My 1955 Chevy 3100 build

[55 Chevy Dave]

To box the frame flat in the back, I had to fill the bottom side of the frame on each side where the frame thins out.

[55 Chevy Dave]

Here are the rear boxing plates in progress. I still need to flip the frame over, fully weld the top side of each side and grind everything smooth.

The last picture is of the front and rear tubes fabricated for me by a nearby shop. Unfortunately, they don't make rectangular tubes in a stock height that matches the height measurements at the front and rear ends of the frame.

Hopefully, they will be fully installed this weekend.

[Advanced Design]

Really nice work Dave. Looks good.

[Kim57]

Nice progress. Looks good.
Kim

[55 Chevy Dave]

I trimmed up the rear custom tube so that it would fit between the frame rails. I had to spread the rails a bit as the heat from welding the boxing plate had pulled them in a bit. Nothing a bottle jack and chunk of wood couldn't fix!

[55 Chevy Dave]

After some twisting, additional trimming with the grinder and a bit of beating with a big hammer, the tube found it's new permanent home.

Everything welded up nicely. I still need to flip the frame over and get the top side.

[55 Chevy Dave]

After some more welding, it actually looks like it belongs there!

[55 Chevy Dave]

After looking at the front end of the frame, I realized that if I want the same clean installation for the front rectangular tube, I will need to do something about the front bumper brackets. I'm not sure why they ended up fitting inside the frame rails instead of on the outside of the rails like the rear bumper brackets, but they are in the way.

I cut some plates out of some 1/4" material I had laying around and drilled the holes in them. That is where I had to stop for the weekend. I plan to bolt the plates to the outside of the frame rails and weld them to the original brackets. I should be able to finish that project one night this week after work.

Eventually, I hope to post more than just pictures of my frame on this thread!

[Advanced Design]

Nice work Dave, looks good!

[Kim57]

Frame is looking good.
Kim

[oldman3]

Doing a great job...Jim

[55 Chevy Dave]

Now that I relocated the front bumper brackets to the outside of the frame, I moved on to cutting the front tube and installing it between the frame rails.

[Kim57]

You're doing a nice job.
Kim

[55 Chevy Dave]

After flipping the frame over, I spent the better part of a Saturday welding the top side of the boxing plates to the frame and then grinding everything smooth.

Now onto mounting my new brake/clutch pedal assembly to the inside of the boxed frame. I picked up the pedal assembly and master cylinder/brake booster frame mounting plate at Progressive Automotive. The mount is designed to work with their frame crossmember (shown in the 5th picture in this post).

With their master cylinder/brake booster mount, they include a fabricated tray that is to be installed in the boxed frame to allow room for the brake booster to fit between their crossmember and frame. The tray can be seen behind the pedal assembly in the first pic and installed at the top of the fourth pic. It looks like a pretty slick setup.

[55 Chevy Dave]

According to the manual, to find the correct location for the pedal assembly, the cab had to be mounted back on top of the frame (see the third pic from my last post). After dropping the cab back onto the frame, I decided to reinstall the front and rear suspension to get a look at the stance of the truck on top of its new suspension.

Thoughts?

[55 Chevy Dave]

She sure is screaming for some wider meats in the back, isn't she? Pay no attention to those weeds in the driveway! I've been busy, OK?

[Advanced Design]

Weeds, what weeds?....you have a truck build going. Looks good...maybe a bit more tire out back?

[Kim57]

Looking real slick.
Kim

[55 Chevy Dave]

Of course, after determining the correct mounting location on the frame for the clutch/brake pedal assembly, I realized that it was exactly where I had the terminated the conduits coming from the front and rear of the frame. So I had to cut out a piece of the boxing plate on the inside of the frame to relocate the conduit elbows and then welded in receiving nuts on the back side of the boxing plate for the pedal assembly. I welded everything in and went to grinding. Problem fixed!

I also relocated the rear axle bumpers to the inside of the frame and welded in receiving nuts for them.

[55 Chevy Dave]

Finally onto trimming up the crossmember and preparing it for final installation! And it cleared the pedal assembly and conduits nicely!

[Whumbachumba]

This is awesome! I'm really like all the work you've been putting into this so far. Makes me wish I had the time and money to do something this nice. We just want to get our running for now! haha

[55 Chevy Dave]

The 7" diameter brake booster would clearly not fit between the crossmember and the frame. I contacted Progressive Automotive to ask them if they had a solution. It turns out that they had an answer. I ordered their installation kit consisting of a recessed pan to be installed in the frame and a mounting plate for the master cylinder/brake booster that spans between the recessed pan in the frame and the crossmember.

I proceeded to cut out a portion of the frame and boxing plate to accept the new recessed pan and then test fit the master cylinder and booster.

[55 Chevy Dave]

After trimming the pan for height and depth, I welded it in and did some more grinding. I then tacked in the crossmember in preparation for the installation of the master cylinder/booster mounting plate.

[55 Chevy Dave]

After fully welding and grinding the pan into the frame, I realized that the indentation in the frame was not high enough to allow the master cylinder and brake booster to fit properly. I ended up cutting out the top of the pan, moved it up about an inch and welded it back in. After some more grinding, I was finally able to weld in the mounting plate.

The installation of this kit turned out to be pretty tricky as there were multiple pieces involved. To confirm the proper placement of the pan, it was necessary to tack the crossmember to the frame. After the crossmember was in place, there wasn't much room to maneuver my welder and grinder.

I'll stop whining now!

[55 Chevy Dave]

And here are pics of the final product. Glad that part of the project is behind me!