

Dug, I closed mine off years ago, didn't put a brace on it yet.

[dug224]

Originally Posted by ChuckDriver

Dug, I closed mine off years ago, didn't put a brace on it yet.

CD: Exactly what I needed to see. Very tidy. With the exception of hitting a really tall speed bump, I'm not sure the brace is even necessary. Not that it would help if you dragged it across a speed bump anyway. The fact that this truck is no longer a 4WD truck removes the possibility of high centering the cab on something like a stump or rock. Thanks for the detailed photos. dug

[mopar4life]

Dug, Incredible documentation of your build! I just acquired a completely stock 1955 Cameo Carrier in unrestored condition. It runs and drives! I am going to do a frame swap very similar to yours. From what I have read on your journey, it might be a good idea to start with a SSR chassis? Thoughts? I am learning from your incredible photo documentation that alot of your fabrication woes could have been remedied by using a chassis that was one inch longer than stock (116") and had the LS motor and mounts, etc. already there? It looks like I should buy the WHOLE truck so I can rob all the lil "valuable" things that you spent SO much time laboring over. Even if I somewhat paid up to get one, it might be worth it in the long run? I am a professional bodyman and what you have done is simply amazing mister! If you need ANY body advise, please message me.... I have been in the trade for 20+ years and own 3 collision centers. AWESOME JOB! Jeff

[dug224]

Originally Posted by mopar4life

Dug, Incredible documentation of your build! I just acquired a completely stock 1955 Cameo Carrier in unrestored condition. It runs and drives! I am going to do a frame swap very similar to yours. From what I have read on your journey, it might be a good idea to start with a SSR chassis? Thoughts? I am learning from your incredible photo documentation that alot of your fabrication woes could have been remedied by using a chassis that was one inch longer than stock (116") and had the LS motor and mounts, etc. already there? It looks like I should buy the WHOLE truck so I can rob all the lil "valuable" things that you spent SO much time laboring over. Even if I somewhat paid up to get one, it might be worth it in the long run? I am a professional bodyman and what you have done is simply amazing mister! If you need ANY body advise, please message me.... I have been in the trade for 20+ years and own 3 collision centers. AWESOME JOB! Jeff

Jeff: First, the Cameo is a thing of beauty. Tell me you paid $900 for it and you will be forever our hero. Second, thanks for the compliments. You have no idea how undeserving I am of them. Third, I am a “learn as you go” hack that has enjoyed most every moment of this build.

I’ll try not to offer a personal opinion of what should be done with a stock running and driving 1955 Cameo. It won’t be easy! If I’m not careful and to keep others on this site from blowing a gasket, I might say something crazy like….. you should restore it and sell it for a zillion dollars and buy a piece of junk to use like I did….but I won’t.

By the way, this is a great build site. Whether we agree with what you or doing or not, you MUST have a build site to entertain us.

Anyway, I’ll address each point you make.
1. … it might be a good idea to start with a SSR chassis?
A: I am under the impression that the SSR chassis is the same as any Trailblazer, Envoy, etc… The suspension may be different such as you might find in a TB SS. If I could do it over and knew that I could have bought a wrecked low mile TB SS for $1,800, I would have gone in that direction. See my post #326. As you can see, this TBSS was hit hard. There are so many straight TB frames out there, I could have bought the TB SS and bought another lesser model and used the frame pieces as required to get it straight.

2. … alot of your fabrication woes could have been remedied by using a chassis that was one inch longer than stock (116") and had the LS motor and mounts, etc. already there?
A: Check out Ricott’s build. He bought a LWB and shortened it. The frames sections slide together. You can grind the welds and make it whatever length you want. I also think you can buy a SWB and lengthen it. In my short sightedness and lack of experience, I did not want to fool with opening the brake system and such.

3. …It looks like I should buy the WHOLE truck so I can rob all the lil "valuable" things that you spent SO much time laboring over.
A: Yes, but, in my case, I would have missed out on all this great excuses to buy new tools, all of the excessive learning and certainly the entertainment. You can also probably sell the good parts back to the wrecking yard and make a large percentage of your money back. I’d get on the COPART site and start looking for wrecked TB SS’s or SSR’s. They are out there. Not sure they ever put the 6.0 or 6.2 in the SSR’s.

4. Even if I somewhat paid up to get one, it might be worth it in the long run?
A: Most definitely. See response to #3.

5. …..If you need ANY body advise, please message me....
A: I may take you up on this!!! Although not that rusty, my body is pretty wavy. Like you may have determined, I plan on doing very little body work, painting the entire truck satin black and getting it on the road so I can build my last house. Once complete and I run out of other fun stuff to do, I’ll take it apart and give it a real paint job with real body work.

One more thing I may have done differently was to not put so much body rake on the frame. I think it may end up a bit too high in the back. Had I put the body on more level, the final stance would be more appealing to my eye. I am sure I missed something. Feel free to PM me with any and all questions.

Hope to see your build thread soon!! dug

[dsraven]

nice work and ingenuity on the rail support. looke like a rhino could stand on it now, haha.
just wondering if you guys have used the zinc based weld thru primer before. I have tried it on spots like this where there is that hidden area that is hard to get undercoating or paint into. it seems to work but it is sure not easy to weld through. some say use the copper based stuff but it seems to be hard to find. around here anyway. any ideas for these tight spots?

[dsraven]

hey mopar4life, nice cameo. how do you guys find trucks in such good shape?
there are a couple different lengths for gmc envoy-chevy trailblazer-buick rainier-saab 9-7x-isuzu ascender, 113.0" and 129.0" and at least 3 engine options that I know of being the inline 6-4.2l, v8-5.3 and v8-6.0 from the ss trailblazer. the ss came out in 06 and has the 6.0l corvette engine with a taller intake and more restrictive exhaust.
there, thats all I know, haha.

[dug224]

Ran across a local guy yesterday who works for a Mobile Alabama based company that sells hot rods internationally. This is his daily driver. That is, the days it doesn't rain. Anyway, after we toured the incredible inventory that was for sale, he was kind enough to give me a thrilling (maybe a better word is terrifying) ride in his very well put together '09 Factory Five 427 Tremec 5 speed MK4 Cobra. I was surprised by the ample foot well room when I tested the drivers seat. Passenger side was a bit tighter. When the new house and truck are finished, this is next on the list. Plan is to get a kit and power it with a late model LS.

[ChuckDriver]

On my bucket list too!

[47 Fasttoys]

I can save you both the wait, just buy mine. '08 FFR Mark III. $25K
Rob

[dug224]

Rob...HA! Let me finish the new house.....If any cash is left over, we'll talk. By the way, beautiful car! It looks especially good on the COE bed. dug

[dug224]

I managed to get the cab corner templates cut for both sides this morning complete with bolt holes for seat belt brackets. I'll need to find a couple of 11" x 16" pieces of sheet metal next week to cut them out.

[ChuckDriver]

Nice pattern! Are you going to remove the complete inner corner?

[dug224]

Originally Posted by ChuckDriver

Nice pattern! Are you going to remove the complete inner corner?

Thanks. I'll leave something like what the black line in the photo shows. Although I'm not worried about the corner structurally, this will stiffen it up a bit. Plus it will probably be easier to remove rather than taking the entire inner panel out.

[ChuckDriver]

Nice!

[OrrieG]

Just read thru your thread, brings back a lot of memories. Looking good.

[Cjcolbyjack]

Nice build! I really like what you did with the bed. Long hours but so rewarding when finished

[dug224]

Thanks guys.

I started this adventure in March 2012 with no intentions other than to get it done.....one day. Never would I have expected to still be working on it in 2016. I have set arbitrary dates to get certain things done and missed many of them. I have taken lots of time to do certain things and changed directions many, many times and, in the end, was probably ultimately happier with the outcome than I would have been otherwise. I am currently subscribed to 238 builds of which, as many of you know there may be 20 or so active at any one time and probably more than 50% of them are simply dead and gone. So, in the end, my goals now boil down to not being one of the dead and gone trucks and to continue to get motivated for each chew of the bite of this elephant. By the way, my latest arbitrary “get it on the road date” is June 2017 which happens to be the arbitrary date on which I start the new house. Don’t hold me to it.

More progress!!!! …..I bought a handsome 1959 Alabama Tag with the proper “5” on it that I will use to register the truck. The “5” represents the county in which I will be living…......one day. dug

[Kim57]

Cool plate.
Kim

[ChuckDriver]

Very cool!

[dug224]

So, do car shows count as progress?? Took the 45 minute trip over to Mississippi's Cruisin' the Coast for the Biloxi Block Party. As many of you know, huge one week long car show. The Block Party takes place on the north side of Hwy 90 at the Hard Rock Casino. Hundreds of high quality cars and trucks from all over the country. Sample of the day....

Suburban on what appeared to be a Trailblazer frame. Wheel offset gave it away.


4WD '58/'59


'55 Cameo with matching Cushman


'58/'59 Burb


Vortec Powered Fleetside

[SCHRUMGMC]

Looking great man, keep up the great work

[dug224]

Finally got a call from from my sheet metal guy to tell me my order was ready for pickup. Since it took him so long, he tried to give it to me. Couldn't let that happen since I'll probably need him later so I gave him a few bucks. Great company and nice work.

The two pieces to the left will be the rear structure that holds up the rear of the bed. They will be welded into a "C" shape with the opening facing down over the '59 rear bed beam. The top will be located just under the '95 bed end.

The third and forth pieces are the pieces that will attach to the top of the sides of the '95 bed. The '59 bed sides will rest on and attach to these pieces.


The last piece is the radiator cap (shown out of place for clarity).


Radiator cap roughly in place.

[zammer]

Awesome work! Im following ~

[dsraven]

hi Dugg,
truck is looking really good!
don't wanna rain on any parades, just noticed your air filter is really close to the maf. sometimes the maf doesn't like this because it wants laminar flow of air. may have to extend that snout some? maybe won't give you any issues. unknown till you start driving. if you start getting codes with mixture related issues that may be the cause.
keep up the great work

[dug224]

Originally Posted by dsraven

hi Dugg,
truck is looking really good!
don't wanna rain on any parades, just noticed your air filter is really close to the maf. sometimes the maf doesn't like this because it wants laminar flow of air. may have to extend that snout some? maybe won't give you any issues. unknown till you start driving. if you start getting codes with mixture related issues that may be the cause.
keep up the great work

Noted. The truck seems to run smooth as silk. I have no fuel economy numbers or codes available at this time to ponder. I'm not real happy with the way it looks in the first place and have tried to dream up places (that I am qualified to fabricate) to move it. None of the plastic tubes I have acquired from the wrecks can be configured to give me a good solution. My buddy Jim deals with air flow for a living. I'll get him to weigh in as well. At least with my new sheet metal radiator cap, the hot air from the radiator will pass under the filter!!!..thx dug.