'57 Stepside road-race build

[OneOffStroker]

I also drew and cut some motor mount plates on the water jet. Please don't comment on these tack welds, they were not meant to penetrate, and have since been chiseled off with an air hammer. I TIG weld everything except body panels.



You can make fun of this weld though...it sucks. It's a vertical fillet, which is fairly challenging, but I didn't realize that until about half way up. lol


BUT...I finally got my mock-up engine mounted!


Trans is on stock crossmember, relocated about a foot or more back, I didn't measure. I still need to build a little bracket to bring the trans mount pad up 1.5", which is what the wood blocks are doing at the moment.

[OneOffStroker]

This kinda shows how far back I moved the crossmember.


I pulled the cab and made a little stand from some junk 2x2 I had in the back yard.


This is one of the last parts of the frame that have excess junk attached to it. All of it will be cut off soon enough though.


I moved the rear-most crossmember back a bit because I'm going to drop this golden oldie in there. I want to drop it down so that it is all under the bed, but I am hesitant, because it has a rear sump that will be within inches of the ground. Maybe I'll incorporate a 1/4" skid plate into the lower mount or something.


Finally, here is a quick shot of how well my little air tanks fit the frame.


That's it for now. I'll be building my motor this week and then it's a week off. I have some stuff to do for my job that will keep me away from the garage for a bit.

I'll update later. There is a lot to do, because I'm set on driving this ol' girl in January!

[Kim57]

Looks like you're making some nice progress.
Kim

[reaper71]

Looking forward to see some more progress on it..
Mark...

[OneOffStroker]

I was away for work for a week, so I couldn't do anything to the '57. I got back and did a few things yesterday, but wasn't too motivated for some reason.

I laid down some fresh paint on the long block that I assembled last weekend just before I left.


I also decided to try another spare fuel tank that I had sitting around. This is a poly repo tank from Tanks Inc that I used in my '69 Suburban. It has an EFI pump installed, so I will have to make a new pickup and sender so that I can use a regular fuel pump for my carb. This tank hangs fairly low, but ends up being about 1" higher than the sump of that fuel cell would have been.

That box is 5" high, so the tank should have 6.5" at ride height. Since it is a poly tank, I will probably build a full skid plate for it, just to be safe.

The fuel inlet is on the side instead of the top, so that should also make mounting a fuel filler a bit easier. I am still kicking around some ideas for said filler, but I guarantee I'll come up with something neat. It also conveniently has a notch already to clear my bed strip.


After all of this mess, I repaired/modified the steering column that I got for the truck. I pulled it from a '93 Astro van. It had 2 loose screws in the tilt mechanism like every old GM column, and I put in a new key switch since I didn't have a key. I also cut off the stock floor mount flange, the shift linkage arm and ground down the bump where the column shifter attaches.

[Kim57]

Looks like you're making decent progress.
How about a pic of the column. I still haven't figured out what I'm going to use in mine.
Kim

[bowt1ed]

That SBC looks much better than last time I saw it.

[OneOffStroker]

Kim57 - Here are some pics of the steering column that I pulled from a 1993 Chevy Astro. It's nothing special, but it has what I was looking for:
No pics of it in the cab though, because the cab is on a stand in the driveway and totally stripped on the inside.

I cut off the linkage arm at the bottom, as well as the floor mounting flange.

The whole column. It's pretty unspectacular.

Ground off the mount for the column shifter. Still needs to be welded shut, a final grinding, and some paint. Also put in a new key switch.

Here is the main reason that I picked this column. It is a tilt column and has a multi-function switch that does signals, high beams, cruise control, and intermittent wipers, all of which my truck will be equipped with.


Yup, you read that right...I'll have intermittent wipers! I'll update specifics once I get my frame done and get started on the cab, but the basics are that I took the wiper motor from the same Astro that I pulled the column from. The intermittent control module (pulse board) as well as the washer relay are all mounted to the wiper motor as a unit. I'll just make some fancy bracketry in the same fashion that RockinKees did on his truck with the 2-speed VW wiper motor. It will be a fun little exercise in frustration, I'm sure.

[OneOffStroker]

Here are a few more picture updates.

While setting my rear pinion angle, I ran into the issue of my torque arm hitting my crossmember(s). In this pic, they are contacting, and the pinion is only at 2* and I need it to be at 3*. So I will have to notch both crossmembers for clearance. Still deciding the best way to do it and keep them structurally sound, and possibly stronger than stock, but not to interfere with the bed floor.


Placed my trans in with the tailshaft at a 3* angle, so that I can measure from the yoke to where I need my torque arm pivot to be. I will have to make an extension for the torque arm, but that is no big deal. Also note the wood block under the trans mount. It needed to be 1.5" higher than my trans crossmember would allow...


...so I designed and cut this little trans lifter that I will weld to the crossmember.


Also cut my rear boxing plates with a small integrated notch. This pic shows from concept (posterboard) to reality (0.25" steel)


Mocked against the frame. They will need some minimal trimming here and there, but they fit darn good for a prototype run!


I also cut these to completely box the notch. The piece with the radius is there to mount a small bump stop.


If anyone wants the *.DXF files for any of the stuff that I have designed in CAD and cut on the water jet, let me know and I will send them to you, post them, or whatever. That way, you can have them cut out via water jet or plasma for your own projects. I already shared the front boxing plate files with another member, and he will be having his cut out later this week.

[t-tung]

Looking good!

[Kim57]

Looking good.
Thanks for the column pics.
Kim

[t-tung]

I must have missed it, what turbos are you going to run??

[RockinKees]

OneOffStroker, you're not going to run a Jag IRS?
I see you're mocking up a straight axle in post #34?

One more question: Have you decided what to use for exhaust manifold or headers?
I have currently long headers but I'm afraid they scrape the floor when I go with the Jag IFS....

[OneOffStroker]

Originally Posted by RockinKees

OneOffStroker, you're not going to run a Jag IRS?
I see you're mocking up a straight axle in post #34?

One more question: Have you decided what to use for exhaust manifold or headers?
I have currently long headers but I'm afraid they scrape the floor when I go with the Jag IFS....

Kees - I will be running a jag IRS, but not at this time, and for a couple of reasons: first and foremost, the stock frame is not wide enough to mount it properly. I figure that if I will have to fabricate the back half of a frame, I might as well do the entire frame. So, next summer or fall I will build a complete tube chassis for this. It will be properly cross-braced and have everything I need to add a nice roll cage and have plenty of clearance for my turbo setup once I get all of that figured out. The IRS that I have is from an XJ6 as well. I want to find one from an XJ12 so that I get the power-lock and better gear ratios.

So besides the cost of shockwaves, new wheels with proper offset, and rebuilding the Jag IRS at the time, it was just cheaper and easier to put the solid axle and Camaro suspension in the truck for now (I have about $350 invested in all of it, airbags included). When I do the tube chassis swap, I will have spare frame to either build another TF truck, or sell to someone on the forum.

As far as headers...I am going to try these: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/big-11108flt
I looked at the 360* view several times and compared it to notes and drawings that I made, and I think they will work just fine. I may have to do a double u-joint for my steering linkage, but if everything else fits, it will be worth it.

[OneOffStroker]

Originally Posted by t-tung

I must have missed it, what turbos are you going to run??

I had the specs written down somewhere quite a while back, but I don't know where I put them. But I will be running two rather small turbos on the 5.3. I want it to build boost just off idle and keep a massive torque curve through 5500 or so. About 99% of people that I could ask questions about turbos would try to steer me away from these because they would say that they will choke the motor and it won't breathe with them. To a point, they would be correct. The problem with asking people about recommendations for making power is that 99% of them only think in straight lines for 1/4 mile at a time. When making power for a drag strip, you need a totally different setup than if you planned to autocross and road race, like I am planning for my truck.

I'll try to find the info I had and let you know what I'm going with.

[t-tung]

I like it and I agree. I'm subscribed. I may do the same thing or maybe different size turbos in sequence down the road. I like getting into the power/tq early. If I had the money right now I'd be slapping an LBZ/Allison combo in mine to start with lol

[RockinKees]

Ah Okay, I didn't know you gonna build a tube frame.
I'll try to fit the XJ12 under mine in a few weeks I hope.....

As for headers, I thought of Hugger Headers, but then I have a very different setup than yours!

I will be following your build with great interest, and I think your turbo setup will just be fine ;-)
It should be a little bit quicker than my stock 350....

[OneOffStroker]

I have been very busy this week, with both real work and working on the truck. I had a soft deadline of the end of January to get the truck back on the road, and I hope to still meet that goal. However, I got a curveball in life and I have a hard deadline of March to meet, so make or break, this beast will be on the road by the end of February. Enough about life, I know you all are here for the pics! haha

Took a step and cut my crossmember for torque arm clearance. Once it was cut it finally occurred to me how I should finish it. Only raised 1" because of cable floor clearance. The crossmember behind this one was raised 2" in a similar fashion.


I decided to use the piece that I cut out and just raise it up.


Also added some gussets to help with flex. I will be auto crossing this 'ol girl a couple time s month, after all.


Also got my lower airbag brackets welded to the axle. They are overkill, but that never hurt anyone.



I also got the Jag IFS setup for airbags. It took a lot of spot weld drilling, creative cutting, air hammering, and finish grinding, but they will accept airbags now without much drama.
Stock:

Cut up a little bit:

Finally got the spring perch out:

Ground smooth so that there aren't any little burrs that may puncture a bag:

Mounting holes drilled and finished with some etching primer:


Last but not least, I sandblasted some stuff for my engine. I will powder coat it tomorrow and get it onto the engine. It's gonna look GOOD.

[reaper71]

Coming along nicely!!

[Kim57]

Looking real nice.
Kim

[watahyahknow]

verry interesting project
never knew the jag front end fit so good under a 57 truck
must be nice to have a rack and pinion setup on a truck on the cheap compared to some aftermarket setups that weld to the stock chevy crossmember
its good to know as i'm more likely to come across jaguars than chevies and anerican ford cars and trucks on wreckingyards here in the netherland
too bad the trackwidth isnt quite wide enough for the square body pickups , but then again that might be a good thing as i can mount deeper dish rims and or spacers
wonder if its te same with the rearsuspension , i understood the squarebody has a frame thats wider that the '57 so it might fit between the rails out of the box

[Rude Dude]

I would like a copy of the files will they work on a CNC plasma cutter?


If anyone wants the *.DXF files for any of the stuff that I have designed in CAD and cut on the water jet, let me know and I will send them to you, post them, or whatever. That way, you can have them cut out via water jet or plasma for your own projects. I already shared the front boxing plate files with another member, and he will be having his cut out later this week.[/QUOTE]

[watahyahknow]

i dont need these files , but i would like to find out if theres a good cad program i can try out that is free to download
it has to be pretty simple to use as i am a cad design newby

i will have a few things i need to have made in the future and the companies charge by the hour for putting drawings intoo cad
if i can get them te drawing i cad it could save me some cash , i could prolly spend more time perfecting it too

[OneOffStroker]

Originally Posted by watahyahknow

verry interesting project
never knew the jag front end fit so good under a 57 truck
must be nice to have a rack and pinion setup on a truck on the cheap compared to some aftermarket setups that weld to the stock chevy crossmember
its good to know as i'm more likely to come across jaguars than chevies and anerican ford cars and trucks on wreckingyards here in the netherland
too bad the trackwidth isnt quite wide enough for the square body pickups , but then again that might be a good thing as i can mount deeper dish rims and or spacers
wonder if its te same with the rearsuspension , i understood the squarebody has a frame thats wider that the '57 so it might fit between the rails out of the box

The Jag IFS fits, but it wasn't a perfect fit by any means. The stock frame is about 1.5" wider than I would have liked it to be. I had to make little notches into the control arm towers of the Jag in order to get it in there. Nothing serious, but it would fit a 32" frame much better than a 34" frame. If the frame of a square body is any wider than that up front, it could still work, but it would be very very difficult to remove the stock springs or add airbags, because the frame would cover the access holes. It's already tight on mine...
As far as track width, it is 59.5". That is a little narrower than stock for mine, but I am running a -55mm offset wheel, so spacers were mandatory. I have massive 2" spacers for mine up front.

[OneOffStroker]

Originally Posted by Rude Dude

I would like a copy of the files will they work on a CNC plasma cutter?

[/QUOTE]

Rude Dude - The files should work on a plasma. We have both at work and they run off of the same workstation. Exactly which parts are you needing the files for? Front boxing plates, rear boxing plates, airbag mounts, etc?