New 55 1st series purchase....educate me.

[drivesfed]

I bought a 55 first series 3100 this week and have several questions I am hoping some of you can answer.

First off, the truck is in very solid condition with the general spotty surface rust, but no rust-through except for behind the left front fender on the cab. We drove it home and everything worked well. We paid 1900........too much? just right? good deal? we liked it so we jumped on it. Also has chrome smoothies and good radials, but all else is stock.

Questions:

1. is there a patch piece available for that rusted spot behind the left front fender on the cab?

2. Is it a 6 volt or 12 volt system? we threw a 12 volt in it to get it home, but wonder what is correct. I have been searching online, but the info on the 1st series seems inconsistent. Also is it a negative or positive ground system?

3. What parts outlet would you recommend? Would I have better luck searching for 54 or 55 parts on this particular vehicle......I am currently under the impression that driveline is like 55, but body and such like 54.

4. If you were setting it up for a decent driver with a better stance, what would you recommend for the plan of action with this thing?

We have built up other cars and have solid fab skills, but the current plan is just to make a good solid driver with a good stance.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have tried to attach a pic

Marc

[54 jimmy]

that is a 54 by the looks. my truck is titled as a 54 but is a 53 leftover that was titled as a 54. they offten did that back then(you could get away with it then). the patch panle you need is a lower outer cowl patch. they do make them. i got mine from harmons and was very satisfied with the quality. the part #is t705000 fit 47-55 i paid 39.00 for mine about 2 years ago. harmons has good prices,fast shipping and the quality is very good. i went with an s10 frame swap for mine. if you go that rought go with the e-z chassis swap it is a complete kit and you can use your orignal motor or swap to the s10 4.3 or even a v8 the kit is very versital and is a good deal. wish i would have bought the kit. here is the web site www.e-zchassisswaps.com that in my opinon was a great deal for a complete running truck. as for 6v or 12v i am not sure. sorry i cant help you out with that.

[drivesfed]

I am pretty sure it is a 55 as it has the open driveshaft rather than the torque tube.

I am intrigued by the s10 chassis swap, but I think that may be a bit down the road due to cost.

[drummin89]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Advance_Design

that style ran for 54 and most of 55. The open driveline is correct for that year as that is when they switched over from the torque tube setup.

Not completely sure on the battery. I would advise you NOT to turn on any lights or anything else on the truck until you find out. The starter/solenoid will be fine as they can handle the upgrade, coil might not last to long. One way to tell is to look at the gas gauge. 12volt will kill it and if its dead, it may be 6 volt. Also look at the battery cables as they will be thicker than regular 12volt cables.




got any more pictures, looks like a VERY good start. I would guess its got the 235 inline 6 in it yet? I say fix the rust through on the lower outer cowl panel and spray some paint on it and DRIVE IT!!! Mod it little by little and enjoy it.

[55Series2]

If it has a manual trans it is probably 6 volt, if it has an automatic it is 12 volt and somewhat rare. Either way that is a nice find and a reasonable price.

[Daniel U]

What are your plans for it? Will it be a DD, weekend cruiser, toy or workhorse? I drove my '54 home stock for $1200.00 and just rebuilt the carb. I drove it that way for 2.5 years before I parked it. It looks good from the pic for that price!

[Daniel U]

Are you planning on clipping the front or keeping the solid axle drum brakes?

[72BlckButy]

Great looking project, and welcome to the board!

[Daniel U]

WELCOME TO THE BOARD FROM CA.!!!!
1. Is there a patch piece available for that rusted spot behind the left front fender on the cab?
A: YES-
http://www.brotherstrucks.com/prodin...er=OCP5400%2DF
This is the one I used, but there are many other companies out there.

2. Is it a 6 volt or 12 volt system? we threw a 12 volt in it to get it home, but wonder what is correct. I have been searching online, but the info on the 1st series seems inconsistent. Also is it a negative or positive ground system?
A: Not sure myself, but the stovebolt site may help more:
http://www.stovebolt.com/
They deal with more stock restoration stuff.

3. What parts outlet would you recommend? Would I have better luck searching for 54 or 55 parts on this particular vehicle......I am currently under the impression that driveline is like 55, but body and such like 54.
A:There are many listed on the adds here, but I've used Brothers, LMC, Fat Fenders and Classic parts for my '54.

4. If you were setting it up for a decent driver with a better stance, what would you recommend for the plan of action with this thing?
A:Stock suspension and brakes or updated? There are straight axle drop kits with other leaf kits to match the rear. Again, stovebolt will help you more in that department. Around hear, most of us ditch the 50's technology for a more updated suspension and brake set up. I'm not knocking the stock set up at all, just not what I was looking for at the time.

I hope this helps
Daniel U

[drivesfed]

Thanks so much for all the replies. Seems like a good group of folks here.

We are hoping to just shape it up enough to make it an occasional driver. Eventually we are going to rebuild and hop up the 235 a bit. We are a big 454 family and thought of going that way eventually, but I think the 235 will fit the bill for what we are using it for.

Personally, I would love to pull my front engine dragster with it, but the suspsension would need upgraded along with the brakes, so I think a neat driver is the direction it will go.

I worked on getting some of the numbers rounded up today and the engine numbers seem to be original and the body numbers check out as well. The truck is titled by the engine number which I find odd, but at least there is a match.

I sanded on it a bit today and don't think it will be too long before it is wearing a new flat black paint job.

I need to take the grill out and replace the center piece, so that is going to be a learning experience. I think I will take off the front fenders as well to prepare for the cab repair and painting.

Think the stock suspension and 235 would pull it on an open trailer.....probably not.

[drummin89]

I have no doubt the inline 6 will do what your planning, just think, it was used in large buses and trucks with no problems. Its just not going to be meant for higher speeds in stock form. But a few changes will make it more than able to do what you want.

A few good mods to make it more modern day friendly would be to switch out the transmission, T5's found in many GM vehicles is a perfect match for the 235, especially when you match it with the right rear end gearing. For brakes, many vendors carry disc brake kits for the front as well as the rear. The change to disc's also requires a dual master cylinder w/ proportioning valve, id also look at installing a power brake booster as well. The T5 and rear gearing change will allow you to keep up with everyone on the highway and the upgraded brakes will make sure you can stop with them too. For when you are hauling your dragster, there are air shocks available that you control the air pressure to from in the cab, that will stiffen or soften the rear suspension as needed.

Many people change out the generator for a 12 volt alternator and change all the electrical over to 12 volt as well. This requires changing out the ignition coil, all light bulbs and wiring in voltage reducers for the gas gauge and I believe heater motor if retaining stock gauges and options. Depending on condition of wiring, you may need to rewire the truck too. Many kits available. For the engine, a upgraded intake, carburetor and exhaust really open up these inlines. I installed a clifford 4bbl aluminum intake, holley 390cfm 4bbl carb and clifford dual tube heades on my 54 235 and all of it really showed the inline's potential. Another good mod out there is to swap out the stock points distributor for a H.E.I. electronic distributor found on GM 250ci inline 6's. Also did this and it was one of the best mods Ive done to it.

Another mod that I am doing to my 52 is adding power steering. Im keeping the straight axle so I picked up a toyota power steering box at the local auto yard that will basically mount in the stock box location. The only problem with running power steering with a inline 6 is that no makes brackets to mount a power steering pump so you would need to fabricate your own, but its not as complicated as it sounds. Im keeping it simple by moving the alternator to the passenger side and mounting the p/s pump where the generator/alternator use to be, instead of trying to squeeze it all on the driver side.

[drivesfed]

wow Chris, lots of good info.

Looks like I am now on the lookout for a T5 transmission. That is a great idea since it fixes the rear end ratio issue, making it better for the highway.

I think the gas guage is already shot....didn't work on the way home so its probably gone.

The priorities are the brakes, basic suspension run through and lots of flat black paint.

I can see I will be using this site for help here and there.

Thanks guys!!!

[mr48chev]

Danial U and Drummin 89 said pretty much what I would.

As far as voltage, Check the coil and see if it says 6 or 12 Volt on it. The generator might be marked six or 12 V also or you could trace the number on the tag on the generator.

As far as the stance goes I think I would do a tire rake with maybe 195 or 205 at the largest on the front and a 255 60 on the back. That and some front springs that will bring the front down a bit will help quite a bit towards getting a hotrod look to it. As far as towing you have to remember that when that truck was new guys towed camp trailers, horse trailers and the occasional car trailer with them. You just can't get in a rush and don't expect to pull hills at any speed.

[drummin89]

for a T5, this thread has lots of good info, as does the whole site as a T5 is one of the top mods done

http://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/...426#Post421426

What I am planning to do, is find a 84 and old F-body car with a T5 and take the trans. The f-body trans requires no machining of the input shaft and front bearing retainer but positions the shifter further back and will not work in trucks with the bench seat. No problem for me as I am using bucket seats. For trucks with bench seats, you can change out the tail shaft housing with one from a s10 and have the shifter in a position more near stock. This is the best of both worlds as its easier to adapt and puts the shifter through the floor about stock. The other option is just to use a T5 out of a s10. This would require machining the input shaft (shortening the overall shaft length and lengthening the splines) and modifying the bearing retainer, the tail shaft housing does not need to swapped. Not hard to do but avoidable by finding a T5 from a F-body car and changing out the tail shaft housing. No matter which one you choose, all the mounting tab holes on the front of the trans will need to enlarged to 1/2". One last thing, to new of a trans and you will either need a electric speedometer or an adapter as later transmissions have a electronic speedometer drive instead of mechanical. When you get time, search the stovebolt for "T5", there is more than enough info to turn you blue.

http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/t5tranny.htm

[Daniel U]

There are 2 different T-5 transmissions offered in the 80's F-bodies.
Check out this link on TGO:
http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/tr...ything-we.html
This should educate you a bit on the T-5. TGO is where I learn about my IROC.

[drummin89]

thanks for the link, so much great info, definitly will help my search for the correct T5!

[scregan]

One more T-5 link that could help.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...d.php?t=171291