My 1959 Fleetside Build

[Kim57]

Nice stance.
Kim

[pbeguy]

Steering wheel mocked up. Love the old wheel. Waiting on column drop bracket.
Bag switches installed in dash. Air lines tucked inside dash area.
Under hood stuff getting close.

[Spblack]

Originally Posted by pbeguy

I keep expecting you to drive up one day in yours.
Lets do a convoy to Hoedown on May 24th in Hempstead.

I wish I was that close. I still have to tear it back down to the frame after I am finished with mock up. ill follow yall up there on my bike, lol.

[Kim57]

Looking good.
Kim

[ChuckDriver]

Man you build some cool rides!

[pbeguy]

Started on the wiring today. It is a 21 circuit kit. It is like swimming in spaghetti.
One wire at a time.
My son sent me this link of Wes Drelleshak's youtube video and it inspired me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke_9...ature=youtu.be

Pickup Power / Big Muscle

[pbeguy]

This last Saturday I was turning my engine over checking for TDC and kept hearing an intermittent scraping noise. I looked under the truck and noticed I had a dent on the front of my oil pan. Must have been the three or nine times I took the engine in and out. I decided to order a new oil pan and now I am glad I did. Rod 1 or 2 was definitely hitting the pan. My new pan is chrome and looks and fits great.
Disaster averted. It would have rubbed a hole in it.

[Kim57]

Nice to find that out before it got any worse.
Kim

[pbeguy]

Hooked up my battery and spun the engine over today. It was pushing oil through the lifters and sounded great. I am going to do my best to get it running this week.
Got a lot more wires sorted and run. Even if it is not pretty right now it will be neat and orderly. I got the brake lines run from the master cylinder. I still need to install the adjustable proportioning valve.

[pbeguy]

The UPS guy is becoming my best buddy. I got a good price on a GREAT shifter. I love the look and feel of it. I can finish my floor now that I know where the shifter sits.

[Kim57]

That's nice.
Kim

[Rednek13x]

sent you a PM pbeguy!

[pbeguy]

Originally Posted by Rednek13x

sent you a PM pbeguy!

Rednek13, if you look at post 18 here you can see how I did it. I will warn you it adds a host of issues to your list. You have to figure out how to attach the frame horns if you use the stock ones. It puts your power steering unit in the way of the radiator. I shifted my radiator over about an inch left. You have to cut the floor and firewall a lot. If you use the stock brake unit there are issues with your tranny crossmember. This method is not for the faint of heart.

[Rednek13x]

Originally Posted by pbeguy

Rednek13, if you look at post 18 here you can see how I did it. I will warn you it adds a host of issues to your list. You have to figure out how to attach the frame horns if you use the stock ones. It puts your power steering unit in the way of the radiator. I shifted my radiator over about an inch left. You have to cut the floor and firewall a lot. If you use the stock brake unit there are issues with your tranny crossmember. This method is not for the faint of heart.

are you tunneling your cab floor? And stock break unit as in the master under the cab bolted on the frame rail? I was not too sure what i am going to do there, i want to run power brakes and mount in the same general location. I think the most difficult part for me will be tunneling the floor, but willing to try!

[pbeguy]

You do not have to tunnel the floor. You can see how the tranny comes up and it will need a hump in the cover. I am thinking the factory tall hump big truck unit will work ok. I did notch the rear of the cab but I am laying body on 31" tires. If you rears are not that tall you will not need to cut it like that.
Actually, if you are not putting huge tires on the front, it might not be worth the PITA you are going to go through to do it this way. I only did it to clear my chosen wheel/tire combo.

[Rednek13x]

For now my tires are going to be 27.05" total height. But probably get bigger wheels down the road, i think they look better... Still debating what way to do it, getting a plasma cutter Wednesday so need to make up my mind by then.

[pbeguy]

Originally Posted by Rednek13x

For now my tires are going to be 27.05" total height. But probably get bigger wheels down the road, i think they look better... Still debating what way to do it, getting a plasma cutter Wednesday so need to make up my mind by then.

For the record, I could literally run stock spindles and airbags and still lay the body on the ground. I am running 265/40/22's on the front which are about 30" tall.

[pbeguy]

Started and ran the engine tonight. Started on first try. I am excited.
It has a nice little lope to it.

[NDWEEDS]

Ok, so I was planning to recess the horns of the clip into the frame as you did but I have concerns about clearance issues with a big block and 700R4. However, after reading your thread, maybe it's not necessary to go this rout in order to lay frame, or body in this instance. You mentioned that with the rockers on the ground, you still had 1.5" of lowering available in the suspension. 1.5 is about the amount you gain be recessing the clip horns. Therefor, it might be best to simply weld the clip to the bottom of the frame and avoid potential clearance issues with the drive train. Would you agree?

Nice build by the way. I played hell finding a Fleetside bed (by itself) here in AZ that was worth a darn. And I had to pay a pretty penny only to find out it was rougher than originally thought after having it blasted.

[pbeguy]

NDWEEDS,
I would agree with that.
If you are running standard size wheel/tire combo the regular way is fine. I was just looking to make an oversize set work for this truck.

[NDWEEDS]

Yeah, I'm going a more traditional rout when it comes to wheel and tire size, about 27" overall.

[pbeguy]

Got my steering finished today. With the angle of my clip, my steering rod is almost flat. The one u-joint turns smoothly with no binding and I do not think I will need any other support. On a side note, this Camaro unit is lock to lock with 2 full turns. I am used to more rotations so I assume this was a quick ratio box.

PS the nuts holding the crossarm on my upper a-arm are temporary. No snappy remarks necessary.

[Spblack]

looking good larry. almost done

[59stepside]

Just read the whole build. Your doing a great job on the truck. I will be following the rest of the build...

[Kim57]

Steering looks nice and clean.
Kim