55 in NH build

[dsraven]

ok, day dreamin now.
going back to the part about the short versus long. I wonder what it would look like if someone used a short box step and lengthened the step side fender ahead of the wheel to close the gap. photo shop anybody
ok, brain fart. bad idea. just makes more work for somebody.
I kinda like the long box look too. mine is a quasi short box but thats because it is also a frame swap and uses a newer box as well. waaaaay to much work. never gets done.

[Kevin_C]

got the frame cut today! just got it mocked up for now.

[Nut Case]

Kevin

Strong work! I'm right behind you I to have the 93 vett dana 44 3.54 gear.

I'll be following to see how your establish ride height. I already have ridetech shockwaves for all fourcorners. My plan is to put together the rims and tires that I would to use, and sneeak up. we ought to consider exchange phone numbe, ll be followinllmmmmmmmmmmmmmg


Taz..

[Roadkill58]

That moment just before you make the first cut.......

I like the way you did yours. Looks good. Once welded together it will be as strong if not stronger than before.


.

[dsraven]

you can clamp a straight piece of thick steel to the under side to keep the 2 parts in line, tack, check, redo as required until good. looks like you have it figured out anyway.will you fish plate after as well or just weld it up and call it good?

[Kevin_C]

thanks guys, im going to pick up some angle iron to clamp and help with alignment. as for fish plates or boxing plates im still undecided. I figure I will have both handy and see what the welder thinks. The bracket the PO has for the battery box was welded solid top an bottom so it acted like a boxing plate as well. I may install a matching one on the other side.

[dug224]

Nice work on the cut!

[Kevin_C]

Well sometimes life gives you lemons. I'm hopping I can turn a negative into a positive. Last week a guy driving on a suspended license drove through a stop sign and T-boned me on my motorcycle. there wasn't enough time to react. I bounced off the windshield flipped up into the air and slid across the intersection. My helmet saved my life. Besides road rash everywhere and lots of bruising I was rather lucky. I think my Victory Jackpot is totaled. On the plus side I don't think im going to replace the bike and put the money into the 55. I finished drilling out the rest of the rivets. Having fish plates made for when the welder comes. Im going to start ordering bed parts and once the rear suspension is complete I'm going to move on the to the front suspension

[Kevin_C]

Well sure enough the bike is totaled. Doing the dance with the insurance company now. Healing pretty fast. Got the fish plates made. welder is coming tomorrow to scope out the work. My shipment from Mar-K arrived. shipping was 50% of the part cost but what can ya do.

[Kevin_C]

Welder made the truck whole again. welded inside and out and added fish plates on the inside. Only charged me $200. I'll start mocking up the flat out engineering stuff this week.

[Kevin_C]

I got most of the rear IRS mocked up. I think I will need to move the cross member back and inch. the Bat wing brackets need to go almost .5" farther back and the rivet is in the way. Also the crossmember would interfere with the bracket bolt. Pretty excited though!

[Nut Case]

NH

looking good strong work. I'm going to follow in your steps as soon as I can finish my shed. (That's another story)

I'm considering for my build on narrowing the bat wing to fit between the boxed frame rails. Maybe making that mount adjustable. I have NOT thought this through to the end. Not sure how to make everything jive!!!! Just unfiltered thinking.

Just thought you might like to know!

Keep on keeping on


NUTZ

[slammed57]

Originally Posted by Kevin_C

Well sure enough the bike is totaled. Doing the dance with the insurance company now. Healing pretty fast. Got the fish plates made. welder is coming tomorrow to scope out the work. My shipment from Mar-K arrived. shipping was 50% of the part cost but what can ya do.

sorry to hear about your accident.. glad your ok

[Kevin_C]

Thanks Slammed. 39 years on bikes, guess it had to happen sometime. I was very lucky. went from 5 bikes last year down to 2. The driver had a suspended license, car owner has no insurance. My insurance tried to pro-rate 5k in custom parts down to $190 but im alive and still smiling.

Got the rear cross member rivets drilled out. Hope to get most of it done today but boy is it hot out!

[dug224]

Enjoying your attention to detail. Glad you survived the motorcycle wreck!!

[Kevin_C]

finally got the pinion angle set and cross brackets install. I bought some thick walled pipe and tacked the spacers in place so they could go through powder coat as one unit. Just need to fab up some mock shocks to simulate ride height so I can position the top shock mounts. Should able to break it down and send everything to powder next week. while the brackets are getting done I'll sand and touch up the frame. Thinking of replacing the bushings on the rear and cleaning the diff while its out. Hope to order the front kit this week.

[Kevin_C]

Finished the rear. Just gotta decide if I want the sway bar towards the cab or rear. Going to strip it all down and send the brackets to powder coat. While waiting for that I'll clean up the frame and paint it. I was able to take the dog bones off an hit them with a 6" soft brass wheel on my grinder. they cleaned up well in minutes. I'm thinking of ordering the flat out front kit this week. Progress!!!

[Kevin_C]

I was able to remove all the brackets and pull the rear end this morning. Dropped off the parts to the powder coater at noon and they were done by 3! Cleaned up the frame and got it painted. Ordered new bat wing bushings for the IRS. hope to get the aluminum cleaned up this week.

[Kevin_C]

Been a busy week. I bought a $20 harbor freight sandblaster to clean up the rear end. Makes a mess but turned out pretty good. I decided to replace the batwing bushings on the IRS. man it was a pita. I had to drill out the rubber so I could punch out the center pin. once that was out I was able to punch out the rubber. I didn't realize there was an out casing so I used a triangle file to cut a slot and bend it in. installing the bushing wasn't gonna happen with C-clamps so I drilled a hole through an oil filter wrench and put some plate stock on the other side. the cup kept the bushing square as I tightened the bolt. rear end is installed!

[Kevin_C]

More Pics

[Kevin_C]

I got the ship notification from Flat-Out for the front kit! I think I found a good home for the lowered power I beam so he's gonna help me pull the engine and suspension in trade.

Ordered some speedway motor mounts. Purchased a 2 ton hoist and an engine stand. I had picket up a cheap HF flaring tool which was junk. tube kept pushing through so I bought a 3/16ths specific double flaring tool for $15. makes perfect flares every time.

Learned that my truck has a hydro boost under the cab so I've been reading up on that. Not a fan of the large/weird access panel that was cut into the floor to get to the master. it straddles over the seat mount. I think a remote fill cover would have been a better option as both seats would need to be removed to access it which will get worse as carpet is added. While I was under there I saw a few things I didn't like. the bread boxes were layered with a 1" lip but there wasn't any seam sealer or paint on the edge. thinking about using por15 putty and then painting it. Also the front corner under the cab has some rot. its just in front of the fender mount but not sure what it's supposed to look like or the they sell a replacement. its almost a mid layer feeding up to the cold air vent but I don't know what to call it.

The cab had been sandblasted and epoxy primed so at least I know what is what but the down side to everything being painted black is its hard to see or photograph

[dsraven]

The part you likely need is a door hinge pillar. There are a couple parts down there and they all seem to be sandwiched and spot welded. The front cab mount is also part of that.
Water builds inside the inner cowl and runs out on the cab for. The drain in the cowl bottom is small so it plugs easy. The water on the floor runs into the void in the hinge pillar and rots it all out. Then the front heavy cab sags down and usually makes the floor uneven and low under the front pedal area on both sides. The step and rear door pillar bottom are the next victims.

[Kevin_C]

So I know the passenger side had a lot of work done. new A piller and upper corner of the cab. Looks like the lower section is completely missing. the driver side it rotted pretty good. would this be the "Lower hinge pocket outter" ? they also list an inner but im having a hard time visualizing that piece. Not sure what part covers that flat horizontal piece at the bottom of the pocket. Hoping to pull the engine next week along with the front clip so now would be a good time to go after those pieces.

[Kevin_C]

Pulled the front clip and engine today. everything was pretty straight forward but the engine has an oil leak from the timing cover that must of been leaking oil onto the belts and was spraying everywhere. every time I touched anything it was like I was coating myself with shoe polish. Should be able to pull the powered lowered I beam this week

[Kevin_C]

More progress, was able to pull the front suspension today. seeing that it was pretty new stuff with new hardware it came apart pretty easy. Looks like I have to remove some of the boxing plates that the PO installed for the Flat-out ones. I noticed the directions are a lot less detailed than the rear kit but it should make more sense once the rest of the brackets are removed. It says the front crossmember needs to be trimmed but doesn't say how much.