Dug's 1959 Fleetside

[dug224]

Originally Posted by Kim57

I'm sure what ever you do will turn out to be real nice on the bed.
Are you sure that TB/SS is only a 6.0.
I got my LS out of an 07 TB/SS and it's a 6.2.
Kim

Just assumed it. 6.2 sounds even better. Cant wait to dive into it. Dug

[dsraven]

there are little rubber buttons that go on the fender against the hood, correct? are yours in?

[dug224]

Originally Posted by dsraven

there are little rubber buttons that go on the fender against the hood, correct? are yours in?

No...nor are the rubber stops at the top of the hood. The ones across the front lip are in place. Will buy a fresh set before final alignment and install. May have to open the gaps a bit to fit that stuff.

[dug224]

Shot of the truck with mufflers and bed. Running an errand in the neighborhood.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTsg...ature=youtu.be


Video of the truck quietly idling and hood operation. Gotta watch your front teeth when opening the hood. It is well lubricated and opens quickly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xay...ature=youtu.be

[dsraven]

just a note, be careful doing that floor jack manoever, if it was me I'd probably end up with some black paint on my teeth somehow when the jack pad came off, ha ha

[dug224]

Originally Posted by dsraven

just a note, be careful doing that floor jack manoever, if it was me I'd probably end up with some black paint on my teeth somehow when the jack pad came off, ha ha

Those aren't my hands....tricked Jim into loading the spring with shims. I'm just the camera guy.

[dsraven]

just watched he youtube, then there was another one there with your son driving and no box or mufflers. I knew he was gonna try the burnout thing. I was just siting here watching and realized I had a smile from ear to ear. cool how that brings back memories from my early days when the neighbours watched me doing burnouts and stuff out front on the street. well, except for one old guy who only allowed a few test runs before the shotgun would appear, cradled across his arms as a warning as he stood at the end of his drive, ha ha. we still talk about him and if he woulda actually given a warning shot across the bow or just take out a rad or something.....
great to see your truck running, did you decide if you are going to lengthen the rear trailing arms or do some creative bodywork?
wish my truck was as good condition as yours is. I am starting with a glove box door and working my way out, ha ha.
just wondering if you plan on using the headrests on the seats or if they will hit the rear window. that is one reason I am extending the cab on mine.
dennis

[dug224]

Originally Posted by dsraven

just watched he youtube, then there was another one there with your son driving and no box or mufflers. I knew he was gonna try the burnout thing. I was just siting here watching and realized I had a smile from ear to ear. cool how that brings back memories from my early days when the neighbours watched me doing burnouts and stuff out front on the street. well, except for one old guy who only allowed a few test runs before the shotgun would appear, cradled across his arms as a warning as he stood at the end of his drive, ha ha. we still talk about him and if he woulda actually given a warning shot across the bow or just take out a rad or something.....
great to see your truck running, did you decide if you are going to lengthen the rear trailing arms or do some creative bodywork?
wish my truck was as good condition as yours is. I am starting with a glove box door and working my way out, ha ha.
just wondering if you plan on using the headrests on the seats or if they will hit the rear window. that is one reason I am extending the cab on mine.
dennis

That was me doing the one wheel burnout. Would not let my son spin the tires yet.

Will move the wheel opening rather than do the trailing arms. Need body work practice.

Headrests will not hit the glass. To insure this, I probably need to move the brake and gas pedals closer to the floor and maybe even make the foot well deeper so I can move the seat up. The pedals are a bit unnaturally high. Don't really like the headrests but do like my neck. They are less obtrusive than some of the seats I have seen filling a big window. I can always store them when parked if I ever get it complete enough to do a cruise-in.

[_Ogre]

a quick way to install or remove the hood springs is to use a loop of rope a foot long
hook the loop on the spring end and pull, the end will come out with out scratching any paint
reverse the procedure going in.
one end in the hinge with a rope loop on the other end, pull back and have a second person push the end into the slot
30 seconds per side max
in my prime i could install them by myself, not any more

[ChuckDriver]

Man, if your truck were mine I wouldn't think of painting it for a long time!!

[dug224]

Originally Posted by ChuckDriver

Man, if your truck were mine I wouldn't think of painting it for a long time!!

The better it runs the less I want to take it back apart and paint it. Maybe I will reconsider the whole painting thing and slap a clear coat on. Next job is to move the rear wheel opening.

[dug224]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

a quick way to install or remove the hood springs is to use a loop of rope a foot long
hook the loop on the spring end and pull, the end will come out with out scratching any paint
reverse the procedure going in.
one end in the hinge with a rope loop on the other end, pull back and have a second person push the end into the slot
30 seconds per side max
in my prime i could install them by myself, not any more

Great advice. Already scratched the springs and was wondering how to avoid it in final assembly. Thanks!

[Kim57]

Truck sure looks good all together.
Kim

[Advanced Design]

Dug the truck looks great!

[dug224]

Got the front clip and cab leveled. Had to shim the front and back right corners about 3/16" and the front left core support about 5/16". Tightened all the sheet metal bolts which ultimately tightened up all the gaps..... maybe a bit too much. Still looks pretty straight. Re-hung the passenger door several hundred times and finally got it to a point that proves to me I can get it to a final position after several hundred more hangings. By the way, both doors are a different color than the cab so they did not come on the truck...not that they would have been any straighter. I will definitely be adding and subtracting door edge material to get the gaps right.

Was going to weld a stud onto the body line on both sides in the front and back so I could pull a string and establish the body alignment. Decided to utilize the existing holes in the fenders and bed sides instead. Used a bolt and bushing. Worked nicely. The only problem I am having is seeing the door. The body line in the door is not quite as crisp. Also, the bed is about 1/4" wider than cab (1/8" on each side). Jim pointed out that I can probably pull it in by loosening the bed front bolts and pulling the sides to towards the middle.

[ricott]

Your truck looks so good with all the sheetmetal on it! And even better that it moves under its own power. Plates, taillights and a windshield and you could drive it without worrying that you were going to turn the corner and see the local police.
Now that you have the truck mostly assembled, what is the ground to rocker measurement at the front of the door?

[dsraven]

hey dugg,
one way to make sure your stuff lines up again when you reassemble it after painting is to drill and pin (screw) the hinges, fender mounts etc. that way when you reassemble it everything should go back in the same place. you just gotta make sure the screws fit into the holes well, so no room for error. some guys will drill and use roll pins, that way they fit tight in the holes and no room for any discrepancies.
your truck looks good. good attention to detail and forethought. you gotta paint it though. I recommend getting it licensed and drive it just a little first. that way if there are some bugs to work out it will all be good before the paint goes on.
the wife is out of town for a couple days so I actually got some stuff done on my truck. I meant to take some pics and post them but she took the camera, my tablet, her tablet, pretty much everything that isn't bolted down. I dunno what she was thinking but anyway, there are no pics except for on my phone, and I have to wait for my tablet to come home before I can really do anything with those pics (dinosaur phone). I really have to figure out how to start a build thread. I tried and it said there is a build thread somewhere. just don't know where. if only computers had nuts and bolts. (hardware, jeez you guys). anyway, keep up the good work and post lots of pics. it keeps losers like me inspired to carry on.

[dug224]

Originally Posted by ricott

Your truck looks so good with all the sheetmetal on it! And even better that it moves under its own power. Plates, taillights and a windshield and you could drive it without worrying that you were going to turn the corner and see the local police.
Now that you have the truck mostly assembled, what is the ground to rocker measurement at the front of the door?

8-1/2" to the rocker at edge of door and 8-3/8" to fender lip. The fender is pretty bent up and the rocker is not welded in (however, in final position).

[Kim57]

Looks real nice with the changes.
Nice color.
Kim

[dug224]

Somebody forgot to turn the humidity button on in Alabama this morning so I got the rare summer opportunity to open the garage and work outside. Got tired of not being able to see the body line so I got the sander out and revealed it along with a few damaged areas on driver side. Also cut the excess sheet metal off the T.B. receiver hitch and remounted it into the frame for a test fit. With a very minor bits of trimming of the rear cross member under tailgate it will slide into place.

[Advanced Design]

Looking good Dugg! Humidity button is off up here too. Best July 4 weather in recent memory.

[dug224]

Marked up the bed side for the wheel opening cut. Looks like I will be moving it 2" towards the front. Also, ran across a rear bumper with bad chrome for $50. Trying to decide if I want to keep it and have it re-chromed or strip the nickel and go with body color. Headed towards installing the bumper upside down like they did on the Dynacorn project with the license plate mounted on a hinged bracket that I can rotate forward to access the receiver hitch. Top of bumper even with the bottom of the rear cross brace about 1/2" off the back of the bed. Those bumpers don't really look like they are too well thought out whether they are right side up or upside down. They look good until you look at them from the side.

[Rc4mike]

Originally Posted by dug224

Somebody forgot to turn the humidity button on in Alabama this morning so I got the rare summer opportunity to open the garage and work outside. Got tired of not being able to see the body line so I got the sander out and revealed it along with a few damaged areas on driver side. Also cut the excess sheet metal off the T.B. receiver hitch and remounted it into the frame for a test fit. With a very minor bits of trimming of the rear cross member under tailgate it will slide into place.

What truck is your hitch off of?

[dug224]

Originally Posted by Rc4mike

What truck is your hitch off of?

It came with my 2002 Trailblazer frame. It has a ton of sheet metal bolted and welded to it as it is part of the bumper system. All I did was unbolt it from the frame and strip if off the non-structural excess metal. dug

[Kim57]

Looks like you have the bed cuts laid out real nice.
I agree with you on the bumpers looking like an after thought.
I flipped my front and it fits a lot nicer.
Kim