1956 Chevy 3100 Corvette Suspension

[murd969]

We also got the tailgate on with the hidden latches and the stainless arms instead of using the chains. It's been a while since I've seen a tailgate on this truck.

[murd969]

Here's another view.

[murd969]

We also had to redo the motor mints. The motor needed to come up some plus they needed to be stronger.

[Kim57]

Looking good.
Tail gate looks real clean.
Kim

[murd969]

Had to redo part of the floor. There were just too many holes and issues with the panel so we just replaced it.

[murd969]

Apparently the other shop didn't get the seat centered so we had to redo the seat mounts. We should be good to go from here.

[dug224]

Beautiful engine! Enjoyed catching up on your build. Good luck with the new shop. dug

[murd969]

Thanks for the comments dug. The new shop has been great. It's been a completely different experience. The work is moving along quickly.

[murd969]

We got an actuator hooked up to lift the bed floor but we're not sure if we're going to use one in the middle or one on each side.

[murd969]

We got all of the body parts in and now we're getting ready to knock out the gals and get going on the body work.

[Kim57]

Looks good.
Kim

[tiddlar]

Looks very nice. are you going to extend the fenders to be closer to the ground when laid out?

[murd969]

We got the bed sides sandblasted and etch primed the other day. Other body work is going on as well.

[Kim57]

Very nice.
Kim

[ChuckDriver]

Slick!

[murd969]

While doing some body work on the firewall it was discovered that there was a ton of bondo on the firewall. After sanding it all down it was discovered that when the firewall was smoothed the other shop just welded a piece of steel over the original. After removing that piece look at the present that we found.

[murd969]

To be honest I was pretty pissed considering I paid to have it done right only to find that mess. Away went that garbage and a new firewall was welded in. It's not finished but it's a million times better.

[murd969]

We also found other issues. The cowl wasn't level and it had a dip in it. So after further investigation we found another mess.

[murd969]

This is the piece that was cut out. Not sure what they were thinking here.

[ptc]

There are many parts to a body business and not all can be done by one guy... typically.

Some bodymen are just not fabricators... "bodywork" as a trade is actually only the finishing part of the body panel work, where the actual steel work is done by a metal fabricator. Some guys are really good at both but most are really only experts in one or the other... If you dont have a good fabricator to start with and the body guy gets crap to work with, he works it until its beautiful but it hides all the crap work the fabricator did.

A really good fabricator 'completes' his part so well with the bare steel that the body guy has very little finishing prep to do before sending it to the paint guy....

You'll be much more satisfied with the rework that you are doing and know its RIGHT!

[murd969]

I appreciate the comments and hopefully from this point we can move forward and continue to make some progress.

[murd969]

You would think the disappointment would stop there but it doesn't. On to the fenders. We found some surface rust while doing some body work. These fenders were brought down to the bare metal a long time ago and I guess some moisture got into them. All four fenders were like this. I know this isn't major but nothing good will come from this in the future. In the end we ended up sand blasting all four fenders, the doors, hood and all pieces in the front. They all have been etch primed since. The fenders were the ones that had any signs of rust. We didn't do the cab because it was sand blasted a long time ago so it was ok. (Other than the firewall)

[murd969]

We also found some stuff hidden by some bondo. It looks like some metal work needed to be done but someone decided to cover it up.

[murd969]

I don't like talking bad about peoples work and I know that people work hard at what they do but a lot of the things that we have found are inexcusable. I work hard for the money to pay to have work done to this truck and I expect them to work hard and do things the correct way. I don't know if it was laziness or someone not having the knowledge or experience to do the work but in the end it wasn't done right. I would much rather someone be honest about what they can or can't do than to try and cover things up. Sorry for the rant but this is getting ridiculous.

[Az. Hank]

Wow that sux. good thing you found it now then later. I really don't like that you can't "watch" people do there work. I pay a lot of money when the semi goes in, they say it's because of insurance you can't go in the shop. Well I don't know how many times I've gotten lousy work and now I'm three states away.

Sorry for the rant.
Truck is coming along nice.