norms 55 chevy pu build

[dsraven]

that looks AWESOME! must feel pretty good to be at that point. i wish I were that far along.
love that color, great choice.

[washington blue]

Just wondering, can I put the front fenders on and put the inner fenders on after, or must I put them on assembled?
Or do I put the inner fenders on first?
In the past I always put them on assembled but they were not painted so bumps and scratches didn't matter.
Wish I would have practiced "pretending they were painted" to assemble once or twice.

[dsraven]

since the inner fenders bolt to the rad support I would think they gotta go on first. unless, of course, you have some help to assemble stuff and someone could hold a few things while you mve parts in or out. it might be better to assemble the inners first though and then the fenders. I like to use wide masking tape on the edges and corners until the parts are loosely bolted up. there is also plastic washers that can be used between parts or under bolts so as not to crack or damage new paint. usually available at bolt supply places or online.
post up some pics as you go, it helps inspire the rest of us.

[55taskforce]

DSRaven is exactly right. The inner fenders are sandwiched between the radiator core support and the fender so you will have to either bolt the inner fender to the fender first or as he said have a helper to help hold it in place so that you can bolt the fender through the inner fender and into the core support at the same time.

[washington blue]

Had my wife help steady it and we got the hood on. Seems every piece I put on this thing, the shop gets just a little bigger, lol.

[dsraven]

Looks great.
At first glance I thought you had some sort of a jib crane on your tractor. Haha.

[dsraven]

You're probably aware but the doors get fit to the cab first before fenders go on.
I like to use some tape on the edges of the panels that may accidentally contact each other upon assembly and adjustment.

[washington blue]

I now see what you are saying about a crane on the tractor, lol.

My plan with the doors,, I had parts all over the floor in the shop with towels under them, leaving me very little space to move around. I had to walk so carefully it was stressful. I did not want to constantly move all those parts because of chip risk. This meant my hoist did not have room to be used.
Example, I put the cab on outside where there was unlimited room.

I have the hood mounted as far forward in it's mounting holes as I can, leaves me 1/2 inch of clearance between hood and firewall, I'll do the same with the front fenders.

I am going to use the hoist to hang the doors so I have total control and can slide them in place 1/2 inch at a time without getting tired from lifting, or balancing them on a jack, risking dropping them. With all the other painted stuff on the pu I will have room to have the hoist 90 degrees to the cab, that takes about 15 feet of width room, and my shop is 20 feet wide. Once the doors are hung and adjusted to the cab I'll start moving the fenders and hood back as needed. Before paint I had the doors on and off several times to work on them with fenders mounted, so I kinda learned how to do that.

I spent extra time sanding and painting last summer to get everything sprayed, this way, my little paint room could be used to store parts this winter because my snow moving tractor takes up lots of room. Now, when everything's mounted, I have room to move my hoist around inside.

[8man]

Very nice work. I can't wait to see the fenders and doors on.

[washington blue]

Put the inner fenders on, there are 2 bolts at the bottom, 1 on the core support and 1 all the way at the lower back. The inner fenders are very light so those bolts keep them in place nicely. Once I'm done sanding, buffing the fenders I'll see how it goes putting them on,lol.
In the picture you can see a bolt at the top of the core support, I put it there so I know where it is. It's not holding anything.

[washington blue]

Here's hoping everyone is getting ready for a wonderful Christmas in a few days.

[washington blue]

I'm starting to think my front springs might be a tiny bit too strong, it has not settled at all yet. I have another 300 pounds or so to put on it yet tho.

[57FleetsideC4]

Looks Great!! Doing the fun stuff now. Steve

[dsraven]

don't worry about the springs till its all together and has been driven around for a bit. sometimes new springs take a bit to get their "set" and if they end up too strong they can be swapped out, after the truck has been finished, without too much work.
keep plugging away at it and you'll soon have all kinds of room in your shop and only left over extra parts left laying around. it's coming out nice.

[washington blue]

Thanks guys.
Ok, I'll try not to think about springs, I tend to be a little bit of a worrier, It occured to me that I had never compaired the front weight of a 80 Firebird to a 55 pu with alterations. An 80 Fierbird weighs 3400 pounds. I guess I still have lots of things to put on that will add a few hundred pounds. These are the origional "80" springs.

[dsraven]

you probably could spend a bunch of time researching but, in the end, it will come down to how it sits when completed. if the springs in the camaro clip are original springs and it sits high then you could possibly swap then for some lighter springs or adjust the rear to match the height. if it is a rough ride quality then you could swap the coils.