57 GMC, frame swap, 4wd, 454 big block, 4 speed

[joedoh]

good progress! shame about the gauges, but at least the customer service is there.

[6BT 56]

Love this truck. I plan to go over this thread with a fine tooth comb in the new year and copy cat your pedals and wiper motor etc. Your not too far from a test drive now . ��

[Old57]

Originally Posted by joedoh

good progress! shame about the gauges, but at least the customer service is there.

Thanks, I'm trying to get it all together. I've been so busy with everything else, so it's hard to jump in and get a lot done. Yes, I was glad to see the gauge company is going to handle it with no hesitation.

[Old57]

Originally Posted by 6BT 56

Love this truck. I plan to go over this thread with a fine tooth comb in the new year and copy cat your pedals and wiper motor etc. Your not too far from a test drive now . ��

Thanks, I really like this pedal assembly, but I haven't seen anyone else use it. It's made great and is pretty compact. I drove the truck around the neighborhood about a month ago. It didn't have the bed or front clip on it, but it drove good and everything worked as planned. I'll keep doing a little on it as I can get time, and hopefully the check list will eventually dwindle away!

[Old57]

I installed the hood hinges and door hinges today, and then put on the doors. I got them adjusted fairly good, but still need a little more adjustment. I lined up the front fenders pretty decent too, but I'll spend some more time on everything when I get the hood on to line it up. I put on the mirrors and outside door handles too. I still need to do the latches, glass, etc.

[OutlawDrifter]

Looking good!

[Old57]

Originally Posted by OutlawDrifter

Looking good!

Thanks, I may actually get to drive this thing soon!

[Old57]

My dad stopped by the shop this morning, so while I had some help, I put the hood on. We adjusted and shimmed it to close good and line up pretty decent. The front edge of the hood just plain won't match the fenders. It curves down at a different shape than the curve of the fenders. I'll see what the body guy can do when I get it painted down the line. It is nice to see the overall look of it now, after I started in on it so long ago. I think it looks real tough!

My next step is to get my rear bumper finished, get both bumpers to powder coat, and start assembling the door internals and latches.

[OutlawDrifter]

I dig it!

[mongocanfly]

Man that looks nice!!!!...

[Black_Sheep]

Awesome build Gabe, it will turn heads wherever you go...

[Old57]

Thanks guys, I'm getting excited about seeing it almost all together. I need to shoot for getting it to a body shop for paint eventually, but it'll be cool to finally drive it for a while.

[BobaFett]

Would you recommend the EZ Chassis Swap kit? I’ve been tossing around the idea for my 55.2 ever since my brother sent me this thread.

[Old57]

Originally Posted by BobaFett

Would you recommend the EZ Chassis Swap kit? I’ve been tossing around the idea for my 55.2 ever since my brother sent me this thread.

The reason that I decided to get the EZ Chassis Swap brackets, was that I was trying to save some time and get the body mounted sooner. I'm always so busy working on customer's projects, that I rarely have time to do any of my own stuff. I thought by buying the mounts, that would gain me a lot of ground because I wouldn't have to mock up the body and build mounts. In hind sight, I should've just made my own mounts and I could've avoided the issues that I had. I didn't buy the whole kit, I just got the cab mounts and core support mounts. They are nice, well built pieces and are powder coated black. The quality looked great. I put the cab mounts on the frame and they fit nice. After I had my frame blasted/primed/painted, and started putting everything together, I found a couple of problems. The first one is no big deal, just annoying because I paid good money thinking that the brackets were right. The first issue was the front of the cab was about 1/2" too low, so the fenders/front clip wouldn't line up with the cab. I made 1/2" shims and put them in between the cab and the brackets with the poly bushings, and that problem was solved. The other issue is what really makes me wish that I just made my own like I originally planned. The front core support mounts... the passenger side is great, but the driver side will not clear the steering box on 55-57, but will on 58-59 because the front clip on 58-59 is 2" farther forward than 55-57. When I discovered this issue, I emailed Ed (the owner of EZ Chassis Swaps) and told him what was going on, and showed him pics. He told me that he knew of the problem, and that he was trying to revise the brackets to clear the steering box for 55-57, and that I'd have to figure it out and cut/modify the bracket to make it work. (I saved the emails) This pretty much made me mad... I spend a premium price for the brackets that were listed as being an easy bolt on conversion, but now I need to cut them up and make my own to get it to work. If he knew of the issue, he should've told me up front, or revised the problem before he sold any more brackets, in my opinion. The fab work is no problem for me, and that's what I do every day anyway, but to pay a premium price for something that is supposed to be right, then have to make it anyway, isn't good. Ed was very nice and prompt at any questions I had, and ordering the parts at first, but after he was paid and I got them and found the problems, it seemed like he acted like it wasn't his problem to deal with anymore. It would've been nice if he sent me the revised mount, if he ever did revise it. Anyway, if I ever do another one, I'll make my own brackets and not have to deal with the issues. His complete kit has the cab mounts, core support mounts, bumper bracket mounts, as well as the bed rail adapters, a piece to weld in the firewall for adapting a caprice brake pedal, the steering column mounts and a few things like that, but I can't tell you anything about the parts other than the cab and core support mounts because that is all I bought. I ended up using a steel bed floor out of a 73-87 truck, and but my 57 bed together with the steel floor. It doesn't need any adapter brackets if you do that.

[joedoh]

wowowowow what an update! beautiful!


I feel your madness on modifying pretty parts. sad that its a known issue that they could have told you about. I have sold a couple sets of 39-46 brackets to local guys and I tell them up front, "production variance pre WWII was HUGE, like could be 1/2" any direction variance for mounting holes, upward, leftward, rearward or vice versa. even though these brackets are made to fit your donors, you will still need to mock everything up and may need to clearance things."

some guys turn down the brackets at that explanation, even though I offer to help set up. I understand, they think they are buying done parts. there is no tab A/slot B with the prewar stuff though haha.

[Old57]

Originally Posted by joedoh

wowowowow what an update! beautiful!


I feel your madness on modifying pretty parts. sad that its a known issue that they could have told you about. I have sold a couple sets of 39-46 brackets to local guys and I tell them up front, "production variance pre WWII was HUGE, like could be 1/2" any direction variance for mounting holes, upward, leftward, rearward or vice versa. even though these brackets are made to fit your donors, you will still need to mock everything up and may need to clearance things."

some guys turn down the brackets at that explanation, even though I offer to help set up. I understand, they think they are buying done parts. there is no tab A/slot B with the prewar stuff though haha.

Thanks Joedoh. I hear ya on the brackets. With the ones I got, everything I read and was told, was that they are ready to bolt on and go. The instructions tell you what holes on the frame to bolt it to, how to place them, etc. Oh well, I have it worked out now anyway.

I'm hoping to get some more progress done on it this weekend. I need to get the rear bumper finished, and maybe I can get the door latches and glass in. I'm supposed to have my seat upholstery delivered tomorrow (if the tracking number doesn't lie to me), so I might tackle the seat upholstery too. I got the insurance on it today, so maybe next week I can go to the tag office and get it tagged. I got a pretty decent 57 tag, so I'll have it registered to the truck.

[Old57]

The seat upholstery didn't get here yesterday. FedEx tracking showed that it would be delivered, then changed to delivery schedule not available. I seem to have bad luck getting packages delivered on time. I sent the gauge to be fixed last Monday by priority mail, and the tracking number on it shows that it's been out for delivery for the last 2 days... been 6 days since I mailed it with priority 2-3 day service. Seems to be my luck.

Anyway, I worked on paying jobs most of the day yesterday, but I did get the rear bumper built yesterday evening. It is a plain, simple design, and I made it to sit flush with the back of the bed and the receiver hitch. The tag mounts in the center with a small tag light above it, and the back-up lights will mount behind it and angled down to light up the ground behind the truck. The front and rear bumpers are going to to the powder coater tomorrow, and will be coated in creme white like the wheels and grill. Pay no attention to the tail light wiring hanging down below the bumper brackets in the picture... It'll be routed up and out of sight after I wire up the tag light and back-up lights.

I'm hoping to get the door latches on and adjusted today, and I need to start getting the door glass and regulators in the doors.

[OutlawDrifter]

Nice and simple!

I have the same luck when it comes to shipping...don't feel like the Lone Ranger!

[Old57]

Originally Posted by OutlawDrifter

Nice and simple!

I have the same luck when it comes to shipping...don't feel like the Lone Ranger!

The gauge finally got delivered to Marshall Instruments. Priority mail 2-3 day service took 8 days. I got an email from Marshall letting me know that they received the gauge, fixed it, and sent it back to me in a matter of hours. Great customer service, I'm impressed. Now I'm at the mercy of the slow mail again, waiting for it to get back to me. I also received my seat upholstery today, and it looks nice. I'll try get it installed on the seat over the weekend. Hopefully it fits decent. I got the insurance on the truck yesterday from Grundy, and got the tag on it this morning, so now it's ready to drive as soon as I finish up the rest of the check list... install door glass/regulators/wings, adjust door latches, install door panels, get bumpers back from powder coat and install them, tag light, back up light, reinstall speedometer when it gets back, install seat cover... getting close to being able to go for some drives.

[Old57]

I got the gauge back from getting repaired, and I'm going to put it in here in a bit, and get the door latches adjusted. I had some time yesterday to get my seat cover on the bench seat. I was anxious to see how it was going to fit, because I've been told so many times that the aftermarket covers never look good. I figured it has to be better than the blue cloth upholstery that was on it, so I took the gamble. I ordered the upholstery from Raybuck, and they said 2-4 weeks to make it. After sending a picture of my bench to their customer service email, they told me this seat was 1995-2005 Chevy truck, due to the bolster areas on the back. I always thought it was a 1988-1998. Anyway, I got the cover and it looked to be great quality, and a nice factory look. It came with a cheap set of hog ring pliers, and a bag of hog rings, and generic instructions. I removed the seat tracks and separated the seat back from the bottom, and removed the original covers. I took note of how the covers were attached to the seat frames so I could install the new ones the same way. The foam and frames were in great shape. The new covers had a couple minor differences in the attachment points, so my wife helped me sew on a couple of the pieces from the old cover into the bottom edges of the new one, then helped me stretch it on. It fit nice and snug, and the shape was really good. I was expecting the cover to look "cheaper" and not fit more than decent, but I was surprised at how good it fit and looked. There's a few small wrinkled areas that seem to show up more in the pictures than what they really look like. This picture is how it looks right after installing it and setting the seat back into the truck. I assume the wrinkled spots will settle down after a bit of time and some sunlight or some careful heat with a dryer. I'm pretty happy with the results though, and I think it'll work out great for what I'm doing with the truck.

Before and after pictures...

[joedoh]

that came out really nice! the wrinkles will absolutely go away after some time in the sun.

[Old57]

Originally Posted by joedoh

that came out really nice! the wrinkles will absolutely go away after some time in the sun.

Thanks! And I have 200 bucks in it, so that's nice too.

[6BT 56]

Makes me want one of those seats for mine so that's gotta say something ��

[mongocanfly]

That looks great!!!.....they told me the same thing.....sunlight will tighten it right up....

[OutlawDrifter]

I just recovered the seat on an 87 C10 I'm flipping, definitely not as daunting of a task as I once believed.

Great work!