Xephius's 1957/1998 Chevrolet 6.5TD 4x4 1 ton build thread.......

[Xephius]

Howdy!



I am new to posting on the board, but have been lurking for a while. I have a 1957 Chevrolet 3100 pickup that I wanted to turn into a daily driver. Over the last year I have gone through a couple different ideas about what drivetrain combination I wanted to have, but always came back to the 4x4 NAPCO farm trucks rolling block 16ply farm tires, white bumpers and grills. Seeing as none of the '57 gear was remotely suitable for city daily driving, much less in Houston, I started looking for updated gear. More on that later...













The truck is a former Texas road service truck, and is in great shape largely due to the thick coating of tar coating the underside of the truck. Very little rust! Having a complete truck, and the generosity of my friends spare shop space (Yea right, no such thing, he was just being very kind) over at Vintage Upgrades and Performance in Humble TX. So after taking possession of the truck, I dove straight in to strip it.









Sandblasting the cab.





In process, I purchased a house and got a home shop of my own!









So after much debating on what drivetrain to get, and picking up a couple "almost" donors including a 80's 6.2 Suburban....



I realized I wanted Diesel and 4x4. Fortunately, I was able to land a 1998 Chevrolet 6.5 Turbo Diesel 4x4 4L80e 1 ton wrecker SWB truck. I couldn't have wished for a more ideal truck. I am told that the Duramax is one heck of an engine, but I feel very comfortable wrenching on the 6.5 and it is cheap to work on.









BAM turned me on to the link below and I was thrilled to see that my project has been proven possible and well documented!

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=398361

Tomorrow I continue to tear down the '98. I plan to get it down to the frame and see how things look. I appreciate any advice and guidance, this is my first truck build!

Clear skies,
John

[Kim57]

Welcome.
Looks like a real cool build.
Kim

[Xephius]

Hey all,

With Halloween going on, not much wrenching happened. But I did wire the shop for 220, have my compressor pad completed, and I am working on borrowing some welding gear. Some more of the 1 ton has been dismantled. I plan to remove all the body except the core support, fit the cab/fenders/bumper, transplant cab perches from old frame to new frame, then move the rear springs forward 3" and cut the frame to length.... But I have only taken 3/4 of the front clip off....



The old frame was dropped off, I am not sure if my neighbors are envious or upset at the growing collection of Tri-five parts... I see them peering from garages....



And the original '57 parts are tucked away in the back shed for now.





Once I have established air superiority, things will pickup. The Harbor Freight pancake compressor won't spin my impact gun with full force even once. o_O

I hope to keep the leave the original radiator support in place, set the cab, and build the fender supports around those two. Does anyone know how close am I going to be here?

Clear skies,
John

[_Ogre]

welcome
your truck for all the rust on it, looks to be in pretty good condition

this looks like halloween carnage for old trucks

[6BT 56]

looks like a cool build . i will be watching for sure

[Xephius]

Oh no!!!

I just drove a 1967 Dodge M37 Power Wagon from TN. to TX... Nice ride, and 10mpg out of the old gas flathead! We can address the ethics of your genetic experimentation later, but how do you like the 4x4 56?

I will check out the build thread, more pics later today. We are trying to get the bed off to see how bad the frame is bent...

[Xephius]

So today we had some slowdowns in the shop. The massive air compressor I scored as turned into a much bigger project than expected. The original pump head (sounds like) has a broken connecting rod and doesn't create pressure, just bangs around. So I went down to Harbor Freight and picked up a 145psi V twin compressor for $179. It went back on without much fuss. I have to get an adapter to plumb the pump to the tank tomorrow, then we test pressure fittings. But we have a new two leg, 220v socket in the shop.





More carnage around here, Night of the Living Chevy!





I am working on taking the bed off so we can see how minor the frame is bent. If you look _VERY_ carefully, you can see a slight wave in the bed.


<Its a really big wave!>
Its been a problem getting to all the bolts holding the bed in place. There are two that go in from the bottom just behind the bumper. But the PO was a wrecker and wanted a really solid bumper, so he sectioned the bumper itself it rode on the frame/hitch. To further reinforce this, they chose to not bolt it, but weld it in place... So that makes getting to those bolts a bit harder....





It looks like a ton of work to get it out. I plan on trimming some metal so I can get the bolts off, then see what we have to chop off once the bed is free. But man that 4x4 suspension looks sexy under there.....



More to come fellas!
Clear skies,
John