A '54 named Busty

[Gregski]

not the best pics sorry about that, but with the grille out of the way it is time to think on the bottom radiator support crossmember thinga jobbie, and I'm seriously considering going back to a pull electric fan setup instead of this push idea

now yes I do shaddy work, but I don't take credit where it ain't do, and this is all prior owners from like 7 owners ago frame rail cut job

[Gregski]

so here's another look at the passenger side frame rail and how far it sticks out past the front inner fender facia

[Gregski]

and here's another look at the driver side, I use the 1/2 extension to show you there's a perpendicular set of holes in this second gen Camaro subframe that you can use as a reference for making a decision as where to cut

[Gregski]

literally this little bent passender side front fender support rod is solely responsible for what happened next....

[Gregski]

I tell you what I can literally sit there in my broken down lawn chair with a semi cold flat beer in my hand and stare at this next pic for hours, I am so fascinated with all the mechanical engineering - how about you?

So yeah I think we are woppin' 4" off of those frame rails to get some proper clearance

[Gregski]

it appears someone brushed up against my passenger front fender ever so slightly

honestly, the dent's didn't bother me as much as the proper alignment of that bottom tie rod I showed you earlier

[Gregski]

and here's how it looked on the inside

[Gregski]

tools of the trade...

[Gregski]

and... good enuff for Gobermint work!

again as long as all the bolt holes align proper, that's all I care abouts

[Gregski]

... and it's belly all semi streightened, I still need to tack weld a few cracks, but you get the idea of the quality of my work, and I use both terms loosely

[Gregski]

So here's the driver side frame horn chopped off

[Gregski]

and then it was off to the driver side

[Gregski]

and here's the ever so slightly damaged driver side front fender, nothing a three pound sledge can't handle

[Gregski]

so using Ole Sarge thread 49 ls1 as an example I decided to lop off the bottom of the OEM radiator frame, this will allow me to slide the radiator further down, so I made the cut 23" down from the top to keep the most original metal that I could

[Gregski]

and progress on the driver side front fender, not bad for a rough first pass, this truck aint getting painted so we are not going for perfection here

[8man]

You do nice metal work.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by 8man

You do nice metal work.

Thanks mate, not bad for an IT guy! hee hee

[Gregski]

put the front end back on for final fitment and alignment before welding in the radiator core support

it appears I am about 1/2 an inch off and the hood has a slight overbite and refuses to shut, the recommendations I am getting is to lower the front, which at the moment appears to be resting on the power steering box

[Gregski]

sneak peak at the black grille and the look I am going for, it's like lipstick on a pig, ha ha

mocked up front bumper as well

[joedoh]

looking good, I like the black grille!

[Gregski]

random things that need a doin' but I'll be putting them off

this aint bad at all it's a Nevada truck

[Gregski]

yanked out the rusted out L shaped bed side brackets - ordered 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" National Hardware N215-475 4060BC Solid Angle in Plain Steel off of Amazon, not the ideal place to source your metal, but desperate times call for desperate measures

fun level = 0

[Gregski]

one of the bed cross sills had a little English on it so it took some gentle persuasion to get it straight

[Gregski]

so bed cross sills wire wheeled, acid washed, baking soda neutralized, sun bathing, about to get some primer and paint (may be
throwing two extra in for strenghtability, we shall see)

please don't mind the two tone prime job, I was just trying to use up a can of light gray primer that refused to run out (wish it did that when I actually needed just a bit more, know what I'm sayin' fellas?)

[Gregski]

alright, after getting my front end realigned so that the hood could close, it was time to make that asymetrical radiator frame

it aint gonna win any beauty pageants but it's strong and I made it out of all my scrap metal cause you know I can't exactly run over to Lumberjack and pick up some more U chanel or square tubing

still gonna add some gussets up on top tomorrow