norms 55 chevy pu build

[Jason 56]

I’ll have to check them out. They look like they would flow nice.

[washington blue]

I finished up the back of the pu. Got done cutting, welding, and mounting the exhaust. Bumper is all mounted and I have 4 backup lights in the stock bumper holes. I cut and welded a pair of simple mounts to the backside of the bumper and they bolt to the frame. I also made a super simple license plate and plate light mount, since no one will see it I decided not to make it fancy, just functionable. It simply bolts to the inside of the frame C. The tail lights look stock and fit stock but they have LED stuff in them.

[washington blue]

Been working on the radiator mount, as you can see I cut both sides and I moved the mounts forward 1/2 inch so it is flush. I have not finished the mounts for my Lincoln mark VIII electric fan yet but holding it in place I have 1/2 inch of room between the fan motor and the water pump shaft. Thanks for looking, norm

[daveshilling]

Love this momentum Norm, keep it up!

[Jason 56]

Looks good. I like your fix for the radiator.

[washington blue]

Had to make a little clearance for the steering gearbox. l cut out a piece and turned it over and JB welded it back in.

[6DoF]

seams like you could just cut that threaded snout off if not using it and get another bunch of clearance?

[bosco]

Originally Posted by 6DoF

seams like you could just cut that threaded snout off if not using it and get another bunch of clearance?

That's what we ended up doing on mine when we replaced with an upgraded fan system. No issue with clearance now.

[washington blue]

I studied the water pump quite a bit. Wishing I could cut it off, if you look on the back side of the pulley the threaded pipe does not extend beyond the black stamped pulley's back side. Cutting it off would leave about 1/4 inch of threaded pipe pressed onto the water pump shaft. Is this enough? Would it ever work lose? I have absolutely no answers for this but, I do not want to be broke down on the road so I moved the radiator forward 1/2 an inch and it is good now. I also considered getting an aftermarket fan which would have given me 2 full inches of room as they are much slimmer..... Bosco I have pictures of your pickup on my shop wall for inspiration. Yours is how my wife wants ours too look when it's done. Thanks for looking norm

[bosco]

Originally Posted by washington blue

I studied the water pump quite a bit. Wishing I could cut it off, if you look on the back side of the pulley the threaded pipe does not extend beyond the black stamped pulley's back side. Cutting it off would leave about 1/4 inch of threaded pipe pressed onto the water pump shaft. Is this enough? Would it ever work lose? I have absolutely no answers for this but, I do not want to be broke down on the road so I moved the radiator forward 1/2 an inch and it is good now. I also considered getting an aftermarket fan which would have given me 2 full inches of room as they are much slimmer..... Bosco I have pictures of your pickup on my shop wall for inspiration. Yours is how my wife wants ours too look when it's done. Thanks for looking norm

Thanks for the compliment. I just had some work done to fine tune the doors, hood and fender alignments.

As for the water pump, mine is on a '98 Vortec engine and has 4 bolts that mount the pulley to the pump, so no issue cutting it shorter, and no issues for the past 6 months. It all depends on the engine and what pump is used before making the decision to alter the shaft length.

[dsraven]

for others with fan clearance issues there is also the option to have 2 fan motors which are offset from the center point so the water pump shaft clears both motors. on mine I also moved the rad forward and actually built a whole new rad support from square tubing and sheet metal. not really hard if you have some basic skills and a welder. use the old support for a pattern.

[washington blue]

Made a couple simple mounts for the fan & shroud and they seem to work well.

[washington blue]

Had to move the bottom brace forward and down a little to clear the rad. I want it stiff because I removed the X brace. Had to modify the ac condenser mounts just a little because of the thicker rad. and the fan mounting bolts but I got everything to fit with about 1/4 inch between the condenser and the grill.

[washington blue]

Next I have to make a hole for the pre-bent lines.

[joedoh]

outstanding! keep plugging!

[washington blue]

Took a long time to get this silly hole right. I had moved the condenser forward a little due to the Desert Cooler radiator being thicker. I made the hole to fit the lines and thought I was good. Later I decided to check the hood latch and the panel it is in, well, the condenser hit the back side, sigh. Sooo, bend the condenser mounts again and move it about 1/2 inch closer at the top only as the bottom is close already, test fit, test fit. Finally all fits good. Not the hole, dang, now it is off a little. So I got to rework the hole.

[washington blue]

Decided to move to the back and see what I could do there. So I cut up an inner fender. Never done that before and it turned out ok. This will give me some more tire room.

[washington blue]

Went back to the front and mounted the dryer, had to do lots of really small tweaks so there would be no stress on the hard lines. Got it done, had to have it about 10 degrees from vertical to clear the subframe but it should work.

[washington blue]

I got the other inner fender cut and welded. Fitted everything and marked holes and edges and cut some holes. After putting the inner fenders in place making sure all the bolt holes were right and they were clamped tight I marked and then cut some wood. I have learned from this that I have absolutely no wood working tools except rough cut saws and a sawsall for framing and rough construction. Cutting the wood was a slow process and Smokey too. lol.

[washington blue]

I'm not going to drill holes in the wood until I have the floor all bolted down to be sure of my locations but it is looking pretty good for now. In this photo nothing is clamped tight so you can see some gaps between the two metals. Thanks for looking, norm

[washington blue]

Test fitted the wood floor and strips today. Needed some tweaking of metal here and there but now it fits nicely.

[washington blue]

Got all the bolts in all the holes. Drilling and fitting and all seems well.

[G&R's57GMC]

Be sure to add heat shields above the tail pipes over the axle to prevent overheating the wood and the finish on the top side .

[washington blue]

Thanks G&R, yes I need to do something. Not sure what tho, I only have about 1/8 - 3/8 inch above the pipes. I have seen guys put metal above it, and I've been wondering about header wrap but not sure yet.

[Jason 56]

Bed is looking great Norm!

Originally Posted by G&R's57GMC

Be sure to add heat shields above the tail pipes over the axle to prevent overheating the wood and the finish on the top side .

Good call… I’m working on my bed wood also. I’ll have to incorporate something myself.