bwilli2's 51 5 window

[bwilli2]

Finally going to get started on my 51. It came into the family around 71. The previous owner did some... interesting things to it.

The bondo and other body work was done by my cousin. He didn't want to weld so there are some good patches and it looks decent but I'll be re-doing all of that.

Some interesting previous owner stuff:

283 V8 installed. It runs strong, but I'll be replacing it with a LS1 from a 2000 Camaro.


To get the 283 to fit they re-located the steering box on the outside of the frame rail, and pretty much butchered the firewall to re-angle the column and hacked up the inner fender well pretty bad. I've seen this before, but this seems a bit more crude than usual.


They cut a hole in the center of the dash for a tach... which I'll have to patch. Speaker holes in the doors... which I'll have to patch... and holes in the running boards... which I think I'll end up just replacing. They ran stacks up the back of the cab, through both boards. Looked neat, but kind of weird too.
Dash:


Doors:


Running Boards:


They also angled the driveline a little to the driver side due to the... scary mounting of the engine. You can see how it's not centered in the hoop for the emergency brake cross over:


And looks like some air shocks:


Also cut the stake pockets and flattened the bed rails. (broken welds under there):


I also noticed that at the back stake pocket, there are some holes that are 1/2 covered by the pockets... both sides. Weird.


and


And while it was sitting at the back of my folks summer property, the neighbor kids decided to break EVERY BIT of glass on the thing. Windows, gauges, even the dome light. Sigh.

[bwilli2]

The front floor pans are in need of work. The previous owner also cut the seat mounts out.

My plans so far:

LS1 and 4L60E Transmission from 2000 Camaro
IFS and IRS from 88 Corvette using Flatout's kit.
Replace the bed sides and tail gate (sprung really bad, and kind of hacked) Likely the whole bed.

I actually wonder what's up with the bed. The paint in the spot welds on the stake pockets match the rest of the truck, but it just seems a little odd. The semi-covered circles, weird welds on the tailgate... I almost wonder if they cut down a long bed.

I want to find a place that can update the gauge and speedo to use electronic/digital movements but retain the stock look. I've seen various 'do it yourself' articles using junk yard parts, and may have to go that route. I'm not a huge fan of the aftermarket looks. Although, the Dakota Digital VHX stuff is kind of interesting, as well as New Vintage's stuff.

Possibly power windows, A/C and heat for sure.

This will be a long process for sure. But it'll be fun!

[bwilli2]

A couple of other shots:

[jfortvalley]

the loss of the glass sucks but it looks like you have a somewhat solid truck to start with im building a 54 with ls1 and 4l60e ill be watching this will be a good thread

[bwilli2]

Originally Posted by jfortvalley

the loss of the glass sucks but it looks like you have a somewhat solid truck to start with im building a 54 with ls1 and 4l60e ill be watching this will be a good thread

Yeah, the truck is mostly solid. The only serious rust is the front floor pan and toe board. The rest is pretty minor. Even the cab corners are not all that bad. Especially for a truck that spent as much time hauling stuff as this one did, and sitting exposed through Utah winters.

The real work is undoing/repairing the stuff from the previous owner. Patching the various holes and such.

[bwilli2]

Slow progress. Life. Been working on the tear down so I can get the cab off and onto a cab dolly.

Bedless


Front panels removed


No floor where that floor should be

[bwilli2]

Got the cab off and bundled up. I was looking at the frame sitting in the shop and thinking how ecstatic I'll be when I get it BACK to that point with the new drive train... heh.

A few pics:

I feel bad I didn't get any shots of it on the cab lift, but I was too busy trying to get it, you know, actually off the truck and onto the dolly.

[bwilli2]

Some other interesting stuff uncovered.

When I pulled the radiator support out I learned that for whatever reason, the front cross-member has been... "modified" with HUGE holes where the bolts went. Basically they squished a rubber mount in there and filled it with washers as spacers. There is a crack on the passenger side one, so I guess it's possible it was fatigue, but the driver side looks like it was cut. I have no idea why they would have done that.



I also got a good look at the back of the transmission. There are no bolts back there. The transmission looks to be just resting on some rubber mounts/spacers on the transmission cross-member. So, it appears that the engine and transmission are only secured by two bolts at the front through some rough cut diagonal plate. It's been like that for 50 years, so it worked. Just surprises me a bit.



I guess the clutch linkage was also a mount point. :-P

Next to pull the engine (Hey! It's only 2 bolts) then start cleaning the frame.

[oldcouple]

There is no explaining the evil that lurks in the minds of men.

I am pretty sure someone someday will say the same things about my truck.
I even say it now, 20 years later as I redo something, what was I thinking?

[LEEVON]

Reminds me of something an old carpenter foreman told me once about somebody's ceiling tile cutting prowess - "Looks like they just held a danged ole' beaver up there and let him eat a hole for lunch".

[bwilli2]

Pulled the Engine and trans. Lots of slop in the front CV joints made it easy to disconnect the drive shaft and torque tube.

But I was tricked! There was one bolt up through the bottom of the transmission cross-member into the bell housing. So it was actually 3 bolts. :-P

Engine and trans free:


4 speed transmission (3 + granny)


283


Bulletproof bell housing (finally access to the casting #)


One more shot of the torch cut plate to which the front of the engine was mounted.


Next to start pulling all of the suspension out!

[bwilli2]

Doing more tear down, and as usual, finding more scary stuff.

When pulling out those plates, my buddy remarked that only one had a washer on it. When we pulled it off... holy cow...



MAYBE a 16th' of an inch of metal on the inside frame rail.

Then pulling off the cab mounts found some cracks on the frame I'll have to repair. Just around the cab mounts so far. I'm going to chalk it up to weak engine mounting causing too much torsion on the frame. And the cab just rocked enough to wear it.

[bwilli2]

Got the both the front and rear ends out tonight, along with some other miscellaneous brackets. Pretty much everything that bolts on has been pulled.



Rear


Front

[wayne4252004]

Looks like you have a great start on your project. I'm interested in how you will redo the bed. I have a 51 GMC. The bed needs quit a bit of work to it. When you get to the bed can you provide alot of detail and pictures.
Thanks

[bwilli2]

Originally Posted by wayne4252004

Looks like you have a great start on your project. I'm interested in how you will redo the bed. I have a 51 GMC. The bed needs quit a bit of work to it. When you get to the bed can you provide alot of detail and pictures.
Thanks

I'm thinking I'll just buy a complete new bed from Mar-K.

The sides have been hacked and flattened and are all beat up. The tailgate is sprung super bad. The front end bowed and beat up. The wood floor rotted away years ago, and the bed strips are rusted almost through.

So, when I look at what it'd take to repair.... it'll be cheaper and faster just to replace.

[bwilli2]

No huge progress tonight. I ordered the front and rear kits from Flatout and I am waiting on those before I start cutting rivets. I'd like to see what the instructions use for references before I end up going "oops which hole was that shackle mounted in?"

Before I pulled the front and rear axles, we took some plumb bob measurements for center lines. I just re-watched that Trucks TV episode on Classix where they put some tires and rims under the front sheet metal and got their center line that way after pulling the original stuff all out. Amusingly/interestingly, I am within a 16th of an inch of their measurements.

I bought a couple of engine stands to make an ad-hoc rotisserie for the frame. (Mimicking Kabwe's from way back) We'll see how that works out. I don't want to pull off the running board mounts unless I have to, so I may need to modify my stands a bit for more height. I'll post pictures and details if I have to make some alterations.

On an semi-related note, for anyone working on these trucks I HIGHLY recommend picking up a copy of the Factory Assembly Manual and the Shop Manual. They have proven to be well worth the price. I've referenced them a ton during the tear down. Plus, they look cool. Links if you want:
http://www.classicparts.com/1947-53-...ctinfo/04-009/

http://www.classicparts.com/1947-54-...ctinfo/04-611/

[bwilli2]

Kind of slow going. I've been busy with other stuff.

Removed the front cab mount brackets, got lucky. The cracks under those didn't extend down the side of the rail. Only had a couple of rivets fight.

Not so lucky on the back side. Several spider-webby cracks. Those will get filled and a reinforcing plate layered on top in those areas. All I can figure is the stacks were hard mounted there, and over time the flex just cracked things.

Got some steel for the rotisserie, got that cut up, and tacked that together tonight.

The 'big' news is my Flatout parts arrived! Very high quality.

[bwilli2]

Seems like I've been cutting rivets forever! Got more brackets off. Still have a bunch to go. Got my frame rotisserie put together. Leaving the running board supports on prevents me from fully spinning it. but it's enough that I can get under it for cleaning and painting. Getting there!

Used some 1x2 square tube for the rotisserie arms. Way over built, but as my great-uncle Norm said, build it hell-for-strong.






As far as I can rotate it without the running board supports hitting.

[bwilli2]

Originally Posted by oldcouple

There is no explaining the evil that lurks in the minds of men.

I am pretty sure someone someday will say the same things about my truck.
I even say it now, 20 years later as I redo something, what was I thinking?

I already find myself thinking that on stuff I did 5 minutes ago!

[Kabwe]

Looking good man. Keep the pics coming.

[bwilli2]

Originally Posted by Kabwe

Looking good man. Keep the pics coming.

Thanks man! I know the tear down part of a build is some of the most boring to watch. It's interesting to the person doing it but much less so to other folks. It gets exciting when stuff starts going back on!

[Stephanie]

Enjoying your un-build! Looking forward to seeing more of your progress

[bwilli2]

Not huge progress. Sold the front, rear and trans, so I spent my normal 'shop time' moving the parts out where they could be picked up. Have to move this, so I can move that, then move this other thing... burns up the time fast.

Going to try and get the rest of the riveted stuff that needs to come off done tonight so I can get to the blasting.

After blasting is crack repair.

After crack repair I need to finish straightening the rear frame rails. (This may get bumped down the stack...)

After THAT I can start installing the flat-out kit!

[bwilli2]

Originally Posted by Stephanie

Enjoying your un-build! Looking forward to seeing more of your progress

Thanks! I've been watching your progress on Chester. Love the heritage on that truck.

[Stephanie]

Originally Posted by bwilli2

Thanks! I've been watching your progress on Chester. Love the heritage on that truck.

Thank you for checking out my un-build too! Hopefully get a lot more progress in this weekend Maybe find a bit more buried treasure ;P Haha!