55 Fleetside Restomod

[N123DY]

Hey Guys,
Pretty new here. Sitting in China for the last two days reading your build threads has motivated me to start my own, and my project. It's a 55 2nd series with a 58 fleetside bed on it. Kind of a cool story. My dad and I bought it in 1991 when I was in highschol from a local dealership in Longmont Colorado. It ran and drove but wasn't all that pretty. We were gonna restore it but after 3 years and no progress, we realized we had neither the time or the money to do much with it. Found a buyer, delivered it to him myself and forgot about it, or at least dad did. I never stopped building that truck in my head. 2 years ago, on my nightly craigslist search, I see an add for multiple old chevy trucks for sale. I called on it the next day, and spoke to the old mans wife and she directed me to his yard in Longmont Colorado! I drove straight down there and walk up to James Deans long lost Grandfather, and he recognizes me. I say," you actually remember me?" He says "of course I do, your truck is right over there." I look over and there it is, sitting where I parked it 20+ years ago. I told him I wanted to buy it back but didn't have the scratch to do it right away. He agreed to hold it for me, and last year my wife says, "go get it for your 40th birthday." What an angel! about a week later we do the transaction. He hands me the title, and it's still in my name. He had never had it transferred. Brought it home, change plugs, oil, blow out the fuel system, and it fires right up. After tires, wheel cylinders and rebuilding the master cylinder it's back on the road. This was October of 14.

Since then I've been driving it and I've begun buying parts and making plans.

As of now, here's the plan:
Iron block junkyard LS Stroker bulid. Shooting for 600 HP.
T-56 six speed.
C4 vette front and rear suspension and brakes.
20" wheels on all 4 corners.
big back window conversion
bucket seats with a custom center console
Etc, etc, etc.....

I might even build and additional stepside bed so I can switch back and forth because I love the look of both. Mainly what I'm shooting for is a great handling, fast truck with all the latest creature comforts.

Any feedback and ideas you all have along the way are appreciated.

[N123DY]

Here it is in what would have been it's final resting place.

[N123DY]

25 years ago in my folks garage.

[N123DY]

Back on the road....

[N123DY]

A couple more.

[Kim57]

Very cool story.
Clean looking truck to start with.
Kim

[Compton]

Super cool story that puts a smile on your face.

Solid looking truck too!!

I like your plans for the build. Good luck to you!!

[N123DY]

Thanks guys. Looking forward to getting started. Bought an aluminum under bed fuel tank a few weeks ago and found a guy locally that has the corvette parts. Gonna go pick them up next week. Now start the search for a motor and trans.

[Nut Case]

N123DY, what a great story. Life has some fun twists. Good luck on the build. Read Farmer Sid his thread deals with a C-4 should give you some tips & tricks on the suspension.
Nut Case

[RockinKees]

Now that's a cool story!!
Big plans for it, hope you leave the patina on it....

[N123DY]

Latest update. I bought a motor and trans! Found a 6.0 lq4 out of a 2003 Chevy truck, a set set of l92 heads, and a t56 six speed out of a 2002 firebird. This engine head combo with a mild cam made over 500 hp in a hot rod magazine article awhile back. I'm in the process of renting a shop and moving my stuff over so I can get started. Hoping to have it in running driving mock up form by summer.
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[ChuckDriver]

Cool project, keep posting pic's!!

[Sickfast1964]

I love these fleet sides. Nice ride

[Nev68]

Nice project.
Looking forward to updates.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Cool story!

Short Fleetside beds bring some decent cash. I'd consider fixing any rust issues on it and selling it for the cash to finance some of your project since you like the stepsides as much and '55's never came with them anyway.

Keep those pictures coming!

[N123DY]

Started tearing into it. Got the bed off, gas tank mounted, front clip removed and the motor and tranny pulled. Also picked up the vette parts today. Time to start mocking up the front end.

[N123DY]

Hey guys, just a quick update. I've been buying parts and working on getting my c4 crossmember installed. Does anyone have a recommendation for a good long tube headers that will work with my LS and fit inside the frame rails?

[N123DY]

Here's a couple photos.

[N123DY]

How about 1 at a time.

[N123DY]

Uno mas...

[Kim57]

Looking good.
Kim

[N123DY]

Thanks! I have a bunch more pictures but I'm having a hell of a time uploading them. Anyone have any pointers? I'm just using standard iPhone pictures. They are too big and I can only seem to get one at a time to load and it will only load if I make it square.
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[ptc]

Originally Posted by N123DY

Hey guys, just a quick update. I've been buying parts and working on getting my c4 crossmember installed. Does anyone have a recommendation for a good long tube headers that will work with my LS and fit inside the frame rails?

Nice project!..... Check out the BBK stuff, its the nicest and best fit for LS motors.

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by N123DY

Thanks! I have a bunch more pictures but I'm having a hell of a time uploading them. Anyone have any pointers? I'm just using standard iPhone pictures. They are too big and I can only seem to get one at a time to load and it will only load if I make it square.
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Great truck and history with it.

With my IPad I can only upload one picture at a time. Uploading an additional picture, for the same post, simply replaces the first picture.

[N123DY]

Originally Posted by ptc

Nice project!..... Check out the BBK stuff, its the nicest and best fit for LS motors.

Will do thanks!
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