54 chevy panel build

[low54panel]

A gentleman in california got a hold of a gm flywheel when the 4200 first came out. GM was supposedly thinking about putting a manual behind it for the south american market but that never came to be. Anyways he had it copied and has a few. After you have the flywheel its a matter of what clutch you want to use, im using a hummer h3 clutch and a colorado transmission. If youre seriously considering it vortec4200.com and lime-swap.com have been a lot of help. I just think its cool keeping a six in there and not the same ol 350/Ls swap everyone else has.

[low54panel]

Got the body on today. Looks awesome with the 6 in it. Need to take the front sheetmetal apart and modify it to sit right on the frame. Gonna have to figure something out on the oil filter as well seeing as it sits right on top of the idler arm. Didnt get any pictures, will get some tomorrow.

[low54panel]

Got driver side inner and outer fender hung along with radiator support cut down. Got home and header for the6 was sitting by the door, can check the fit on that tomorrow. Ill end with a few pictures I took when I left the shop.

[low54panel]

Went in early this morning and got the other fender and hood on. Got my headr fit up, gonna clear everything. Think my power steering pump might be close, will find out when it gets here. Now to make a 5 cylinder oil pan fit a 6 cylinder.

[ghettoluxury]

Looks so good with an Inline sitting in there!

[low54panel]

Thanks ghetto, it definitely looks different. Will be fabbing up some motor mounts this morning along with taking off the front suspension to cut out the bag pockets. Hope to start cutting the oil pans apart as well. Theres something to be said for the ls swaps and all the different oil pans available.

[low54panel]

Got the front cut off the 6 cylinder pan this morning. That is one heavy chunk of aluminum. Hopefully head over to the machine shop this weekend and smooth it all out so they fit nice and tight.

[low54panel]

Started cutting the frame pockets for my airbags, little more cutting and grinding and should be good to go. Also some more work done on the oil pan, cut a little look at it for a minute or ten, cut some more, think oh sh** I just cut too much, then look some more and realize its still good. New favorite tool is a hand held band saw, works awesome for this.

[low54panel]

Nothing much new at the moment got a bunch of parts in, need to get them bolted on, get the harness set out, and some other odds and ends. Spent the last few days cleaning up the shop, tired of tripping over things. Hopefully get it fired up the end of the week.

[low54panel]

Kind of thinking about bodywork at the moment, namely the awesome rv windows the previous owner installed. I have the other panel truck body. I was thinking about cutting at the belt line and unbolt the roof and just replace the whole side. I think that would be easier than trying to patch a panel into the opening that was cut in. Any thoughts?

[99 to Life]

from what I can see in the pics, looks like it would be an easy patch without cutting anything off of the other panel.

[low54panel]

Set the lift all the way down while I was looking to see what bolts I would need for alternator, ps pump, starter, etc... front will come down all the way, rear still has some work, not sure if I can get the frame to lay with the rear tires I want to run may have to do some adjustments.

[99 to Life]

nice man, digging that patina. is that alien looking dude on the back door a coincidence?
wish I had that lift!!!! how tall of tires you trying to run?

[low54panel]

Youre the 3rd or 4th person to notice the figure on the back door. Im tempted to leave it as a conversation piece. Its actually where the PO was too lazy to pull the taillamp and license plate when he painted it. If you look behind the drivers door you can see part of a giant circle. The guy I bought it from said there was a giant border patrol sticker about 4 ft in diameter there. The lift makes things too nice along with the shop space, makes it real easy to pick the body up off this thing. As far as the patina there are a total of 4 different trucks that make up this one. Quite interesting to see some of the colors all of them had been painted over the years.

[low54panel]

Oh yeah im running 20s in the front and 22s out back, which puts the tires at 26.8 and 29.8. The back will be close, I got to bring the rear axle forward and cut some tubs in the back. Will be picking up some cts seats for it next week as well

[99 to Life]

cool man, looking good. great story on the door. I don't think you'll need too much of a notch for that aprox 30" tire. Im running 26" on my s10 swap and I'm 3.5" off frame. Lays running boards, no notch in frame.

[low54panel]

I got an 8 inch notch in the frame, thats not my issue though. My problem is how the panel truck body is set up im basically hitting the top of the fender or will be once I cut out the wheel tub.

[99 to Life]

here is my friends 54' panel build, hes running 22's I think. Not a big notch and not having fender issues. but he is using a clipped OG frame. He moved out west, so he's trying to have me finish this for him, we'll see. If you have any questions or need pics, I can see if he has any more that might help you out.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=607369

[low54panel]

Yeah I was looking at that earlier, it says hes on 20s. I think the 22s are where my problem is. If I change my tire to about 29 inches tall I got enough room. Just gonna have to play with it and see what I can come up with.

[low54panel]

It looks like I can go with a 285 30 22 instead of a 35 and end up with 29 inches tall versus 30 so that might work out perfect.

[mr incredible]

any progress?