'52 Rot-box Turned Tire Roaster.

[BP87GMC]

Thanks for the pics, and he back-half is looking sweet.

[oldman3]

Frame is looking great...Jim

[xpickup]

Wybrow, back half looks great, and so does the rest of the frame.


Shannon

[tobins 52 gmc]

looking good man,keep it going

[Wybrow]

Thanks a lot, guys.

Pretty good update, front suspension is on. We've also got the back-half partially welded on. Levelling and squaring everything out on a concrete floor that is less than flat is very time consuming, but we managed. We've also got the engine and transmission in so that driveline height can be measured and we can build the 4-link crossmember to suit. Tonight the crossmember will be designed, and by the end of the week I'll have the lasered pieces and it should be somewhat assembled.







Numerous bottle jacks and widow-makers were used to level everything, useful beyond words.

[oldman3]

Really taking shape....Jim

[yawdie1]

Really looking good man!
So how tall is that notch?

[59stepside]

That is looking great

[Wybrow]

Originally Posted by yawdie1

Really looking good man!
So how tall is that notch?

To be honest, I'm not sure how tall it is. Haha, it is set-up to lay on a 30" tall tire. I can grab a measurement next time I'm at the shop.

Thanks, fellas!

Not a lot of physical evidence of progress over this weekend, however, it was a good one. We got the 4-link crossmember measured, designed and ready to be lasered. It is going to be wild and a giant pain in the ass to build. All 4 link bars will be sunk into the crossmember, the bolts will be hidden, it's a bit silly. I'll have all the pieces Friday, which means there is no reason why the truck won't be 4-linked (providing crossmember assembly goes well) next weekend.

Saturday night was pretty laid back, I TIG'd up this little battery box in the factory location, Need to come up with a crafty tie-down yet, but that can wait. We also stole Dan's fuel cell and kinda mocked up the rear end setup. I really like the air tank location. I think we'll end up building a fuel cell to fit, I also want to be able to factor in space for an inline fuel pump and all the necessary evap stuff for when I go LSx.





There probably won't be much going on this week with New Years and all, which I will definitely be making up for this weekend. Hope everyone had a good Christmas and a Happy New Year!

[99 to Life]

looks awesome garage look killer too

[Wybrow]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

looks awesome garage look killer too

Thanks, we just moved in November. Still in the process of moving in and getting things sorted out. I have a hoist to go up that was in my previous shop but we need to have the floor mapped out for the heated lines.

I've found a bed. I have all this week off, so I'm using my free time to head down and take a look at it and hopefully drag it all home next weekend.

I've received some pretty decent pictures. The box is from California, it is 100% complete and appears to be in pretty good shape overall.







I'm also trying to buy this bottom half of a cab. It is also from Cali and the floor area is in immaculate shape. So, we'll see. I'm 90% sold on the box but I would like to look at a handful of areas on the cab in person before I commit to the buy.



Heading down there tomorrow or Tuesday.

Unfortunately, the laser table broke Friday. So, my crossmember and a few other bits didn't get cut, so no 4-link this weekend like originally planned, not a big deal. I got a chance to get caught up with sleep and some numerous other things.

[99 to Life]

hope you score that bed, that place looks cool too.

[Wybrow]

I went to see the box (and various other parts) Monday and showed up to something I was not expecting. The body shop where the bed resides is basically a classic car/hot rod/truck graveyard. Hundreds of body panels neatly (for the most part) organized, numerous complete cars, I was in heaven. The old boy invited me to come back in the summer and snoop around as long as I wanted. He said he had a barn full of equally entertaining things. Definitely intend on going and spending a full day there come summer.

Back on topic, this box. It is gorgeous, super solid where it counts and roughly matches the exterior shape of the truck. I am going back to pick it up Friday, along with the lower half of that truck cab and hopefully some doors (if he can find them in his barn of wonder). The cab has a great windshield cowl and a few other key places that I'd rather use original sheet metal (like the dash) and a VIN tag, which is ****ing awesome because that means I can get the ownership for my truck dealt with and actually legally own it and drive it. :rofl

Overall, trip was super worth it. Looking forward to picking up my haul Friday.

Anyways, here's a picture of the underside of the box, original wood floor in basically immaculate shape. I fully intend to reuse the original floor this year, just raised up. I really wasn't expecting to be getting a 100% complete box, I just expected box sides and the front panel, so for the $750 price tag I am over-joyed.



I'm hoping the laser table is fixed and my crossmember stuff is cut out for the weekend, I'm getting antsy.

[99 to Life]

nice score on the parts, sup with your dash? you replacing or fixing it? I'm on a dash consumption prowl now. I'd wheel n deal whatever you don't use on it. The old bed wood is cool def rare to have that intact.

[Wybrow]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

nice score on the parts, sup with your dash? you replacing or fixing it? I'm on a dash consumption prowl now. I'd wheel n deal whatever you don't use on it. The old bed wood is cool def rare to have that intact.

My truck sat for 20 plus years with no windshield in it. Leafs and mush and other junk got stuck up under the bottom of the dash and it rotted out quite badly. I will definitely be giving fixing it a go once it's pulled from the truck. I'm like you, I can't bring myself to let any of these things die if they don't have to.

I brought the truck box and half of a cab home Friday. The more I look at this cab section the more I'm disappointed it had it's roof cut off. It is in fantastic shape, it probably won't look it in the pictures I post from here on out, but it's real good. Better than almost anything I've seen sitting around here semi-locally.

We got the lasered parts for my crossmember, and like I anticipated, it sucks to put together, haha. Lots of pieces. Lots of welding.

These are the pockets we assembled for the link bars, and welded onto the "back side" of the rear most part of the crossmember.





It's starting to take shape.



Next is to assemble the other side with the tops and bottom welded in place like we did with the rear rail sections.

There will be a hole on the outer most side of the frame to access the lower bolts and there will be a hole in the side of the crossmember to access the tops. They'll all have guide tubes so I won't ever lose bolts or sockets. When the shear gussets are made for the back-half, we'll figure out some kind of clean design of holes and stuff, and you won't even notice the hole in the frame. Hard to explain but it's all upstairs in my brain compartment. Hopefully it works out. I'm getting excited, it's looking pretty good.

Here's some other miscallaneous pictures, over the last few days.

[99 to Life]

nice work, the fab work looks fun to me. Cab does look good, I'd just swap roofs and or just wait or buy a new roof for the better cab. The OG cab you have seems completely fixable and honestly, once its all tore down like you have it, reconstructing it isn't as bad as it seems.

[Wybrow]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

nice work, the fab work looks fun to me. Cab does look good, I'd just swap roofs and or just wait or buy a new roof for the better cab. The OG cab you have seems completely fixable and honestly, once its all tore down like you have it, reconstructing it isn't as bad as it seems.

I had thought the same on the way home, until we pulled the cab out of the box of the fullsize. The back of the cab has had a hard life. Looks like someone took a pick-axe to it and then their boots. I think I have a decent plan of attack for making the two cabs in to one, I'll start tackling that once the frame is finished up.



Much to my surprise, after leaving last night Dave and Dan stuck around and finished assembling the crossmember, what great friends. Here's what I showed up to tonight.



I spent a few hours welding it all up a few stitches at a time. I'll spend tomorrow cleaning and smoothing the crossmember and the link bar pockets, then it's ready to go in the frame.



(I couldn't wait, had to smooth a bit, this is going to look good)







I had a picture of the guide tubes for the bolts/socket but apparently photobucket is not wanting to play nice.

They're cut to be flush with the outside of the frame, so when we cut and weld on the shear gusset they'll be "corner to corner" and have lots of room to weld.

[ghettoluxury]

Looks good! It's nice to have friends like that.

[Wybrow]

Originally Posted by ghettoluxury

Looks good! It's nice to have friends like that.

Thanks, you're darn right!

Hi friends, I worked at the truck some last night, got the crossmember mostly smoothed out and stitched in. I absolutely love it. Tonight we'll build the 4-link bars and get them in and hopefully have everything fully welded. We have the bag mounts planned out and also a crafty mount for the bag cups. Once that is all welded in I can go nuts welding shear gussets in, plating sections of the frame and finish smoothing all the welds (completely dreading that part).

Here's some shots of the crossmember in, I need to finish weld it still and smooth the welds so it does not look finished, mainly because it is not.





Forgive the picture quality, apparently my phone lens is getting quite scratched up, I may have to start taking my DSLR out.

Anyways, until tonight, gentlemen! We shall reconvene.

[99 to Life]

cool man nice work, be a good feeling getting it under its own weight I'm sure.

[Wybrow]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

cool man nice work, be a good feeling getting it under its own weight I'm sure.

It's definitely getting close, I'm getting pretty excited!

Over the weekend and tonight I finished welding everything I could on the crossmember while the frame is right side up. I then built the lower bars and also glued together the lower link bar tabs.

Oh, I forgot to mention, in a last minute decision deal (wound up being the perfect timing) I traded some parts for an '85 F-body rear end. Has a great posi (so I've read over the years) and also has rear disc brakes. It's a lot cleaner and has a good track width. We were able to utilize the same tack-welded scrap to line up the wheel base and set "ride-height". It took way less time to get the axle set in than what it normally would.











I measured and tacked in the lower link bars.

Then we farted around with bag positioning, I think it'll wind up somewhere around where I have it placed now. I know exactly how we're going to do the upper plate and bracing, another one of those "it's in my head but hard to explain until I have pictures of it installed" sorta things. It'll work, promise.





I took this picture and then realized how much I still have to grind to finish the back half off, not excited at all.



I got a good clean up done and decided it was high time I check ride height out, it made a big difference seeing it almost on the ground.



I've got lots to do this week, making the upper bars first and I should hopefully have bag plates for the weekend.

[Wybrow]

We got the uppers made up Friday night which showed us a major design flaw with where we initiatlly wanted to put the bags. At full lift the upper bars would likely hit the upper bag plates, so we had to get crafty. The bags are going to be offset just slightly from the center of the link bars, which will get a tonne of lift in the rear end. The shocks will be off the lower bars and bolted to a spot on the notch. We will be bending some tube and making a jungle gym of tubing to support the upper bag cup.

In the pictures below you can see the shock hanging roughly where I'd like it to wind up - it is held up and mostly compressed with welding wire and a tall can of Coors. The bag will likely end up basically where it is sitting. I would like to run them upside down so you don't see the fittings but I need to make sure there is enough room for safely running a plastic fitting without smashing the thing off.





I'm heading out to the shop shortly, hopefully have some more to show you guys tonight.

[4Eyedtruck]

just read your build thread nice work I cant wait to see the updates keep up the good work and when I saw the monte carlo all I could think about was the movie training day lol

[Wybrow]

Originally Posted by 4Eyedtruck

just read your build thread nice work I cant wait to see the updates keep up the good work and when I saw the monte carlo all I could think about was the movie training day lol

Thanks, man!

Dave and I spent the night working on the truck, got the 4-link fully welded, tabs fully welded and FINALLY got that horrendous piece of 2x4 off the frame once the new cross-bar was in and welded.

The cross-bar will be the base for the upper bag mount bars, which will be the same radius as the frame notch.





It's drilled through the frame, was bevelled and welded, ground smooth on the outside of the frame. The inside will be welded aswell, when the frame gets finish welded and shear-gusseted.

We measured and welded on the lower bag plates aswell, nearly on the home stretch with the rear of the frame.





I have to drill the holes yet, but that can wait 'til tomorrow.

Axle fully welded



Should have all the spatter cleaned from the axle tomorrow and get the 4-link fully bolted in for the first time and can lay it out.

[99 to Life]

looking real good man. nice and beefy. that workbench you got there is just as dope!