Project 55 on 77 frame...

[oneclick]

still have to notch and weld in the drivers mount... i think i walked a mile around this truck with all the measuring i had to constantly do! LOL... going back and forth from pass to drivers side, and back again... tons of measuring!

This is where i stopped last night, still need to weld in the drivers side, then i'm going to add an extra support bracket underneath both mounts, then weld the inner/outer mount together then cap off the tops... then i can start on the rear mounts, then i can actually start putting a structure together for the floor using some box tubing, then i can start making the floor... only problem here is at the moment i only have a few feet of tubing and no sheetmetal, so i will need to get some before i can do much more on the floor...

and... the trigger button on my welder broke, well not the button itself, but the wire came unsoldered inside the trigger, so i have to take the handle apart and solder it back together before i can do anymore welding... always one thing or another that happens...

Jason

[OrrieG]

What a project, I just took a look at this and have a comment.

I think you need to hang your doors and cross brace the cab before you do any final fitting to the frame. It would be a shame to do all the work and then find you have to redo it because the cab got tweaked. There have been a couple of threads where guys bought someone elses project and found the door openings were out of square after replacing the firewall and/or floors.

I just put my cab back on the my frame and that is going to be my next step to make sure nothing has moved around during the multiple removal and install steps before I do the final blocking and paint prep.

[oneclick]

Originally Posted by OrrieG

What a project, I just took a look at this and have a comment.

I think you need to hang your doors and cross brace the cab before you do any final fitting to the frame. It would be a shame to do all the work and then find you have to redo it because the cab got tweaked. There have been a couple of threads where guys bought someone elses project and found the door openings were out of square after replacing the firewall and/or floors.

I just put my cab back on the my frame and that is going to be my next step to make sure nothing has moved around during the multiple removal and install steps before I do the final blocking and paint prep.

i know i should of braced it before cutting, but didn't... that is why i have had to do tons and tons of measuring before welding anything in place, i have to keep checking and rechecking constantly to make sure everything is still where it needs to be... another reason why i hung the doors, fenders and hood!... to make sure everything was fitting like it should, which luckily it was... this is not going to be a hack job by any means (if it was, i would already be done! LOL), but i did make ALOT more work for myself by not bracing in the beginning... making me have to do tons of measuring now (side/side, front/back, crossways, reference points, etc)... my fault, but i will work through it.

Thank you for your input, very much appreciated!

Jason

[Woodbutcher]

Great effort here. The plasma is a fantastic tool.

Originally Posted by oneclick

i know i should of braced it before cutting, but didn't... that is why i have had to do tons and tons of measuring before welding anything in place, i have to keep checking and rechecking constantly to make sure everything is still where it needs to be

Just a thought. OrrieG has the right idea. Why not put in some braces at this point anyways, once you get everything where it should b. I think it'll save you a ton of time and aggrivation in the long run.

Just my 2 cents.

[oneclick]

actually, as of last wednesday i stopped working on the truck, after i had got the drivers side body mount welded in i sat the truck down and the drivers door jamb where it was rotted started to bend, so i raised it and blocked it... and gave up on it until i can get the right materials to do it the right way... so right now i am selling my daily for some funds to get heat in my shop before winter, a bigger welder, and material i need (tubing, sheetmetal, etc...) so i can do it right the first time... this is the truck i am selling fairly cheap to fund the project...

[oneclick]

so when i sell that truck, it will pay for a good shop heater, and nicer welder, some electrical to rewire my shop, some tools, and any/all things i need for this 55... i will be cutting the cab corners out of one of the other five 55 chevy trucks we have, so i won't need to buy any body parts, just square tubing and sheetmetal for the most part...

so for now the 55 is just going to have to sit for a little bit.

[oneclick]

not much of an update... but, finally sold the truck above and going to buy a good heater, some sheetmetal and tubing tomorrow... i've already bought a new welder, and a bunch of small tools and misc items i've been needing... once i get everything together i should be able to get started on the truck again and move along quickly like i was doing previousely...

also, anyone interested in the 22's above? has brand new tires on them... selling cheap!

[docrock]

Interesting project. Im doing a similar set up on a 93 chassis

[oneclick]

finally alot of progress on this truck, started back up on it about 3 weeks ago, so far i have the floor structure built and solid, now working on suiciding the doors, i haven't laid down any sheetmetal yet cause i want to get the structure for the suicide door hinges built solid into the new floor structure... once i get both doors suicide'd i can lay down some sheetmetal, but not all... cause i still need to build the framework for the firewall and steering, brake booster, etc... this is ending up to be a much larger project for ONE person to do alone, but i am doing it and WILL get it all done, at least 99% by myself!

I will post new pictures within the next few days when i get a chance to get them off of my phone and uploaded...

Jason

[oneclick]

getting ready to post some NEW pictures within a few minutes, before i head back out to the shop!

Jason

[oneclick]

these first few pics are old pics i never posted...

test fitting the fenders and hood, with rally wheels...

[oneclick]

same test, but with some 22" wheels i had sitting around...

these rims would of worked perfect, but ended up selling them.

[oneclick]

ok, this is the last old pic... after i sold the 22's... i put some old wire wheels on it and pulled it out of the shop and left it sitting here for about 5mo, before starting back up on it a few weeks ago...

[oneclick]

ok, now with the new pics...

here is the metal i bought...
4 - 1"x1" box tubing 11ga
2 - 2"x2" box tubing 11ga
2 - 1.5"x1.5" angle 3/16 (got this to build welder/plasma cart)
2 - 4'x10' sheetmetal 16ga

all metal listed above was almost $500 alone!!!

tubing:


sheetmetal:

[oneclick]

also bought alot of wood... and FINALLY got some shelving built, took a week or so to build... i have needed this for many years now, it allowed me to get rid of alot of the misc small tables and shelves and got alot of misc stuff off the floor... which freed up a ton of space in my shop... pic shown is not of it being filled up with junk yet - lol.

the center section is for my heat exchanger (aka shop heater!), the bottom of it is for the filter, the heater will eventually sit there blowing up and through some duct work going down the center of the shop, hopefully i get this done before next winter.

[oneclick]

ok, back to the truck... after a long delay and 5mo of sitting, i finally got the truck back in the shop...

[oneclick]

i got some front body mounts off another 73-87 truck, going to use them as the rear mounts, this pic i was figuring out where i wanted to mount them...

[oneclick]

after i figured out where i wanted them... i cut out the rest of the unneeded floor and welded it in place... i made it level with the factory front mounts.

[oneclick]

then cut off the front mounts i was making for it, to make room for the new tubing work, during this time i had the truck sitting on blocks where i wanted it, and as usual a ton of measuring.

[oneclick]

cut out the other side too and welded in the rear mount

[oneclick]

then, started cutting the 2"x2" tubing to lay level across the mounts, these will tie into the 55 factory mount/bracing on the body

[oneclick]

before going any farther, i rehung the front fenders to make sure the wheels were still centered in the wheelwells and that the body was sitting level and square...

[oneclick]

then, to prevent the body from moving around on me i tacked in a couple pieces of 1x1 to keep it where i needed it...

[oneclick]

then trimmed off the edge of the step and cut more tubing... and got the tubing welded together... eventually i welded the step to the 2x2, but it was alot later on...

[oneclick]

that is all the pics at the moment... i am ALOT further along than this!