My 1955 Chevy 3100 build

[55 Chevy Dave]

I then made a cage out of more flat bar to connect the center panel to the angles mounted to the hinges. I welded bolts onto the cage to bolt the center panel to the hinge angles.

[55 Chevy Dave]

Here is what it looks like with the panel installed while in the closed position. Not bad. Needs some minor adjustments.

[55 Chevy Dave]

And here is the center panel while open.

While opening, it slides toward the rear of the bed. I don't want it to rub the front panel!

[55 Chevy Dave]

I then purchased some struts made for a truck bed cover from a local parts supply store. I mounted these to the frame and then mounted them to the center wood panel.

They work great. They help to lift the panel up, they limit the amount the panel will raise and with a gentle push, they let the panel back down.

[Tempest67]

nice work on that bed floor

[greystoke]

A lot of great work on this truck!!!!

[62 Barnfind]

Nice work! I like what you did with the bed.

[55 Chevy Dave]

So, it has been a long, long time since I last posted. Rest assured, I have been working on the truck. As I am sure happens to the rest of you in the middle of one of these projects, other projects for the family, friends, house and so on, sometimes take time away. It takes even more time to document what we are working on.

Nonetheless, I appreciate this forum and its members for the knowledge and inspiration you have given me along the way.

Many of the upcoming posts happened quite a while ago. It may take me some time for me to bring this thread current.

Now, let's get back to the progress...

To help with the rigidity of the hinged bed wood panel, I added some steel angle to the front and rear of the wood. Since I was adding the angle on the hinged portion, I also added it to the fixed bed wood to ensure they match when the panel is closed.

[55 Chevy Dave]

And here is the steel angle on the hinged panel. The angles really do help to keep the wood boards aligned.

These will eventually be painted to match the body color.

[55 Chevy Dave]

I also started work on the door panels. I made a template with some painter's plastic and then transferred the shape and hole locations to some hardboard.

I mocked up some armrest/interior door handles out of 2x4s. I'm not sure if I am going to stay with this design. I need to do some more research as I have zero experience with custom interior work.

[55 Chevy Dave]

I want to bring some of the African Mahogany bed wood into the interior of the truck. I planed down some of the nicer cutoffs from the bed wood to about 3/16" thickness. I'm not sure exactly how I will incorporate these into the door panels yet, but I love the grain and the direction of the grain in these two pieces.

In the first picture, I sprayed some water on the wood to show the grain.

[55 Chevy Dave]

I also started another project to correct something that has been bothering me. The fuel tank I purchased was designed to fit under the crossmember towards the rear end of the frame. I removed the crossmember a long time ago and now there is an odd gap and step toward the back end of the fuel tank and the end of the frame.

After seeing a few members on here and elsewhere incorporate cooler chests into their beds, I decided to do the same. In the past, I would take my Camaro to car shows in the summertime and would pack a cooler with beverages. When I got to the show, I would always hide my cooler under the rear end of the car. With the truck, I won't need to do that! It will all be hidden under the bed wood until I lift the hinged panel.

I made a template out of cardboard and transferred it to some 16-gauge sheet metal. I don't have a metal brake, so I made one out of some heavy angle I had laying around. It worked pretty good.

[55 Chevy Dave]

And here is how it looks mounted in the frame.

I have spoken to a local restaurant supply store and they will make a custom stainless steel lid for the cooler. I also plan on drilling a hole the bottom of the cooler and welding a nut over the hole that will allow a bolt to be installed to act as a drain.

I did some research on insulating the cooler, but decided against any insulation. I don't plan on using the cooler all day. If I load it up with ice, it should keep my drinks cold long enough to last to the end of the car show/cruise night. If I'm wrong, I can always add insulation later.

[55 Chevy Dave]

Wouldn't you know, a few months after finishing my hinged bed wood panel, I see these hinges for sale online. And these were made for exactly what I was trying to do.

After operating the hinged bed for a while, I decided that the panel moved from side-to-side a bit too much. The heavy duty casement window hinges I purchased were not doing the job.

There were a bit expensive, but I decided to buy them anyway.

[Rickysnickers]

Quite an update. Looks great!

[55 Chevy Dave]

I needed a new beam across the frame to mount the new bed wood hinges. There is a lot going on in this area, so I decided to remove the round bar I previously installed and fabricate one crossmember where I could mount the hinges, attach exhaust hangers and it would also become part of a removable driveshaft loop.

I purchased a couple of weld-in driveshaft loops and cut them apart to attach them to the rectangular crossmember.

[55 Chevy Dave]

I wanted the driveshaft loop to be removable, so I cut it apart flush with the bottom of the crossmember. I then drilled holes through the crossmember and welded nuts into the removable portion of the loop. It bolts together and I think it looks pretty good!

[55 Chevy Dave]

Here it is bolted together.

I then made mounts for the hinges and bolted them to the same frame I used with the other set of hinges.

I wanted to be able to adjust the panel up and down, so I slotted the holes where they will mount to the crossmember. Obviously, I need some more practice slotting holes! I also oversized the holes where the hinges mount to the frame so I can move it around to ensure the hinged panel is in the right place.

[55 Chevy Dave]

I added mounting plates to the crossmember to accept the hinges.

I then mounted the bed panel frame and hinges to the crossmember. I reinforced the plates by adding a plate on the opposite side of the crossmember that slopes back to meet the end of the plate. I filled in the sides and did some grinding. These can be seen in the 4th picture.

[6DoF]

that DS loop is bonkers, that is awesome!

[Tempest67]

very nice fabricating.

I enjoy seeing everyone's ideas,

Thanks for sharing

[55 Chevy Dave]

Again, one of the uses for the new crossmember was to hang the exhaust. When I was mocking it up in place, I realized that the exhaust was going to run right into the diagonal panhard bar.

The first pic is an earlier pic showing the panhard bar. I bought a panhard bar kit and ended up installing it over the axle so that I could route the exhaust where the diagonal panhard bar used to be.

[55 Chevy Dave]

I also realized that the driveshaft loop I made was way too long. It hung down toward the ground much lower than necessary. I cut some sections out of the loop and welded it back together. I first welded in some internal sleeves to ensure that the loop is strong enough to do its job if ever needed.

I made some exhaust hangers and welded nuts into the crossmember.

The last picture is the new crossmember in place with the exhaust hanging from it.

I will also use the crossmember to attach the brake line going to the passenger-side rear brake to the frame. The current brake line is the bent one in the last picture. I had it mounted to the underside of the old crossmember. During one of my rides, the rear suspension bottomed out and the driveshaft made contact with the brake line. Learned my lesson on that one!

[dsraven]

nice work.
I always wonder about the diagonal panhard bar and how much real estate they take up right where other stuff needs to go. have you done a suspension swing from bottom to top to see how mucch driveshaft loop you actually need and that the shaft won't interfere with it now that the loop is shortened? it would also give you an idea as to how much side to side movement the axle will have from top of suspaneion travel to bottom of suspension travel. always best to know that when doing the body assembly so you know if the tires will rub at any point.
the longest panhard bar swing is always the best to allow the least bit of lateral movement. also, to have the bar level when the truck is at ride height is best so the lateral movement swings a little botth directions under normal driving.

[dsraven]

good lesson learned on the brake line, good thing it didn't cause a high blood pressure moment, lol. I always try to mount lines on the back side of a vertical surface or up inside a channel when crossing the frame to the other side. it helps with road debris damage as well. when I wreck a vehicle for parts I try to keep some of those plastic hold down clips they have that screw multiple lines under the single clip/retainer. they come in handy when you have all your lines run and it's time to fasten them down neatly. there are also some that hold a single line for brakes that come in handy for stuff like this. summit sells some that simply push into a hole in the frame and are help with a built in retainer like a Christmass tree door panel clip.