1957 Chevy truck re-rebuild

[Spblack]

hey Jim, you want to rent or sale that rivet tool? I am doing my vent windows now and these rivets are a pain in the you know what.

[Stepside Jim]

Originally Posted by Spblack

hey Jim, you want to rent or sale that rivet tool? I am doing my vent windows now and these rivets are a pain in the you know what.

Oh you poor, poor thing having to deal with those rivets. lol If you're like me, I knew I was forcing myself done a nasty road when I drilled out the old ones, then there was no turning back.

The tool is easy to order from Classic parts and I think from LMC. I think it was about 5 or 6 dollars.
http://www.classicparts.com/1951-87-.../#.VK6OOdLF_IQ

Things to deal with.... The rivets are not hollow all the way down, meaning you can only tighten them to a certain point which is good, means you can only tighten so far and not over tighten on the rubber seal.

Problem is, the tool with it's design does roll the edge of the rivet over ok but, it stopped short of getting the rivet all the way tight. The center of the tool made contact with the non-hollow part of the rivet and stopped the final setting of the rivet.

Once I exhausted the use of the tool I used a regular punch of the proper diameter to finish getting the rivet tight.

The concave tool in the picture is one of mine, it didn't come from the suppliers. I put it in a piece of heavy angle iron which I clamped to the vise and used it to support the head of the rivet as I rolled the other side with the tool.

I wish I had taken more pictures of the process but I think I was too nervous about smacking something incorrectly with the hammer and forgot to.

I hope this helps shed some light on the situation for you, once I got the first one figured out, the second one went much better.

Side note.... if you can, install the rubber that goes all the way around the frame then install the flat one with the rivets. They both interlock where they meet and it makes the interlocking easier.

[Spblack]

thanks. I found using a 3/8s bolt great for the curved end. most bolts have a curve at the end of the threads. at what point did you insert the vent window assy into main frame? did you install that first and rivet it to the long piece? I warped my frame that the vent window went in while trying to insert it into that frame and it pissed me off. I just left them and moved on to something else. haha

[Stepside Jim]

Ahhh yes, I smile and chuckle, I too remember walking away a time or two.

I installed the flexible rubber piece that goes out and around the vent window, then put the straight riveted piece in place, then installed the rivets.

Next I got the vent window frame, without the glass, in place. Next was setting the glass into the frame.


I found that by getting the metal window frame with out the glass in it, installed first, was the best. Perhaps it had just a bit more give to it that way. It is a challenge forcing it all together. Use a little soapy water on the rubber to help slide the top frame pin into it's hole also.

Now when you set the glass into the it's frame, you can close it to see just how deep you want to set it. Not far enough and you could touch the rivet heads when you close it. Too far and you might not touch the edge of the riveted straight rubber seal all the way.

Wish I had more pics, I hear each one is like a 1000 words. lol. Jim

[Stepside Jim]

Originally Posted by tune_1

Jim Have enjoyed all of the posts and procedures in this thread and the willy's thread ( yes read all of that too ). So much of this can also be used on other vehicles.
Have you seen the following for a cup holder in your 65 chevy. ( the url looks crazy but it did work for me. )

Dwight

http://www.mamotorworks.com/Corvette...g-fan-614793-1

Hi Dwight, I don't know how you knew it was a Corvette thing but yes, I have looked at those, they also have one that hangs off the side to hold cups. It is because of my lack of cup holders in the Vette that I was determined to make some for the truck. Trying to hold a cup between my legs and pushing the clutch is ridiculous.

Good call Dwight.

[Kim57]

Great info.
Thanks for sharing.
Kim

[ChuckDriver]

Excellent write up!

[Stepside Jim]

I'm glad to say the doors and windows are doing fine.

I have one picture of a replacement part for the doors, the window regulators. I pretty well ignored them til now, really, there has to be some part that hasn't been messed with on this truck, ha, I was wrong.

Sometime in the past somebody did the ole' vise grips on on the door handle post and messed up the splines and I didn't feel confident of the splines and feared they would make a mess of the new door handles.

Checking the catalog I ordered new ones from Classic parts. I hoped the ones I got would be as nice looking as the ones in the catalog. They were nice looking, fit perfect and work perfect, very nice pieces.

Picture of an old one and a new one.


Next up is the rubber seal that fills the gap between the inner fender panel and the firewall. I got the ones listed but I remembered the ones that my Dad installed back in the 80's had more material to fill the gap.

I know we are to slide it out towards the firewall for installation and gluing, I felt there wasn't much overlap on the inner fender to hold the seal in place.

I went on line and found Sofseal had a universal seal and I ordered it.

The next picture shows a short piece of each. There's just not enough material to fill the gap as the universal piece fills the gap nicely.


A picture of the ends of each. If I need to move the fender closer to the firewall yet, the universal one will simply collapse and conform.


Finally I'm ready to commit my time to the wiring, but, before I did I decided I wanted to cover the shiny reflective look of the heat/sound barrier. I wanted it all black on the inside firewall.

Nothing fancy, I cut vinyl material to do the job, the black carpet goes high enough to overlap the black vinyl. I also began laying out and labeling all the wires in the kit. The fuse block holder I made worked great, by time I was done I was able to tuck much of the cluster behind the fuse block, then the separate bundles fanned out from there.


Half way through January already, I'm glad I haven't stopped for a break, this winter is going by fast. I'm starting to make a to-do list, I'm getting to the point were I can begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

[Kim57]

Nice progress.
Kim

[oldman3]

Little by little...Jim

[Stepside Jim]

Time for an update.... I've majorly slowed down on progress, not for lack of time though, for me this is the time to slow down and pay attention to every detail. When I assemble I try to pay strict attention to possible long term issues.

First was making a nice little bracket to hold the Nitrous solenoids.


Working alone makes it hard to hold the bolts and tighten the nuts for the steering column, so I made a "U" shape plate to hold the bolts in place.


I have the two front brake lines running together without support, I figured if I tied them together I'd be happy. I cut some 1/8" stainless and made a bracket to support each other.


My goal is to hide most of the wiring. I'm using the under cab for much of it. Other wise some of the wiring is running under the fenders.


Getting to the alternator I figured I'd use the brackets I made for supporting the plug wires to hold the alternator power wire.


I checked the fit of one of the door panels.


I hacked into the exhaust again. The more I thought about it, bolting directly to the headers without any kind of pivot doesn't give me options to adjust engine/driveshaft angle, these ball sockets took care of that issue.


I like to run a master disconnect. The battery is one of the drop down boxes, I didn't want to run the cables over the frame so I drilled and grommeted the opening. I allowed extra cable length so I can pretty well drop the battery without issues. The only thing holding the switch in place to the floor is tightening the mounting nut. My concern is having it work loose and when I try to turn the switch on or off, the switch will spin in place. The oval plate between the floor and the switch has a female hex to match the switch face, it will not spin now.


The only front wires will follow the fenders then stay within the hood latch panel, then to the headlights.


Tomorrow I hope get the front fenders back on and for good. Having them off has helped tremendously but now I need them on to finalize the front wiring. Tonight I glued the gaskets that go between front fenders and inner panels.


I had to run a separate circuit for dual fans and following Russell's advise so I also did the high beams through a relay. With all the little gadgets I've put into the truck I think I have it all covered, I just don't want to wrap all the wires then find I overlooked something.

[oldman3]

Jim, nice update and looking great...Jim

[Kim57]

Really nice looking details.
Kim

[Clarance J]

Stepside Jim, I see that your Quality Control Inspector is checking out your work under the truck. Yup, looks good from here.

Earl

[RockinKees]

This is a masterpiece!
Really great work!

[bowt1ed]

Jim, I was driving down the road over the weekend and saw this, and thought - "There is something familiar about that paint job!"

[tune_1]

Great to see you making progress.

Dwight

[Stepside Jim]

Thanks everybody. Today the front fenders are back on and the truck looks so much more complete with them in place. Just putting those gaskets in place caused me to struggle getting the front back together. When I took the truck apart many of these odds and ends were missing, but I feel the extra effort to seal up all I can will make a more solid feeling truck when done.

Checking off my list of things to do, one thing I nearly forgot about is mounting a transmission cooler, should have that done by the weekend.

bowt1ed, I notice every vehicle with that paint scheme not more than I ever did before. There is a car reality show, Fat and Furious, on one of the last episodes they redid a Hurst Olds, they did the black and silver too.

Clarance J, too funny, it does look like she is the inspector. In my Photobucket I notice she shows up quite a bit. She has no special talents, but she sure is one loyal dog.

Thanks to all for checking in, Jim

[Overmyhead55]

Hey Jim, I love your truck!
I was up to about 5 a.m. last night reading through the entire build. I am in love with your taillights and the roll pan between the bumper and bed. Its like Chevy built an awesome truck, and at the last min they were like, shoot, the buyers are on the way, and we forgot about the gas tank, tail lights and rear bumper and were like, quick, throw some lights and a back bumper on, and stick the tank behind the seat. He wont notice it back there anyways. I am curios on just a few things. Wondering why you chose not to move the tank out of the cab, and was wondering why you didn't weld in the trans cover?

[Stepside Jim]

Originally Posted by Overmyhead55

Hey Jim, I love your truck!
I was up to about 5 a.m. last night reading through the entire build. I am in love with your taillights and the roll pan between the bumper and bed. Its like Chevy built an awesome truck, and at the last min they were like, shoot, the buyers are on the way, and we forgot about the gas tank, tail lights and rear bumper and were like, quick, throw some lights and a back bumper on, and stick the tank behind the seat. He wont notice it back there anyways. I am curios on just a few things. Wondering why you chose not to move the tank out of the cab, and was wondering why you didn't weld in the trans cover?

Hello Overmyhead55, I'm very glad you enjoyed the build thread. I know these builds can be very captivating, I've spent a few hours going over the builds myself.

On the transmission cover I had a concern about whether on not I would have to modify it in any way. As I setup the engine and transmission in the truck it all fit fine and I was moving forward on the project. Then as I disassembled the truck for paint, I went to remove the engine and transmission together, what I found was, as I lifted the engine and transmission, before the motor mounts cleared the frame mounts, the top of the transmission made contact with the transmission cover.

Being one who never likes to weld myself into a corner, I simply removed the cover screws and I was able to remove the cover quickly, cut out a small section, weld in a new piece and check the fit.





The fix was simple since I could do it on the work table.

Gas Tank, many of the after market ones have so much tank hanging down beneath the frame and square in design, the look just didn't fit the design of the finished truck I was looking for. So I left the whole gas tank option open for now.

If I did move the tank from the cab, I would have left the gas cap and the rubber grommet where it is for the old time look. With that in mind, I figure someday if I do decide to move the tank I can simply remove the one in the cab, then take out the bed floor and install a tank that fits my liking.

I see some guys opting for the mustang gas tank, I like this idea, as some finish their installation I might go with the mustang tank in the future.

Thanks for checking in Overmyhead55, it's always fun discussing the build.

[hotrod1]

Hey Stepside

What master disconnect are you using? Do you have any pics of the top side? What is the block next to it? Relay?

[Kim57]

Looking good.
The trans cover looks like it came from the factory that way.
Kim

[Stepside Jim]

Thanks Kim, once that little alteration was done and painted on the trans cover I had to sit back and admire it for a bit.

I mentioned mounting a transmission cooler in one of the last posts. One way of mounting it is to use the zip tie things and some rubber cushions and mount it directly to the radiator, for some reason that just never settled well with me.

Next up is using one of the heat sink units and mount it on the frame some where, for some reason that just never settled well with me either.

I see the new style transmission cooler is the stacked plate unit, it settled well with me so I ordered one. I received it and once I got a closer look at it, it settled even weller with me. The idea is the the same as the old tube and fin design but the air has to change direction as it passes through it plus it is a sturdier unit altogether. I also like how I can use fittings vs using hose and clamps to hook it to the coolant lines.

Next came where or how to mount it. With this truck, somebody before me removed the "X" brace that goes in front of the radiator, so I fabbed one up some time back and bolted it where the original one was. Hmmm, sure looks like a good way to mount the cooler, it's my "X" brace, I can cut it up if I want to.

'X" brace cut, gotta look closely.


With the "X" brace cut, I need to fill the gap between the four sides and have a way to mount the cooler.


A most excellent fit.


After some welding and grinding, I now have a multipurpose "X" brace.


Great, no extra brackets welded or bolted to the radiator support, to hold the cooler.



As for the cooler mount itself I used 3/16" vs using 1/8" plate. I have no idea if there would be any twisting going on within the "X" brace so I figured I'd use a safer thicker material.

Although it stands out in the pictures, once the truck is done the new aluminum radiator will be black on the front side and so will any mounting bolts. I want the space behind the grill to be a black deep space.

[oldman3]

Very nice and clever ideal with the mount. I have the same type cooler in my 50 and as far as I can tell it works great...Jim

[Advanced Design]

Very nice mounting and I like that cooler design.