Roadkill's 58 Chevy Stepside

[Roadkill58]

Originally Posted by ptc

YEa I was hoping for mine to be ready to at least go down the road by then, but people been holding me up! I was waiting on some roll bar guys that said they could swing me a deal... well the deal became just wasting my time!

Ordered one today from ChassisWorks.

Weather is holding me up. My open air shop is not working out this time of year. My Les Nesman shop.

All of you can stop praying for rain now.



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[Roadkill58]

Last weekend my brother helped me get the cab back on the chassis.

After the bed is on I can:

1. Set pinion angle.

2. Finish fabricating torque arm mount.

3. Cut tube to length for brake booster to brake pedal assembly.

4. Finish steering rod from rack to steering column via a heim joint and bracket. Sets me up for an LS engine in the future.

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[ptc]

Looking good there Jim! - Looking like a truck again, its always good to get the cab on - its like the HEART of the entire build. Everything passes thru there.

[Task Force Era]

Originally Posted by ptc

Looking good there Jim! - Looking like a truck again, its always good to get the cab on - its like the HEART of the entire build. Everything passes thru there.

Exactly! Such a rad feeling setting the cab back on after an extended time

[Roadkill58]

Thanks PTC, Task Force Era.

The cab was off way too long.

I am going to drive it this year even if it is multi colored.



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[ChuckDriver]

Nice progress!

[ptc]

Originally Posted by Roadkill58

Thanks PTC, Task Force Era.

The cab was off way too long.

I am going to drive it this year even if it is multi colored..

Mine too, paint or no paint !!!! Im ready to be driving already!!!!

[Roadkill58]

Originally Posted by ChuckDriver

Nice progress!

Thanks JJ!

How is your PB install going?



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[Roadkill58]

Originally Posted by ptc

Mine too, paint or no paint !!!! Im ready to be driving already!!!!

I was starting to think paint was over-rated....until I looked at tpimuncie's build thread again.



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[ChuckDriver]

Thanks JJ!

How is your PB install going?

Still very sloooooow!

.[/QUOTE]

[ptc]

Hey Jim I hope youre still pluggin away at this thing! we gotta be driving these things come this fall....

[Roadkill58]

Originally Posted by ptc

Hey Jim I hope youre still pluggin away at this thing! we gotta be driving these things come this fall....

I'm getting a little done here and there. Got the rear end pinion angle set and tack welded. Working on torque arm mount design.

Need to shorten the drive line by about 10 1/2".

Shortened the steering column and need to re-assemble it.

I almost bought a Cadillac CTS for the independent rear suspension (like Camaro).

Making mods to my new blast cabinet so that it actually works.

Built a 212' redwood fence (still need to make a gate).

Drove to Oregon and helped brother in law demo and build a deck.

Graduations, Weddings, and other stuff will steal some weekends from the truck.

Yeah it's time to get this truck on the road.

[tpimuncie]

Originally Posted by Roadkill58

Last weekend my brother helped me get the cab back on the chassis.

After the bed is on I can:

1. Set pinion angle.

2. Finish fabricating torque arm mount.

3. Cut tube to length for brake booster to brake pedal assembly.

4. Finish steering rod from rack to steering column via a heim joint and bracket. Sets me up for an LS engine in the future.

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Look at all that stainless!!

[Roadkill58]

Originally Posted by tpimuncie

Look at all that stainless!!

Do you mean the trim on the cab?

The square stock on the ground is mild steel left over from the rack on the 69.


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[II_Slow]

A few posts up was some discussion about how great it is getting the cab on one. For some odd reason, I just really liked getting the bed on mine for the first and being able to sit on the tailgate and drink a beer. I guess it just really felt like a real truck then - not just a pile of parts.
Keep plugging away at it, brother. Any progress is good!

[Roadkill58]

Thanks II_Slow.



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[Roadkill58]

My brother re-assembled the truck column I shortened.
Finally got it mounted (temporary brackets) in the cab.
Also welded heim support and connected D-shaft and universal joints.

It's nice to be able to steer the truck with the steering wheel instead of kicking the tire while it's rolling.

This morning I made a pattern for the torque arm mount before rolling the truck off the lift.

I still need to trim it up a little. I hope it will clear the drive shaft.

[ptc]

Looking good ------ every little bit counts!!!!

[Roadkill58]

Originally Posted by ptc

Looking good ------ every little bit counts!!!!

Thanks ptc.

I'm starting to think I will get it running and driving by the end of August.

Will be driving it ugly, but driving.

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[Roadkill58]

Today I removed 9 1/4" from the drive line that was in the truck when I bought it.

The rear end yoke does not match up to the truck drive line.

The front yoke slides right in the muncie trans.

With the torque arm bracket almost in place (no bracing or welding) it's very close to the drive line.

I called Drive Line Service of West Sacramento and was told I would be fine with a smaller tube (2 3/4").

Tomorrow I'm taking the drive line to DLS and they will make me a new one using the front yoke (if it passes inspection) and rear u-joint to fit the IROC rear end yoke.
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[Roadkill58]

This morning before removing the drive shaft I loosened the bolts on the torque arm at the rear end housing.
I was able to adjust it a little bit which made a difference of about a 3/4" at the other end.

Now I can have the drive line built with a 3" tube.

Removed the pinion yoke (needed to replace the seal anyway) to take to Drive Line Service so there would be no mistake as to what was needed.

Decided to have them build a complete drive line so I could keep the old one for mock-up on the other trucks.

I'm hoping to get a call tomorrow to pick it up.

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[Roadkill58]

Got the call from Drive Line Service to pick up the new drive line this morning.

Cleaned and painted the torque arm mount.

Still deciding if I want to weld the bracket, or make it bolt in.

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[ptc]

Dang that is sweet!!!! Jimmie and the guys do some nice work down there at DLS!!!!!

Im hoping to talk my motor guys into getting my engine to me by this week so I can get him hot on a driveline for my rig to get it going! Big Car, Truck, Boat show at clear lake Aug 12-14 coming up....

[Roadkill58]

Originally Posted by ptc

Dang that is sweet!!!! Jimmie and the guys do some nice work down there at DLS!!!!!

They do some good work, and fast turn around.

My tractor parts came today. Got the fan and water pump painted and ready for installation in the morning.

I can't get anything out of the engine shed without the tractor.

Got a deep cut Milwaukee band saw at the swap meet on Saturday.
I have wanted one for a long time.

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[Roadkill58]

Torque arm mount is about done (trim up and paint).

Removed mock-up engine. Retrieved 355 SBC from engine shed.

I removed the mechanical fuel pump & rod from the block. Noticed some grit at the bottom of the fuel pump cavity on the block. Not a good sign.

Removed oil pan and found a bunch of crud in the oil pump pickup screen.

Removed timing cover and found a gear drive and it was clean.

I could see the bottoms of the pistons were still clean.

I'm wondering if this was a Canadian motor.
Under the ford blue and Chevy orange there was a metallic green color. I remember my high school auto shop teacher had just moved from Canada to Sacramento and his car (don't remember the model, don't think it was a Chevy) had a SBC painted the same color.

It also had an extension cord coming out of the oil pan which I thought was funny.

Anyway I am doing an in depth inspection and cleanup on this motor before it goes in the truck.