1957 Chevy truck re-rebuild

[Kim57]

That's cool. I might have to steal that idea.
Kim

[Baldeagle SR]

Good idea> What color are you going with?
Rich
My build http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=576185

[Stepside Jim]

Hi Kim, that's why I posted the pics , these projects are enough work, sharing ideas is what it's all about.

Baldeagle SR, I'm going with two tone Black/Silver. I plan on following the main body line on the cab with black on top and silver lower. I'll split the two colors with a med/bright 1/4" red pin stripe. I plan to carry the colors across the bed as many do, I'll have to drop the line before I reach the back of the cab in order to match up with the body line that goes across the rear fenders.

Still planning on gloss black in the cab with flat black vinyl on the door panels seats and the center and floor counsels. The dash has all new chrome switches, and new chrome handles for the doors. This along with the stainless steel trim pieces I've made should give the feeling of a no nonsense performance feel with everything in it's place.

Lol, now it's time to make my dream come true...

[Stepside Jim]

On the progress side I'm still on the tear down mode and checking the fit of most of the parts, I'm trying to eliminate possible headaches during the reassemble time.


It's one busy cherry picker.


I rolled the frame outside and sand blasted most of it. There are a few areas I wanted to weld and this sand blasting gave me good clean areas to weld.


After the welding I'll roll it back out and re-blast these welded areas, I just like the fresh clean look of the blasted metal.

[Baldeagle SR]

Originally Posted by Stepside Jim

Hi Kim, that's why I posted the pics , these projects are enough work, sharing ideas is what it's all about.

Baldeagle SR, I'm going with two tone Black/Silver. I plan on following the main body line on the cab with black on top and silver lower. I'll split the two colors with a med/bright 1/4" red pin stripe. I plan to carry the colors across the bed as many do, I'll have to drop the line before I reach the back of the cab in order to match up with the body line that goes across the rear fenders.

Still planning on gloss black in the cab with flat black vinyl on the door panels seats and the center and floor counsels. The dash has all new chrome switches, and new chrome handles for the doors. This along with the stainless steel trim pieces I've made should give the feeling of a no nonsense performance feel with everything in it's place.

Lol, now it's time to make my dream come true...

That is going to be AWSOME. Rich

[ChuckDriver]

Nice!

[Stepside Jim]

It's been nearly a year ago that I bought the new bed sides, front panel and tail gate, finally got them prepped and primed.

I haven't seen many close up pictures of beds of others trucks but one thing I wanted to get rid of was the spot welds on all three of these items. I don't have an issue with the overlap seam, it's just the spot welds I want to get rid of.

I took a rotary brrr and removed the edges of the spot welds then lightly sand blasted them to get and crud out of the weld. Then used body filler for filling them.


I'm not sure of the primers that come on these pieces and I don't want to take chances so I 80 grit sanded most all the primer off so I knew the coat of epoxy primer will adhere well.


I gave the epoxy about 1 1/2 hrs to dry then sprayed on the Feather fill primer.

[Kim57]

It's looking good.
Kim

[Kim57]

Looks real nice.
Kim

[4Eyedtruck]

How I have missed this thread before I have no clue big block and awesome fab skills I had to read it twice just to make sure I didn't miss anything I can't wait to see this truck finished

[Stepside Jim]

Thanks 4Eyedtruck, nice chatting with you on personal message.

As for progress, the frame has been my focus for the last couple of weeks. I didn't weld fill all the holes in the frame, I was mainly concerned with the ones that would be seen by anyone looking at the underside of the truck.

No matter how well you weld and grind there is still going to be a trace of grinding left behind, so after the sandblasting came a thin layer of body filler to at least smooth the main frame rails.


I also wanted to get all the frame well primed and painted. I considered a rotisserie set up but didn't want to take the time. In this next picture I simply bolted on some channel iron and used the cherry picker to raise and lower the frame, it gave me a way to get everything covered confidently.

The darker color is two coats of epoxy primer and I'm covering it with Feather fill high build primer.


Here I've got two coats of High build primer, once dried I'll sand it and it should fill most any sand scratches and small imperfections, then be ready for paint.


With a twist of the hydraulic ram handle it's right down level in seconds. Once done I'll apply paint to where the iron is bolted on. All in all I'm happy with being able to adjust the frame height as I was spraying it.

[Denee007]

I like your frame support~ simple I've probably written it before, but I love your shop! spacious!
dne'

[Kim57]

The frame is coming out real nice.
Kim

[Stepside Jim]

Thanks Denee007 and Kim57. Oh yeah the shop, it's 30' by 40' not huge by no means, the key is to keep out the extra clutter out of the shop and only have items necessary for the project at the time. I nearly live out there when not at work so I wanted a nice shop environment.

I never paid close attention to the axle housing itself, I figured I'd sandblast, prime and paint. As I started the sandblasting I exposed where someone in the past who got a little excited with the cutting torch.


The nice thing about the sandblasting is the cuts are clean and ready for welding, then came filling each cut.


After grinding and sandblasting I'm back to moving forward again.


What I've learned is, never plan on a simple project being simple. you never know what you'll uncover.

[Kim57]

Those are some nice looking brackets.
Kim

[yawdie1]

awesome build. You are a very talented fabricator

[Stepside Jim]

Originally Posted by yawdie1

awesome build. You are a very talented fabricator

Yikes.... thanks yawdie1.

As I've been disassembling I've been checking the fit of as many parts as I can to ensure it all fits when the paint is done.

One item I like that came with the truck is it has a large 1 1/4" diameter stabilizer bar. I noticed the rubber frame to stabilizer bushings are worn out so I order new replacements along with new matching holders.


So I check the fit and find the frame bolt holes are not far enough apart and they are slightly angled and do not match the new holders, yup, if it ain't one thing it's another.....

My quick fix is a 3/16" plate, drill the right holes, weld nuts to the backside, plasma torch the frame where these nuts will recess into the frame so the plate will settle flat to the frame, and weld.


Before the final welding I ground the edges of the plates to match the contour of the frame better.


Checking the fit and making sure the two new plates are level to each other.


The story of the stabilizer bar really isn't a major fix, at least now at this time with everything still in a rough stage of the build. Had I assumed all would be fine and ran into this problem after paint I probably would have modified the mounting bracket and forced everything to fit together, not how I want to project to go together.

Moral of the story, check every part for fitment.

[Kim57]

Nice job.
Those little problems can be real annoying.
Kim

[Stepside Jim]

For a couple of years now it seems that I've been pushing the project uphill, I'm finally starting to feel all the uphill pushing is worth it.

With the frame being the focus for the last couple of weeks I hope I'm getting over the top of the hill and the project will move forward without me pushing so much.

I've done what I'm gonna do with the frame and applied a light coat of epoxy primer on Tuesday night.


Wednesday night, paint night. One thing I've learned is paint is not going to go where you don't purposely spray it. This frame has a ridiculous amount of rivets, holes and cavities. I know if I don't individually paint every obstacle I will walk around when done and be seeing missed areas with out paint. So............



Yes, a ton of work, but I'm very pleased with the result. Nearly 100 percent coverage.



Yes. I've walked around it today multiple times. Now to focus on front and rear suspension parts and make it a rolling chassis again.

[ChuckDriver]

Outstanding!

[TNACUSTOM]

Looks great your dad would be proud. My dad pasted away seven years ago he would of love to see me finish my 51 that's one reason why I am building it now.

[Spblack]

nice work on the frame paint. what paint did you use?

[Kim57]

It came out real nice.
Kim

[Stepside Jim]

Thanks everyone. It does seem many of these builds are of vehicles that have a family tie. Either the truck was, or is in the family.

I know my Dad was thinking well within the box, so to speak. As I started helping him with this build I wasn't familiar with all the different paths we can take these trucks. Having a forum like this one really brings forth many new and different ideas.

I would definitely like to have him walk into the shop and take it for a drive when done, I can only imagine the pure joy he would feel, seeing it and driving it. One phrase he said often as I grew up was "can't never did nothing". It took me years to know the depth of the phrase but I've slowly adopted it now. Many of the changes I've attempted started out as broken drill bits a taps, but saying I can't do something wasn't gonna get me anywhere. Thanks Dad....

Paint wise I used Eastwood's Rat rod satin black, I know there are chassis paints but I used this before and I didn't want to chance ending up with a different look than what I planned on.

Thanks again everyone.

[OldChevysRule]

Jim....you are doing an awesome job on your build and your fabrication skills are incredible. I can't wait to see the completed project. I know your dad would be proud. Take care and keep up the good work.....Jason