The rebulding of a turd..my truck *New Pics Added*

I was talking to Dat Dirty Rat the other day and he had suggested i post some progress pics of my truck on here...Wasn't going to, but today i didn't work on it and am not feeling too well so i'm pretty much stuck here in the house....
So, here's what it is, what it was and what the hell was wrong with it..

This is the '52 Chevy truck i bought this past summer..i've never been one to buy someone else's project, but this one really hit me.. I loved the look, the stance and if iw as going to build one it would have been much the same so i thought about it and decided to get it...
Ok, enough of that..here's what i've been doing the past month

Removed the stock dash in favor of a 56 Chevy one with 55 trim...
located the defrost hole's that were welded over, along with the wiper hole's as well..
Had NOTHING but problem's with the roof and door's..
I had to go around and finish welding the roof on..It was only tacked then glassed and the door's were suicided too...
Look's cool but nothing lined up once i put the door top's on...
Oh yeah, it was once a roadster so when i got it the door top's were not finished..
Junkyard door's donated thier gut's and top's..
Had to move the rear upper door jam to line up with the door's as well.. Seem's the roof, although square to the body, was welded back on a bit back from where it was supposed to be so the gap there was bad..
Also am waiting on some bear claw's for the door's too..the only thing holding them closed was the safety lock's...no latches at all!
Found the cowl vent too..removed the tack welded panel they had there and installed a nice used one from a fellow HAMBer...
Removed both cowl panel's..both were nothing more than flat tin bent to fit..there was NO crown to them so they were solid glass, AND the hole's in the left side to locate the fender were just under a half inch too further back than the pass side.....adding to the body looking off (you will understand that when you read below).. I have a couple reproduction one's coming..

Squared the body of the frame too. It was about an inch off to the driver's side at the cowl, then made all new mount's per Clark's advice in the tech section....worked like a charm!

Made a new trans cross member too..It was running a glide, i swapped to a 400...
And in the process, boxed the frame (S-10) where it was lengthened to fit the wheel base of the A/D truck....you can see a little of the plates in one of the pics of the cab mount's.
I never saw this when i bought it because the truck sat so low...but it was BAD! Like, large 'C' channel welded to the inside of the stock frame, and NOT welded well either..

Anyway, as you can see, i've been working on it a lot..About 4-5 hour's a night and every weekend...
I have a LONG way to go, but i'm hoping to have it squared away for the Jalopy Showdown...
All depend's on how many more surprises i find..Hopefully not many..i've about had it! haha

here's pics...


body mounts



Driver's A pillar...this was covered with glass! no wonder it cracked as i drove it.

cowl vent


trans mount

pass door...





Roof behind door's


cowl's this was covered with glass..

gone now.

other side just as bad.

dash


quick mock up with the trim before i cut the ends off..they will be welded to the doors


i guess that's it for now...it's enough anyway..
The truck is very solid, but a piece of shit because of how thing's were done...unfortunately, it's a piece of shit that i really like now, and it's mine now so i gotta make it right. Hindsight is 20-20 they say...had i known

This, is how you begin the rebuild of a turd.. thank you and come again!
Tony

PS: sorry for the quality of some of the pics. I take many with my cell phone. Bringing a camera is the last thing on my mind when i head over there to work..

 

That's looking good. I really like what you are doing with the dash. Do you have a "whole truck" shot? I wonder what would posess someone to glass over a couple of tack welds? Me, I'd wonder if I'd ever end up greasy side up and figure I should make it strong.

 

Let's just say that the quality of work is not exactly par for safety..i was more concerned with the frame than the roof if that say's anything..
Here's a whole shot.......Looked good..but it was like the chick who had WICKED acne as a kid and uses truckloads of 'stuff' to make it go away...yep, that's it!! haha

Oh yeah, you will also see that the body was not centered on the wheel base as well....a bit too far forward in these pics...
That's taken care of now too..wheel's are where they are supposed to be.

Thanks..i'm hoping it'll be more better when it's done this time.

 

That's some nice work! Be watching for the updates!

 

32! 32! 32!!! Hi Tony

 

It's people like that is why states are getting stricter with their inspection laws.

Looking good Tony, it takes dedication and a strong will to take on someone else's project in that kind of condition. Keep us updated. later shawn

 

Now when it's done....push the seat as far forward as possible and drive to the Showdown like the first year

Lookin Good!
Clark

 

Scary shit Tony, glad you found that stuff before it could have been serious problems. Bad that you bought a "done" truck that needed to be completely redone.

 

It almost looks like it would have been less work to start from scratch.
Did you build the body mounts yourself?
That is going to be one nice truck when it is done and I already know it is going to push me a bit harder to get things right on mine.

 

If you only knew how many time's that thought has gone through my mind..........but, it didn't happen that way obviously..

Yes i made the cab mount's..

Larry, yes.....i know and hello to you too . One reason i bought this rather than build was to get started on the 32 sooner..oh well..

Clark, thanks for the tech you did on these, it was a good reference for me, and i'm not sure my body can handle sitting like that anymore..I'm getting old. haha

thanks guy's..
Tony

 

Work looks great, Tony. Sounds like a 52 that I bought that "just needed cab corners"..

 

It's amazing the fucked up shit people do to old cars; you are doing a great job fixing that lousy work.

 

Yeah it's pretty depressing..On a high note though, whoever threw the mud on this thing was pretty damn good!
You would have never known what was under it..kudo's to him..

Back to work i go............

 

I like that dash idea and of course the effort to make the whole truck right again...lol

 

looks great and the dash is awsome ..

 

Thanks..
here's another funny one.. I swapped the dash because it too had been modified, then glassed heavily and to repair it would have meant sectioning another truck dash in there...
So, if i was gonna cut it out, might as well put something in that has a better look..

old dash..

 

Looks good,Love the dash!(I got a 54 today)

 

It's looking real good, Tony, but I wouldn't expect any less of you. You've proved yourself a man that can take an occassional lemon that life throws at you and make lemonade out of it - no crying, whining, accussations - just dig in and fix what's wrong and make it better.

 

Thanks Tag..but i will admit, i wasn't as quick to dig in on this one..
It took me a bit to get over the initial shock of what i had bought and for how much...but, once that subsided thing's started to roll again...

Lulabelle, congrats on your 54....can't wait to see that one come together too.

Tony

 

Who said a turd couldn't be polished? Nice job. Can't wait to see it in person.

.....it'll be nice sitting in the truck and actually having leg room. It'll be like a Caddy compared to the Lil' Bastard!

-Bigchief.

 

I was thinking more like a limo compared to the 33....Caddy, limo..same thing..it's roooomy

stop by sometime and check it out when your in the hood..

thanks.
Tony

 

Going to be bad when your finished, lots of cool ideas, sure like the dash, I am looking for a frame and cab to do a roadster type pickup, not a true Rat Rod, Old Sckool. Will check on your progress. STEVE

 

Thanks Steve..
There was a glass A/D style truck listed in the classified's within the past couple week's that was a roadster, with removable top for a very fair price..had some steel stuff too.
Mine isn't going to be a rat rod, and a lot of it isn't even traditional..
It will have the traditional look to it once it's done because that's what i like, but honestly i'm rebuilding it to be a real world driver.. Something i can drive daily, tow and haul etc..to actually use not just for cruise night's or weekend rides..hopefully it work's out to be that way.
Goodluck with your search..and thanks again.

Tony

 

Excellent work so far, Diggin the dash! I am amazed along with others about the 'structural' bondo work. I shouldn't be though, I have seen later model econoboxes with suspension repairs of similar fashion. Glad you are saving it, sory to hear it's not what you thought it was.

 

Oh yeah, if what we see here is any indication, it no longer qualifies as a turd.

 

Well, i appreciate that.. But i think it'll alway's be a turd to me now

Ok, so tonight i made some more progress on it.
I finished the metal work on the pass door top-roof area, got my door gaps where i wanted them and made a new drip rail out of 5/16 round stock. I had to remove the original drip rail to fix the botched roof up. But, it was a good idea to get it off anyway because both side's were brazed on and neither side fit right.
I got both my cowl panels today from UPS, so the pass cowl area is and bear claw latches are next. Once those are done on the pass side, it's on to do the driver's side..whoohoo!!haha

Here's a couple more pics from my cell phone..

drip rail



door gap...i HATE "off" door gap's...so a lot of the extra work was only to get those where i wanted..
Did you ever think you should contact a doctor for stuff like that??
I'm beginning to wonder about me..


ok, i won't bother you guy's with anymore pics til it look's like something..

Tony

 

man tony this truck looks like its com a long way, your really doin an amazing job, the driprails look sick and that dash is gonna be wild. cant wait to see it all finished up, you will prolly have it at syracuse i imagine?

 

Man I saw that truck for sale and wanted it. Glad to see you get it. I would have pushed it out the garage and lit it on fire by now.

 

Haha..yeah, it was close to that fate a couple time's now

Mat, i'm hoping to have this at 'Cuse this year..actually, i'm hoping to have a few thousand mile's on it by then..........hoping anyway..

Thanks guy's

Tony

 

Rather than starting another thread i'll add a few more pics to this one for those interested..
I have the driver's door top on finally, still have some grinding to do yet but at least it has both top's again. Still have to do some work on the roof around the opening though to get it lined back up due to the fantastic work that was done to it before.....

Also got the bear claw latch in the pass side now along with some gusset's to keep everything from moving around. There isn't a lot of support up front for suicide door's so i wanted to make sure it was strong.. i also added another gusset about 10 inches below the latch as well to further the strength issue.. I'm glad i decided to take off the home made cowl panel's after all..it opened up the whole are to do the work needed..and now the new panel's are stamped rather than bent flat tin with no crown...no more 3/8 thick bodywork!! woo hoo!

Picked up a pass side cowl louver set from fellow HAMBer Rochlow, and got that just about ready to be welded into the driver's side panel. Most guy's take them off the pass side, i dig the look's and decided to add them to the driver's side so there's a matched set..kinda weird i guess but i don't care No pics of that yet..

Anyway, here's a couple more pics.
Once again, sorry for the poor quality...cell phone cam.
Tony