My 57 Pro Street

[Kim57]

Originally Posted by Kabwe

Kim there is no need to wet sand before painting. I also use the dry guide coat and it works great. Finish off your block sanding with 600 grit (solid and less transparent metallic colors you can get away with 400 grit but 600 grit is safe) before applying your base coat and you will be fine. You can save all your wet sanding and buffing once your finished painting to get rid of any imperfections.

Another point about block sanding that can lead to mistakes is this. Let the sand paper do the work. In other words don't muscle and push down hard while sanding. Just let the black guide across the panel in an x pattern. Applying pressure will lead to problems.

Thanks for the info Bam.
You always have great info on how to do this stuff.
The cold weather kept me from wanting to spray any epoxy so it slowed my progress some.
How's your truck coming?
Kim

[Kabwe]

Originally Posted by Kim57

Thanks for the info Bam.
You always have great info on how to do this stuff.
The cold weather kept me from wanting to spray any epoxy so it slowed my progress some.
How's your truck coming?
Kim

LOL. I meant to say let the sanding block guide across the panel. Don't put downward pressure which is instinctive.

My truck? Well as you know its been cold and I could not shoot either, but I got a little done this weekend, the first weekend I've worked on the truck in a very long time.

[55 Chevy Dave]

Hello Kim.

First, I would like to congratulate you on a spectacular build! I have gotten a lot of great ideas just from reviewing your thread. I would also like to thank you for spending the time to document everything on this forum!

Could I ask you how much you ended up narrowing your rear axle? I am also curious what the width and backspacing of the rims you decided to go with.

I am sorry for all of the questions. I am planning on doing something similar to my truck. I have taken all of the necessary measurements and drawn a section of the truck at the rear end and believe I know what I need to do, but still want to double check before investing the money to narrow a perfectly good rear end!

Thanks for any information you can provide.

[Kim57]

Originally Posted by 55 Chevy Dave

Hello Kim.

First, I would like to congratulate you on a spectacular build! I have gotten a lot of great ideas just from reviewing your thread. I would also like to thank you for spending the time to document everything on this forum!

Could I ask you how much you ended up narrowing your rear axle? I am also curious what the width and backspacing of the rims you decided to go with.

I am sorry for all of the questions. I am planning on doing something similar to my truck. I have taken all of the necessary measurements and drawn a section of the truck at the rear end and believe I know what I need to do, but still want to double check before investing the money to narrow a perfectly good rear end!

Thanks for any information you can provide.

Thanks for the compliments.
Give me a few days to get that info for you as I have to uncover the frame. I have it pushed out of the way right now.
Kim

[Kim57]

Originally Posted by 55 Chevy Dave

Hello Kim.

First, I would like to congratulate you on a spectacular build! I have gotten a lot of great ideas just from reviewing your thread. I would also like to thank you for spending the time to document everything on this forum!

Could I ask you how much you ended up narrowing your rear axle? I am also curious what the width and backspacing of the rims you decided to go with.

I am sorry for all of the questions. I am planning on doing something similar to my truck. I have taken all of the necessary measurements and drawn a section of the truck at the rear end and believe I know what I need to do, but still want to double check before investing the money to narrow a perfectly good rear end!

Thanks for any information you can provide.

My rear is 49" wide from where the wheels mount to the rotors.
The back spacing on my wheels is 4.5".
My tires are 29x18.50x15. They are a little close to the inner fenders so I will be going to 29x16.50x15 when I get it on the road. The tires I have now are too old to run any way even though they have zero miles on them.
I originally had wheels with more back spacing but they wouldn't fit over my disc brakes.
Kim

[55 Chevy Dave]

Thank you for taking the time to check, Kim.

That will help as I only want to narrow the rear end once!

[shadow1967]

Kim,
You have come a long way! Great job.

[Kim57]

Originally Posted by 55 Chevy Dave

Thank you for taking the time to check, Kim.

That will help as I only want to narrow the rear end once!

You're welcome.

Originally Posted by shadow1967

Kim,
You have come a long way! Great job.

Thanks.
Kim

[vht]

Come on Kim. We need some progress here. Just kidding, been following this since you started. You are doing an amazing job.

[Kim57]

Originally Posted by vht

Come on Kim. We need some progress here. Just kidding, been following this since you started. You are doing an amazing job.

Thanks.
Should be able to make some next week as my son and grand daughter will both be back in school after the holidays.
Kim

[shadow1967]

I think I might of missed it, but what color are you thinking?

[Kim57]

Originally Posted by shadow1967

I think I might of missed it, but what color are you thinking?

A light metallic blue that was used on the Chevelle in the mid 60s.
Kim

[vht]

I remember a 66 chevelle a friend had that color, good choice.

[Jferrante]

WOW - new to the board and going through build threads and this one just ate up a good few hours reading through. Amazing the focus on these builds my attention span is way to short.

Awesome work excited to see the final product!!

[Kim57]

Originally Posted by vht

I remember a 66 chevelle a friend had that color, good choice.

That's the color. I think it was called Maliblue.

Originally Posted by Jferrante

WOW - new to the board and going through build threads and this one just ate up a good few hours reading through. Amazing the focus on these builds my attention span is way to short.

Awesome work excited to see the final product!!

Thanks for the compliments.
Kim

[solidaxel]

Originally Posted by Kim57

That's the color. I think it was called Maliblue.


Thanks for the compliments.
Kim

The blue on my 65 Corvette from the factory was called Marina Blue

I read through the whole build and it brought many memories of all the hard work you have done on your stretch.
Good luck you have it under control!

[Kim57]

Originally Posted by solidaxel

The blue on my 65 Corvette from the factory was called Marina Blue

I read through the whole build and it brought many memories of all the hard work you have done on your stretch.
Good luck you have it under control!

It'll probably be one of those colors.
I like the dark colors because of how deep they look but it seems there are tons of dark trucks so I'm wanting to be a little different and go with something light.
Kim

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by solidaxel

The blue on my 65 Corvette from the factory was called Marina Blue....

THIS:



...is Marina blue I think. This is a long bed and I think it looks great even though I'm usually not a guy that likes blue cars and trucks.

[Kim57]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

THIS:



...is Marina blue I think. This is a long bed and I think it looks great even though I'm usually not a guy that likes blue cars and trucks.

Nice looking truck.
Thanks for posting.
Kim

[slammed57]

Sorry for showing up late to the party ( just found this thread ) and a new member...But WOW...it took me a hour and a half to read through your thread...coming out incredible

[Kim57]

Originally Posted by slammed57

Sorry for showing up late to the party ( just found this thread ) and a new member...But WOW...it took me a hour and a half to read through your thread...coming out incredible

Thanks.
I've been sanding my behind off so not much to up-date at this time.
Kim

[blue57]

Glad to see your back at it. One of my favorite builds i started following when i joined.

[ptc]

Kim... just read through this thread and its another incredible build! - I hope you dont get tired of hearing that? lol

Very nice on the fab skills, got some good info from your parts purchases and some of your fixes on things; appreciate it much going forward on mine.

Couple questions; You used the Wilwood rotors and said they didnt fit your 15" wheels? what size rotors? 12.19" or 12.88"

Also that pirate jack pedal assembly, how far off the inside frame did you have to space it to fit the cab hole? Im doing a hydroboost also due to a big cam, why did you choose that route with an LS motor? I saw you didnt run any hard lines for the hydro? are you doing afterwards or did I just miss it?


thanks! -- great Job!

[Kim57]

Originally Posted by ptc

Kim... just read through this thread and its another incredible build! - I hope you dont get tired of hearing that? lol

Very nice on the fab skills, got some good info from your parts purchases and some of your fixes on things; appreciate it much going forward on mine.

Couple questions; You used the Wilwood rotors and said they didnt fit your 15" wheels? what size rotors? 12.19" or 12.88"

Also that pirate jack pedal assembly, how far off the inside frame did you have to space it to fit the cab hole? Im doing a hydroboost also due to a big cam, why did you choose that route with an LS motor? I saw you didnt run any hard lines for the hydro? are you doing afterwards or did I just miss it?


thanks! -- great Job!

Thanks for the compliments.
My rotors are the 12.19" ones. The original wheels I had were old and had a step down in them that fit over drum brakes but not the larger discs.
I'm still running 15" wheels they're just a better design without as much back spacing so they fit my brakes. It moved the tires a little closer to the fenders but I still have room.
The brake pedal assembly is 1.5" off the frame. This put the middle of the pedal arm 3.75" off the frame. Not sure if that's exactly where it was when original but should be pretty close.
I went with hydro-boost for the space savings over a traditional vacuum booster.
I do have 3/8" hard lines run on the frame for it I just haven't finished plumbing them into the master cylinder or pump yet.
Kim

[angelobackwards]

Originally Posted by Kim57

Hers some more pics of the core support. I didn't just want it square at the transition so this is what I came up with.
The first pic is some cardboard templates I made to dress up the front of the frame.
Pic #2 is some 1/8 inch plate I cut out.
Pic#3 and #4 shows it welded to the frame.
I still have to clean up my welds some.

Very clean work Kim57. I admire it and wish I could do that kind of work in my free time. Enjoying reading your build, it has been giveing me ideas I hope to pursue on my own project. You are running a Chevelle front clip do you know if a 72 Monte Carlo front clip is same as yours? That's what I have on mine and am looking to make core supports and may follow your example if they are the same. Thanks.