Projects New Shop Truck

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I haven't checked out this thread for ages....well, probably since last June, so I missed this, but I gotta say, as a dad of two young boys, that this is possibly one of the coolest things I've ever seen.

 

Hey Guys!!!

Sorry for the delay.... Busy as hell around here lately...

1st off!!! Thanks much for the good words! I'm happy to share the project with y'all.

The truck is bitchin and I continue to drive it everyday! Starts everyday and motors on down the road! Did manage to get one hell of a ticket in it the other day so I know it's plenty fast! And my little dude Max loves riding around in "His" Truck.... I attached a pic of him and the Hound heading to school the other morning.

But aside from that I really have no issues! I am working my way thru a little oil problem in which the PCV Valve is doing it's best to remove all the oil it can from the motor.... I think I have this solved for now but can't say for sure. Hopefully it's as simple as I think and the change I recently made will do the trick. My mistake was feeding the line back into the intake runner vs. going to the base of the carb. I have installed baffles in the valve covers and thought that I had done everything correct but sending the line to an intake runner was not the right choice!

The truck puffed a little smoke every time I started it up and I thought it might be the guides.... But after pulling the plugs out for the first time I was amazed at what I saw... Every single plug was perfect CoCo Brown except for #5 and #8!!! Oily and wet..... The exact cylinders that are fed from the PCV intake runner.... Well Sum Bitch!!!

So I think I've got that dialed in and we will see where we go from here.

More news as it comes....

Oh and yes... Terd is right. I'm building a Top Fuel Dragster right now. Here's the link to the build thread...

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=539612&showall=1

Cheers,

Robert M.

 

Ah!! Didn't realize you attached the thread... Thanks!!!

~Robert M.

 

Those poor exhaust manifolds..... I used that ultra "bitchin" VHT paint and the shit just came right off..... Sucks... I did get a brand new set of Sanderson Block huggers for a very low price and have yet to change them out. Hopefully soon... It will blow the whole look under the hood but it will look better than some nasty old Flakey Paint RamHorns! It's tough however when this is my only daily vehicle! Kinda hard to schedule time to take it out of commission for a day.

Until Next Time!

Robert

 

Nothing much new to report other than getting inducted to my local car club... Too much fun! I'm officially a Dirty Jerk... Ha! A solid bunch of dudes from my town that I totally dig hang'n round with! Here's a couple of snaps of the truck recently! I did have one major mishap with the deal in that I lost a rear wheels bearing a few weeks back. Brand new bearing, "Cheap China Shit...." Lost the inner cage and wasted both seals. Oil everywhere and made for one hell of a repair. Not happy! But a days worth of work and were back on the road!





Cheers,

Robert M.

 

good deal Robert, glad to see you enjoying your pickup

 

looking real good robert... love the stance. cant wait to change my wheels one day. love them steelies.

leonard

 

Congratulations jerk!

 

that is really kool will always no if thats the truck

 

Quick Update!

So I took the truck into the wheel house the other day to get the front tires re-balanced and was bummed to find out the king-pins were worn out already. No Bueno! I'm not totally sure how this happened but whatever the case it did. So... Break out the wallet and get roll'n. New CPP front axle, New Posies Dual Flex springs, and new Posies Rear multi leaf springs. Why the springs? Well I kinda need to use this as a truck and the Mono-Leafs just didn't cut it when it came to hauling any substantial weight. The truck sat perfect and rode pretty good but I couldn't haul much. So I figured I'll sacrifice a touch of ride height and swap things out.

Wow, Wow, Wow.... My truck rides PERFECT with these new springs! I also finally added the 1" dia Sway-Bar to the front end and buttoned her back up. It's a whole new truck. Sonoma County is really nice for roads as long as you stay on the Hwy. ;-) anything else and it's pure shit. So Far, So Good! I'm 100% stoked on this change. The only bitch I have is that I'm not really happy quite yet with the height of the rear on my truck. I'm going to install dropped shackles later this week to see if I can dial it back into the proper "Cool Look" that I once had.

BTW, the Mono-leafs are for sale in the classifieds as well as the dropped axle. Note, the axle is a core and is priced as such. It will need to go to Either Sid, or another qualified vendor and get eh holes corrected prior to use. The spring are fine, but as I mentioned above they are more the look vs. hauling a load!

Best Regards,

Robert M.

 

She sits nice. Me likey!

 

How did you find the ride and handling with the dropped axle and mono leafs? Mine just arrived today so the next week will be spent making my frame a rolling chassis again

 

Time for a change up.... Torq Thrust TTO's with 215/70 on the front and 255/70's on the rear! OMG it so killer! Rides and drives great... Here's a snappy for ya.

 

Hard to beat those wide whites, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder! Great looking truck regardless!

 

Sorry for not getting back to you earlier on this. I thought the ride was really great on smooth roads when the truck had Mono-Leafs front and back. My commute in the AM is fairly easy and heads straight down the HWY so for the most part I was pleased, but in Sonoma County anything other than the newly re-paved HWY is SHIT.... So I opted for the new Posies Dual Slide fronts and their multi-leaf rear spring. Still rides like a truck on rough roads but it's much improved vs where I started. I will admit that it kinda killed the look a little but switching out to the radials and TTO's last night has helped the stance and regained a little coolness. If you are going to keep the Mono's in the back, make sure you C-Notch the frame. And if you are planning to haul a load here or there just make sure you have a air-bag assist or something along those lines to help the springs out.

Cheers,

RM

 

Robert, thanks for sharing this build from start to finish, and the updates! It's been a huge motivator to get going on my '57. Thanks to your thread I've made my initial parts list and should be pulling the trigger on the order shortly. Seeing as I don't haul much with a truck, I'll be shooting for the original stance you had but I've got a lot more sheet metal work to deal with. Killer truck, awesome build. Oh, and as a Dad of two little ones, the hand prints are perfect.

Ryan

 

Ryan,

Thanks for the good words! I absolutely LOVE this truck and enjoy every minute I'm in it.... There will be a few more updates to it as I get into the new year but for now I'm set to head into harvest and drive the hell out of it. Well at least too and from the winery... ;-)

Next year the plan is to add a 5-Spd and possibly a 9" rear-end. The '56 Rear is fine but I really don't trust it once we start towing the dragster and making longer trips. The guy I bought the wheels from has a killer Richmond 5-Spd that will get pulled from his Chevelle soon and I told him to phone me when it happens. I'm also chasing a very odd oil issue with the motor and might possibly swap it out with a new crate motor. I'd love to dissect this engine and really comb thru what might be going on but I don't have the leisure to have the truck off the road for a long time. This would prompt me to have the new bullet ready and waiting for the swap. I've got plenty of other things to use this engine in so it certainly won't go to waste.

More to come....

~RM

 

Just a taste thing, but I like this new look too. Glad to see you enjoying the ride.

 

Ya, my plans include running a 5-spd behind the 327 (came across 2 rebuilt 327 marine engines at a great price)and a 10 bolt depending on what I come across. Hope you get the oil issue sorted and I look forward to the updates.

Ryan

 

More pics with the new skins pleez.... I likey......

 

check the eng rotation on twins one turns bassakwards one turns forward.

 

So how has the truck been holding up after a couple months of driving it? This was such a cool build to watch I'd like to hear some updates

 

Dubie! Sorry for the delayed response.. Been busy with a few other things.

The truck is 100% Fantastic with the change out to Posies Springs in the front and rear. The truck was great as built, but the roads up here in Sonoma County are really shitty for this suspension and the little thing needs all the help it can get. After swapping out the Mono-Leafs and adding the sway bar front and back the thing really handles great. Next up for the truck is a 5-Spd.

Keep on Truck'n!

~RM

 

Looking forward to see the 5 speed swappie doodle!

 

thanks for popping in and giving us the update. This build has been my all time favorite to watch on the forum.

 

Right On Man! Thanks for that! It's a great truck and I really enjoyed the build. I have recently purchased a new GMC that has replaced this as my daily driver. The business needed a tax deduction and there's nothing wrong with a new RIG. Hopefully this should allow more time and flexibility for projects like the 5-Spd, and Body/Paint activities. After this hit the road I had to be careful about what I decided to work on! A little hard to be without a car come Monday Morning... ;-)

Cheers,

Robert M.

 

yeah I guess so eh? It must be nice to be able to drive a truck like that all year round though. Up here we work on them for 8 months and drive them for 4.

 

I forgot to ask what you thought of your new wiring kit. I was looking at the same one for my 56

 

Robert quick question for you. Sorry you may have answered this before but I have to ask since you have had so many front end configurations. I currently have a 3" CPP drop axle with 3 leaf springs up front. At ride height the springs are almost flat (350 sbc engine). Out back I flipped my 12 bolt axle to above the springs.

For the most part I am happy with the static ride stance, my problem is the front leaf spring position. I am worred that over time the suspension movement will bend the leafs. If I went with the Posies super slide drop springs up front what do you think it would do to my ride height?

Here is a pic of the stance currently and thanks for your input.