Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed

[RockinKees]

Your never to late, Rusty!!
Welcome!

[deejaaa1]

you are doing a great job. keep it up!

[Steve-W]

Nice going Kees, Aaron Kaufman's got nothing on you

[RockinKees]

Originally Posted by Steve-W

Nice going Kees, Aaron Kaufman's got nothing on you

Thanks Steve!
I just read that Aaron is going to produce old truck parts

deejaaa1
you are doing a great job. keep it up!

Thanks mate!!

Last Monday I got out of the garage....
Man, it never drove so good!!
The steering, well, it's lighter than my wife's car
No heavy points, just put your pinky on that steeringwheel and it goes where you want it!

The airride is such a better suspension than the stock coilovers, I'm happy I did it
It's not laying frame, it was not intended to do so, it's pretty low aired out though.
It feel so much better now, also the homemade swaybar in the back is working like a charm!!
Man, it drives great!!

The exhaust, it's missing about 2,5 meters of 2,5 inch pipe now
I had it cut down to dump just before the rear axle, the mufflers are right under the seam of the cab/bed. Also kept the H-pipe.
Afterdriving it for a few miles now, it looks like it is even quieter than before, no drone, just a nice dark rumble, I'm happy with it.

Pic #1 and 2: the "new" exhaust
Pic #3: first time out, this is rideheight.

[RockinKees]

As all the airride stuff is under the bed, I decided to make it accessible from inside the bed.
I cut a hole in the floor
And ofcourse made a sort of door/shutter... You can hardly see it when its closed.

All the airbags are indepently switched, I use two double needle gauges for setting the ride height, and a switch for the compressor.
I made a panel under the existing gauge panel I had. Maybe I change that in the future...
For those who want to know pressures: front is at 125 Psi, rear is at 75 Psi, this at rideheight.

So, now on to test the heck out of it before we go to the Hot Rod Hayride in the U.K
That's a roadtrip of 600 miles for me, no problem!!

Pic #1: airmanagement in the middle of the dash. Maybe I change the whole dash in the future, not sure about this..
Pic #2: Grinding the steel bedstrips and saw a hole in the bedfloor.
Pic #3: The hole, and I came to the conclusion that I don't have a picture of the floor door..
You'll get that one later
Pic #4: sideview at rideheight
Pic #5: sideview fully aired out. It looks not much in the pictures, but it drops about 4,5 inch.
When it's aired out (also by failure) I can move the truck without touching or scraping something on the ground.

[Advanced Design]

Nice work Kees! Enjoy the Hotrod Hayride!

[nikwho]

Looks great! I enjoyed reading through hour build.

Nik

[oldman3]

Kees, nice work as always. Truck looks great at ride height and super aired out. Glad it's driving good for you, that's what I built mine for, to drive it...Jim

[rapid49]

Looking forward to pics of your floor door . I have to do something to allow access to my fuel pump and battery under the bed floor.

[reaper71]

Looks awesome

[cooperhw]

Right on. Love your build. Just found it today following another guys post. Good on you. Now comes the fun of driving the wheels off it. Although, I sometimes get the feeling I enjoy building em more than driving em. I'm weird like that, I guess.
Anyhow, I will tag along and see your truck travels. Post some pics of your truck "during" travels. Places and areas of your homeland we will never get to see otherwise.
friend request sent. can't have too many truck buddies I say.

[YahamaR1]

Looks very good kees.

[RockinKees]

Thanks a lot guys!!

Doug, the Hayride is July 28- July 30, so I can test a few weeks
Oh, I think I will enjoy it, very much so!!!

Cooperhw, request accepted
And sure I will take pictures of my trips with this Black Beater!

As promised, the pics of the floordoor I quickly made.
@ Rapid49, if you want to see different things or other details, just shout!

Pics are again on their side....sorry for that...

[lower50's]

Looks very nice.

[cooperhw]

here you go.

[RockinKees]

Originally Posted by cooperhw

here you go.

Thanks!
That's better.
All these pictures were taken with an iPhone, that's the problem. On my computer the pictures are good side up??

[ptc]

Looks nice Kees! great work as usual....

[cooperhw]

Originally Posted by RockinKees

Thanks!
That's better.
All these pictures were taken with an iPhone, that's the problem. On my computer the pictures are good side up??

You are welcome. You might have to take them with your camera turned counterclockwise? I just saved em to my computer, went in and turned em, and posted em back up.
Keep up the good work.
Wayne

[Steve-W]

that's a nice looking secret compartment for contraband..
I'd stash a bottle of whisky there just for fun.
Looks very cool!

[Nut Case]

Kee's Your truck is so much fun, your ideas and execution are off the charts. Strong Work. Just got the shop floor graded and level to pour the floor. Hoping to finish up before November.
Love your truck, it's great, Keep on keepin on

NUT Case

[deejaaa1]

can you get some video of the smoothness while driving? pics are nice but i want to feel like i'm riding in the cab with you.

[RockinKees]

So guys and girls, a little update....

Didn't do much on the truck besides some interior work, we, my wife and I made some new doorcards.
Other than that, I've been to the Hot Rod Hayride in the UK with my son and a bunch of good friends.
We did a pre-highwaytest with my buddy Mark, who had a leaking trans on his '72 Suburban. Put some trans sealer in the trans, drove 50 miles on the higway at 70-75 mph, no leaks anymore! So we're good to go
On this 600 mile roundtrip we both had no problems of any sort!! And boy, did we had some good times!!

Two weeks after the Hayride we went to a Rockabilly Weekender here in Holland, the Rockin'at the Drive In Barn.
The day before we went I had to modify the towhitch (slide-in type) which was way to low
Nothing that a little grinding and welding could stop!!
I went there with Peggy (my wife) and had the RV behind the truck for the first time...Exiting, but all my welds held
Awesome weekend with old friends!!!

I made a lot of pics and put them on Facebook.
I set the pics on Public so you should be able to see them, if you use FB and are interested...

Pics of the Hayride:

https://www.facebook.com/kees.koorn/...9287098&type=3

https://www.facebook.com/kees.koorn/...9287098&type=3

https://www.facebook.com/kees.koorn/...9287098&type=3

Pics of the Drive In Barn:

https://www.facebook.com/kees.koorn/...9287098&type=3


A few pics of how we made the doorcards (it's a lot quiter inside the cab!):

[RockinKees]

Originally Posted by deejaaa1

can you get some video of the smoothness while driving? pics are nice but i want to feel like i'm riding in the cab with you.

Yep, I can do this for you.
I let you know when it's there for you to see.
Could be a couple of days!

[ptc]

Nice job on the doors!!! looks great

[oldman3]

Kees, thanks for the pics. Door panels look good...Jim