1952 Chevy Vette Farm Truck Build

[_Ogre]

nice brackets farmersid
i wish we had the plasma table when i did truk
i would have fabbed a lot more

[FarmerSid]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

nice brackets farmersid
i wish we had the plasma table when i did truk
i would have fabbed a lot more

Thanks Ogre. Everything was made by hand. Good ol drill press, jig saw, die grinder and files.

[aknovaman]

Use DBW. It is easy to wire up cruise control with just two toggle switches. Saves you some $$ if you use a 2003 to 2005 with the pedal and tacc.

[BIGglaSS]

Starterman, thank you for the drawing! At least it is a good starting point. Although, I'm doing a '57.

Sid, I'm not using the flatout kit. Making my own. Previous owner did a bad job of a step notch, so it is coming out. Basically I'm doing a back half. I was wondering what the dimensions were so I could get a good starting point. I'm making temporary brackets to mount it to the existing step notch for mock-up. Then I'll come up with a plan to back-half.

I'm also trying to learn the 5.3 LS. Confusing. The easiest thing would be to buy the ECM already programmed, and a custom built harness. It's all a matter of time vs. money. Given the choice, I would also go with DBW.

[FarmerSid]

Need some help guy's. I was planning to install a new rear cross member yesterday but wanted to ask you guy's if I should put the cross member between the rails or could I put it at the end of the rails. The rear cross sill hangs over the rails and thought I'd put the rear cross member at the end to give the rear sill some support. Will I run into problems later by doing this?






The box side is bolted in the factory holes. This is how the box side sits in relation to the cab.




Thanks all!

[solidaxel]

The only problem I had with the new (across the back) rear X member is it interfered with the license plate cut out but I have a roll pan

[FarmerSid]

Thanks axel. I want to run a tank fill from behind a fold down license plate using a 67-69 camaro.

The reason I ask is I will be effectively lengthening the frame by 1 1/2" if I add the 3 1/2" X 1 1/2" tube across the back of the frame as opposed to inside the frame rails.

[FarmerSid]

I need some of you pro builders help. Having a bit of a hard time maintaining my rear wheel centers due to the rough shape of my box. If any of you could grab a tape measure and see if your measurements match to mine, that would help me a lot. I don't want to spent the big $$ on a box right now as that money is needed else where on the build. All my measurements are taken from the bottom the bottom of the stake pockets.

I have 4 3/8" from the cab to the front of the stake pocket. 13 1/4" from the back of the stake pocket to the fender and 4 3/4" from the front of the rear stake pocket to the back of the rear fender. I also have 2 1/2" from the top of the fender in the center to the bottom of the round bed rail top. Hope that makes sense.

I seem to be getting huge wheel center differences with just the slightest bedside adjustment as well as the question I had in the above post.

The running board is off of the brackets that bolt to the frame. If I center the filler panel between the cab and the rear fender, the rear bracket welded to the running board sits about half way on the bracket that bolts to the frame while the front is centered on top. How much of the rear fender is hanging below the running board on your trucks?

Take a look at the attached picture and see what you think. Kinda at a stand still till I get this figured out. The front of the rear fender pretty much touches the rear side of the running board bracket.

Need some expert eye's to set me straight.

Thanks!

[oldman3]

Sid, NO pro builder here, but I checked by sons truck and here are the measurements I got.

1. From front of bed to cab at the lowest point is 2-11/16" (see arrow and bold black line in the first pic.

2. From front of front stake pocket to cab is 4-5/8".(see pic 1)

3. From back of front stake pocket to fender is 12-13/16" (see pic 1)

4. From front of rear stake pocket to fender is 5 -1/16" (see pic 2)

5. Top of fender to bottom of bed rail is 2-3/8"

Pic 3 is how tire is centered in fender.

All my measurement were taken from bottom of stake pockets as close to the bed as possible.

My sons runningboards line up with the brackets

Hope this helps....Jim

[FarmerSid]

Thanks Jim. I appreciate it. My dimensions are not that far off of yours. The cab is sitting in the factory location and I'm using a factory mounting hole in the top of the frame that the front bed panel and cross sill mount to. The front bed panel is banged up and curved in towards the cab. Didn't think this would effect the wheel center this much. You can see where the fender was before on the bed side before I removed it. Things just don't add up. The rear running board bracket is in the factory location but shows that it needs to go forward about 1/2" and this is with the front bracket sitting centered on the front pad under the front of the running board.

With the fender looking like it needs to go forward, the splash pan would hit the cab and fender. If I had your dimension of 12 13/16" from the front of the rear fender to the back side of the stake pocket, my fender would be sitting on top of the running board bracket.

How far below the running board is the rear fender where the two meet? Any suggestions on how I should proceed?


Thanks!

[solidaxel]

What is the length of your apron, it looks like a 3/4 ton, is it the one that came with the truck........ I think the 54/55 1st are different

[FarmerSid]

I don't have the length if front of me. The aprons are what where installed on the truck when I got it.

[T bone]

Sid your skirts seemed to fit tighter in your initial pictures in post 6. What are you thinking has changed? Cheers

[FarmerSid]

Originally Posted by T bone

Sid your skirts seemed to fit tighter in your initial pictures in post 6. What are you thinking has changed? Cheers

Not sure but now that I've sat back and bolted things together more securely and used new cross sills I had, things are working out. Things were a little sloppy fitting I guess. Had to straighten the front bed panel a bit.

[FarmerSid]

Not much but a bit of an update. Been working on the frame.

First time rolling on it's own! Before the frame was boxed. Epoxy primed. So much win!

[FarmerSid]

[FarmerSid]

A few of my helpers. It's awesome having them down in the barn with me. They wanna help me out and use the power tools. The oldest boy Jake, is just learning to use a jig saw and is cutting everything up in sight. Made himself a wooden gun and one for his brother Nate. Once they hit the belt sander, the part ends up being half the size they started out with. So much better than TV.

[FarmerSid]

[FarmerSid]

The frame boxed, stripped and back up on saw horses for welding on the bottom.

[FarmerSid]

Got a new camera so that's why the pictures a a bit smaller. Could care less right now but will figure it out.

What a lot of grinding but will look awesome in the end. Look at all the grindings on the floor.





Got some more 2X4X1/8 tubing and started on the cut outs for the exhaust pipe through the cross members.


I cut out the outside shape on the band saw and then used a grinding wheel as a pattern to cut out the inside diameter with a plasma cutter. The inside diameter of the opening is 3 3/4".




And a few of the cut outs tacked together. The 2X4 will be welded flush to the top of the frame and the cut outs will be welded on the bottom of the 2X4.

[FarmerSid]

Next is finish welding the inside of the exhaust ports and capping them off. Then determine where I want the cross member to go to tie the frame rails together to stiffen things up.

Maybe tomorrow the L33 5.3 will be ready to pick up. Need it to determine motor mounts and trany mount. So much looking ahead that I hope I don't have to go back and redo.

That's all for now...........Hope you all get a laugh out of my idea's.

[Advanced Design]

Chassis is Looking really good Sid! It is great having the boys in the shop...fun times and making memories.

[FarmerSid]

Thanks AD! It is awesome having the boys out with me. I feel bad asking them to leave when I have to weld. They both want to learn how to weld. My Dad was never into building stuff so I had to figure it out on my own. I really want to pass on what I know to my boys so that hopefully one day they will drag home a bucket of bolts and rust and want their Dad to help them get it on the road.

[oldman3]

Sid, frame looks great, sons in the shop, couldn't ask for more....Jim

[FarmerSid]

Originally Posted by oldman3

Sid, frame looks great, sons in the shop, couldn't ask for more....Jim

Thanks Jim. Glad to have the boys out with me.