1952 Chevy Vette Farm Truck Build

[FarmerSid]

Hey all! It's been some time coming with this build thread. I've been hounded enough by a few members here to start one so here it is. It's going to take me a bit to to get to where I'm now but I hope you all are in for a ride.

I've never taken on a project like this before but have always wanted an old Chevy truck. I built a 36'X72' barn back in 2006 that doubled as a horse barn and work shop. The shop portion is 36'X40' and was designed with the intentions of a 3 bay shop. Two with roll up 10'X10' doors for everyday work with one bay having a hoist. The third bay having no door but the space would be used for restoring/hot rodding/building and old truck. That's what I have today.

So February 2013 came along and got the itch for another project. I found an AD truck not too far from here on Kijiji which is the equivalent of Craigs List here in Canada and went and took a look at it. Pretty bad shape once I got there and he wanted way too much for it. I posted pictures of the truck on a Canadian hot rod site and it was suggested that I run, not walk, but run away. Too far gone and too much $$$. A member there knew of a truck that was for sale in the Toronto area local to him. He let me know about it and went out of his way to go and take a look at it and take some pictures of it for me. He's a member here and goes by Atomsplitter. I got in contact with the owner and made the deal over the phone. Atomsplitter's pictures where good enough for me to make the purchase sight unseen. I made the 2 hr trip with a 25' goose neck trailer with a winch and my lifted 04 GMC 2500 CCSB to go get the truck. Trip was easy going with sun all day other that the last 1/2 hour when I hit a major snow storm. By the time I got home there was 6" of snow on the ground and still snowing.

Whole family came out to see my new pile of junk and helped me roll it off of the trailer and pull it inside the shop with the four wheeler. I had what I wanted finally and cracked a beer or two or three or........... It was a complete truck with a 216 engine and four speed on the floor. There was the three on the tree linkage but the trans must have been changed at one point. Engine turned over and had clean oil in it.

The next few weeks I worked on getting it running. Cleaned out the fuel pump, took apart the carb and cleaned it and cleaned all the spark plugs. Not easy to find new ones. Stuck a hose in a gas can that went to the fuel pump, a fresh 12V battery and jumped in and hit the start pedal. Turned over a few times and then coughed to life! There was a few things I had to do since it was still 6V like a 12V coil but you get the jist.

So now I had a running, driving old 1952 Chevy truck. What an old tin can compared to what I was used to driving. It was cool but I then realised that a stock restore was not going to happen. I then knew I wanted to update things to more modern technology. I wanted it to be a driver and not a show rig. I wanted it done so that my wife could just jump in and go like it's her newer vehicle but the biggest reason is my daughter. I want to have this truck done so she can take it to her high school prom. She will be 13 this year. I have some time to finish but that is my motivation and dead line.

So now it's March or April of 2013 and decided to start the repair of the fenders. I removed the fenders and started the metal work. Drove the truck out behind the barn and there it sat till the fall. I slowly worked on the fender repairs over the spring and summer. This is where I started on learning how to weld and repair sheet metal.

I responded Kijiji selling a chrome grill from a 47 chev truck for $125. I went and looked at it and he ended up letting me take anything I wanted off of two AD's for the $125. He was crushing them very soon so I got all I could. They were too far gone to save. I got all the stainless window trim inside and out, a heater, radio delete plate and a bunch of other stuff like running board brackets and filler panels.

Last fall I sold the running 216 and tranny to a local guy that had an ad on Kijiji that was selling and old car hood that was leaning against an AD truck. He laughed when I called and said I was interested in the truck the hood was leaning against. He had nothing that was any better than I already had but he was interested in my engine and tranny. I sold them for $300. He saw me driving it before I removed them. That's the reason the truck stayed inside the shop and the cab repair began. That's pretty much where I'm at right now.

Since last fall I acquired a 1995 Buick Roadmaster with an LT1 with only 140 000 Km on it for $400 that came from a funeral home, a 1990 Corvette C4 IFS and 1996 Corvette C4 Dana 44 IRS.

So.........That's where I'm at today. I have been asking for help in other threads I have started but hope to join them in this build thread. It will be nice to have everything in one place. I will ad some pictures in another post that adds to my build story. I will work on that in the coming days.

Hope to have lots of comments and help in this build. I'm having a blast working on it and getting my kids involved.

So a big thanks to all that have helped me out to this point in my build. Sit back, have a beer and join me in my build. Cheers!

[oldman3]

I'll tag along for the build...Jim

[STOCKISH]

SWEEEEEET!!Good to see the build thread take shape. I cant wait for pics. Will be nice to see how the pro's do it!

[C4fivewindow]

I'm in!

[FarmerSid]

Thanks guy's! How the pro's do it. LOL!

[FarmerSid]

So here are a few pictures of what the beast looked like when I got it. These two were taken out in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada before it made it's way to Ontario, Canada. and how it looked when I went and bought it.







I can't find the pictures of when it was on the trailer right when I got home in the snow storm. I will post if I find them. The next few are when it first entered it's new home in Feb 2013.









A few of the truck inside and out before I tore in to it.

[FarmerSid]

I didn't have enough room to leave the truck inside all the time so I decided to work on the fenders first and roll the truck out back. I knew fixing the fenders would take me quite a while seeing I've never did any sheet metal welding before. Here's some shots of fender repairs.

[FarmerSid]

A few more

[FarmerSid]

more... I used old shelving panels for my repair patches. They measured 18g.

[FarmerSid]

On the hoist removing the box.

[FarmerSid]

Removing the engine and tranny after buyer heard it running. Used money towards a large order from LMC. My youngest giving me a helping one hand. He had a broken arm at the time.

[FarmerSid]

So now all that was on the frame was the cab. Cab repair started.

[FarmerSid]

more.....











smoothing door jambs

[FarmerSid]

more cab repair.......

[FarmerSid]

Some of the belt line repair....











My little helper welding in the belt line lip. LOL!

[pgf545]

Looks great! Ours wasn't in quite that bad shape but I had to replace the inner cowls and one outer cowl, plus the cab corners. The only thing I wish I had done to make it a little easier was to hang the doors when I installed the outer cowl and cab corners. I got close with straight edges and measuring tape etc. Most people cant tell be I can...lol. I was able to get the door gaps to my liking so I guess that all that counts. Good luck and looking good.

Bernie

[FarmerSid]

more....







I added extra bolts to bolt the upper and lower panels together.











Everything is now ready for the new rear panel.

[FarmerSid]

Forgot a few of the sand blasting.









My boys helping out





Added a 3/4" square tube under the floor from driver to passenger side right under seat riser for support and sprayed some epoxy primer.

[FarmerSid]

Before I go any further, I want to show the C4 part of this build.

Last fall I picked up a complete 1990 C4 IFS for $250 two hrs away in Toronto. Not pretty but complete.









It sat under the work bench till about a couple months ago. A fellow member here named STOCKISH was starting a C4 cross member build and shared his plans with me. They are a copy of Flatout Engineering's cross member. Thanks Josh!

I tore apart my IFS, sandblasted everything, bought some steel and got to making a C4 cross member of my own.

[FarmerSid]

Almost completed cross member awaiting installation in the stock frame. I have added gussets since and will add pictures of it done.

[FarmerSid]

This is the 1996 Dana 44 I picked up a month ago or so. I'm going to make my own brackets to mount it when I get to that point. Hopefully this summer.

[FarmerSid]

So now we are almost caught up. The last thing I completed is the installation of the rear cab panel. Did that last night. I have to finish welding it in. It is bolted in, seam sealed and holes are drilled to spot weld it in at the belt line from inside the cab. There is enough room for me to get up in there and weld. Good for another 60 yrs or more.


















I'm very happy with how the aftermarket rear panel turned out. So that's where I'm at right now. I wished I had have started this thread long ago as the build log would have been more detailed and more descriptive. Oh well. It will be from now on.

Next is to finish installing the outer cowls on the cab, a little work on the windshield lip and finish correcting the door gaps. Once that's done the cab is coming off and the frame work begins.

Cheers!

[69CST-V]

Nice work. Looking forward to the rest of the build.

[rgunlock]

Wow, you are moving right along on this project. Seems just a few months ago you were posting your progress on the fenders, which was the first I was aware of your project. Looking really good!

[C4fivewindow]

Looking good