J.M. Laflamme Build

[Kim57]

Your making nice progress.
Kim

[drivea55]

Thanks you guys!

Today we could not help but to go ahead and give her a 4 inch chop.

bare with me on the pics, she is in place but will get better fit tomorrow.

thanks for looking !

Brian

[drivea55]

With using the 92's floor and shaving the seat frame down, you sit pretty low. It gave me about a foot of head room. More pics of the seated position coming soon.

a lot of work to do...

Brian

[drivea55]

Today we got the drivers side door chopped and fitted. This took most of the day, tomorrow we will finish the passenger side and start fitting the nose.

[Fat Mike]

How far forward are you going to have to move your motor because of your firewall?

[drivea55]

That's the beauty of it all.

none!

The chassis and firewall / floor are in its stock location for a 92. The whole drive train fits in its stock location.

It "appears" to have lost 5 inches in the engine compartment, but in reality it has not at all.

I think I know what you mean though, If you have a stock 55 than yes the engine is 5.5 inches forward from where it would be if the truck sat in its stock position.

What I did lose was 5 inches of the front frame, which I am going to start to tackle once the cab is finished. It is tight with the steering box. Nothing unexpected, But another project for sure.

Thank You for your post.

I hope I answered your question.

Brian

[Fat Mike]

Yes thank you for the info!

[71'tahoe]

I see that you had to cut the back of the cab for clearance,how close is the back of the cab to the rear frame mount?

[drivea55]

Very good question,

It's close almost no clearance as of now, but should be fine after the final trimming. It sure does give it a different look though.

Thanks for looking!

Brian

[71'tahoe]

Brian
Thanks for the reply! I keep waiting to see how you finished out the back of the cab.As I stated before,Im interested in this swap as I have a spare 96' frame in which im thinking about a swap.

Greg

[drivea55]

Greg,

The nice thing about dropping the 55's rear cab panel over the newer floor pan is it allows it to drop. It also allows the cab to sit correctly on the 92's floor pan.

Once I get all the sheet metal done, I will remove the cab and turn her on its back. Then I can take it to the final trim and roll it or butt it. Then It will look a lot higher for sure!

Since your interested I will start taking more detailed pics.

I have been leaving a lot out.

If there is any particular pics you would like, Just ask and I will take them for you.

Thanks for looking!

Brian

[71'tahoe]

Brian,
I appreciate what you are doing and offering. Im sure Ill be asking for a few pics along the way! Id imagine the extra leg room gained by using the 92' firewall and the 5" filler will be nice for sure!

Greg

[dicer]

Just curious where do you get a windshield for something like that? Nice bit of fitment there. Keep the pictures comming, that is a good candidate for the 59 car dash, I can't wait till see the finished product.

[drivea55]

If you are lucky, You can have a local glass craftsman cut your stock windshield down.

Yesterday was more fitting, got the drive train to fit nicely. The nose just drops right on now.

Going to spend the next week catching up with all the finish welding I have to finish doing. UGH!

Brian

[drivea55]

Here are a couple pics of the nose supports.

anybody catch yet what I used as the new radiator supports???

[addicted2dunes]

Body mounts?

[drivea55]

nice try... keep thinking...

another hint!

where they are now is very close to where they were originally placed but to hold something very different.

I thought this was an easy one too...lol

[addicted2dunes]

Oh, motor mount tabs....

[drivea55]

aha!!!!


BINGO!...

These were the motor mount brackets that bolted to the front of the block!

[drivea55]

more progress today,

finished repairing the threads on the pass. door hinge area and tacked back on the pieces of door skin.

[drivea55]

more floor repair on merging the new floor with the old cab.

getting closer...

Also, I ordered the Altman Easy Latch Kit from Classic Parts.

Cannot wait for the kit to come in.

Door hinge rebuild kits on their way to boot. I should have some nice swinging doors in the next week or two!... yeah!

Brian

[53GMC]

i love your build! I almost considered doing the "firewall and floor swap" on my 1953 GMC project but didn't....if i were to start over again i probably would do that...just a lot newer and easier to work with good metal.....keep up the good work!

[drivea55]

Originally Posted by 53GMC

i love your build! I almost considered doing the "firewall and floor swap" on my 1953 GMC project but didn't....if i were to start over again i probably would do that...just a lot newer and easier to work with good metal.....keep up the good work!

Thank You!

I appreciate it!

Brian

[drivea55]

I have been picking away at the small boring stuff to post.

I have the drivers side floor almost tied all in.

[drivea55]

started on the pass. side today,

put in the lower hinge patch panel and a shot of the rear rot. I have that replacement panel installed, i just forgot to take a pic of it.