56 Chevy (RIP)

[Snake72]

A little more progress...replaced the lower 4" of the outer door skin. I seam sealed the welds on the inner door bottom and primed it prior to fitting the outer door skin. I'll catch some flack on this but I put a flange on the new lower and used cleco's to fit the panel flat, then SLOWLY welded the seam solid. It did not warp the original steel but the new metal had some mild warpage still. I used a few skim coats of filler and it came out ok. Again, this is patina truck, none of the body work will be perfect and that's alright. I'm currently blending the patchwork into the original paint.

Also sprayed the firewall and pillars with epoxy primer, looks sweet.

I just ordered the rear kit for the corvette suspension from Flat Out Engineering. I haven't received it yet but I have to say, Don the owner of Flat Out is great, he answered the phone, answered all my questions, gave me pointers for install and was not rushed at all. Great customer service, super nice guy!

[dsraven]

If you have other panels to do you can use a clothes iron and a cold wet rag to shrink the high spots. Use the iron to heat up the high spots then the wet rag asap as the iron is removed to cool those hot spots quickly and they will shrink. Less bonds.

[6DoF]

Originally Posted by dsraven

If you have other panels to do you can use a clothes iron and a cold wet rag to shrink the high spots. Use the iron to heat up the high spots then the wet rag asap as the iron is removed to cool those hot spots quickly and they will shrink. Less bonds.

that's an awesome idea, way more control that with a torch

[dsraven]

Wray Shelen sells shrinking discs that go on a disc grinder. He has several sizes. He also has a YouTube on how to use one. Same principle for the clothes iron. Only wanna heat the high spots and only warm enough to create steam when quenched with a cold wet rag.

[Snake72]

Received the Flat Out rear kit and got to work on the frame. The brackets and cross member are very well built, heavy gauge and great welds. The instructions are not great. The diagrams and measurements are basically what I used and the cross member pretty much self locates itself but still the instructions could use some updating. I chose to bolt this in using the supplied bolts in order to have some adjustability or move brackets if needed. I hope the rear ride height is not too high, I have about 3.5 inches of clearance between axle tube and frame. I thought about recessing the entire bracketry into the frame 1" but that would involve a lot of extra work. If I get the truck together and it sits too high then I'll pull the bed off and unbolt everything to rework it. Overall very happy so far, the front end has me a little nervous regarding clearance over the rack and pinion for the LS engine, time will tell!

[Kevin_C]

So I'm running flatout front and rear. this is mine with out any wood or fuel in the bed on 18's. I figure it will come down an inch and I may raise the front a bit. I hope this helps. Your truck looks great. Love the momentum.

[Snake72]

Kevin if my truck sits like yours I'd be happy, I've read through your build several times and have been using various C4 threads for reference and tips through the process