Scott's '51 Build

[Scott2]

Once the cab corners were in I made inside fillers for the corners and I am pretty sure I didn't leave any trash or rattly stuff inside!

[Scott2]

New Aluminum Driveshaft - got it from Englewood Driveshaft here in the Denver area. Nice job!

[Scott2]

I also spent a lot of time trying to figure out where to mount the PCM cleanly. I finally settled on putting it inside the left inner fender well, up at the front close to the grill area. I dug out the stock PCM mounting thing and cut almost everything off of it except the base. I drilled a set of holes for mounting it and inserted elevator bolts as studs, then set it against the fender and tracked them in place, then more tacks to make them solid. Yes, I will put some kind of splash shield in there too - tbd.

I drilled a big hole in the inner fender and found a big fat grommet to insert and the honking engine wiring harness will go through there right at the front left of the engine and into the wheel well space. I do have to cut a slot to the hole since the connectors won't go thru it but I'm working on that. I also bought some weld on zip tie brackets to zip tie the harness to inside the wheel well.

Mounted my Derale Trans Oil Cooler too. It fit in on the chassis between a running board mount and the battery box. It's a stacked plate setup and can be mounted flush to the chassis side rail. It hangs down a touch but is not lower than the running board brackets.

[Advanced Design]

Holy cow you've been busy. Nice work Scott!

[joedoh]

metal work and paint takes patience (and sanding ability) I dont have, but I can appreciate the work when its done right!


looks amazing!

[solidaxel]

For a breather on your P/steering can I have used a length of hose tucked up the core support and put a rear axle breather on the end

[Scott2]

Originally Posted by solidaxel

For a breather on your P/steering can I have used a length of hose tucked up the core support and put a rear axle breather on the end

Are you saying that extra tube on the p/s can is a vent? I know there are cans w/o those and I was thinking it’s an extra return. Missed that completely. Thank you!

[solidaxel]

If you are using a HydroBoost it is the return port.
I am just using it as a breather with 18"+ of hose to fit a breather in the end of the free end of the hose

[Desert1957]

Looks great, I applaud anyone who can do it and have it turn out nice.

[Scott2]

Thanks for the compliments guys!

I didn't mention coating the bottom of the cab, the outside of the foot area of the floor, and the inside floors, firewall, inside of the roof, and back wall. I sprayed Lizard Skin on these surfaces - both the sound and heat barrier coats. After the Lizard Skin set, I applied Dynamat inside.

On the bottom pic you can see the cross brace I put in between the rear cab mounts to make up for taking out the inside brace between the rear door pillars. Hopefully, this is beefy enough to keep it all straight and solid.

Next steps - starting to reassemble. I got the steering column and brake booster in yesterday along with the booster underdash support bracket and brake pedal. The bracket needed some love to fit - it was a little long for the space and was too bulky behind the dash for my gauges to fit. Plus the mounting holes didn't line up very well with my column hanger. A little clearancing, trimming and drilling and it's good now.

I picked up some 5/16" ID hard line last night at Auto Zone and will try and bend up lines between the trans cooler, trans, and radiator. Installed the Newport Eng wiper motor and original wiper arms too - no pics though. Now I'm bench assembling the Vintage Air unit and may install that today - although my wife wants Christmas lights up! This is the easy part, after this is the wiring!

[Scott2]

One more pic - a Colorado sunset this week!

[OutlawDrifter]

Your making great progress!

I grew up in western Nebraska, 20ish miles from the Wyoming border. Sunsets out west are just amazing. I live in Northeast KS now, and they just aren't as brilliant. Maybe it's the elevation? I imagine you're 6k+ and western NE is 4k, here in eastern KS we are maybe 1000ft where I'm at. Haha, long diatribe to say "thanks for sharing!"

[Scott2]

Originally Posted by OutlawDrifter

Your making great progress!

I grew up in western Nebraska, 20ish miles from the Wyoming border. Sunsets out west are just amazing. I live in Northeast KS now, and they just aren't as brilliant. Maybe it's the elevation? I imagine you're 6k+ and western NE is 4k, here in eastern KS we are maybe 1000ft where I'm at. Haha, long diatribe to say "thanks for sharing!"

We’re at about 6500 feet and just south of Denver.

[ChuckDriver]

Awesome build!

[lower50's]

Finally finished reading your build, your doing a amazing job. I like the color you chose one of my favorites. Why did you use Lizard skin and dyna mat? Keep up the good work.

[Scott2]

Originally Posted by lower50's

Finally finished reading your build, your doing a amazing job. I like the color you chose one of my favorites. Why did you use Lizard skin and dyna mat? Keep up the good work.

Lower —- Thank you! I really appreciate it and can’t wait to get the truck running and driving.

Why both Lizard Skin and Dynamat? Partly because i’m good at overkill I guess? But I also figured each product has benefits. I like the coating and sealing that LS provides and it works well on the bottom out in the elements, and the Dynamat gives me an extra layer inside. I want to be sure the cab is quiet and doesn’t get too hot inside.

[OutlawDrifter]

I used a Mr. Gasket version of the Spectre straight neck shown above.

I ran 90's off my 80e, rubber lines off of that and then hard lines up to the core support for my tranny cooler. Then ran some short jumper hoses from the cooler in front of the radiator to the hard lines.

[reaper71]

You Guys may want to think twice about the Spectre unit. I installed one on the 38 I'm finishing up with and it leaked out of the box!
Replaced the O ring,leaked the flange was not flat so I sanded flat and leaked worse! So it has been replaced.

Mark

[Scott2]

Originally Posted by reaper71

You Guys may want to think twice about the Spectre unit. I installed one on the 38 I'm finishing up with and it leaked out of the box!
Replaced the O ring,leaked the flange was not flat so I sanded flat and leaked worse! So it has been replaced.

Mark

Mark - what worked better for you?

[Advanced Design]

Thanks for heads up Mark.

Searching "LS thermostat housing straight" over on Jegs / Google / Summit pulls up a number of options.

[reaper71]

I searched online and found a nice one on ebay ( I needed a 45 degree style in the end) Ill get a pic and a link

Mark

[reaper71]

This is the style I went with.

These tend to be a pain in in backside to put on do to the O ring wanting to move, I ended up using some water proof sealant to hold it in place and hand tight the bolts, let sit for 1hr then torque to spec

[Scott2]

I just got new interior visors and brackets for Christmas - yeah! Now to install them... How the heck do you get the bracket rod inside the visor? I realize a tight fit is desirable, but these things are a serious interference fit! I cleaned the rod, even applied just a bit of oil at the front end and they were very hard to slide in even a couple of inches and won't go any further. I tried tapping the bent end of the rod near the three hole mounts but you can't put the visor against anything or you'll wreck the seam at the other end.

There has to be an easier way and I just haven't figured it out - right? Thanks!

[Scott2]

I’m still going thru the bazillion things to get the truck wired, plumbed, fully assembled, etc. As I get the headlight wiring in I bought some H4 headlights from LMC and i’m trying to stuff them in the stock buckets. You can see I had to cut the back of the inner bucket (?) out and the light goes in further but doesn’t seat.

Any words of wisdom on this? I found a note on the product review saying you may need to use 1st gen Camaro inner buckets with these lights?

[jocww]

Scott, I'm just starting my build with the tci chassis. I had them do the assembly for me, but obviously I have to disassemble it in order to paint it etc. Can you take some more pics of the gas tank for me please. I am in the process of mounting mine back there too. Trying to decide if I should weld up a skid pan, or maybe some square tubing and then do straps. Also did you have your rear c notched? I feel you on the exhaust, I wish they had made the front of the frame 2inches wider, I mean if your going to redesign a frame why not give us some more room!!!