55 TF Stretched Cab/Fleetside/LSx/Trailblazer Frame

[Bomp]

Nice work on getting all the cab supports in. How much you stretchin' it again? Think you mentioned it but now that theres pics my mind is all blown again.
Showed my dad your GTO. He said,"Lots of work, impressed."

Looked for the Corvette thread mentioned above but haven't been able to locate it. Did I miss it?
Glad you made it through the 6 inches of down fall swimmingly, lol

Cab looks great.

[ricott]

Originally Posted by Bomp

Nice work on getting all the cab supports in. How much you stretchin' it again? Think you mentioned it but now that theres pics my mind is all blown again.
Showed my dad your GTO. He said,"Lots of work, impressed."

Looked for the Corvette thread mentioned above but haven't been able to locate it. Did I miss it?
Glad you made it through the 6 inches of down fall swimmingly, lol

Cab looks great.

I'm stretching the cab a total of 8 inches - 6 through the doors, and I plan to make the "B" pillar 2 inches wider. The link to my (tiny) corvette tread is in my signature block. The 58 will be finished next! Tell your dad thanks - I like the cars you posted that he is preparing to sell, and pictures of the ones you have scattered about. Like you and your dad, I have more cars than I have time - a 71 corvette convertible that needs a complete rebuild, and a 53 Studebaker Starlite coupe to keep my busy in retirement. How much did you stretch your truck? I remember seeing 10 inches, but thought you went with less to make the ceiling ribs (or something) work out correctly.

[ricott]

Hope everyone had a great 4th - we sure did, but it is good to be back home. I was able to work today on the GTO and finished the metal work. The first picture shows the marking on the panel I made so I could remember what to do next!



The finished panels



I have approximately 23 hours in it so far, and I don't think the bodywork will be that intense. I'm headed to Goodguys Columbus Thursday morning, so it will be next week before more progress is made. As always, more to come.
Ricky

[Kim57]

Been watching the repair on the GTO from the start.
You sure do some nice work.
Kim

[dug224]

Looks great. Bought the Metal Bumping book. Easy read and the logic makes even those giant dents sound easy. I read somewhere on this site the other day...."everything looks easy until you try to do it yourself". Have fun at Goodguys. dug

[dsraven]

how did the GTO repair go? are you done? are you working on your truck again?

[ricott]

Originally Posted by dsraven

how did the GTO repair go? are you done? are you working on your truck again?

Thanks for asking. The GTO is in primer at the house, unfortunately I'm in Boston for work until the middle of August. Work has been hectic this summer and it has been hard to get the time to work on the car. As soon as I get back to Memphis I will post pictures of the car. I have almost 50 hours in it, and it will probably take 15-20 more to finish.
Ricky

[dsraven]

What kind of work do you do that takes you away for a month at a time ?

[ricott]

Originally Posted by dsraven

What kind of work do you do that takes you away for a month at a time ?

I'm a corporate attorney in Litigation. My work can be intense, and then there are breaks where I can catch my breath. Unfortunately I knew this summer/fall was going to be intense. I'm back in Memphis from August 15 to Sept. 3, then I head to Dallas/Denver until October 2. The good news is Denver/the mountains will be beautiful, and the wife will fly out for a couple weekends. I will not be able to work on the truck until Mid October.

[Bishops Trucks]

Very nice work on the truck. Hate to see what happened to the goat, you seem to have that close to good again.

[ricott]

Hope everyone had a great labor Day Holiday – we did! I took Friday off to paint the GTO. The car still needs to be buffed, but this is the money shot after the last coat of clear. I have 62 hours in the GTO, and need another 10 to finish it up.



The real reason for this update is I finally got to work on my truck – on Labor Day no less! I last worked on this on May 17th. So here goes. Early Monday morning I cut out the firewall/floorpan of the Task Force cab in preparation of fitting it over the Trailblazer floorpan. Using the measurements from the mock up firewall, I made the necessary cuts.



With this done, it was time to begin positioning the cab over the floorpan using my floor hoist.



Because of the earlier mock up using my spare firewall, this part was rather uneventful, and didn’t take a lot of extra cutting. At the time I welded the cab bracing, I also welded “feet” on my cab bracing made out of the same material as the height adjusters. This will allow me to adjust the final height of the cab in relation to the floorpan at each corner.I used my adjusters in each corner of the cab to “level” the cab to the floorpan.



Currently the cab is approximately 2 inches above the trailblazer floorpan – I need to do some final trimming before I lower it down. You can see the adjusters at each corner in this picture. The wifey was back by then and took this picture.



It appears that ride height will be in approximately 7 inches off the ground when attached to the floorpan. I'm stoked about the look of the truck. I may get to work on the truck some more before I leave for Dallas/Denver next week (didn't have to go this week), after that it will be early October before I'm back in town. The money shot!!!



Hope everyone enjoys this little bit of progress. As always, more to come.

Ricky
Time spent on Monday, September 1: 9 hours. Total time: 84

[apache200]

Your truck is going to be killer.

[dug224]

Love it. The stance feels perfect. dug

[Kim57]

Looking real nice.
Nice job on the adjusters for setting up your cab.
Kim

[ChuckDriver]

Very nice, stance looks perfect! Now slap a fender up front and lets see how it looks!!

[rgunlock]

That's an impressive amount of progress for a 3-day weekend between both vehicles. Sure looks like your plan is going to pay off with the Trailblazer donor. Looking great!

[ricott]

Originally Posted by apache200

Your truck is going to be killer.

Thanks man. I don't know if you remember, but I bought the long wheelbase fleetside sides from you a couple of years ago. I plan to use some of that metal to extend the spears into the doors.

Originally Posted by dug224

Love it. The stance feels perfect. dug

Thanks Dug for the comment. All your hard work on making the Trailblazer frame swap work sure made it easier for me! I'm dying to see how your bed is coming along.

Originally Posted by Kim57

Looking real nice.
Nice job on the adjusters for setting up your cab.
Kim

Thanks Kim for the comment. I have followed your build for a long time, and have gotten lots of great ideas from you. Your picture documentation (like Dug) sure makes it easier to follow the modifications (your pancaked hood/tilt hood comes to mind). You are part of the reason I'm doing what I plan on this truck.

Originally Posted by ChuckDriver

Very nice, stance looks perfect! Now slap a fender up front and lets see how it looks!!

I so want to stick the front cap on the truck and a rear fender before I leave for the next several weeks. I may take off early tomorrow and pick up the front cap out of storage (about an hour away). Thanks for your comment.

[Bomp]

Totally dig that stance!
Cab is looking great all stretched out and all.
Have a safe trip.

[ricott]

Originally Posted by rgunlock

That's an impressive amount of progress for a 3-day weekend between both vehicles. Sure looks like your plan is going to pay off with the Trailblazer donor. Looking great!

Thanks for stopping by. It was a couple of great working days - one on the GTO and one on the truck. There will be a lot of welding and some fabricating to merging the floor and the cab together, but I have a 10# spool of wire and a bottle of gas - now all I need is the time. Hopefully that will come in October. I visited your project and love your truck. Also love the two cabs you had in your shop.

Originally Posted by Bomp

Totally dig that stance!
Cab is looking great all stretched out and all.
Have a safe trip.

Thanks for the comments. When you rolled your truck out of the shop a couple of months ago it was a great motivator for me. I love the stance and the proportions of your build. I hope I can come close to that with mine - and I do want people to scratch their heads and wonder if a particular detail was vintage Chevrolet or a recent enhancement.

[jlsanborn]

Holy smokes - mad skills in here. What a cool project!!

[apache200]

Yes I do remember now, glad that you will using them. Cant wait to see more progress!

[71sierragrande]

Just discovered this build. Wow! Cab looks perfect.

[Nut Case]

Councilor, your a wild mad designer. I too do this for stress relief, you just have certain flair. I too am in the process of adding 4" to 57 JIMMY. I have the space in The Barn otherwise named "Manworld" as soon as my youngest removes 55 ford that has been on perma hold for over 4 years. He has been given notice that this friday is the last day, to come fetch it and all the parts and trucks. That's right the ford pu and a 29 A four door with a flatty all have to go! As soon as the space is clear,, I'll have a grand opening party with photo's and everything with anoffical candle lighting.. I just need two JATO packs for the local County Mounties, they don't know that they are up for this years Darwin Awards. Beware The Demented Nut Case will armed and loose Then the build will begin

[ricott]

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

Holy smokes - mad skills in here. What a cool project!!

Thanks for stopping by. I hope to be back on it in early October.

Originally Posted by 71sierragrande

Just discovered this build. Wow! Cab looks perfect.

Thanks for the comment. I really hated to leave Memphis without being able to finish the "level up" and hang the front cap - but October is coming fast!

Originally Posted by Nut Case

Councilor, your a wild mad designer. I too do this for stress relief, you just have certain flair. I too am in the process of adding 4" to 57 JIMMY. I have the space in The Barn otherwise named "Manworld" as soon as my youngest removes 55 ford that has been on perma hold for over 4 years. He has been given notice that this friday is the last day, to come fetch it and all the parts and trucks. That's right the ford pu and a 29 A four door with a flatty all have to go! As soon as the space is clear,, I'll have a grand opening party with photo's and everything with anoffical candle lighting.. I just need two JATO packs for the local County Mounties, they don't know that they are up for this years Darwin Awards. Beware The Demented Nut Case will armed and loose Then the build will begin

To borrow from the fishing world, "A bad day in the garage is better than a good day at work". I really don't have many bad days in the garage! I'm dying to get back on this in October, and hoping I can take a couple of days off mid-month and hit it hard. Please start a build page - we all love the motivation that comes with another person posting up their work. I would love to see the 55 ford – even apart - I learned to drive in a 58 ford PU.

I roll back in to Memphis from Denver in a little over two weeks, the truck is waiting patiently in the garage, and I’ve had many hours to map out what I want to do next. Thanks to all of you who stop in for a look but don’t comment – that’s cool and I hope I will be posting something that is read worthy in early October.

Ricky

[ricott]

It is great to be home after 28 days on the road!!! Dallas was fine and Denver and the mountains were great, but I was glad to see Tennessee again and to get back to work on the truck.

I began yesterday by picking up my front cap from my friend's salvage yard.



Next I completed the level up of the cab to the floorpan. Even with the adjusters it took approximately three hours of trimming and moving to get the cab set where I wanted it on the floorpan. I shot this picture last night. In the end, the rockers are 7 and 1/2 inches off the floor. I could have lowered it as much as another inch, but I liked the look of the truck at this height.




I also began fitting the front cap yesterday. After a looking at Dug’s pictures, and some additional measuring, I cut the Trailblazer frame horns off the front frame just ahead of the sway bar bracket.





I spent the rest of the day disassembling the front cap (between football games) and doing other minor prep work to mount the front cap. I am off tomorrow (Monday) and Tuesday - so I hope to get the sheet metal mocked up by mid week. As always, more to come.

Ricky

Hours spent on Saturday: 7.
Total hours: 91