Roadkill's 58 Chevy Stepside

[Kim57]

The notch came out nice. It should get you nice and low.
Kim

[Roadkill58]

Originally Posted by Kim57

The notch came out nice. It should get you nice and low.
Kim

Thanks Kim.

I have more clearance than I thought I would which is a good thing if I decide to go with airbags in the future.

[_Ogre]

truck, truck, truck...

oh wait your back working on the truck, that's good
notch looks good, wish i had done that instead of my 3.5'' notch

[Roadkill58]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

truck, truck, truck...

oh wait your back working on the truck, that's good
notch looks good, wish i had done that instead of my 3.5'' notch

Thaks Ogre.

I got the idea from Tri5's build.

The boxing plates are 3/16" so they should be plenty strong.

[Roadkill58]

Trying to remove the front end group. Got the radiator out, front bumper off, core support bolts out, fender bolts out (bottom ones were a pain).

I tried to remove the hood hinges from the firewall but one seems to be stripped. I removed the insulation from inside the cab behind the hinge bolts and the weld nuts look to be intact. I wonder if someone tightened the bolt until it stripped? Not sure what to do.

Thinking about cutting the bolt flush with weld nut and drilling then using an easy out from the engine bay side. Not a lot of room to get to the bolt head from the engine bay side.

Anybody have this problem?

[Roadkill58]

Answer to my question.

If the weld nut is stripped it needs to be replaced so it could be cut off and a new one welded in.

[_Ogre]

Roadkill is back

[Roadkill58]

This is my new truck. 1959 1/2 ton Chevy stepside.

According to the pinkslip it is a V8 truck.

It also has three pedals in the cab.

Not sure what will become of it.

[Kim57]

Looks good.
Kim

[Roadkill58]

Thanks Kim.

[_Ogre]

dang. your parts truck looks better than what i started with

[Roadkill58]

Thanks Ogre.

It has some cancer on the fenders and doors. The cab steps have some cancer also.

It looks to be a stock truck.

The truck rolls so free I'm wondering if it has any brake shoes on it.

Since it's already on the lift I will take a look underneath and see whats really going on.

That will be it for the 59. The 58 has priority.

[Red Foreman]

I just stumbled across your build thread, its looking good so far, also enjoyed your little tractor resto in between!

[Roadkill58]

Thanks Red Foreman.

I'm not making as much progress as I would like, but I am making progress.

Thinking of going to goodguys in Pleasanton tomorrow, but I might work on the 58 instead.

Inspiration can be a good thing.

[Roadkill58]

My brother helped me get the front fenders and hood off on Sunday.

Today I pulled the motor. I pulled the trans and bellhousing by hand.

Check out the front motor mounts the PO or someone welded on the crossmember.

My parents taught me if I didn't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all.

The 59 has stock front engine mounts.

Next on the list is grinding and punching rivets and cleaning the frame before I start installing the new IFS.

[Kim57]

Those are some nasty looking mounts.
Kim

[Roadkill58]

I think I should bury them after I cut them off.

[Roadkill58]

We saw this 57 on the autocross course in Pleasanton on June 2nd.

I believe it has C4 suspension and an LS motor.

It won the truck class in autocross. It looked good doing it.

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by Roadkill58

I think I should bury them after I cut them off.

a little ugly but they look like they worked well for many years
some people just want what works and think nothing of how it looks

like that ladder rack that the po of my truck bolted thru the cowl on mine
or west coast mirrors that had 6 screws in each door
or the huge hole in the dash for the radio that looked like he used a pick ax to cut

[Roadkill58]

The engine mounts did work. The PO probably didn't have much in the way of power tools. He didn't even have a garage but he did get that six cylinder out and the V8 in.

Started cleaning the frame rails yesterday, and removing rivets with the air hammer.

Every time I pull the trigger about 5 pounds of dirt falls off the truck.

Today the old straight axel comes out.

I have to remove the disk brake conversion and box it up for another project.

[Kim57]

It's amazing how much dirt these old trucks can hide in the frame.
Kim

[Roadkill58]

[QUOTE=Kim57;6123469]It's amazing how much dirt these old trucks can hide in the frame.
Kim[/QUO



It would be interesting to save it up and weigh it when the cleanup part is finished. Well not that interesting.

[Roadkill58]

Yesterday I got the frame rails ready for the TCI boxing plates.

Cutting and grinding until they were square.

Got the boxing plates tacked in place.

I bought my IFS kit in 2010 and since then TCI has made some improvments.

They re-engineered the top coil spring hat with an upright bracket in place of the T-nut version.

Called TCI and asked about an upgrade. They wanted $275.00 for the two top hats.

I just need the upright pieces.

I think I will make and weld my own pieces on the hats I have.

[Roadkill58]

Before I tack weld the TCI IFS crossmember did everyone use the 20 7/8"
measurement or did you make an adjustment to center the wheel?

[Kim57]

Frame looks good.
That upgrade looks easy enough to do.
Kim