Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window

[ChuckDriver]

Don't sweat it Dan, truck is going to be awesome either way!!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Ha ha, thanks JJ. I thought you'd be the guy to tell me I'll regret the decision because of the beautiful Impala dash you did and you seemed enthusiastic about the idea.

Thanks for the support. I suppose it's possible I could still do it in years to come if I feel regret. Not likely but who knows?! I'm going to wait on doing some of the polishing I'd intended til later too.

EVERYONE, watch out for drunk drivers out there this weekend and have a safe New Years holiday. I'm thankful for an awful lot of things and the older I get the more thankful I am. It's incredible to have the friendship of a lot of guys who I've never met. That alone ought to make us hopeful in general for times to come. Best, Dan

[ChuckDriver]

Dan, don't get me wrong I think the 55 dash would be a great mod, but ultimately its your call.

If you want me to push you in that direction I will, LOL!!

Happy New Year brother!!

[Flysocal]

I didn't want to be Debbie downer but I thought you were crazy to swap dashboards. The 55+ dashboards are nice just the way they are. It would have been a shame to cut it out. So much time and effort for so little return. But that's just my opinion.

[Dan in Pasadena]

You could have posted it when I wrote about doing it. I like hearing everyone's opinion.

[Russell Ashley]

Dan, I love a 55 dash in a TF, but the original dash looks beautiful too, so it's not a necessity to swap it. Also, considering what it would have cost I doubt that I would have done it if I were in your position. BTW, I am very familiar with that "slippery slope" that you mentioned, although after seeing what you are doing I doubt that I am as far down it as you are, LOL.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by Russell Ashley

Dan, I love a 55 dash in a TF, but the original dash looks beautiful too, so it's not a necessity to swap it. Also, considering what it would have cost I doubt that I would have done it if I were in your position. BTW, I am very familiar with that "slippery slope" that you mentioned, although after seeing what you are doing I doubt that I am as far down it as you are, LOL.

Thanks for the support, Russ!

Yeah, at times the "slope" has felt like a cliff I fell off

At the beginning it was easy to say, "let's go with the 8.8 rearend" "Let's put in the shoulder belt mounts" I don't want the AC bolts or bulkhead fittings to show on the firewall" yada, yada, yada. But then the bills start adding up and you start thinking, "Hmmmm...."

I've still gotta get a new gauge cluster, rims & tires, upholstery. There's unfortunately plenty still to do and I'm in a hurry to get her done in time for summer.

[Dan in Pasadena]

January 23, 2017

Stopped by the shop to check on progress of work today. Backstory is the cab had been returned to the bodyshop awhile ago and was wrapped up pending Marcos being able to get back to it; then due to the recent heavy rains. It finally dried up/warmed up today. Marcos re-sprayed the cab interior, particularly the under dash where the AC mount studs had been welded, where the bulkhead holes had been drilled, and the floor due to wear & tear during the mechanical work at Mike's shop. He also re-sprayed the B pillars where the primer was removed during the fab of the shoulder belt mounts.

I'm pretty pleased that the belt mounts look like they've always been there from the facotry. EXACTLY like I wanted them to look.




The floor was just generally scuffed up and had some black transfer off the guy's work shoes.


I ordered the Holley HP Dominator (or some such name) engine management system that will also control the electronic transmission. Mike is getting me a great deal on it and the Holley serpentine bracket set. He is crediting me back for the factory engine management system that came with the LQ4 and 4l85e.

Marcos will be spraying two paint color samples for me next week. I wanted 2012 Honda San Marino red, but there was also a slightly lighter color the same year call Milano red. In fact, they're SO close in color I'm surprised Honda made them both! Pictures of the samples to come next week.

[oldman3]

Sounds great Dan, ready to see the RED...Jim

[ChuckDriver]

Can't wait to see it in color Dan!!

[Kim57]

Looks real good.
Kim

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by ChuckDriver

Can't wait to see it in color Dan!!

Me too! But the difference between the two colors doesnt look very different on the tiny swatches in the painter's book. Hope i don't regret my choice.

[55 Chevy Dave]

What a great build you have going, Dan! I haven't reviewed your entire thread, but already found some ideas I may incorporate into my build. Thanks for posting! Good luck on the rest of your build. I'm looking forward to more posts!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by 55 Chevy Dave

What a great build you have going, Dan! I haven't reviewed your entire thread, but already found some ideas I may incorporate into my build. Thanks for posting! Good luck on the rest of your build. I'm looking forward to more posts!

Thanks Dave. Not sure what ideas of mine you're talking about but I'm glad i might have helped in some way.

[ptc]

Dan your truck is really coming along great, I think you are gonna be realllllly happy with the final results as you have dictated so far.... You'll enjoy it!

This is what they say about regret---- and theres a lot of TRUTH to it.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Thanks ptc. Nice poster too.

[58CameoAZ]

Hey Dan,
Your truck is looking Great Buddy, Really going to be nice,
Hey about your shoulder belt threaded mount, I was skimming back threw your build,
is it shown or outlined in your build somewhere on the mod they did,did i miss it somewhere, i want to put
the three point belts in my Big back window cabs just to have a Little bit safer feeling
and like how yours turned out!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by 58CameoAZ

Hey Dan,
Your truck is looking Great Buddy, Really going to be nice,...

Thanks so much for the kind words I hope it comes out as the picture in my mind.

Originally Posted by 58CameoAZ

Hey about your shoulder belt threaded mount, I was skimming back threw your build, is it shown or outlined in your build somewhere on the mod they did, did i miss it somewhere, i want to put the three point belts in my Big back window cab just to have a Little bit safer feeling and like how yours turned out!

Yes, it's in here somewhere but there's really not a lot to show.

I suspected when we opened the B pillar there would likely be only folded sheet metal and I was right. There wasn't even enough room to slide a piece of bar stock in there. I'd have THOUGHT we could put a 3/4" piece of bar with a threaded hole in it and weld the sheet metal back on top - no such luck. If we'd cut enough metal out to allow a piece of bar stock it would only have weakened what is already not terribly stout.


In the end the best we could do was a piece of 1/8" flat stock behind the pilar sheet metal we'd cut to get access.


We used a lug nut because it has longer threads than a standard nut and it is heavy walled. Also, it corresponds to the Juliano's bolt size. This isn't hugely substantive but it WILL keep my face from meeting the steering wheel in a minor to moderate rear-ender - what's you're describing above.

A truly catastrophic accident isn't my concern because frankly, none of us will likely survive one of those in these 60 year old trucks. They were never capable of anything like a modern vehicle in terms of surviving an accident. So I'm hoping of course to never be in such a bad hit.

[MBrown]

Dan, I am doing an LS engine in my '59 GMC, Where does your guy source those plates for bolting to the engine?

Thanks,
Mark

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

September 22, 2016

Photos of driver side motor mount fabrication. Mike explained he had to intentionally dip low to clear the steering column shaft. The frame side will get welded on today and he'll also fab the passenger side. I like that he chose to use the flat biscuit type mount. I'm a little concerned the mount looks thin. But then maybe I'm just noticing that he made it look graceful with the sweeping curved gusset plates instead of "blocky" & clunky like I would have done it. I'm sure it's plenty strong for bearing the weight of the engine but how about resisting the rotational forces of torque - it's an entirely stock LQ4 so I'm probably just being a Nervous Nellie. Opinions?

[MBrown]

Dan,

Also curious as to what tank you used on your truck? There were a couple of different ones discussed, just wndered which one you ultimately went with? Also , is it mounted with straps or ...?

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by MBrown

Dan, I am doing an LS engine in my '59 GMC, Where does your guy source those plates for bolting to the engine?

Thanks,
Mark

Mark, I JUST texted Mike to ask where those plates were sourced. I suspect Summit, but I'll find out and post for sure when I get an answer. The gas tank was from Tanks, Inc.

Regarding mounting the tank, it's not finalized yet but pretty sure it'll be a direct bolt-in on the bottom flange of the frame.

Thanks for being interested in my project. I look forward to seeing/reading about yours. Best of luck with it, Dan

[Dan in Pasadena]

Mark,

Here's the LS engine mount plate. The photo is a little less shapely than the photo of the ones on my engine but the ad says the plate may differ. Cheap enough at only $7.99 each. Hope this helps you:

http://www.kartek.com/parts/ls-engin...t-pattern.html

[MBrown]

Thanks, Dan! Thats what I wanted to see. Re: the tank, is it a 72 Chevy tank? I thought i had read that earlier?

Mark

[Dan in Pasadena]

No, it's Tanks Inc's generic Mustang tank. The larger of two they offer. I THINK 19 Gallagher me? Hard to remember. It comes with the 5 (or is it 6?) bolt generic sending unit mount instead of the Ford collet type sender mount.

[MBrown]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Agreed. This is what he did without me knowing about it. When I texted him that I wanted him to add reinforcement, he already had - excellent. I continue to be happy with Mike's work.

It's not fully welded out here but you can see that he boxed the frame and added reinforcement above making a deeper section. He doesnt have the bed so he can't verify how much room he has to add material yet.

Anyone else have problems seeing some of these pics?