Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed

[Kim57]

Nice progress.
Looks real good.
Kim

[oldman3]

Kees, you are doing a great job on this build...Jim

[Stepside Jim]

Extremely good work all around on this project from fitment and the creativity to use all your resources to get the job done.

I can feel the commitment of craftsmanship all the way on this side of the earth.

Jim

[ChuckDriver]

Nice job!

[RockinKees]

Thank you guys!!
Appreciate it very much!!
I do what I can within my budget

[RockinKees]

Made the transmount out of the old motormount.

First I took it to parts:



Tacked some angled steel to it and bolted it to the chassis.
Then I set the pignon angle and tacked everything together.





I can adjust the transmount by adding shims under the trans itself to get it higher or at the chassis to get it lower, works perfect

Then onto the engine mounts..
I took the old parts of the mount, tacked 3/8" steel to the chassis and the mount.

This is the old part...


This I made from 3/8" steel strip:





Set the engine in the middle of the chassis and tacked the steel:



Made a template and grinded out of the same in 3/8" steel:









And then....I ran out of gas...

But the engine and trans are in!!
What do you think? Strong enough?

[ChuckDriver]

Nice and strong!

[Advanced Design]

Looks good Kees. The triangulated plate steel should be sturdy enough. Maybe you could gusset fore and aft at the top on the mount? That would give additional rigidity.

[Kim57]

Looks plenty strong enough.
Good job.
Kim

[reaper71]

There should be No issues with the new mounts.
I have used thinner material before and had no problems.

Mark...

[RockinKees]

I welded all the parts, and "tested" the motormounts...
There is no way I get some movement in them





Transmount also ready, not the nicest welds, but hey, if you drive 50 mph, you don't see it anyway





Next I made a bolt-in front x-member.
I don't know if this is neccesary, I thought it would??
Not ready yet, but you get the picture!

[Kim57]

Looking real good.
Kim

[oldman3]

Kees, better and better each day..Jim

[RockinKees]

Small update.
I finished welding the front x-member.
Then checked the complete front, cleaned it and put the first layer of primer on it. Ofcourse I did the x-member and the transmount too
When these are painted after the weekend, the IFS and IRS are ready
Then it's on to the bodywork!!





The PO had his velour interiour screwed in, so I have to weld about a thousend holes in the cab
And I will have a search on this board to the best way to repair the hinge pockets and what's in front of that area...I think this is the most difficult thing I have to do. (Tips are welcome!!)
Floors shouldn't be so hard.

[Advanced Design]

Looking really good Kees!

[oldman3]

Kees, I agree looking good...Jim

[Kim57]

Very nice.
Kim

[RockinKees]

Thanks!!

First coat chassis black went on last night:



In the meantime at home, I drilled a 3 mm thick plate for the brakebooster.
I will weld it in on the firewall, and make my own swingpedal.



A lot of drilling to get a hole of almost 2,5"





I must have a flat surface to mount the booster, so I have to look how I manage that.
Can't remember exactly how the firewall looks like at that place, I'm getting old, I think...

[Kim57]

Nice fab work.
Kim

[Nut Case]

Knees, I have learned so much, your creative process is off the chart. There is no box big enough that you won't leave to solve a problem. Shortly I'm going to start a build on a 57 GMC with C-4 suspension front and back. With the engine fixed and the IRS fixed is it necessary to have the rear tilted 4 degrees? There is no movement of the rear end in relation to the engine/tranny, as long as they match. They could be level. All right let me have it. Thanks in advance Chase

[RockinKees]

Thanks Kim!!

Nut Case, thanks for your kind words!!
I have used Jaguar stuff, that really not the same as Corvette.
So I can't help you with that, but there are guys on this board that have used C4 suspension, try a search on this.

Mine has the pignon angle the same as the trans, both fixed.
With Jag stuff, there are different opinions on how to mount the diff, I did what I thought it was best, and hope for the best...
Well, I did my homework on this

[ptc]

Kees, all your fab work is looking great! project coming right along nice.

As for Nut Case question - on the driveline angles I think he was referring to?, you should have at least 1-3 degrees of angle (up or down) between the trans and rear diff. What this does is allows the needle bearing inside the u-joint cups to spin as the driveline rotates and keeps them active and rounded.

If your driveline is perfectly straight, (no degree difference) then these needle bearings do not turn and can cause flattening of the bearings and a shorter life cycle.

[RockinKees]

I know what you mean, ptc.
My diff is 2.8 degrees up and the trans is 2.8 degrees down with the framerails level, at least that came out after all the welding...

I thought a C4 IRS is completely different than a Jag IRS?
Has the C4 not a pipe between the trans and the IRS, so that it's fixed to each other?
Or does it have a "normal" driveshaft like the Jag has?

[ptc]

The dimensions are different but the design is the same in that you have the 'pumpkin' separate from the axles. But the main driveshaft to the differential is setup the same no matter what type of rear end is used. There has to be some angle of incline between the two for the u-joints to work.

[RockinKees]

There is your answer Nut Case.

I thought this was C4 (I did a google search, but it is a C5 )
That's why I said it's completely different, my bad!

Thanks for your support ptc!!