Ben Jammin's 1955 Chevy/GMC Project

[bensimmons_05]

Where to begin!? The 1952 Glasspar is more or less complete! My Grandfather and I received an invitation to the 2016 Boca Raton Concours d'Elegance! It was an amazing experience and the car received an Excellence in Class award.

[bensimmons_05]

As far as the truck is concerned, I've been making some decisions to get this thing on the road and GOING! I've changed my mind on some "customizations" that will make the process even longer and going back original with a number of things. Firstly, I found a decent set of gauges and refreshed them instead of custom making a cluster out of newer Camaro gauges.

[watahyahknow]

isnt that the same type of car that was in fast and loud one time

[bensimmons_05]

watahyahknow, I believe that one was a Woodill Wildfire. They aren't the same but they are very very close. The body was designed and made by the same person. Some even have nearly the same front end as this one, but the back and other things are different.

[bensimmons_05]

Instead of fabricating a seat or seats into the cab I came across a fairly decent (fairly rough) seat. I had two other donor seats so I replaced springs and wires, reinforced, and freed up all kinds of stuff. I had to cut and weld the seat ends on each side where the back rests.





The bottom of the seat had rubber vent-like pieces. I found some neoprene rubber in 6" x 6" on ebay that seem to do the trick!



I'm replacing some top springs and my cover should be in within this week.

[bensimmons_05]

Now this is where I need YOUR HELP! Another big decision that I made is that I'm going back with the original color... so... WHAT IS IT?





If you want extra points, what is the PPG code?

[iowaboynca]

Green...

Ta dum tiss....

Make sure to tip the wait staff and I'll be here all week!
(I couldn't resist...)

Aspen Green?

[bensimmons_05]

Originally Posted by iowaboynca

Green...

Ta dum tiss....

Make sure to tip the wait staff and I'll be here all week!
(I couldn't resist...)

Aspen Green?

Well, that definitely looks very close and it was available in 1955. Did GMC and Chevy have the same colors? This would have been a 1955 Chevrolet.

[Rude Dude]

GMC and Chevys shared the same colors

[bensimmons_05]

I've got the seat done! I love the colors and it is more comfortable that I expected. Now it is time to get back on the CAB to get to the point of putting it back on the frame.

[Kim57]

Seat looks very nice.
Kim

[Dan in Pasadena]

Seat looks great. Wow, it looks green in one photo and blue in another.

As to those vents under the seat: Did you just search on "neoprene rubber" on eBay, or other search terms? I've got to find the same. Thanks for the head's up on this - smart!

PS on the seat: I'm making two TF seats into one because my original seat back frame is a bit messed up. I'm having it sandblasted and powder coated gloss black just so the small portion of the frames that show will look good. Yeah I know, kinda over doing it but I want it to look good.

I'm gonna remove the sliders, wire wheel the parts, and lube them up with something....white lithium? Spray silicone? Did you have to do anything to your sliders to make them work smoothly? Any advice appreciated.

[bensimmons_05]

Hey Dan, thanks for the comments! That one picture does look blue, but it is more the green color. I'm really happy with the color combo.

I got the rubber on ebay, here is what the item was.



They are thicker than what the original looked like, but they seem to work ok so far.

As far as the sliders go, mine were originally seized. I used a ton of WD40, got them loose, and then exercised them HUNDREDS of times and piece until they got smooth. Once I got them working ok, I cleaned it all out with brake cleaner, painted, and lubed with white lithium. I haven't operated them much since then, but I'm hoping it will work.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Ben, Thanks for the response and the link. I'll go search for them/buy them.

Did you put a cut or slice in the center of yours? I little hard to see from the photos but it looks like there might be.

Aren't the bottoms on the seats and these vents supposed to allow air to come out when you sit down on the seat and at the same time supposed to keep mice or whatever out of the padding under the seat? At least that's what I always thought about them. Again, thanks! - Dan

[ChuckDriver]

Nice!

[bensimmons_05]

Hey Dan,

I assumed the same about their function, I THINK they also kind of act as a shock absorber, letting air out quickly but not as fast coming back in. I measured to the center and made a cut with a razor blade about the length of the original.

When I sit it seems to work.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by bensimmons_05

Hey Dan,

I assumed the same about their function. I measured to the center and made a cut with a razor blade about the length of the original.

When I sit it seems to work.

Ok, great. Glad I'm not the only one that thought that was the purpose.

The next (odd) thing that occurred to me is whether the slit would make it let out a whoopie cushion fart sound! I'm not kidding, that occurred to me. I decided if it did it would probably make me laugh everytime i got in the truck and that's not necessarily a bad thing, ha ha. Free entertainment

[bensimmons_05]

Let's just say I still have a LONG way to go!

I'm hoping to get working more regularly on the ol' gal this Spring and Summer.

[dsraven]

at least without glass you don't have to worry about spit on the windows. haha. keep those mopor sounds going and don't forget to simulate shifts. remember, only a limited number of forward speeds.

nice looking dollie. mine is an old hydraulic hospital bed that I removed the paltform and placed an old steel entrance door on top. it is nice because it pumps up and down and can be tilted on both ends. it is suckie in that it takes lots of shop space.

[bensimmons_05]

I've been getting some stuff done on the old truck! I got the firewall mount booster and master cylinder from CPP along with the pedal mount.

It all went in fairly easily

[bensimmons_05]

I've got the floor pan welded in the passenger side and I'm working on the driver's side. The plan is to get the floor and firewall finished so I can go ahead and mount the cab to finish the rest! I'm getting there!

I finished welding up the holes that I wanted to on the firewall and put some epoxy primer over it.

I actually left the welded nut on the firewall where the dash support mounted and I'm going to use it to put my coil on the firewall.

[JML55]

Nice work

[bensimmons_05]

My pace is SLOOOOOWWWWWW. I get a "Shop day" about once a month at this point so I chug chug along as I get time.



Lately, I've replaced all lower metal on the Driver's side. The cab is now ready to be flipped and I'm going to coat inside and out with Lizard Skin. My "Side Projects' as I call them, have been the vent glass and windows and coating the wheels with some trim black and putting new rubber on them.





Once I get the Lizard skin on I'm working towards mating the cab and frame!

[59chev]

Looking good. Any progress is good progress. I'm 5 years in on the second rebuild of my truck that I've owned for over 22 years.