My 1955 Chevy 3100 build

[ChuckDriver]

Great progress!

[ptc]

Looking very nice Dave.... getting closer to that finish line !

[Baldeagle SR]

slick57 I got my roll pan from LMC. Rich

[55 Chevy Dave]

Originally Posted by slck57

I really like the roll pan/bumper idea. Where did you get your roll pan?

Slck57,
I also picked up my roll pan from LMC Truck. They have been a great supplier so far on my build.
Dave

[55 Chevy Dave]

Next, I decided to get the rear tail light mods out of the way. I picked up a flush LED tail light kit from Speedway motors. The kit comes with weld-in plates that will eventually surround the plastic lenses.

I started by placing the plates onto the rear fenders, standing back and looking at the rear end of the truck and then finally tracing them onto the fenders for cutting.

The last two pictures show the sections of the roll pan I removed so the factory bumper brackets would clear. I will probably remove a bit more around each bracket so I don't chip the paint when installing the rear bumper. I will probably add another layer of 18 gauge around the cuts to strengthen them up a bit. Can't hurt, right?

[55 Chevy Dave]

I then cut out the area to make way for the weld-in plates. This worked out well because there were some poorly done patches in the fenders from a previous owner in this area of both fenders that I was able to remove.

I then welded in the plates and cut out some rot from the passenger side fender and patched it while I was at it.

[55 Chevy Dave]

And here's what they look like with the lenses installed. I used a couple of shop lights behind the fenders for light.

I definitely like the look.

[55 Chevy Dave]

I have been thinking about smoothing out the front parking lights for a while now. After seeing a 57 Cameo at the Chicago World of Wheels show with the same modification, my mind was made up!

I cut out the mounts and welded in a patch. The patch only needed a slight radius bend which was not a problem for my hammer and vice.

[55 Chevy Dave]

Then onto the passenger side. And some shots of the final product.

[55 Chevy Dave]

I then moved onto the permanent mounts for the seats so I would have somewhere to sit while drinking a beer or two after a long day in the garage!

I cut some angle iron, welded bolts to the underside of the angles and bolted the top angles to the seat and then matched the angle on the bottom of the cage.

The four legs of my 95 Mitsubishi Eclipse seats all had different lengths (of course), so figuring out the vertical heights of each of the four corners of the cage was the most difficult part of the operation.

Finished up the welding, ground everything smooth and reinstalled the cage in the cab.

I still need to put in some type of fastening system for the plate that will cover the four sides of the cage. Haven't quite figured out what to do here yet. Input from the forum is welcome and appreciated!

[55 Chevy Dave]

Here's some pictures of the same operation on the driver's side seat cage. Fortunately, the seat legs were mirror images of each other, so I was able to transfer the vertical dimensions of the cage over from the passenger seat.

[55 Chevy Dave]

And here's some pics of the seats in place on top of their new mounts. I actually got to try them out this past weekend while I waited for a storm to pass and the power to come back on.

[55 Chevy Dave]

I moved onto the driver's side bed step. I'm not sure how these poor guys ended up with so many battle scars over the years. I thought about buying new ones, but since I planned on smoothing them out anyway, I decided to save the $200.00 and invest some time repairing the originals and smoothing them out instead.

I cut out all of the damage, patched everything and marked it for cutting.

[55 Chevy Dave]

I cut out the ribbed flat section in the center of the step, made a cardboard template from the hole and made a patch panel out of leftover 16 gauge from the firewall project.

I trimmed it to fit and welded it into place. Grinded everything up and reinstalled.

[RockinKees]

Lots of work done, Dave!
Great metalwork

Taillights are nice and bright!!

[dug224]

Man, you're moving. Really like the seat fitment. dug

[Advanced Design]

Really nice work Dave. A panel with some beading would look good around the seat base.

[Kim57]

Real nice fab work.
Tail lights look real good.
Kim

[oldman3]

Nice update and work...Jim

[ChuckDriver]

Lots of progress, love the tail lights!

[Nev68]

Nice work on all counts.

[58-GMC]

The smoothed out steps look great. I have that planned for mine as well.

[55 Chevy Dave]

I haven't quite figured out exactly how I am going to fasten the steps to the supports below. I would like to avoid seeing the exposed bolt heads on the top of the step. I am thinking about installing a couple of weld studs on the underside of the smooth plate but I am not certain that will be strong enough. I know someday, someone will climb up onto the step and wonder if the weld studs will be strong enough.

[55 Chevy Dave]

I haven't posted in a while, but I have been busy on the truck.

I removed the cowl vent and welded in some supports on the underside to keep it straight while I cut the vented sheet metal out.

I cut a cardboard template, transferred it to 18 gauge sheet metal, hammered it into shape and then proceeded to weld it into place.

[55 Chevy Dave]

Finished welding and then ground everything smooth. I think it is definitely an improvement on the factory original.