Sweet Ass little truck man !!! I will be watching the rest of your build. Good progress in short time too.
Starting to shape the metal for the floor and such. Since we do not have any "fancy tools" we're doing it the old fashioned way, and that works too
Working on the floorboards. Should be done this week, and also have the steering set up right..... It'll be a tight squeeze to sit in it, so we're trying to get some slim bucket seats we can make fit. Fun fun!!
So, finally got some time to spend in the garage! Been scratching my head and questioning my intelligence since we decided to have the steering box inside the cab. Just one of those things. It bothered me to have it visible on the frame, and therefor the space inside the cab is now very limited. It took alot of pussling around with u-joints and angles, but we finally got it to work. Just like with everything else, it could have been done faster and better, but it is what it is and it will work. We choose to have a fairly sharp upwards angle on the steering column, and have it stick out quite a bit outside the dash, otherwise my legs just wouldn't fit. We'll still make a little "pocket" on the left side of the frame, for my feet to go in to clear the steering wheel even better. Well, all in all it hopefully will work, and if it doesn't we'll just re-do it. The wheel comes from an old circle track racer a buddy raced in the 50's. Got the brake pedal in place, but had to shorten it a little first to fit better. Using a '69 Chevelle master cylinder. Next step is to get the pitman arm cleaned up a little, and to clear for the headers. Got a '37 Chevy pitman arm from a buddy, and just shortened it a bit. Gonna buy the draglink shortly and set it all up. Trying to find some seats for it, that won't steal alot of space. Might just have to fabricate our own..... Summer is coming, and we'll try to have it running til then
Lined up the doors yesterday. Far from perfect, but for this build we'll call it a day and move forward. No time to be perfect. Just wanna drive it. We decided to skip the 7.50-15 Firestones in the back, and will go with white wall slicks instead. It'll go better with the looks we're going for! Chopping it next week!
So, this weekend we finally had some time to cut it down. We decided on 4". Measured thoroughlly and starting cutting. Sawzall for the pillars, grinder with thin cutting disc for the sheet metal. After about 6 hrs on Saturday we had it pretty much chopped and tacked together. Sunday came and we worked on the cab corners, cut slits in them and worked the area. Not as much trouble with that as i expected it to be. The bottom part of the a pillars were now to wide, and we cut slits in them and hammered them in a little. Both on the outside area as well as the inside. So, as Sunday afternoon came, we had the major stuff done with back of the cab, and a- pillars done. Started on the doorframes too, and they need some work for sure. So, all in all we spent about 10-12 hrs and came this far. There is of course major bodywork to be done to get some kinda finish on it, but after welding the doorframes and making the doors shut decent enough, we'll brush some primer on it and call it a day for this season. Finish is not a priority at this point. We just wanna get it running and have fun for now!
Doorframes being worked on. Fit's decent, but gaps and alignment will be adressed. Don't wanna fall out makin a sharp turn.....
Finally got the front and rear shocks installed. Working on the drive shaft tunnel now. Will take chassie apart this weekend, and finish the weldings. Planning on re-assembling body and chassie in a week or so!
love the stance and attitude of your truck... 2 questions: What is the wheelbase now? What is the length of the bed now that you've shortened it? inquirin' minds...
Hey man...gee, i think the wheelbase is 108" now, i'll measure it for ya. Haha, i'll have to measure the bed too...too much goin on, can't remember it!
I am still looking for used chrome reverse /steelies. They are a 5.5 boltpattern. 15" or 16" doesn't really matter, but they need to be at least 6" wide... Highly appreciate any leads on this..
you might have some issues with the angle of the first U-joint there on your steering. not sure what the maximum angle is with the flaming river joints, but I just put together a steering setup on a car an had like a 35 degree angle vs the recommended 30 degrees for Borgeson U-Joints and I could feel it when I drove it and turned the wheel. unless it is an optical illusion yours is closer to 40 degrees in the photo. I spaced mine out from the frame a bit more lessening the angle and now it is all good. I'm no steering U-Joint expert, but that was my experience.
Hey man! Well, as for now it feels good and nothing seems wrong, but who knows what happens once down on the ground, and trying to steer..One u-joint is a Borgeson, the other Flaming River i believe it was.. Thanks for the advice though, i'll definitely double check everything!!
Blew the truck apart a few days ago, gonna paint the chassies and some parts, and start putting it together again shortly!
Finally had some time to paint the chassies and put it back together. Put the engine and trans in last night. Waiting for new wheel cylinders for the front, then hopefully we'll put the bed and body on the chassie later this week!
The Jalopy Journal
