Projects my '53 Chevy truck project

Looking really nice

 

i finally finished welding and grinding on the frame rails. the added 2 1/2" to the bottom of the rails took some time. i finished welding up the 9" ford and all the brackets on it. added the rear coil over cross member and mounts. i bought a pan hard bar to locate the 9' between the rails, but it isn't going to work out. i knew i should have listened to the guy that works with the chassis's all the time. he told me to use a track locator. i thought i would try to use the pan hard pan for this build. it will not work for me. the frame is too narrow and i would never be able to get exhaust over the rear.







now, i have to hear the i told you so monday at work. and i have to order a track locator. that will complete the chassis work on the frame. i still need to lengthen and weld on the running board brackets and fabricate rear cab mounts to complete this phase of the build.

oh, i will be shortening the running boards 7" next week. here is a sneek peak at that.

 

Just out of curiosity, why did you add the 2 1/2" to the frame...I appologize if you already covered this I may have missed it!

Looking good keep it up!

 

Nice work!

 

Looks good!

 

here is the 2 1/2" addded to the bottom of the rails before i welded it all up. why do this?

strength... i am using a 392 hemi here with 31x18.5x15 rear tires. without a roll cage to strengthen things up, i decided to beef up the frame as much as possible. the rails are now huge using the boxed-truss technology. that is as good as it get without a cage for the truss.

i built a '79 F-100 with a 532 nitrous motor. it was tubbed with the same 31x18.5x15 tires, but on a stock frame. there was nothing i could do to stop the wheel hop under brutal accelerations. the frame would twist and recoil causing the wheel hop like reaction. i learned from that build. that is why this frame is over built...

 

Wow, I'm not sure that I have ever been more ashamed of my own build... This is fantastic! Thank you so much for the great pictures. I'll be watching this very closely!

 

Your Fucken nuts!!!


This is just wooooow...

 

i shortened up the left running board today. took less than 45 minutes. now i can work on the running board brackets. need to lengthen the middle and rear ones since the frame got narrower.

here is it for mock up. you can see the 7" piece i cut out of the board.

 

okay, here is this weeks progress report. i added a few more braces to the frame, lengthen the middle and rear running board brackets, shortened the running boards, and installed the track locator. all i have left to do is fabricate the rear cab mounts, some more welding on the added braces, and clean it all up to sublime levels.

here is the frame as of today.


here are the Heidts lower arms. these are their latest version for the coil overs. earlier version didn't have the plate. this really strengthen up the arms. i fabricated a fake front coil over for mock up. i still don't know what size coils i need until i weigh the front.



some of the new braces added.



here you can see where i added 1 1/4" to the middle running board bracket and 3" to the rear bracket. i still need to clean up the welds. when done, they will look like they always were this way.



to be continued...

 

Nice work!

 

wow! great build!

 

WOW. Amazing work.

 

okay, the frame and chassis are done and back in my garage.

here are the reworked ladder bars for that old school look.





now i can order the 2" drop spindles.



then off to the next phase of project subLime, the drive train. we will see what it takes to fit the 392 hemi and 727 torquflite.

stay tuned...

 

i am finally at the drivetrain stage of my build. i am using a 1957 Chrysler 392 HEMI and a 1970 Chrysler A-727 transmission for motivation. since the new transmission isn't a direct bolt-on, i had to fabricate an adapter plate.

finally married the motor to the trans.



now i can figure out where it needs to be within the frame. i am going to have to set the cab back on the frame to get a better idea. then i can fabricate a trans cross member and set the lower motor mounts on the frame.






i am also going to need to bolt on the oil pan, heads, and valve covers before i do much more.

stay tuned...

 

Nice truck.........

 

okay, i bolted the cab on the new frame. now i can set the motor properly. well, once i get the new oil pan. this is what an 1 1/4" channel job looks like. you really won't see it until it is all together with the bed, running boards, and front end. the frame is at my desired ride height.



back in the corner until i get the pan.

 

look at that, bare metal for months and not a spot of rust.

 

Nice!!! Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to updates.

 

looks great Tony.....

 

alrighty then, the hemi is in. no cutting of the firewall, toe board, or floor board. i placed the hemi as low and as far back as i could go. i even had to make my own motor mounts. the ones i bought were just too big to get the motor located correctly. i still need to fabricate a nice trans cross member. i just made a quick one to get the trans supported for now. the motor is angled back exactly 3.7 degrees per plans.

next major hurdle will be steering. this motor is 33" wide and completely blocks the stock steering column location.





and those cool ladder bars.

 

Rad! Great work and a not so common place for that particular mill.

 

a little more done today. since the bed is shortened 7" and the cab channelled 1 1/4", the stock splash pans aren't even close to fitting.
i had to shorten the pan, recontour, and rebead the edge where it butts up to the cab.



here you can see the difference in the contour when the cab is channelled down and the boards stay put.



now off to the other side.

 

not much with the drivetrain this week. fabricated and installed the transmission cross member, shortened and recontoured the bed splash aprons, and cleaned up the running boards.

here is the new cross member.


the left side board and apron



the right side board and apron

 

i started working on the bed. i made some custom mounts 2" tall to replace the wooden blocks. these have a 1/2" nut welded inside and then welded down to the frame. i can't use the factory setup because my frame is boxed. i am shortening the bed 7" and closing up the gap between the bed and the cab. i also have to make inner wheel tubs because of the fat tires.

here is the new stance.


the closed up gap. i still need to add the stake pocket on, but these are my old bed parts. i ordered all new parts and get to cut on these for test fitting.


these are also my test wheels. i narrowed the rear to work with a 15x14 rim with a 4 1/2" back spacing. my test wheels have a 5 1/2" back spacing. that is why the wheels are inward an extra inch. i will space the wheels out 1" to make it work better with my original dimensions. again, these are just for mockup.



more pictures



here are the new bed mounts i fabricated. i tack welded them to the frame for now.



got to love the huge tires.


here you can see how big these are. the tire on the right is a normally large drag slick. it is 12" wide and 26" tall. looks tiny compared to my super stock tires.


lots of small custom mods to the bed. stay tuned to see them all...

 

Looks good..nice work man, look forward to updates!

 

Looking great, impressive work so far! And you know I like the Hemi!

 

some more smoothing of the dash. i fabricated a flush glove box door. the through bolts are temporary. i will weld stud bolts to the inside of the door.



i still need to fill in the glove box lock/latch and drill a small latch only in the door. using a non locking small button type like in a jeep. the radio grille, ash tray, choke and throttle knobs, and wiper switch will all be filled in.



when done, it will all be smooth and simple.

 

i decided to curve the side rails into the cab better. i added this small piece. when i get the new sides, i will know what i need to cut.



i am also going to extent the stake pocket and curve it with the splash apron. this squared off pocket just doesn't look right.



i will make the bulk head curve with the cab too by adding material to the rolled top. every part of the bed will be within 1/4" of the back of the cab when i'm finished.





to be continued.