My 1955 Chevy 3100 build

[Number98]

Good looking fab work!

[ChuckDriver]

Don't know how I missed this one! Wow, frame work looks awesome and I love the narrowed rear. You should easily get a 10 or 11 rim under the fender!

[55 Chevy Dave]

Big day today! The frame rolled out of the garage and soaked in the sun on 4 wheels!

[55 Chevy Dave]

I rolled her back into the garage and installed the drop battery box from Speedway. I welded in the nuts on the back side of the frame.

[Advanced Design]

Great progress! Looking really good Dave.

[Kim57]

Looking very nice.
Kim

[ptc]

Dave you have a really nice build going on here. Your frame is really done up nice. Gave me some incentive to go through some of my (already done) frame and make some adjustments.... thanks!

Got some serious fab capabilities too! nice!

[RockinKees]

Just came across your build.
Looks very promising

You've done alot to get your frame where it is now, very nice fabwork!!
I will follow....

Thanks!

[oldman3]

Dave, thanks again for the compliments on my build...Jim

[II_Slow]

If you have more rivets to remove - I've done best drilling the heads out and popping the head off with an air hammer. Did the grinder thing, cross-cut them with a cut-off wheel, etc. Drilling them out and knocking the head off was by far the best/easiest/fastest/cleanest method.

[Hawkerdriver]

I will follow, kinda wish I would have did the weld in Front end too. keep up the good work..

[55 Chevy Dave]

I decided to run some conduit for the wiring inside the frame prior to installing all of the boxing plates. I ran one conduit to the front of the truck and one to the rear. I terminated both conduit runs toward the front of the cab.

The ends of the 90 degree elbows are rotated downward to keep the conduits from holding water. I will seal the ends after I have the wiring run through them but figured it couldn't hurt.

The work doesn't look too great in these pics. The conduit and mounting tabs didn't seem to weld very well, but everything is secured tightly and won't be rattling around later. After all of the conduit was installed I hit everything with a couple of heavy coats of cold galvanizing compound.

[55 Chevy Dave]

Time to install the boxing plates I cut out of a sheet of 10 gauge sheet metal. After some grinding, I am pretty happy with the results so far.

[55 Chevy Dave]

I removed all of the suspension components and flipped the frame over so I could finish weld all of the boxing plates on the bottom. There are a couple of areas on the bottom side of the frame I will need to straighten out before completing all of the boxing plate welding.

Of course, I ran out of welding gas again. I think I may need a larger capacity tank! Guess where I'm headed tomorrow after work! I'm sure they won't mind seeing me again at my favorite welding supply store for another tank refill.

[55 Chevy Dave]

Before running out of welding gas, I managed to get my X-member from Progressive Automotive assembled. Don't worry crossmember, you will be welded in place very soon!

[Kim57]

Looking good.
Nice idea on the conduit. If they are galvanized that could cause the welding problem.
Kim

[oldman3]

Everything is looking great, you are doing very nice work...Jim

[Advanced Design]

I agree, looks good Dave.

[ptc]

Kim is right, the galvanized conduit is what the problem is with trying to weld it. Also (being an electrician) I will tell you that you are going to play hell in trying to get wires around the 'close nipple 90 degree' connectors, just squirt lots of wire lube at the ends there when you pull it in and it will help stop the abrasion damage to the insulation.

Good idea though, wish the guy who did mine had thought of that!

[55 Chevy Dave]

Thank you Kim, Jim, Advanced Design and PTC for the positive feedback!

PTC, I thought about putting slight bends in the conduits and letting them die into the boxing plates without the 90 degree elbows, but I didn't want to be left with big long holes to seal up against the elements.

I also thought about putting pull ropes through the conduits as I installed them, but didn't think those would make it through the process and be usable after I got the chassis back from powder coating.

My plan (which may or may not work) to get the wiring through the 90 degree elbows is to push a piece of welding wire from one end of each conduit out to the other end and then tie the wires to the end of the welding wire and pull it back through. Combined with plenty of lube at each 90 and I believe it will work. Guess we will all find out in a later post!

[ptc]

Originally Posted by 55 Chevy Dave

My plan (which may or may not work) to get the wiring through the 90 degree elbows is to push a piece of welding wire from one end of each conduit out to the other end and then tie the wires to the end of the welding wire and pull it back through. Combined with plenty of lube at each 90 and I believe it will work. Guess we will all find out in a later post!

Your plan should work fine, I would have a 'helper' feeding and bending the wire into the hole as you are pulling gently from the other end... it may take a bit of time but it will get there....

[Scott2]

Originally Posted by 55 Chevy Dave

Thank you Kim, Jim, Advanced Design and PTC for the positive feedback!

PTC, I thought about putting slight bends in the conduits and letting them die into the boxing plates without the 90 degree elbows, but I didn't want to be left with big long holes to seal up against the elements.

I also thought about putting pull ropes through the conduits as I installed them, but didn't think those would make it through the process and be usable after I got the chassis back from powder coating.

My plan (which may or may not work) to get the wiring through the 90 degree elbows is to push a piece of welding wire from one end of each conduit out to the other end and then tie the wires to the end of the welding wire and pull it back through. Combined with plenty of lube at each 90 and I believe it will work. Guess we will all find out in a later post!

Just found the build and read it thru. Great work! You did a ton of work on the chassis and I can only imagine the hours you put in but it really looks awesome!.

Also - a tip on pulling wire thru the conduit (neat idea on the conduit BTW) - I ride road bicycles and have to run new cables through closed up carbon fiber frames. Start with a pice of sewing thread long enough to go thru the conduit, stuff some in one end (be sure to tie the thread off!) and put your shop vac on the other end. It will pull the thread thru in a heartbeat. Then tie the thread to a string and then the string to a rope... and you're good to go.

I'll tag along and see where you go from here. Great truck!

[oldman3]

Originally Posted by Scott2

Also - a tip on pulling wire thru the conduit (neat idea on the conduit BTW) - I ride road bicycles and have to run new cables through closed up carbon fiber frames. Start with a pice of sewing thread long enough to go thru the conduit, stuff some in one end (be sure to tie the thread off!) and put your shop vac on the other end. It will pull the thread thru in a heartbeat. Then tie the thread to a string and then the string to a rope... and you're good to go.

Great ideal, thanks...Jim

[ilikethewoods]

You should use .42 safety wire. Wrap/or tape one end to a piece and feed it through. I did a tuck a while ago and the safety wire worked out perfect. All I can say is check, double check, then call your friend over to check your grounds or you will be chasing wires until 5am. Good luck, and great build.

[55 Chevy Dave]

It has been a while since my last post, but I'm back! Other projects keep popping up that put the 55 on the back burner.

I continue on with the boxing of the frame. I left the piece just before the rear shock bar unwelded because I think I want to move the rear axle bump stops to the inboard side of the frame and want to be able to weld receiving nuts on the backside of the plates before welding them into place.