"Albert" -- 1949 AD, S10 Chassis

[OutlawDrifter]

I just read through the whole thread. Awesome work! I've got a GMC 1 ton dually I'm about to start a similar project on. I'm going for the "phantom dually" look with a flatbed and LS power though. Very detailed and top shelf work you do, good luck on the Power Tour. The wife and I discussed doing the first leg in the Z28 but haven't committed to anything yet.

[HUSSEY]

^^^
Cheers. I was going to go the route of a flatbed too unit I found my bed and rear fenders on the cheap. There's one out there I've come across many time looking at pics that's a slammed flat bed with some low profile tires and large smoothie wheels, different and cool looking.

Unfortunately, the Power Tour thing won't happen, I won't even get to do the first night in KC. My wife and I were planning a vacation to Gulf Shores, AL for the family and that was the best week that worked with all of our schedules. Maybe next year.

[OutlawDrifter]

Anything new to share on your pickup?

Getting closer to setting my cab on the frame, I've been reading and re-reading your thread in preparation. I'm hoping I can get away without moving my steering column more to the driver's side.

[HUSSEY]

Originally Posted by OutlawDrifter

Anything new to share on your pickup?

Not much really, I've done few things here and there. I installed shoulder seat belts, radio and speakers, dash speaker grill and glove box cover, and a few other little things. Next on my list is getting the bed wood in. I'd like to get that finished up by the end of the month.

I read the updates on your build, keep at it, it's looking good!

[handyhands]

What length shifter is that?

[HUSSEY]

Originally Posted by handyhands

What length shifter is that?

From my build log: Lokar ATS6700AN 23" Nostalgia Transmission Shifter w/ Boot

For some reason, Speedway had a price a lot lower than anyone else, still wasn't cheap at $239. Don't regret it though.

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by II_Slow

Congrats! If that really was the first drive, you were a lot more patient that a lot of us. My first test drive on the road was to a car show a few miles away. No lights, no glass, no seatbelts, no hood, no bumpers, no registration, no insurance, straight pipe, very minimal wiring, and a steel bed just laying in the back. I ran it up to about 70 MHP and accidentally let it drift over onto the rumble strip on the side of the highway and I swear I thougt it was coming apart. Loud as hell with the bed floor loose and no glass, and of course you could feel it in the steering wheel. Scared the hell out of me for a couple of seconds!

Sounds VERY good, looks great as well. Can't wait for my turn to "finish" mine (like they're ever finished!) and hit the road.

That will totally be me. I'm not even sure I'll have fenders on

[Mains52]

What size of tubing did you use for your bed braces? Thanks
really sweet truck man keep it up.

[Mains52]

Originally Posted by Mains52

What size of tubing did you use for your bed braces? Thanks
really sweet truck man keep it up.

NVM I found the page in the thread ha. I knew I had seen it in there.

[HUSSEY]

I’ve been working on getting a wood bed in the back of the truck. What’s really taken me so long was my indecisiveness in what kind of wood I wanted to use. I looked at using barnwood, rough cut wood, planed hardwood, etc. I ended up just grabbing some common pine at Home Depot for $40 to be done with it. I think I spent more time researching and going to look at material than I have in the bed so far.

I trimmed the board to have seven boards across the bed with the metal strips in between each board with all board showing the same width. I had to set up a goal seek in Excel to get the dimensions figured out. What I came up with is shown below, and no, I did not try and cut the boards to the thousandths of an in., I’m not that uptight. I cut the center boards to 7 in. and the end boards to 6.5 in. with the expectation that I would do a final trim of the end boards.

I used a dato blade on a table saw to cut a recess to sink the metal strips in the boards. To assemble I started with the center board and centered it to the bed. I found a bolt that worked as a spacer to get the boards spaced apart properly. I used a finish nail gun to get everything assembled and held together. I then pulled out the bed, flipped it over, and put an s-ton of screws in.

Now I’m just left with finishing it off…another moment of being indecisive…I can’t figure out what color I want to do. Ultimately, once I have my stain color picked I’m going to finish it off with tung oil to give it some protection and a little bit of sheen.

[OutlawDrifter]

Nice work! It always amazes my how much research and overthought I can put into a project, simple or otherwise.

Any luck on finding a color matched bed?

[HUSSEY]

Originally Posted by OutlawDrifter

Nice work! It always amazes my how much research and overthought I can put into a project, simple or otherwise.

Any luck on finding a color matched bed?

Yes and no. I found one fender but it's 1.5 hours a away. Found a complete bed but it's 3.5 hours away, they guy wants $800 for it, and from the pics it looks a bit rough though i'ts still hard to tell with the pics provided. I may make it to his neck of the woods sooner or later for other reasons and will check to see if he has it but I really don't want to make a 7 hour round trip to not come home with something.

What I have is fairly solid, in the end I may have to try to foe patina it.

[DeanTX]

That's basically what I did. I used pine from Lowes. To get a nice weathered look I mixed a pint of water with a pint of vinegar, then added in some salt. Next put some metal dust or shavings in and let it sit overnight. Stir it up the next day and paint it on with a brush. It will turn grayish brown within 5 minutes and does not harm the wood. Makes for a nice weathered barn look.

after it dried I went over it with two coats of marine spar varnish. I'll try to post some pics.

[99 to Life]

looks great.

[mongocanfly]

bed looks good..I'm partial to special walnut for stain and for the barnwood recipe that dean talked about we always used steel wool for the metal..it looks good as well..

[joedoh]

I am with you, pine is fine.

[HUSSEY]

I got some stain on the bed last night. I spent a little time sanding it down first with 120 theN 220, just what I had. I ended up going with with Minwax Provincial. I'll give this a day or two to dry out then start rubbing in a coat of tung oil every couple of days.

[OutlawDrifter]

That looks really good! The grain popped really well.

Could you please measure how much room is between your cab and bed?

[99 to Life]

nice. also like your flower pot!!

[Northern 52]

I just stumbled across this build thread recently and am very impressed with the details posted.

An absolutely great build.

I too am in the process of building a 1952 3 window on a shortened 2000 S10 chassis. I have recently replaced all of the stock front steering and suspension parts with 2 inch Beltech drop spindles added. Too bad I didn't find this forum sooner as the Blazer front spindles and larger brakes would have been a bonus.

I have many questions but the first is what is the measurement from the headlight opening to the center of the front wheels or is there another good way to center the front wheels without the original chassis for a reference?

Thank you.

[HUSSEY]

Can't say I took any measurements here. I followed anothers suggestion of putting the mount made from 4x4 two inches behind the oval hole. Stood back then looked at it and it looked good to me.

I think the best thing you can do is set your truck on the ground, put on the wheels and tires, then get the cab set with the front end on, stand back and eye it. Bigger tires will help here too.

[DeanTX]

Originally Posted by HUSSEY

Can't say I took any measurements here. I followed anothers suggestion of putting the mount made from 4x4 two inches behind the oval hole. Stood back then looked at it and it looked good to me.

I think the best thing you can do is set your truck on the ground, put on the wheels and tires, then get the cab set with the front end on, stand back and eye it. Bigger tires will help here too.

Posted via Mobile Device

Hussey I really like the planter outside your garage door. I'm sure your wife picked it out, right? I'm thinking a straight 6 block with flowers in each cylinder would have the right decorator touch at my shop.

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by Northern 52

I just stumbled across this build thread recently and am very impressed with the details posted.

An absolutely great build.

I too am in the process of building a 1952 3 window on a shortened 2000 S10 chassis. I have recently replaced all of the stock front steering and suspension parts with 2 inch Beltech drop spindles added. Too bad I didn't find this forum sooner as the Blazer front spindles and larger brakes would have been a bonus.

I have many questions but the first is what is the measurement from the headlight opening to the center of the front wheels or is there another good way to center the front wheels without the original chassis for a reference?

Thank you.

I just did this over the past few months and agree with Hussey. There are slight differences in all the bodies and chassises (what is the plural of a chassis haha), so the method that worked for me is setting the cab on a piece of 4x4 wood up front and I used a 4x4 on top of a 2x4 for the rear (see pic below). Then you slide it around until the front fender sits over the wheel. Grab a chair or sit on the floor and stare at it for hours. Come back the next day and stare some more. Take pictures and stare at those some too. Then post them here so we can all tell you its going to be ok. Then tack weld some mounts. Stare at those some and you should be good to go

I actually find determining the height of the mounts to be more difficult as it requires partial fabrication of the core support, mounting of fenders, and mounts for the cab.

[HUSSEY]

Originally Posted by DeanTX

Posted via Mobile Device

Hussey I really like the planter outside your garage door. I'm sure your wife picked it out, right? I'm thinking a straight 6 block with flowers in each cylinder would have the right decorator touch at my shop.

Got one of those too from my donor truck. The motor was missing the head, just need to get the cylinders out of it. Right now is sitting in the the backyard with a custom made cedar flower box sitting on top of it in place of the cylinder head.

[Northern 52]

Thanks guys. I was hoping for some magic measurement but the sit back and look at it method makes sense since these builds are about individual creations.

There was mention of keeping the cab 4 1/4 inches off the frame rather than 4 inches. Was this for rad / steering box clearance or was there another clearance point issue?

I also read somewhere that S10 V8's require a different oil pan for cross-member clearance. I take it that the engine can be moved back enough to resolve this issue and still clear the firewall.

I will keep reading the posts as I may have missed some of these answers and will definitely have some more questions before too long as I move along with my project. Thanks again for great info and hopefully I don't become a pest with my questions.