1947 Panel Truck Frame swap with ’88 k2500

[Second Series]

The body is back off the frame, Body mounts are being welded on. The rear runningboard bracket conflicts with the spring perch. I collected the bed wood. I’ll glue up the cracks, clean it up, and finnish. The wood is in pretty good condition considering the age.
I had created a spreadsheet of parts early on for the build. I started with a Jim Carter catalog. Went page by page, adding to my spreadsheet whatever I thought was needed. The list is in no particular order, so it’s kind of jumbled, but it works. I then went through an LMC catalog since I had one in hand. Classic parts website next. I have a list of each part with the price difference. I found most of the parts from these three suppliers, but there are some things that I had to search for. LMC has some good generic options that I couldn’t find at JC, or CP, like aftermarket seatbelts. I added Ecklers, they have specific parts I couldn’t find elsewhere, such as hood hinge bolts. I’m adding a door lock to the drivers side and since I already have a left hand housing, I just needed the key cylinder. Chevs of the 40s has the left door lock assembly for 1941-1948 cars. I found just the cylinder at autopartsobsolete for $20 less than the whole assembly. I’m adding rear lights from a ’39 sedan. I found about 3 different makes from several vendors. Olddogstreetrods had the ones for me, but they did not include the gasket. I found the gasket at the Filling Station, they had some other interesting parts. I got a hood side emblem from them. At this point I wasn’t going through my entire spreadsheet to compare all the prices, just select pieces. ClassicPartusa has the doorlock gasket, and spring for the rear door lock rod. Simple little things, maybe I’m not looking in the right place, but I couldn’t find those parts elsewhere. I also read about an alternative part for the rear door bumper from 80/20 Inc. I had read about Steele Rubber, so they are on the list. I’m going to really have to want their product since the prices a quite a bit higher. I placed an order from Jim Carter, and Classic Parts awhile ago. Last week I decided to get more stuff, so I placed orders with Ecklers, Chevsofthe40s, and Filling Station. Now that the frame has been worked out it’s on to the bodywork, prep for paint. I may be getting ahead of myself, but I don’t want to wait for some parts that I could have ready to go.

[Second Series]

The frame is painted, next step is put the engine back on and reconnect the exhaust, and set up the parking brake cable. We’ll swap the left and right rear brake cables and locate the ends near the middle on a bracket. They will connect to the lever mounted to the right of the transmission. Painting the firewall and under body so the body can go back for the last time. We’ll jack the body up to reinstall the bedwood at some point after the bedrails have been painted. Meanwhile I have been working on the speedometer drive, and refurbishing the speedometer. The bedwood is in pretty good condition, so I’m reworking that.