47-55.1 Project "Bickle" 1948 1/2 ton 4.3 4l60e

[joedoh]

Once again I am bored. Lets have some fun!


I named this project Bickle because I bought some great 1/2 ton yellow fenders in omaha last year, and Wayne down south sold me a nice black cab (and front clip that will be someones wall hanger) from a 1948 4 ton 6400. I figure to use the yellow fenders and paint the bed and a hood black, for a nice two color patina scheme kind of like a taxi. and the most famous taxi driver I know is Travis Bickle

here is the yellow parts when I picked them up, some of the nicest original parts I have ever gotten.



here is the cab when I bought it in Feb



and today



it is maybe the cleanest cab I have ever bought, doesnt need cab corners, doesnt need kicks, no floor work.




I need to make it a habit to buy nicer cabs because I can already see what kind of time I am going to save

more in next post

[joedoh]

more cleanliness pictures

outside




its got that kink in the drivers cowl that looks fun to fix.

inside, got a weirdy radio setup and a fan!





the guy who bought kechi, my most recent 49, negotiated for me to replace the cracked glass. here is a funny story, if you go to LMC and buy JUST two windows with frames, its $300+12 dollars shipping. If you buy four door glass with no frame, two windshield halves, and a rear window, its $300 + 18 dollars shipping. guess which one I did.



and I still have the cracked glass too.


more in next post

[joedoh]

I needed an s10 donor. regular followers will know I like the 98+ s10s with all their electronic doodads and geegaws. I especially like the 03s with their one-year only LU3 engine. I answered a marketplace ad for a nice (to me anyway, body was beat up from collision damage but otherwise clean) looking 03 sonoma with only 115k miles, it had two flats in the picture but the price was great, $1100.



but when I got there, it turned over very slowly, did not start, and did not sound overly healthy. I told him my donors have to drive home, and I have driven some sketchy trucks a lot of miles but a non starter was a non starter.

and that was it. but that truck kept beckoning me from my feed, taunting me. I found a pair of smoothies with tires for $40 about a month later and figured that was a bellweather moment to try again because here were the two rollers for the two flats.



I called him up and said give me your get-it-out-of-my-back-yard-today price. he did, very very fair considering I may need a motor and maybe a trans too. so I jumped and called a tow.




it turns out the battery cable was junked from battery acid, and it was out of gas. literally the smoothest running truck I ever bought.

then my new friend the big time local pro tuner builder guy called and said he found a pair of steel wheels for me, did I want them? yes! I went to the local used tire place again and got some good tires.





still more coming!

[joedoh]

I terrorized the neighborhood for a couple days to shake it down, needs tie rods, balljoints look recent. very pleasingly nice truck, it is the SLS ZQ8, so its already factory lowered and has a fat front sway bar and rear sway bar and hop shock too! score!

so that is the start of Bickle. what else am I up to? glad you asked.

I needed to organize the shop so we can start weatherproofing and installing insulation and lights and outlets, but I have been in the (bad) habit of just opening the door and throwing my newfound treasures in.



this wouldnt do, so I spent a saturday organizing. amazing how much room there is once you work a little.



and room is what I needed. because:


a couple months ago I had an extra GMC painted grille for sale and a nice guy from oklahoma calls me and said will you ship? even though he is in oklahoma, shipping would cost twice what I am asking for the grille ($50). but I am bored, and its a rare nice day, so I say how about I meet you around the KS/OK border? it will save you about 3 hours of driving with the turn, and will be faster than shipping anyway. he is pleasantly surprised, so we do just that and meet up, saving him time and tolls. we chat a bit, he asks about my trucks and why I dont keep any, I tell him I have a plan for a shop truck but it hasnt materialized yet, a 55-56 big back glass with a 58-59 fleetside bed. he gets a funny smile, and says "like this?" and shows me a 56 big glass 1/2 ton and a separate fleetside bed. he gives me a good price, no doubt because I drove 3 hours to bring him a $50 grille (net profit after gas and lunch: $12). so we shook hands and made plans, and last weekend I drove to Tulsa.



the fleet bed is hiding back there on the flatbed.

good thing I made room!



and because I am just that kind of guy, I knew I was driving to tulsa so why "waste" a trip to only pick up one thing? I found these on marketplace too, stockton wheel 15x8 reverse and stretched clip cap wheels. the matching pair will cost a mint, but the set of 4 will be a bar-GAIN.



are we done yet OH NO NOT YET

[joedoh]

while I was browsing for parts, a friend sent me a link to a 1991 chevy 4x4 and said "look in the background". in the background of the garage picture was a 5 window cab and it looked like a couple doors. I call to ask about the stuff and he says "look, if you want a part you have to buy it ALL" and then quoted a price about a third what I expected. I went with cash to buy it all and he surprised me with a cab, FIVE doors, TWO front clips, a hood, a visor, even new cab corners. yespleasethankyou





he asked if I was interested in the 1991 4x4, I said "haha maybe just the seat" and he pulled it out for $20!

[joedoh]

but wait there is more!

my tool stash has been growing, and you might remember I love a local place called The Yard, they sell surplus steel and literally everything for projects, leather abs fabric old tools etc. I went in and saw a nice snap on bottom box calling my name. did you know you can haggle at the yard? YOU CAN! $180 for a bottom box, used but not used up.



this was around the time I was selling Kechi, and a local friend was hunting around like he was interested. he found another truck though, was I mad? no because I built that one too, the guy who bought it (the first AD I did, 47 GMC) was selling to buy his dream car. so he came by for a visit, nice to see my friend again, and the old 47.



I also spied a nice set of 20" wheels I thought may look nice on Bickle, went and made a deal on them too.



I popped them on nicks 54 to see what they looked like on an AD and yep, I like em.



the nice guy selling them had a longbed s10 in his back yard, and we made a handshake on that too.

oh and I bought a new plasma cutter. it cuts nicely, uses hypertherm consumables. I cant wait to put the CNC table together, Bickle will be the first truck I dont hand cut parts for. I had to buy a windows machine to run the CNC software, first windows machine here in 12 years! I still run CAD on my macbook though.



so tentatively tomorrow I will strip the sonoma and get the frame marked to cut and shorten. nicks 54 is almost all over but the shouting (no shouting expected, just bumper brackets) and I will post up some pictures of it too.

[slammed57]

wheels look nice on it!

[Tempest67]

You have been busy, some nice buys............keep us posted

[oldman3]

Russ, great story. You find some of the best deals. Looking forward to the build...Jim

[mongocanfly]

jealous at how you keep finding these trucks...but youve been busy for sure

[olcarguy]

Joedoh....Should change your name to lucky...fall in manure and smell like a rose.....

[FAKKY]

Im in for this one

[twinshadows]

Hi Russ

I've been waiting for "Nick's " build pictures . . . . . but, as it turns out I like any of u'r pictures . Man, you have been busy (even finding "trucks in th' background photos").
Keep going - - - we need reading material on these cold days . Good news about 'LMC' - - who-would've-thought - - nice score. And, you were just getting really good on that
'body work' ; on the last truck.
Plus, Look at ALL That Shop Space ! ! ! Another great deal, for you . . . . … have fun , and be safe . . . . . jim

[OutlawDrifter]

Wow Russ, you've been busy! Your craigslist/google/facebook marketplace - fu has been working to your advantage!

Lots of nice scores...I'm a 55-56 with a fleetbed guy too, single headlight and sharp!

I'll expect a full report on the new plasma cutter, I've been eyeing that brand. Time to replace my worn out Everlast cheapy Cut40d.

[dsraven]

nice!
love the storage space, lots of room to "open the door and throw stuff in"
did you win the lottery? you have projects for the next couple of weeks for sure.
keep posting pics and progress reports. maybe get the rest of us off the couch. lol.

[reaper71]

Along for another!

[84blaze]

Damn dude! You never quit.

[Tempest67]

Russ, when you shorten the frame on that ext cab S10 can you please document the frame cutting process. The RCLB (regular cab long boxes) are getting getting harder to find and I have heard that shortening an extended cab is quite straight forward....cutting some welds and sliding a small C channel into a larger C channel, and rewelding ....

Just thinking ahead for the next project.......maybe

as always, thanks for sharing your experiences and knowledge

[joedoh]

absolutely will do, I got sidetracked by the weather and by the bumpers on nicks 54 (which I will post pictures of when I roll it out).

I did get the cab off the trailer using my old army bomb cart and a 2x4 lever. my wife was home so I went ahead and did it myself.

I sold my smooth tire forkliift and bought a rough country forklift, but the delivery guy blew up his transfer case so its still sitting in oklahoma. so its still elbow grease and willpower

thanks for all the interest guys! I am going to see how fast I can get this one done without a house rebuild project jammed in the middle like the last one.

[twinshadows]

wait a minute . . . . . . . . . . . . .

No rusted cab corners - - - - - - not even 50 to 75 holes in that
firewall . That's almost 'un-American ' ! just how can a guy sleep-at-night ?

Really , good for You . . . plus, the "new digs" (bigger shop space) .
I think u'r going too have a GREAT New Year , starting off .
OK - about the shop - I have a 30 x 50 all metal shop . . . . but, the biggest mistake, for me, was I did - not insulate any of it . Point is . .. ..
when it starts too rain (even a light - rain) , the ' noise ' on the metal roof will drive you into th' house. You may not have that issue, with yours.

Again, ' We're all here ' looking forward to all your "stories" , and, wishing you the very best . .. . . . . . . all th' way from Northern Az.
. . . . . . . . . . jim

[docrock]

Wow. Great story. Looking forward to the build. Its cool that you put a link to it on your profile. You should do links to all your builds. Gets me motivated on my next one

[joedoh]

thanks doc, I do put pictures of the past trucks in my profile but linking the build threads in my sig would exceed the character limit haha.

no really I dont tend to be nostalgic about things I have done, I am too excited with what I have going on at the time.


still sleet and ice in the weather. I got the bumpers done so tomorrow if I can push the 54 out I will take some pictures and assemble the cnc table.

[Desert1957]

Russ, When and if you fill your new garage to the maximum limit, can you turn me on to some of these deals out your way? my goodness living up hear in the rust-belt this stuff is really hard to find. Even the rust free S10's are drying up.

[joedoh]

desert I have almost 3 acres to fill up haha! two more 52s being delivered this week or maybe next, outside storage, a 2 ton and a 1 ton. I will dismantle the 2 ton and make a wall hanger from the front end, and the 1 ton cab and front end I have a matching blue bed for a future project. that cab is as nice as this one as far as rust goes.


rain and sleet tapered off today, so I should start dismantling on sunday, have tomorrow to jack around with other stuff, a "day off"

nicks 54 done, here are some pics as promised. I did body bumpers running boards pedals and column. not bad for a month and a half (he brought the 54 over the first week of december) and not counting the 2 weeks I screwed around with the honey-dos on kechi. when he brought it, the bed was a 47-53 and he had a 54 bed in pieces, the passenger running board didnt fit because of a tweak and the back mount was rusted. I didnt want to cut his running board mounts off his nice 1/2 ton frame so I built some, and he didnt want tubs/steel floor in the bed like I usually do so I used rectangle tube. the rear bumper was a front bumper and was torn in half, so it has a badass looking weld scar now, the front bumper brackets and the front clip were tweaked from a fender bender years ago, I got everything straight again. the doors were loose and the hinges were BROKEN. but all in all I like how it turned out, he should have an easy time finishing the engine and wiring and painting, and the wood bed floor will be a snap to install on that rectangle tube, it will look super great!

[joedoh]

sunday I decided to assemble my table, gotta do it sometime right? I wanted to order a small arclight but all the arclight money went in to grandmas place last year. so some readjustment on what I wanted vs what I needed was required.

assembly went smoothly except the x axis bearing didnt fit the recess, I spent as much time carefully sanding the recess as I did on the entirety of the rest of the assembly. I bought the XL kit and a water table as extras, everything went together well.



the control software runs on PC, I havent owned a PC in 12 years and havent used one since my last desk job. I have solidworks on my engineering Mac but need the CAM software so that means buying a PC. My nieces husband works IT and hooked me up on a Yoga 260 i7 16GB ram 500GB SSD 64 bit machine that was an obsolescence machine, it is literally overkill on top of overkill for the CAM software (I think minimum reqs were windows XP and 2gb ram haha) but hey, I wasnt sneezing at the great deal he gave me, thank goodness for family!



tomorrow I will hook up a 27" monitor or maybe 24" duals, it came with the docking station that has dual monitor support so, well I guess maybe I gotta.

also on the family hookup, my brother in law works at the local steel place and they have a contract with a customer that says the end of every new roll has to be cut off, so he saved me these cuts. the wider stuff is 12 ga and the narrow is 11 ga, almost 6 ft long!



you dont need to call anyone to save jeremy (see the sharpie on the metal), he is doing fine. this isnt like opening a china package and getting a note from the sweatshop worker.


so today I started stripping the sonoma, I would have gotten further but two different people wanted two different parts of the front clip, so instead of cutting the rails at the core mounts and pulling it off in one piece like normal I had to pull it all apart.



weather is calling for sleet and snow, the garage is still full of 54, so tomorrow maybe I will cut some mounts on the cnc. and maybe design the pedal/column mount for the 98+ S10 parts, I have all the DIMs from all the trial and error over the last trucks.