55 TF Stretched Cab/Fleetside/LSx/Trailblazer Frame

[ChuckDriver]

What's going to happen with the TF frame in the yard now that you've pulled everything off of it?

[ricott]

Originally Posted by ChuckDriver

What's going to happen with the TF frame in the yard now that you've pulled everything off of it?

Once I get the Trailblazer floorpan and the TF cab merged, I will bring the complete Trailblazer EXT frame and the front frame section from the second Trailblazer home. The Trailblazer frames from the splice joint forward are the same, Chevrolet just made the rear section of the frame longer for the EXT models. The front section of the frame slides into the rear section at the splice joint by approximately 3 inches. I plan to shorten the EXT frame by 6 inches by cutting six inches behind the front of the splice joint. I will then slide the uncut front section in the rear frame section until I get to a frame that has a 123 inch wheelbase. My calculations are as follows: 114 TF wheelbase + 1 inch to move the front wheels forward in the wheel well+ 8 inches to account for the cab stretch = 123 inches. I hope this explanation make sense. If my math is wrong, someone please tell me!

[buggy5872]

Your math looks correct but you might want to mock it up before final welding....

[Bomp]

Are you going to tack the whole cab together roughly? floor,firewall,front,back
This thing is seriously over the top!

[ricott]

Originally Posted by dug224

Brain surgery...I like. Man, you have allot of moving parts to tie back together. On the edge of my seat. Dug

Dug, Congratulations on Retirment! There are a number of things to deal with going this way, but cutting up the "parts" cab firewall took a lot of the stress out of this. I now know it will work, and what will need to be cut on the "good" cab to match this up. I probably should have mounted the cab the way you did, but I wanted to get the cab as close to the frame as possible. Based on your measurements, using 29 inch tires, the "static Height" should be close to 8 inches. I hope to cut the trailblazer floorboard where the steps go in this weekend. After that I'm in Dallas preparing for a trial that starts in two weeks in New Orleans, so no more work on the truck until Saturday 4/19.

Originally Posted by Bomp

Are you going to tack the whole cab together roughly? floor,firewall,front,back
This thing is seriously over the top!

The short answer is I plan to fitup and tack the three major parts of the cab together first. The longer answer is I plan to brace the cab as it sits (bolted to the dolly), get the upper and lower structural parts of the two Task Force cab pieces welded together, then fit this part to the Trailblazer floorpan. My thought is that way I will only be working with two parts at one time, which should minimize the chances for me to screw it up.

Ricky

[Low Elco]

Wow, you got bigger stones than me! Nice work so far!

[ricott]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Wow, you got bigger stones than me! Nice work so far!

Thanks for following along. I hope this project isn't ultimately referred to "all b@lls and no brains!"

I said in the last post that I spent part of last Saturday preparing to cut out two dashes. With spring fast approaching, I needed to get these out. One was from a 59 Chevy car and the second was from a 62 chevy truck. It was clear and cold, just the way I like it when messing with this kind of iron.





I cut the windshields out on Saturday, and prepped both to cut out the dashes. I left wotk yesterday ahead of a storm and went to the yard to finish the job. Cutting out the 59 dash.



Here are both dashes





While I have planned to put the Car dash in this truck because its lines look to be in the same vein as the 55 truck body, something about the 62 truck dash is appealing. Its lines are very close to the dash found in the 63-67 corvettes. It is not anywhere near the time to decide, but does anyone have an opinion as to which dash to use, and why? I know this is not a democracy, but I am interested in everyone's opinion. As always, more to come.

Ricky

Time spent 3/27: 2 hours
Total time : 56 hours

[Bomp]

'59 car dash has my vote.

[Baldeagle SR]

59 dash also. I have seen a picture with the 59 dash in an older truck and it look nice.
Rich
my build
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...70#post6599970

[Kim57]

I like the car dash as well.
If I could find one cheap I would do it to my truck.
Kim

[ChuckDriver]

Well ya know I've got to vote for the 59! But the truck dash would look cool too!

[skymangs]

You should DEFINATELY use the truck dash, that car dash is plain ugly... that being said, you can ship me that '59 dash at your earliest convenience!

J/K that '59 dash would be a beautiful swap man.

[buggy5872]

59 car dash....

[Mac the Yankee]

At some point I'll be putting a '59 car dash in my '56 pickup. You'll need to lose about 7 inches in width- I have an idea of how I want to do that, but I'm really looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

The only other bugger about that dash is that the holes for the side gauges aren't a typical size. 2 inch gauges are too small and 2 5/8 are too big... I ws hoping to use some original SW Greenlines that I have, but they don't fit, so I'm still looking for ideas.

Best of luck, Bill

[ricott]

Thanks everyone for you input. I've always admired the 59 dash, but for some reason got a wild hair and also bought the 62 dash. It wasn't much money, and I will put it up for another project that is waiting patiently in my brother-in-law's barn. ChuckDriver-in post 241 of your build you have pictures of a green dash, as well as pictures of a blue dash and a gray dash. Do you know what make/model of car the steering wheels in those pictures came out of? If anyone else knows you can chime in - I like that look of both types of steering wheels.

[OrrieG]

Car dash, if I hadn't been so far into my build when I saw someone else do it, I would have used a 59 or 60 Impala too.

[ChuckDriver]

Originally Posted by ricott

Thanks everyone for you input. I've always admired the 59 dash, but for some reason got a wild hair and also bought the 62 dash. It wasn't much money, and I will put it up for another project that is waiting patiently in my brother-in-law's barn. ChuckDriver-in post 241 of your build you have pictures of a green dash, as well as pictures of a blue dash and a gray dash. Do you know what make/model of car the steering wheels in those pictures came out of? If anyone else knows you can chime in - I like that look of both types of steering wheels.

The green one has a smaller diameter 55 Chevy wheel painted 2 shades of green, both the blue and gray use a 59-60 Impala wheel, the gray one is actually green and the wheel is a smaller one too. I know this one personally, as it was built by a good friend of mine.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-1958-195...00b61f&vxp=mtr

[_Ogre]

your making good progress ricott, just read the last couple of pages of your thread. looks good.
as for that suburban, if you look at truk and thunderwagon together, i believe what they did is chop the windshield without chopping the roof
look at his door top to windshield vs truk



and my vote is for the impala dash

[hotrod1]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

your making good progress ricott, just read the last couple of pages of your thread. looks good.
as for that suburban, if you look at truk and thunderwagon together, i believe what they did is chop the windshield without chopping the roof
look at his door top to windshield vs truk



and my vote is for the impala dash

Hey Ogre:

I would sure like to know more about how they did the windshield chop. I like it.

[ricott]

[QUOTE=_Ogre;6608775]your making good progress ricott, just read the last couple of pages of your thread. looks good.
as for that suburban, if you look at truk and thunderwagon together, i believe what they did is chop the windshield without chopping the roof
look at his door top to windshield vs truk

Thanks Ogre for posting the picture - that is a cool picture of two really good looking rides! - and thanks for pointing out the top of the windshield difference. I like the look, but I don't want to attempt to cut a curvered windshield down.

[QUOTE=ChuckDriver;6608956]The green one has a smaller diameter 55 Chevy wheel painted 2 shades of green, both the blue and gray use a 59-60 Impala wheel, the gray one is actually green and the wheel is a smaller one too. I know this one personally, as it was built by a good friend of mine.

Thanks ChuckDriver for the information on the steering wheels, and a big thanks for posting a link to a more "modern" sized version. I guess I never considered there would be reproductions of this wheel out there.

I have been in Dallas this week, so I have had a lot of time in the evenings to think about working on the project this weekend. While I will not have a lot of time, I plan to focus on cutting down the floorpan and bracing the cab. We'll see how far I get. I drove the GTO back to Dallas and I absolutely love how the car rides and handles - and I can't wait to get this truck in running condition. That party is about over as my son wants the GTO back! Thanks again everyone for following, and commenting. As always, there is more to come.

Ricky

[ricott]

Last Saturday (4/5) I managed to get the Trailblazer floor pan cut. I measured from the center line of the pan, made my marks, and used tape to make it easy to see while running the cutoff wheel. I pulled the 55 front section off and cut the pan.



Here is the finished pan



I planned to weld in the braces for the Task Force cab, but when I went to turn on the gas to my MIG welder, I realized the valve had been left open (I sure wish I could blame someone else for that!) and the tank was empty. With that I called it quits after only 2 hours in the garage. I plan to get another bottle of 75/25 gas this weekend, and I will be ready to go on good Friday - my next opportunity to work. Having been driving the GTO these last few weeks made me realize how much I've always enjoyed a stick shift. I did some quick measuring, and it looks like the shifter for the six speed tranny would come up through the floor in a good spot. As luck would have it, I have a tranny hiding under my makeshift shelf, so I now plan to make this old truck a stick shift. This tranny came out of a 2001 ZO6 corvette, and had a bad second gear. I got a really good deal on it, and had Texas Driveline convert the tranny to the traditional "bolt to the motor" setup last fall.



As always, more to come.

Ricky

Time on Saturday - 2 hours. Total time 58 hours

[Kim57]

Nice progress.
Kim

[dsraven]

gotta love that bright tape, I do the same thing. another trick that works for curved surfaces, like the roof, is a string line drawn up tight, then spray paint over the string and when the string is removed there is a void where it used to be-voila, an instant line. gotta be carefull when zip discing next to it though because the paint burns off. could use tape next to the line though. that is how I cut my roof panel for my 57 cab extension.
keep postin, love it. good ideas too.
dennis

[ricott]

Today I headed out early to the salvage yard to pick up the trailblazer ext frame. After it was loaded we chatted briefly, and I headed home.




I cut the trailer loose and then began stripping the frame in the shade.



One thing I noticed for the first time today is the front frame section is tapered where it slides into the rear section. Since I wil lbe shortening this by 6 inches, the taper will be (mostly) cut out.



I marked the frame where the front and rear sections are joined and marked where the six inches will be cut. I will only be using the rear section of this frame, and will pick up the front section next week at the salvage yard but I wanted to see how the cuts would be made on both frames.



I marked the frame with my trusty yellow tape and then cut it. Andrew and I will unload the rear section tomorrow and the front section (junk) will go back to the yard when I pick up the good section later this week.



While I didn't get all I would like to have done, all in all it was a good Saturday! As always, more to come.

Ricky

Time today: 8 hours. Total:64

[dug224]

Ricky: Making progress! Are you planning on running the stock fuel tank setup? I am and it is posing a technical challenge making sure it is worked into the soon to be completed engine wiring and PCM reflash. There are a number of wires related to the three connectors at the fuel tank that I need to retain that are normally unpinned. Subscribed to "Alldata" the other day. Man, wish I had been paying attention the first time you mentioned that. What a lifesaver. Keep it up...dug