Projects Daily driver '58 Chevy Fleetside mild custom

I bought this truck last summer off of Craigslist for $1,200 and couldn't pass up the deal since I really wanted a short bed 58-59 Fleetside big window truck and it was in killer shape. My plan has always been for it to be my daily driver and since it was going to be my daily driver I wanted it to have some creature comforts that my pevious builds didn't have. Namely AC . It will be built on a budget and luckily for me a lot of the things I need I had laying around already.
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So my vision for this project was an early 60's mild custom/custom with minor body mods like a slight 2" chop, some Buick portholes on the hood sides, dual staggered frenched antenas on the passenger side panel behind the door, '56 Oldsmobile taillights( or '50 Pontiac?), '57 Oldsmobile dash, flaked candy tangerine paintjob, original 50's chevy wheels chrome reversed with the middle painted the color of the car and accented by spider caps, pull drawer knob grille with '58 Chevy rear tailights for turn signals, '58 Chevy front bumper. etc... (Rendering by my homey Johnny Garcia)
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The PO was basically going to make a street rod out of this truck. He did some good things to it but also did some terrible things like put a dash out of some 70's car in it and ditch the bumpers. The good things he did were installing a camaro clip, and fully boxing the frame. The rear came set up for a corvette IRS which I decided to ditch in favor of a early Ford 9". As you can see the truck is in really good shape with only a little rot on the lower hinge pockets. I decided early on to run a modern fuel injected motor ( a gift from my Dad). It's a complete very low mileage LT1/4L60E police package engine. I wanted the outside and inside of the cab to be true to what a 60's custom should be but the power plant and tranny will be something a little newer.
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Initially I wanted to use c10 trailing arms but came to the conclusion that I was going to have to modify a ton of stuff in order for that set up to work

 

I got the rear end out of a '60 Galaxy from a pick your part and I whacked off the spring perches.

 

My club brothers came by and helped me install the Olds dash. Once it's fully installed, it will look killer in there!

 

The frame, it's glory

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So it was time to set up the motor and tranny on this beast, and I talked things over with Dad and we decided that the motor could come up a few inches. The motor mounts were his design and they look great, but more importantly, they work. I don't have access to a 220 volt welder so for now things will only be tacked in. My buddy who is a professional welder will drop by and finish welding everything.

 

This will be a good one.

 

Sounds about right to me..

Looking forward to following the thread

 

Thanks guys! So it was time to setup the rear end. We found the differentials centerline at 3 degrees positive(the tranny is setup at 3 degrees negative) and centered the wheels inside the wheel wells.

 

As I stated earlier I ditched my original idea of the c10 trailing arm setup and went with a parallel 4 link. I want the truck to have a pretty nice low stance but not "layin frame" low. It will be a fully functional truck and I want the bed to be fully functional and I can live with stepping up the floor 3"

 

Love them fleetsides. I have one im about in same place u are at.

 

I really like the idea of the Impala bumper....makes the front end look a lot better... as a matter of fact...I even used an Impala bumper on the rear of my Fleetside:

 

Yeah, I think those trucks look killer, too!

 

Your truck has been a big inspiration on my build. I'm still up in the air about what I'm going to use in the rear. A split Pontiac bumper is an idea I've been playing with, assuming that I can make it work of course.

 

The C Notches are setup. I'm working on the plates that go on top and bottom of the notches as well setting up the upper and lower bag plates, and the braces that go across the frame from notch to notch. The panhard bar will not work from where it's at currently so we're going to relocate it so it's as long as possible. It's a problem since this is such a narrow chassis.

 

Does anybody know who sells good quality cab/bed mount bushings? I'd like to run polyurethane bushings if they're available.

 

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Pulled these up on Summit's site- $75 for poly isn't bad!

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ens-3-4120g?seid=srese1&gclid=CKLok_ua17wCFRAV7Aod9zkAnA

 

Thank you, sir! Just what I was looking for.

 

Just looked at the description, they're for a car so I don't think it'll work on my truck

 

Sorry about that!

 

Would love to see pictures of your complete rear suspension when you finish--great so far

 

No worries, Mac!

 

Thanks, Texas Turkey. I should have some more pics by tomorrow. I pinched a nerve in my back and I've been out of action for the past 2 days I just started feeling better and I'm back at it.

 

Looking awesome Brother!!!


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Thanks, Dave!

 

So with the help of my Dad, I was able to chip away on that c notch. I'm still recovering from my injury so he did all the cutting and I just welded it.

 

Have you cut the frame for the notch yet?


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