Project Firewater- 59 fleet

[Wt195713]

Nope, i was wrong, y'all were right, i spent the past day fixing and laying on motor mounts. here she is:



not my sbc but this one worked just fine for mock up. mine is being shipped the 17th from northern speed shop.

[ricott]

Congrats on your truck. I (barely) remember being 20 and working to get (and keep) my "hot rod" car running. You're have a great start, and I'm glad you discovered (and corrected) your error. WE have all done it, and some have been really expensive (at least for me)!!!

Ricky

[Kim57]

Looks like you made good progress in the change.
Kim

[ChuckDriver]

Glad you got it figured out! Nice progress.

[dubie]

Does that factory front cross member need to be removed? I see some people do and some people don't after installing an IFS

[Wt195713]

Originally Posted by ricott

Congrats on your truck. I (barely) remember being 20 and working to get (and keep) my "hot rod" car running. You're have a great start, and I'm glad you discovered (and corrected) your error. WE have all done it, and some have been really expensive (at least for me)!!!

Ricky

I saw you lived in dallas for a little while. What salvage yard were you getting parts from?! The ones by me don't even know what a car older than 1990 looks like.....

[Wt195713]

Originally Posted by dubie

Does that factory front cross member need to be removed? I see some people do and some people don't after installing an IFS

Maybe it's the mounts they use? I could see how a fan would interfere but I'm going the electric fan route. I left it for the fact that I had no reason to strip it out and jeopardize frame integrity.

[Russell Ashley]

I also didn't want to remove the crossmember but I did have to trim a couple of inches off of it to get the rack mounted. This must be different with 58-59 trucks if you were able to mount yours without trimming it. As a caution, did you mark the centerline of the axle before you removed it? Most everyone moves the wheels forward when converting to independent front suspension to center the wheels in the fenders better. I moved mine 3/4ths of an inch forward but some move them more than that.

[Wt195713]

Originally Posted by Russell Ashley

I also didn't want to remove the crossmember but I did have to trim a couple of inches off of it to get the rack mounted. This must be different with 58-59 trucks if you were able to mount yours without trimming it. As a caution, did you mark the centerline of the axle before you removed it? Most everyone moves the wheels forward when converting to independent front suspension to center the wheels in the fenders better. I moved mine 3/4ths of an inch forward but some move them more than that.

I was sure to mark it. What kit is that? I like how they integrated your motor mounts!!!

[ricott]

Originally Posted by Wt195713

I saw you lived in dallas for a little while. What salvage yard were you getting parts from?! The ones by me don't even know what a car older than 1990 looks like.....

The LS based engines and trannys for my last three builds came from Settlemires used parts in Walnut, MS. All of the sheet metal parts have come from Craig's List or E Bay within 700 miles of Memphis, with most of them from Oklahoma or Missouri. I miss Dallas (lived there 14 years), because there was a great fab shop that I used.

[Russell Ashley]

Originally Posted by Wt195713

I was sure to mark it. What kit is that? I like how they integrated your motor mounts!!!

My setup is a bolt-in from Scott's Hotrods. The engine mounts are also from Scott's but not actually part of the kit. I purchased them from Scott's after realizing that the front engine mounts weren't going to be useable after trimming the cross member.

[Wt195713]

Anybody have tips to patch the firewall?

[OrrieG]

No tips, just tedious. I did mine when my wife when out of town to visit our new grandkid, I had work committments so I could not go. I had two weekends and one week of evenings to work on the truck. I wanted to get rid of all the holes but keep the recesses. Took Saturday to weld in the 40+ holes (ranging from screw size to 1.25" dia), long Sunday to grind, fill, regrind the welds. Had one evening to repair floor pan areas under the battery box. After that about 16 hours during the week and next week end of fine JB Weld filling, plastic work, priming and paint. Paint is same single stage chassis black I used on the frame and inner fenders. I had not made up my mind on the paint color, black works with anything.

For the larger holes I made 16 ga. plugs and held them in place with a magnet from behind. For smaller ones I have a flattened piece of copper pipe I hole behind the holes. Here are the photos.

[Wt195713]

Originally Posted by Russell Ashley

I also didn't want to remove the crossmember but I did have to trim a couple of inches off of it to get the rack mounted. This must be different with 58-59 trucks if you were able to mount yours without trimming it. As a caution, did you mark the centerline of the axle before you removed it? Most everyone moves the wheels forward when converting to independent front suspension to center the wheels in the fenders better. I moved mine 3/4ths of an inch forward but some move them more than that.

Yeah, I did have to trim the front also. Always easier coming out than going in

[Wt195713]

put the bags on the mustang ii today. hopefully i can get to 4 link this weekend. I am already excited about the look. I can't wait for my air management to arrive so i can start playing. i also picked up a 150db train horn just because it seemed fun.

[Kim57]

Nice looking parts.
Kim

[Wt195713]

airbags, 4 link, step notch, and on-board air ride are done in the rear. About finish all the air lines. Finally got wheels and tires 383 should be here this month. I see the end coming.

[Wt195713]

[Wt195713]

[ChuckDriver]

Looking good!!

[oldman3]

Nice update, looks good...Jim

[Kim57]

Looking good.
Kim

[RockinKees]

You're going pretty fast with your build!
It's looking very good!

[Nut Case]

Wt195713, where are you going to mount the train horn, and where did it come from? Thanks Nut Case

[Wt195713]

Originally Posted by Nut Case

Wt195713, where are you going to mount the train horn, and where did it come from? Thanks Nut Case

under the core support and eBay. i am running a solenoid from my 7 gallon tank for my air ride right to the horn.