1957 Chevy 3100, meet 1994 Dodge Ram 1500

[joedoh]

metabo. the only grinder you will ever want to marry. load based torque, soft start, tool-less disc changes. everyone I have loaned mine to, has bought their own.

this truck will be a tough little monkey when you are done!

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by joedoh

metabo. the only grinder you will ever want to marry. load based torque, soft start, tool-less disc changes. everyone I have loaned mine to, has bought their own.

this truck will be a tough little monkey when you are done!

Thanks for the tip! I have a very old, large, aluminum bodied Craftsman that I use for big work, and as a backup, but it won't get into small places and it is heavy. Sounds like metabo deserves a look!

-Joe

[Kim57]

The frame front looks real strong.
Kim

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by Kim57

The frame front looks real strong.
Kim

That's what I'm going for. The stock '57 frame was plenty stout. Looking at it directly over the trimmed Dodge frame is what caused my concern. The Dodge frame was designed to absorb energy in a collision. The frame metal is very thin by comparison, so mounting a piece of heavy steel bolted specifically through the thin metal of the Dodge frame made me worry about the metal distorting or tearing if a mounted winch was being loaded to anywhere near capacity.

There are four 1/2" bolts used to mount the winch hardware through the Dodge frame. To help keep the thin metal from tearing, I welded washers the reinforce the mounting holes in the Dodge frame. The angle stock that ties the Dodge frame to the Chevy stubs overlaps the top seam where the two halves of the Dodge frame are welded together, as a precaution. I'm not planning on doing much with a winch, but this truck will be used on the farm, so the winch may end up getting used from time to time.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

And here we are with the first coat of paint on the front of the frame. If all goes well, I can finish shooting the front half of the frame next week, then maybe swing the motor in and start on sorting out the wiring. Or maybe not...I have some floor pan to repair and I want to fab up a battery box to go behind the passenger side step, affixed to the truck frame. This would all go better without the engine in the hole.







I'm thinking about getting out the engine crane to lift the front and get underneath to finish off the front frame paint. It will go a little easier working with the front end elevated a few feet and blocked in place.

-Joe

[Kim57]

Looks good in black.
Kim

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by Kim57

Looks good in black.
Kim

Thanks Kim. I'm going to shoot the whole frame in semigloss black.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

My days off this week were not as productive as I had hoped for. I did manage to get the second coat of black on the frame, so other than a few spots that will need some touch-up, the frame is done. I have not yet started on the battery box. I need some more angle stock to build that mount, which I will bolt to the frame rather than weld. I did not get any new pics of the frame, since it's still black, : )

I did get the crossmember that bolts in under the rear cab mounts sand blasted, primed and painted to match the frame. It is now bolted back in where it belongs, so once I am done with flaring and splicing the rear brake line and the fuel line, I can hang the fuel tank back in the frame, since the crossmember needed to be in place to hang the tank.

One other little step completed was shortening the rear drive shaft. After taking some 11" out of the frame, the rear driveline needed a trim to be able to bolt the shaft back in place. I used string and some spray paint to keep the two yokes in phase, and my chop saw to cut the weld at the rear yoke. With a little finesse via a hammer and chisel, the yoke came off with little resistance and needed just a bit of touch up with the angle grinder.





Since I don't have the means to true and balance the drive shaft, I made my cut just a little long. When I take it to the shop for final assembly, about 1 1/4" more needs to come off to allow for suspension travel. Right now, I have about 1/4" of slack and had to slip the bearing caps off and on to get the u-joint into the yoke on the rear axle. At least I can say, "It needs to be xx long..." and let the shop handle it from there.








As you can see ^^^ the driveshaft has pretty well compressed the dust seal at the back of the transfer case. Still, I'd rather cut off a little long than leave myself too short. I won't be sending the shaft off any time soon. It was just one more little box to check off the list for now.

My next project will be patching all those holes in the firewall. I hope to start on that later this week. Once I get the firewall fixed up and painted, the motor can go back in place and the front sheet metal can go back on for the winter.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

I'm starting to get an idea that may move the rear tires and wheels in a bit. With the bed sitting in place, the outside edge of the rear tires stick out past the fenders about 1.5" on either side. Some of that will be addressed with the steel wheels and a lot of offset, but that will only get me so far, as I recall either 5/8" or 7/8", about the same difference as the stock Dodge wheels compared to the stock Ford wheels. Last night, the idea crept into my head that I have a perfectly good Ford 9" rear axle sitting under a pickup bed trailer out by where the shop is under construction. That truck was originally a 1978 F150 4wd with a NP435, and if I remember right, the gear set in it is 3.50. The gear set in the Dana 44 on the front of my build is 3.55, so not far off. Richmond Gear makes a 3.55 set for the Ford 9".

Here's the thing...I just took some very rough measurements between the two, the stock AAM Dodge rear axle and the 9" under the trailer. It appears the 9" is about 5" narrower than the Dodge unit comparing outside edges of the tires. Granted, the stock Dodge wheels are mounted on the trailer and the stock Ford steel wheels are mounted on the '57 project, ( yes, they are the same 5x5.5" bolt pattern ). The spring centerline is only 1" wider on the Dodge rear end, so moving the perches out a half inch on the Ford axle would be no big deal. So far, about the only real drawback is I would loose the rear wheel ABS using the Ford axle, which isn't a deal breaker.

Like I said, this is just a consideration at this point. The only reason I am wanting to do this is to pull my rear wheels in under the fenders a bit more. It seems that with the steel wheels from Vintiques and the Ford axle, I may be able to have them completely inside the fenders.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

Here is a picture of the front and how far the stock Ford wheels stick out past the fenders, about 2". This is pretty comparable to what is going on at the back.



The Wheel Vintiques steel wheels I have planned will absorb a little of this. I think combined with the 9" rear, only the fronts will extend out past the fenders when all is said and done.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

I finally started working on the firewall yesterday. I needed to find some metal I could use for making patches for all the holes that had been cut or drilled over the years when I remembered an old gas tank I've had sitting around. Before everyone goes nuts about danger and fumes/fire etc, the tank has been sitting open, empty and dry for seven years or so. Any truly flammable vapors have long since evaporated.



Being confident I would not have this part of the project blow up in my face, I got the tank from "storage" and moved it up to where I could dissect it and harvest some sheet metal to make my patches from. My patched up DeWalt angle grinder, with a cutting blade, to the rescue yet again.






I cut the bottom off in one big piece, and yes, there was a little smoke when all was done, due to the old, brown varnish that had gelled in the tank long ago. No panic, no flames, no whoosh, just some smoke and good metal to be used again.



Midway through working up the patches, I found my magnets were being less than helpful holding things in place while I tried to tack them up. I figured some painter's tape would do the trick, so off to Pauls Valley for a roll of "extra hands". While I was there I ducked in to a local drive thru for a quick bite and spotted this:



Pretty cool. I hoped the owner would show up so I could get in a quick chat and some more info. No luck, and I didn't want to spook the passenger, so I continued on my mission.

Tape in hand, I got back after it. The tape holds the metal patch in place long enough to start a few tacks, then burns off. Where I am working right now, there is nothing in the way as fire as wires or other flammables, so I can get away with this technique.





I've got a few errands to run today, then more work on the firewall. With any luck, I can have it ready for a coat of primer next week.

-Joe

[Kim57]

Lots to fill but worth the effort.
Kim

[Purcell69]

You're right Kim. At some point, somebody drilled holes in the firewall for anything and everything, myself included. At one point, I had a Harrison heater assembly in the cab and had to rework holes for the heater hoses. It was a cool old unit until the core started leaking. It is coming along though.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

Aside from all of the wheel discussion, I've been working on filling the holes in the firewall. The passenger side holes are welded and now it is just a matter of smoothing it all out. I have started to address the driver's side now, but a bit of housekeeping was in order. First, I needed to remove the wire harness from behind the dash. No sense burning holes in a good harness.



Next, I needed to remove the brake booster to get it out of the way. In fact, the plan is to loose the current booster which is for a Mustang II, and install the booster and ABS motor from the Dodge donor truck, so I have the full braking system. To take it one step further than that, I wanted to find a way to use the Dodge brake and accelerator pedal assembly. When I moved the brakes to the firewall, years ago, I had a stainless steel support that went under the dash and incorporated the brake pedal swing. The accelerator was just something that was cobbled together from an El Camino. It was ugly, but functional, even though it was set off to the right and partly mounted to the transmission hump.

When I parted out the donor truck, I cut out part of the firewall that supported the brake booster and the cast aluminum bracket that made up the pedal assembly. Once trimmed down to what I need, it will be welded to the '57 firewall.



The gray piece is what was cut from the donor truck and will be welded in place on the Chevy firewall. This will help fill some really ugly holes when all is done and allow me to use the Dodge braking system.





This is the donor piece of the firewall before trimming and the pedal assembly. I ended up trimming off parts of the pedal bracket to make it all fit under the dash, and I had to cut off the brake pedal to extend it and clear the steering column. It does fit under the dash once I trimmed out some of the steel Chevy brackets. The remaining steel brackets will be bolted to the cast aluminum piece to support the steering column and steel Chevy dashboard. I may even try to put the stock Chevy parking brake handle back in place.

Here is the cast aluminum bracket in place, after trimming, as seen through the hole for the gauge cluster.



Here is the Dodge booster assembly mocked into place. I'm glad I found a way to make all of this work. This way I can keep the ABS system and will have the right size booster and master cylinder for the Dodge running gear. Obviously, doing all of this today, I got none of the holes in the driver's side of the firewall welded shut, but this was a big step that needed to happen first.



-Joe

[Kim57]

You're making good progress.
Kim

[Purcell69]

This past week I was not able to get much done. I spent the past three days out at Burns Flat, OK for LEDT (Law Enforcemnt Driver Training), lots of fast driving and burning brakes. Before I left, I picked up a Porter Cable jitterbug sander, since my roll around compressor doesn't do well with the sanders and my big compressor needs 220v run out to the tool room. The little jitterbug does well for $40.

While I was a Burns Flat, trying to get some sleep in the barracks, I began thinking about wiring issues. Years ago, I bought a harness kit from Ron Francis Wire Works. I'd never wired a truck before and this kit was well worth the money. I was able to install it and have everything working in one day. Later, when I ditched the carburetor in favor of EFI, I added a kit from Painless to handle fueling, with the Ron Francis kit.

The only thing I did not like about the Ron Francis kit is the wires come off all four sides of the fuse panel, which takes up a lot of space. I did have the panel installed on the driver's side of the firewall, under the dash, but with the wires going every which way, it looked a bit messy for my liking. This got me to thinking it might be better if I built an electrical center that I can attach to the rear cab wall.

I figure I can make a bracket to mount the panel off the back wall about 1/2", which would allow me to run the wires off the top of the panel, back underneath and down to a main harness, then out through the cab floor and under the cab to the engine compartment and up to the dash through the firewall. The battery is going to be mounted behind the passenger side step, so the power to the panel will be close. I can also mount the ABS computer near the fuse panel. All of this will be in the same area once occupied by the fuel tank, and can be hidden behind an upholstered panel with an access door, in the event of a fuse issue.

When I parted out the donor truck, I saved the pass through from the Dodge firewall, so I may be able to use this in the cab floor to run my harness out to the underside of the cab. The ECM and power distribution center from the Dodge will still be in the engine compartment, mounted on the passenger side firewall and inner fender. This should allow me to keep things looking a lot cleaner and still allow me to keep the modern goodies. I will need to make a small bulge to accommodate the Ron Francis panel, since it is 3" thick and the "gap" between the rear cab wall and a theoretical inner wall is only about half that. Since I will make the inner wall, I can make it as needed.

-Joe

[Baldeagle SR]

Joe you are making nice progress. Rich

[Purcell69]

Thanks Rich! The days are starting to get shorter and the nights are getting colder, so it is almost time to button this up for winter. I figure I will be done with the firewall and perhaps a small spot that rusted through on the back cab wall. Anything beyond that is gravy. Then it will be a couple of hours to hang the front sheet metal until next spring. With any luck, by that time I will be working out of a shop instead of on the driveway.

-Joe

[Rickysnickers]

I read this build this am. Impressive! Here's a link to a guy that put all his wiring inside the cab. Go down to post #9, http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=685728

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by Rickysnickers

I read this build this am. Impressive! Here's a link to a guy that put all his wiring inside the cab. Go down to post #9, http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=685728

Yes, that's what I'm talking about! Compare the neat appearance in post #9 to the mess in post #3, ( it's not really messy looking from the driver's seat, but you can see the difference), and you can see why I want to do this. For seating, I have two bucket seats from a two door Jeep Cherokee. The two door Jeep seats flip forward, so if I have to address a fuse issue or work on a wiring problem (how often does that happen?), I can flip the seat forward for better access to the back cab wall.

Thank you for the link!

-Joe

[Rickysnickers]

You are welcome

[Purcell69]

So far I have done just a bit more with the firewall. Almost all of the holes are now filled and smoothed and I have a coat of primer applied to protect my work until spring gets here and I can apply paint.

I also cleaned out the cab of spare/removed parts and took a piece of aluminum free from the dash center. The aluminum had been bolted to the dash with stainless steel allen head bolts and was in place when I bought the truck. Of course it concealed a hacked up radio opening, which would not have been a big deal, since I plan on using a double DIN radio, but the PO also took a grinder to the raised rings embossed in the sheet metal above the radio holes. The metal there had random holes where the grinder burned through, or the remaining metal is paper thin, so I will be cutting out the hack job to weld in a patch panel, only to cut the opening out again to the appropriate size. I didn't take pics of this abortion yet, but you get the idea, not pretty.

This weekend my goal is to finish the firewall patching and rehang the front sheet metal for winter storage. After that, I'm going to start work inside the cab, making the bracket for the fuse panel, rust removal where the back wall of the cab meets the floor and some patch work on the rear wall where the metal got thin. I also need to reconnect the rear brake line where I shortened it to match the new frame length and rehang the fuel tank. This is all more than I can get done in the next few days, but with these items done, there won't be much left to do until I acquire some patch panels or start into the wiring.



And here the firewall is thus far.



It's not perfect by any stretch, but then again, this is not a show truck, just something to enjoy. As long as the final outcome looks tidy, I will be happy.

-Joe

[Kim57]

Coming along nicely.
Kim

[Purcell69]

^^^ This is the mess that is my dash.



^^^ This is the chunk of aluminum they used to cover it up.



^^^ Here is the mount for my fuse panel, with legs to allow me to run wires underneath for the harness.



^^^ And here we are, welded in place to the right rear cab wall. The piece of aluminum was used to keep the tabs in proper orientation while they were welded to the back cab wall. It is the same size as the fuse panel, so I can either leave it be, or remove it when I mount the panel on the tabs.

I did not get much done today thanks to extra honey do's, but any progress is good progress.

-Joe

[Kim57]

A little here a little there and it eventually gets done.
They make patches to fix the dash.
Kim