55*6BT My 55 w/ Cummins power

[brimc]

Weak or not that is pretty awesome!

[II_Slow]

Oh, well. I've got this too if i really want to make some smoke and leave some marks.

[lower50's]

What motor and what ET?

[II_Slow]

394 CID 18-degree SCB with about a 400HP nitrous shot (38/32 tune in the fogger).
5.20's at 138 in the 1/8th mile which would be very low 8's 1/4 mile. She's been sitting a lot since I'm spending so much on the 55!

Let's see, racing a Chevy-powered Ford, pulled by 55 Chevy truck on a 99 Dodge frame with a third-party (Cummins) diesel engine. Sounds about right.

[lower50's]

Oh sweetness is!!

[Dieselwrencher]

That's an awesome mustang man! Sure gets with it too! Very nice!

[II_Slow]

I drove the 55 about 3 miles to a local car show this weekend. Got the class award as under construction. This was the first time at highway speed!

Ran through the gears great (just 1-3, no overdrive and lock-up yet as those will be under PCM control). I finally have the bed sides, tailgate, and rear fenders mounted securely, as well as the front fenders so all of the rattles are gone except for the steel bed floor which is just laid in place. Just as I got up to highway speed (with no glass, no seatbelts, no lights, no insurance, and no registration no doubt), I drifted over onto the rumble strips cut into the highway just out side the white stripes. Man I thought she was coming apart! Vibration in the steering wheel, the bed floor rattling, etc. Very loud without glass in the truck. Steered back off of the rumble strip and and was well, just scared the crap out of me for a couple of seconds.

It's almost 100 degrees here every day lately. Too hot to work on it very much except weekends and after dark so progress is slow.

It was good to get her out of the shop and out into the sunlight though.

[Dieselwrencher]

Very nice! Those first drives you're always listening and waiting for any surprises. Congrats on the win! Can't beat that!

[lower50's]

Sweet!! you will remember that drive forever. Did you check your shorts after the rumble strips? LOL

[Purcell69]

One more big step!

Congrats!

-Joe

[II_Slow]

I think I have the bed setting too high on the frame. I have never had the steps on so I'm not sure how the bottom of the bed aligns to the cab, but the top of my bed looks low relative to the features on the back of the cab. If I have to raise the bed, I'll move the spring perches up on the fame to lower the ass end. I'll get my ride height where I want it - it's too important not to. Stance is everything!

[II_Slow]

Lots of stuff going on outside the shop lately. Go tboth kids in college, had to relocate my daughter to Virginia (20 miles from home!) where's she accepted a softball scholarship (pitcher), the boy is back at A&M. Got way behind on projects around the house, and was shopping for a travel trailer but finally got back in the shop. Modified the back of the cab to mount some filler panels, LizardSkinned the back of the cab and the backside of the panels.



Waiting to sort out the speakers and the center console before burning them in permanently.



These should just need a little padding and upholstery.

Working on the remainder of the center console now.

Found my transmission leak - the pan flange is warped/bent. Probably just buy a cast alumnium pan which will help with cooling and capacity any way.

Can't wait to get the truck on the road. Should be pretty cool towing 29-foot travel trailer behind the '55. I considered a classic Air Stream or similar but just couldn't pass up the deal I got on a new one.

[Dieselwrencher]

Life sure has a funny way of eating up project time. That's awesome your daughter got a scholarship! Congrats on the new purchase. It will be cool to see it behind your 55.

[lower50's]

Congrats to your daughter. Can't wait to see the trailer on the '55, it will get there some day soon.

[II_Slow]

I have been working on the console and wiring a little here and there. the console holds the stereo, heat/AC controls, push button start, window and door lock switches, USB and Audio jacks, charger, etc. so theres a mess of wires to manage. Ignore the big red bundle, that's just temporary to keep it mobile (fuel shut-off, fan, alternator, etc.).



I also tried to mount the steps for the first time this week. Guess I got duped and bought the wrong steps so just when I thought I was through buying body panels but I guess I'm in back in the market for steps.

[II_Slow]

Sorry - no recent pics. Just lots of wiring. I’m getting it all squared away. It looks a lot better with the temporary wiring cut out.
AC/Heat controls done in the cab, not done under the hood.
Stereo controls done except I don’t have switched 12-V from the ignition yet
Wipers done, including washer.
Alternator wiring done
Fan controls done (except the signal to run with AC on)
Oil Pressure and Water Temp done
Fuel level mostly done (need to terminate at the tank)
The harness to the back of the truck is done and the lights are hung, but not connected yet
Harness for front low beam, high beam, left, right, park lights, and horn is ran but nothing terminated.
USB/Audio jack wired.
PB start button mounted and wired
Headlight switch done
Steering column wiring done except horn and cruise.

Sill a lot of wiring to do. I want to go ahead and pre-wire for door locks and window power. Pretty neat to see everthing start to "come alive" on the truck. I'm an electrical Engineer by trade so the wiring is the least intimadating thing on the whold build.

Since I had cut out all of the temporary wiring, I did not even have the fuse box or ignition powered. Temp got down to low 20's here last week so I needed to add anti-freeze and run the engine to circulate it. No problem on this 12-valve. Just tiewrap the fuel shutoff to the run position and run wire over to the starter. Took about 20 minutes to get hot enough to open the thermostat but she ran without a singe wire connected (except the primary wire to the starter post). Just cut the tiewrap when I was ready to shut her off.

I also powered up the stereo for the first time. Thank God it worked just fine (bought used). Lots of cool features - XAV-601BT with 6.1 inch touch screen. Trying now to find space for two 6x9's, a 1200-watt amp, and a 10-inch sub. Damn these cabs are small!

Bought new bed steps from Brothers. I hate buying new metal - I would have much preferred old OEM metal but I've had my fill of chasing parts.

Anyway, sort of feels like I'm on the home stretch now. Just need to get her shipped off to paint in a couple of months. She starts right up and runs great. Can't wait to turn up the p-pump.

[lower50's]

Sounds great!!! One word of caution, where your trans cooler is. I mounted mine there under the bed and had to move it due to not enough cool air. Keep up the good work!!!!!!!

[II_Slow]

So I've been looking again at some different seat options and I'm about to just accept that I can't purchase a low enough seat to sit below the bottom of the back glass. The floor is raised about 3 inches to clear the later-model Ram 2500 frame directly beneath the seats, so even acommercially available low- back bucket is too tall. They are usually 26-28 inches tall, so with any kind of sliding track they are pushing 30 inches. To clear the base of the window, I would need a seat that's only 23 inches tall, including the base. I'm afraid even cutting one down that far would not be a good option for safety nor comfort. I plan on driving this thing a LOT, including Power Tour and other 1500+ mile cruises and vacations. I found a low mileage salvage 2013 Caddilac ATS with like-new leather seats with power and heat. Guess I'm getting old, becuase I'm thinking I should go with comfort and safety over asthetics. It will have tinted windows anyway - a must here in Texas. I'm going back to take another look this weekend, and assuming the headrest are removable I may grab the seats and the matching console lid
They are just under 30 inches to the base of the headrest. They also have integrated seatbelts that will save me some money later on.

I hate compromise - but I can't have it both ways!

[Kim57]

Those are some nice looking seats.
Kim

[lower50's]

You may want the head rests if you drive a lot.

[II_Slow]

About to wrap up the speaker boxes. Just need to finish gluing and screwing this thing together. Then tie the front console in to the speaker box. Amp will slide in beneath the sub. Will strap it all to the floor using some small angle brackets.



My next big obstacle is AC vents. I hate those cheap looking vents hanging under the dash, and I just don't have room for vents int he dash. May have to "stretch" the dash as little.

[II_Slow]

Finished the speaker boxes and powered up the stereo and amp. It all works and sounds great, except it does need speakers in the front - I'll do that when I do door panels in the future. Went back and took another look at the caddilac seats - the DS had a tear I somehow missed the first time, and the seat retractor did not work which I learned is an issue on late model stuff - retractors tied into the safety system and commonly in-op after the bags deploy.


I also added the push buttons to program the Dakota Digital dash and calibrated the sensors I had hooked up. I'll have to figure out how to interface the sending unit on the 47RH transmission to the DD dash. The kit came with a GM sending unit, so hopefully it will be as simple as matching common sensor pins on the two units.

Also modified the accelerator pedal for the 7th time. Got it centered better between the transmission tunnel and brake pedal. Just needs a little clean-up and respray. I hate do-overs!

I'm back to looking at bench seats. The steering colum and instrument cluster on these trucks is too far inboard in my opinion and if you center a bucket seat up with the steering wheel, the seats are crowded to the middle and too far from the doors. If you place the seats where they look right, then the seat is not centered with the steering column. I know I'll have to modify any bench seat for more clearance at the console. It's just never easy once you stray from stock.

Pretty cool part of the build - making it "come alive". Certainly starting to feel more complete.

[II_Slow]

Moved her outside for a little fresh air Saturday, and a much needed shop cleaning. She is starting to look a lot like a real truck now. Put the steps on for the first time, need to raise the bed up a little, then fabricate some tabs to mount the step brackets.



Put the bumbers in place and cut bumper brackets out of posterboard. Tried cutting one myself with a reciprocating saw and decided that was a really bad idea. Took them to a local auto restoration shop and had the owner cut them with his plasma cutter. Got to get me one of those! He cut 20 brackets in about 30 minutes, charged $40. I'm sure I would have spend all weekend and killed $40 worth of cut-off wheels and saw blades.



Time to clean up these brackets, grind to fit, and weld them up. That out to keep me busy a while. Stuff like this really drags thigs out, can't just buy factory brackets for this late model frame.

[Kim57]

Looks real good.
Kim

[Dieselwrencher]

The truck is looking real nice. I'm glad I got my plasma cutter when I did. It's so handy.