1954 Panel build

[The Reserve]

You can all thank 99 to life for this build book that I am about to post, he has been bugging for me to start it for awhile now and I finally figured to let everyone see the trials and tribulations I went through, hopefully lend a hand and maybe pick up some business.
I purchased the truck out of Washington state a few years back, only planning on a few month project which is now going on several years. Between other projects and helping "friends" on their builds, the panel has taken a back seat. But in that time, she has gotten some attention and is very close to being done, hopefully by spring.
She currently lays out on her rockers with the help of Slam Specialties bags, overtop TSW 20" wheels and is powered by a Chevy 6.0L and 4L60E. Although I used the stock frame rails (boxed), the front clip and rear axle are out of a '69 Camaro SS with disc brakes all around. Everything else is custom made, 4-link, headers and exhaust, all cross members, radiator mount, steering linkage, e-brake setup, etc.
I will explain things in more detail as I add pics, but feel free to ask questions.

[youngrodder]

Welcome and don't keep us in suspense any longer. 99toLife has been hyping this build for a while now(no pressure). JK of course

Looking forward to see your project as it sounds like it shares some of the ideas I have in mind for my 53 suburban that I just started.

Marc

[oldman3]

to the site, now we will start riding you about pics, so let's get um up here...Jim

[99 to Life]

Do I need to post the first pic? I will!!!

[The Reserve]

The beginning


Getting rid of the bad



The old frame out and up on the table for surgery

[The Reserve]

Camaro front clip, marked for narrowing 3.25"



Cut


Welded back together


Sandblasted and ready for primer, awaiting placement on the frame table

[The Reserve]

As you can see, the 2 frames rails didn't line up very well, even after taking some fat outta the clip



So I had to blend them together


Few steps ahead, but you can see how the 2 sections blended

[oldman3]

Nice job on the blending of the two together. Can't wait to see the rear end set-up...Jim

[99 to Life]

Finally!!! I haven't even seen all these pics. Luvin it tho. Can't wait to get up the lousy 45 min drive to see the darn thing in person.

[ghettoluxury]

Looks good. The old Camaro clip should make using a rack easy, if you chose to go that route.

[The Reserve]

Actually, using that front clip and my choice of engine & tranny caused using a rack to be the most difficult part of the build. I will post more pictures and explanation on that later.

[The Reserve]

In these next pics you will see the axle placement and installation of cross members, tranny mount and 4 link. This was the second 4 link design, as the first one was triangulated but didn't function as well as I had hoped, so I ended up with a parallel style and pan hard (Watts link next time).

[99 to Life]

soon as you get the space in the garage, I'm bringin my truck up for some pics!!!! did you go with back behind axle?

[The Reserve]

Gonna have to wait till after my training bro, but then its on, going everywhere.

So here is where the trouble starts, 6.0L out of a 2005 Escalade. I didn't want to cut out a huge hole in my firewall or a massive tranny and driveshaft tunnel, so I decided to drop the engine over 3" down inside the frame more. The oil pans on those big trucks is excessively deep, so luckily GM uses a lot of interchangeable parts, so I got a pan from a corvette, same capacity but different dimensions so it allowed for a few inches of ground clearance, otherwise I would have drug a hole in the original.

Cut out, notched and welded back up

[The Reserve]

Once I got the engine and tranny where they needed to be, the real fun started. The original location for the steering link was behind the cradle, exactly where the oil pan dropped down, leaving no room for anything else. After months of searching for a front steer power rack that was narrow enough, I finally found a rack from a dirt track car with a remote power unit. While the remote unit was just another thing to be mounted in my already tight spaces, at least I could steer my truck (I tucked the rack as high as possible in front of the rack).

A Camaro suspension geometry is set up for rear steer only, so in order to use a front steer setup, I couldn't just switch sides with the spindles and call it a day. Below is a very time consuming geometry lesson on changing the Ackerman angle of the spindles and calculating the proper placement and alignment of the rack. Enjoy

[The Reserve]

That issue finally being solved, I can now worry about others, like radiator mount, fender mounts, Raptor lining the fenders and running boards, stripping and painting the floor, mounting air ride setup, etc

[The Reserve]

The next issue is headers and exhaust, which I will load later once I finish them, so until then here are a few cool shots taken along the way. (I will also post more on the bag setup and air ride placement when I pull the body back off the frame)

[youngrodder]

I really like the looks. Very cool.
Keep the pics coming.

Marc

[99 to Life]

looks sweet, love how you sum up all your problems in a few sentences, if only it was that easy. So your doing my 1ton panel next right? since I'm so busy.

[oldman3]

That baby looks cool...Jim

[The Reserve]

99, ya it's a lot to explain haha. But if anyone has questions or similar issues I'll explain more & help out. New to this whole build page thing, don't really know how much of what to post. & I'll build whatever you want, esp that COE lol.
Glad you all like the build thus far, thank you. Drivers side header is made, I'll finish the pass side this weekend & post.

[xpickup]

The Reserve, that thing is going to be bad ass. I remember Henry sending me a picture of it one time. Keep up the great work.


Shannon

[youngrodder]

Whats the wheel and tire sizes and what size is the rear notch? I like the way that this one is shaping up.

Marc