Projects Look what followed me home...'56 GMC

Getting older and working a lot by yourself you figure out strange ways to do things. A couple 2x4 with a hole drilled in them and loosely mounted to your cherry picker is all that is needed to get the cab back far enough to weld the rest of the frame.


We finished off the night by getting rid of the stock master and brackets that were on the frame.

 

What a great project! I appreciate the detail of your work progress but also of your pictures. I just took my first shot at posting pictures on my project "48 Dodge COE" and wish I knew how you got such a large presentation and were able to group them. Keep it up, looks great, I'll check back. Jim

 

Thanks for sharing the story and photos here. Just happened upon the thread. Beats the heck out of reading the local news.
Press On with the project.

 

Not as depressing I guess.

 

Made a frame with some casters on it so we could move the cab around and work on it a little easier.

 

Steve, good seeing you today, good meeting earl also! Glad to see he is still plugging away on the truck. If I can think of any other stuff I have sitting around I will let you know!


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nice wood work.
that wood bed going to save time and space
if i take cab of i will copy this.thanks for sharing.
ken
sweden

 

How enjoyable is this thread?
Keep up the good work, seems like we, the readers, are sitting around on a box watching it all happen. Good
Cheers
Rod

 

What a great story. Really enjoy the updates and pics. Very nice of you to have taken such an interest in this young man. Too many kids these days seem to be so lost, and not really their own fault. Congrats! Kurt

 

It would not hurt to toss a couple side brace at a 45 degree angle. The cab is not that heavy and we are not working on the cab yet but before I start climbing in and out of it I'm going to bolt in a few more boards just for safety sake.

Ryan it was great seeing you again. Thanks a ton for the dizzy. A lot of people don't understand budget issues. There is a difference in being on a budget because you choose to and being on a budget because you have NO MORE MONEY. He was stoked you gave him the dizzy. That is money he can put else where in the truck like welding wire or ? Thanks again brother and like I said if you need anything just yell.

This one made me smile. Only thing is if you were here sitting on a box I'd stick a wrench in your hand and ask you to help. lol

 

Earl was off school and didn't have to work yesterday, that's a rare thing so the whole day was spent of his truck. We drove to the paint shop to get some primer only to find out it had closed down. Had to go to the one that was further away from the house to get what he needed. That took some time away but other than that he works all day and into the night. Even using a flashlight at time to see what we were doing.
There were still a ton of bolts and rivets holding brackets on not counting the gas and brake lines up in the frame. Earl got the whole frame cleaned up while I finished welding the front clip on completely.

 

We cleaned up our mess and he ask what now? I thought about the rearend so I took some measurements. The truck was 57" backing plate to backing plate. He wants some tall, fat meat up in the rear fenderwells. I measured the rear end we had in another car and it was 51" BP to BP. That would work if it fit within the frame and springs. Measured them and we have a winner! He can stick on some wicked back tires on this truck when it's all said and done. We turned the frame around close to the garage door and yanked the rear end out of the truck.

 

Next we jacked up the car and he cut out the 5 lug rear end he's using and moved it to the parking pad. Where the car was it would be a pain to unbolt everything and the springs where shot anyway so I told him to just cut them. After it was on the parking pad be got the leafs and old saddle perches off.

 

I did the exact same thing to use my hoist as a drywall jack before.

 

What's funny but he's never ask is that we are right next to a garage. My gasser project is in it but we could move it out. There is a lean to next to it we could use and there is a pole building that has nothing in it that we could use. We are building this on the driveway in a section where it's paved and some of it is gravel. Why?? It's his first build and I wanted him to see what it was like back in the day. A true shade tree, back yard build. Sun on your back when it's shining and water under your feet when it rains. If he can build this truck like this he should not have any issue when he gets older and has a garage. After laying in the dusty dirt when it's hot and mud when it rains for many of my cars in my youth I feel lucky I have what I have now, not that it's great but tons better than when I was a teenager. If you remember the sting of grease, grime and sweat running into your eyes on a 100 degree day and not caring because you were wrenching then you get it.. Can anyone relate to that?

 

Truck axle sat under the spring. We dropped the rear of the leafs down to flip the axle on top of the springs. That should drop the back 5" alone.

 

Cleaned the saddles up and getting ready to weld them up.



We will have to C notch the frame but I knew that going in. No biggie. By the time we got the rear end back together and on the ground it was dark. Good days work. Poor Earl was dragging but I was proud he kept up.

 

Looking good....I remember a while back (18yrs give or take) I was at my bosses house who was an oldschool southside builder. He had a dirt driveway that he poured white gravel on and that was our floor. I went to his house several times a week to work on either my truck or his 63 fairlane or 61 f100. Almost every tool he had was home made, no air tools or anything modern at all. Not necessarily by choice but that was just how it was to him. I was the "rich" chinga boy,(yea right, but I lived on the nice side of town) of course I was the one always crawling around in the dirt/rocks to do something underneath, mostly because I fit. I came out even more white from all the gravel dust, haha.. I learned a lot those days and really appreciate what the dude taught me. Lost track of him for about 16 yrs now, should look him up...

 

Earl sandblasting his frame.
I told him he would learn from his mistakes. Safety 101 " don't where baggy clothes. " Before sandblasting Earl used the grinder with a wire wheels to get the heavy caked on stuff. I wasn't there to see it but from what I gather the wire wheel grabbed his pants, rapped them up in a ball and took a chunk out of his inner leg. It looks like someone took a dull hatchet to his leg. He couldn't get the grinder out of his pants so he walked in the garage, with the grinding hanging in his crotch and grabbed a knife to cut his pants loose. Note the pants leg. It's not funny but it is....

 

Earl had never sprayed anything with a gun so I gave him the basic and showed him a few things and then he ran with it.
Earl and his uncle Thomas was very close. Sadly we lost him a few years ago to a heart attack. I let Earl spray for a while and then let him know that he was using Thomas's gun. Family means a lot around here and stuff like that make the build a little more special.


Earl worked his butt off all day. Once again we had flashlights and even car lights shining into the night so he could work.

He should have had a mask on but we were outside with a light breeze. I let it slide.

 

Looking good guys! Earl keep up the good work and now that you have gotten your grinder rookie bite out of the way, hopefully it will be your last! When I get out of the hospital here I will swing down to check out all the progress in person!


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Looks great! Here's one for you, I was welding the a while back with one of those long john type shirts...felt something hot, thought it was just a little ember....those shirts dont burn with a flame...looked like yosemite sam looking for a bucket...

 

And another one on grinder safety.
Don't wear a "Hoodie Sweat Shirt" with the drawstrings hanging down.
Have seen pictures of a grinder getting hung up and running up the string to the guys face!!!

 

I love this story and thread! Great stuff!

 

Sounds nasty. I can see that going on.

 

Nice, going to build one someday. If I live to be 80.

 

He's really getting into his work.
The good: Today was Earls first day of learning how to put inner and outer bearings in new rotors along with new calipers and pads. The bad: it won't be the last time. lol .. He also tossed on some new shocks and sway bar links.

 

Hell yhea guys making great progress! I'm still laid up in the here in the hospital. Been 18 days now! When I get out Steve I will give you a shout and swing down and check out. Your endless supply of projects you got going on! Keep up all the great work!


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I think that's the problem. No room so I move one down the road and two more pop up. It's kind of like pulling a grey hair.