what i've been up to

[56hotrodred]

Its been a while since I have posted but I have been visiting the site on a regular basis to see what everyone is up to. I have tried to attach some photos of where I am at with my truck so we will see how it all works.

To refresh your memories this is my 56 chevy shortbox stepside with big back window. I am the 2nd & 4th owner of this truck first purchasing it in about 1976 as a running V8 truck from the original owner and buying it back a couple of years ago pretty much in boxes.

I have the 56 body sitting on a 1980 short box frame, plan on 350 ci with mild cam, Turbo 400 and making it a driver - pleasure driving mostly. So far I am doing all the work myself and have sanded down the entire truck using a combination of soda blasting, chemical stripper and good old fashion sanding. I am pretty happy with the results and have only some rust in the usual places.

My shop now has a concrete floor but no heat and it has been real cold up here so my air tools do not work real well. At least I am out of the wind and snow but it is hard to get much done.

The photos I have tried to add show what I have done but I have a couple of comments/questions for the pros. You will notice that the body is sitting a bit high and I do plan on dropping the suspension to make it look a bit better. Something like a 2/4 or 3/5 drop should get it sitting about right. What you see is exactly how a 56 body sits on an 80 frame with no adjustments yet made.

I adapted the original 56 front cab mounts by adding about 4 inches in height and am using the rear mounts with no adjustments required.

My first question is do you guys think the front wheel is sitting correctly in the wheel well? Does it need to be moved forward/backward at all? Moving it back would cause some problems with the steering box but forward a bit would be no problem.

You can see that the rear wheel is not sitting proper in the rear wheel well and I am exploring a number of options to fix this. I am probably going to drive it like this for a bit but plan on new rear suspension (i.e. air bag, 4 link, etc.). I do not want to cut the frame. I have some pieces to lengthen the box but do not think I am going to go that route. I think the easiest is going to be in moving the rear suspension forward somewhere between 2 to 4 inches.

I am currently working on putting new steps and rear cab corners on but they are taking a while with no air and no experience with body work. So far things are working out pretty good. I do have some experience with Mig welders from a few years of working in an exhaust/muffler shop years ago. I plan on practicing on scrap before I start any welding and so far have been using sheet metal screws to hold things in place. The door bottoms need some work and the right front headlight eyebrow also needs some. That is about it for the body work.

As soon as my parts get here I will be test fitting/installing all cab mounts and then completing my rad support fabrication. Then the body comes off again and finish cleaning up and painting my frame. I plan on using POR 15 on the frame, under the cab, wheel wells and maybe the front inner fenders as well.

Please also note that most of this sheet metal has been stripped down to metal for at least a year. Despite being a bit dusty there is not that much flash rusting up here.

Any advise would be appreciated. Hope the attachments work. If so I plan on taking some more pictures.

56hotrodred (Barry)