Dug's 1959 Fleetside

[Kim57]

You're making good progress.
Kim

[FarmerSid]

Holy cow that's quite the bed mod! Cool!

[dug224]

Huge progress thanks to my buddy Jim!!

Setup an elaborate array of strings, straight edges and levels around the truck to establish body lines, bed top lines, center bed lines, tailgate level lines and cut lines and kept coming up with the fact that something was 3/8” off. Turns out, the front left of the bed was too low by 3/8”. Shimmed it up and it all came together. Took a few hours to get this just right.

Cut 2” off of the outside of the wheel tubs.

Established the top of the bed to be 6.5” above the body line. Measured up from the body line string and subtracted ¼” for the cut line. Laser level and a good old carpenter’s square really helped establish proper elevations and straight cut lines. Cut the sides with a reciprocating saw and cut the front of the bed with a jig saw.

Hung the ’59 bed side. At the front of the bed, I had to cut out the ’95 bed where the ’59 bed pocket interfered. Also trimmed the ’95 bed outboard flange at the front of the bed one small piece at a time until the ’59 bed side aligned with the plain of the door. Inner panels of the ’59 are now touching the ’95 wheel tubs so they will have to be trimmed a bit. The vertical location appears to be perfect with no adjustment required so far.

The best news is that I will be able to slide the bed side forward to a point where I will not have to cut the wheel openings out to center them over the rear wheels. For every fraction of an inch you move the bed side forward, the bed floor becomes too long by that amount and will need to be trimmed at the back. Will have to shorten the bed about an inch. The rear pocket if the ’59 bed is hard up against the ’95 flange. This flange will have to be trimmed for me to continue moving the side forward. In addition, there is a flange at the front of the bed parallel to the back of the cab that may interfere with the cab if I get too close. I have seen some guys either bend the flange flat or remove it and weld up the edge. It basically creates a knife edge on the leading of ‘59 bed and allows me to move forward another ½” +/-. Will probably resort back to the ’59 tailgate since it will trim a bunch of time off of the build and frankly, will look better.

[dug224]

...more

[dug224]

...the last set...

[ricott]

I love your progress. Thanks for taking the time to post your solutions - it will really save me some time when I reach this part of my build. I really wish I was working on my truck instead of every other project, but it probably be after I retire (at the end of this year) before I can get back on it.

[Kim57]

A ton of work but looks real good.
Kim

[dsraven]

hey dugg, lots of work but really lookin great. good thinking there with the way you are attacking the bed skin attaching. pretty soon you will be off to the blasters with the bed sides and then the welding begins.
haven't worked on mine in weeks. always something else more pressing and not usually my stuff.

[waybad]

do you know if you had used a 4x4 frame would it have worked? this is a wonderful build!!

[ChuckDriver]

That's a lot of work, but it really makes the truck look perfect!

[dug224]

Originally Posted by ChuckDriver

That's a lot of work, but it really makes the truck look perfect!

Thanks....based on my photo log, looks like I took 2015 off which means I fell behind on all the builds out there. Man, yours is incredible.

[dug224]

Originally Posted by waybad

do you know if you had used a 4x4 frame would it have worked? this is a wonderful build!!

Thanks and yes, I think it will work. My 2WD frame has provisions in it to be 4WD so I suspect the geometry is the same. I can't tell the difference between a 2WD and 4WD Trailblazer when i see one on the street so no radical stance difference. RUSTYMARCO did a great build and I believe his was 4WD based on a question he asked me. Here's his build.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=653590

Probably have to use the same size tire all around if you were to keep the 4WD

Start a thread if you get going. Good luck. Dug

[waybad]

Originally Posted by dug224

Thanks and yes, I think it will work. My 2WD frame has provisions in it to be 4WD so I suspect the geometry is the same. I can't tell the difference between a 2WD and 4WD Trailblazer when i see one on the street so no radical stance difference. RUSTYMARCO did a great build and I believe his was 4WD based on a question he asked me. Here's his build.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=653590

Probably have to use the same size tire all around if you were to keep the 4WD

Start a thread if you get going. Good luck. Dug

thanks.. I have a s10 4x4 frame right now, but it would probably be easier to put a ls motor in one if it came with one.. lot less fabing I think..

[dug224]

Originally Posted by waybad

thanks.. I have a s10 4x4 frame right now, but it would probably be easier to put a ls motor in one if it came with one.. lot less fabing I think..

If you want to save a bunch of time and effort, I would look long and hard for a Trailblazer that already had the 6.0 (SS) or the 5.3. Even getting a LWB and shortening would be a good bit less effort. COPART is a good source for wrecked vehicles and you may even live in an area that does not require you to have a dealers license to buy. Not the case here. Becomes just a body swap at that point. To get my 5.3 to fit, all I did was buy some 5.3 engine mounts and it bolted right in. The transmission cross member was different so I had to modify it.

[waybad]

Originally Posted by dug224

If you want to save a bunch of time and effort, I would look long and hard for a Trailblazer that already had the 6.0 (SS) or the 5.3. Even getting a LWB and shortening would be a good bit less effort. COPART is a good source for wrecked vehicles and you may even live in an area that does not require you to have a dealers license to buy. Not the case here. Becomes just a body swap at that point. To get my 5.3 to fit, all I did was buy some 5.3 engine mounts and it bolted right in. The transmission cross member was different so I had to modify it.

yeah I think you are correct

[dsraven]

nice work.lots done in short order. miller time now. really though, you HAD to try your bike in there? a little showy isn't it? (I woulda done the same thing, ha ha).
I'm jealous of your progress. mine always seems to take back burner to someone else's emergency.
keep the pics coming, looks AWESOME!

[dug224]

Originally Posted by dsraven

nice work.lots done in short order. miller time now. really though, you HAD to try your bike in there? a little showy isn't it? (I woulda done the same thing, ha ha).
I'm jealous of your progress. mine always seems to take back burner to someone else's emergency.
keep the pics coming, looks AWESOME!

..wanted to put the TL250 in there as well but we ran out of enthusiasm.

[dsraven]

ha ha, that's good. maybe first thing next time out there then?
that box looks like it was made for the truck. I do think, like you, that a little more room in front of the rear tire would look better. for bed tie downs check out what the chevy avalanche has. they fold so they aren't in the way when not used. nice idea. for waybad, yes, the wheels/tires need to be all the same circumference on the 4x4 models. you prolly knew that though.

[dug224]

In an attempt to not create a bunch of new work moving the bed side further towards the cab, I started studying other ways to gain "front of rear tire to fender distance".
- Current tire sizes are as follows:
Front: 245-45-18
Rear: 255-55-18
- With passenger bed side in current location, the "front of the front wheel" and the "front of the rear wheel" are approximately the same distance from the fronts of their respective wheel openings at about 3.5". The "front tire to wheel opening" is approx. 1-7/8". The "rear tire to wheel opening" is approx. 3/4".
- If I keep the 255 rear tire width and drop to a 50 series tire, the single wall height drops from 5.52" to 5.02" adding 0.5" to my .075" gap for a total of 1.25". Overall, the rear of the truck drops 1" which, in my opinion, would not hurt the stance of the truck since it has a substantial rake unloaded. The rear tire still remains 1-3/8" taller than the front tire so I still get the big & little look.
- If I keep the 255 rear tire width and drop to a 45 series tire, the single wall height drops from 5.52" to 4.52" adding 1" to my .075" gap for a total of 1.75". Overall, the rear of the truck drops 2" which, in my opinion, still would not hurt the stance of the truck. The rear tire will be 3/8" taller overall than the front tire so I am not sure the big & little tire appearance would still be evident.

What do you guys think? Existing rake too much? Existing rear tires to tall? Am I over thinking the rear tire gap? Always figured I could cut the rear springs if, at the end of this, I still felt like the rake was too steep.

[dsraven]

everybody has their own opinion of how things should look. that is the great thing about the hotrod culture, the vehicles are someone's personal expressions. you may or may not like what some one has done with their hotrod but at the end of the day it is their's, not yours, so I find it best to say nothing if it isn't positive. personally I think the wheels do look a little tight at the front, but you asked so there it is.
what if you mark the centre of the wheel opening by using the start of the downward curve at the front and rear of the arch and then see how the wheel centreline looks when compared to that. it wouldn't matter what size of tire you ran if the wheel were to be centered in the opening. could you just put the truck on blocks, so the wheel is just barely off the ground, then remove the wheel and let it sit on the floor just an inch behind the hub centre? then stand back and see if you like it? you could move it around until you like the look and then decide what you want to do about it.
just a thought.

[dug224]

Originally Posted by dsraven

everybody has their own opinion of how things should look. that is the great thing about the hotrod culture, the vehicles are someone's personal expressions. you may or may not like what some one has done with their hotrod but at the end of the day it is their's, not yours, so I find it best to say nothing if it isn't positive. personally I think the wheels do look a little tight at the front, but you asked so there it is.
what if you mark the centre of the wheel opening by using the start of the downward curve at the front and rear of the arch and then see how the wheel centreline looks when compared to that. it wouldn't matter what size of tire you ran if the wheel were to be centered in the opening. could you just put the truck on blocks, so the wheel is just barely off the ground, then remove the wheel and let it sit on the floor just an inch behind the hub centre? then stand back and see if you like it? you could move it around until you like the look and then decide what you want to do about it.
just a thought.

Agree and Good idea. This portion of the build has turned into an art project. Like you were implying, not everyone likes all art and that's ok. I saw an otherwise perfect pre-1955-1/2 truck awhile back that may have been on an S-10 frame. The back wheels were so far forward, it was the only thing you could see. Don't want to be that guy. Another thing I will do is put the front left tire on the back rear and see how it looks with the same tire size on all four corners.

[dsraven]

sounds like you have a plan. let us know how it pans out.

[dug224]

Per DSRAVEN's suggestion, pulled the rear wheel and moved it back in .5" increments. Each location was different and somewhat better but there are so many competing curves its hard to land on a spot that is exactly right from all angles. Next thing I did was put the two front wheels on the driver side (see photos). Made a substantial difference with regard to the gap and also gave me more stuff to think about!!! The somewhat steep rake I currently have was lowered by about an inch. I threw the spare, receiver hitch and back bumper into the bed and it leveled out even more. Suddenly it starts to look more like a canyon carver truck which is appealing.

So, I'll move forward with securing the bedsides to the bed and use my current rear tire size. I can live with my current 1"+/- gap in front of the tire. In light of the new revelations about the stance and having the same size tires in all four corners, I'll start looking for a pair of smaller tires for a possible change later.......

[dug224]

Also, trimmed the bed side leading edge and the flange that bolts to the bed front and aligned the bedside sheet metal with the face of the door. Once again, the competing angles are hard to get your brain around. All the sheet metal, however dented and bent, lines up nicely and the bulky leading edge of the bed is now down to a more appealing dimension. The last picture is the driver side bedside with the bulky leading edge still in place.

By the way, the lower passenger cab corner was sculpted out of bondo. You can see where I ground it away. The new cab corner will have the proper body line that will match up with the new and more straight step.

[Kim57]

Making real good progress.
Looks good.
Kim