Got the tank today. Looks like I need to get the stock frame mounts for the tank too. The Suburban that I got this from was long gone, this was all that was left. Plenty of clearance except that I have flipped the spring perches and it's a bit close there. Other than that it looks like the clearance top and bottom are good. I did have to move the frame crossmember by the shackle mounts back. The tank is 35" long so it needed to move. I also have a trailer hitch that I will add to the rear frame. It should be very strong. I think I will have to notch the frame. 40 gallons of gas is pretty heavy... those air shocks are looking better all the time. That or helper air bags. Mike
I notched my frame, and used the Suburban crossmembers. It helps having the donor truck there..or at least the rear frame section...
Put the bed on to check tank clearance and to see how low the truck is. Not really that low in the back so I might run the big bumper - just paint it white. I have a trailer hitch that I am going to put on and that will protect the tank. Will have to poke a hole in the stock bumper. It's not as low as it looks, it's also just held in with ratchet straps for the testing. The rear diff is lower. Mike
Fixing the front of the bed instead of getting a new one. The lower edge was rusted through so I am cutting off the lower 5" and had a new piece bent to fit. The cut line is right below the raised portion that should hide the welds. Going to try out my new TIG welder. There are a couple spots along the top that I will replace too. About 1 1/2" by 24". Mike Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
go real slow....weld a little bit in several places far apart from each other, let it cool off all the way, repeat. It should take all day to weld it on.
That tank looks good, do any of you three have the dimmensions...? By the by a gallon of gas is 6.073 lbs, so 40 gallons is about 243 lbs....that ought to bring the rear down!
That's what I was thinking and why I will probably put in air-bag helpers or air shocks. I want to use it to tow also, so that is just a good idea. Just looked on Rockauto and found the measurements: 40 Gallon; 35 x 28-3/4 x 13-1/8 Mike
Yeah, and I use air to help cool it too. I saw that on one of the welding tip videos. Oh, and not use the air while welding.... it blows away the shielding gas! Mike
Antone use Dolphin gauges? Looking at these for mine. The only negative I found was for electric speedo and that may have been a different issue than the gauge. Don't need anything fancy and I like the glass and that they are grey faced. The pic above is the electric speedo, regular ones look like the one in the photo below. http://www.dolphingauges.com/dolphin_gauges.html Mike
Thanks..also the tank weighs 50 lbs dry..........found that also, so just shy of 300 lbs for full tank not counting filler and straps.....
that must be why my 57 one ton weighed so much! I really like the stock gauges in the Chevy...I don't know about the GMC stuff....but getting old gauges working is a fetish of mine that is not shared by many.
Not sure but that must be shipping weight. I can lift it with one hand easily and it's a lot lighter than the 40# bag of dog food I unloaded from my wife's car the other day. My gauges would probably work, but they are not in the same shape. The speedo numbers are all bad and there is no alt. and the fuel gauge thingy... GMCs have round gauges in squarish panels. The small ones would fit 2 1/16" gauges perfectly. The larger gauges are 4" and replacements are 3 3/18". This is a 'stock' dash but chrome, mine is painted gray and the bezels are white. Just found this: http://www.oldchevytrucks.com/cart/product.asp?prodid=SP105&i=10772||||| Are these guys OK? Old Chevy Trucks? If I restore the stock gauge, where do you get the green plastic light filter stuff? Now I'm rambling. I will stop now. Mike
Shipping weight...that makes more sense...Most tanks are pretty darn lite, That one just flew over my head.
Picked up new bed strips today. $110 for all of them, in painted and no bolts! Didn't expect them to be that expensive. I also picked up a visor. It will get the same color as the top. Finished up the front of the bed with some POR15 on the cab side. Turned out great. Will show picks when I install it and the new bed strips. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Really wanted to save the wood but I think it is too far gone. Really punky at the front of the bed and it's disintegrating under what is left of the strips. So, have any of you made your own wood? I don't want to put in uber-expensive wood, at least not now, because I am not restoring the truck, I just want it to look good and be useful for now. I have measured the 12 boards and the seem to be three widths. 7 1/4", 5 1/4", and 4 3/4" on the bedsides. These differe a bit from what I found searching but I measured them from the underside where the wood is still looking good on most of it. The shortys on the front of the bed are 27 7/8" and the rears are 31 3/8". Of course mine is a long bed (97" wood length) and the boards are all 3/4" thick. My brother is an experienced finish carpenter and has the tools to pull this off - and he owes me. I have seen Oak and Pine kits available, are they the best choices for a truck that will spend a ton of time out in the weather? Mike
I made my own wood for the same truck I put the suburban tank in. I sold the truck, it left yesterday morning, so I can't get any more pics...but I may have some that would help. I used cheap pine from Lowe's. It was a work truck. I got 8' boards, they're a tad short, since the bed is more like 98". The gap at the end was less than 1/2". If you want to do it right, you'll need 10' boards (more money) http://www.bangshift.com/forum/show...-Chevy-one-ton?p=465903&viewfull=1#post465903
Went and looked at Lowes and found some #2 pine 1x6 and 1x8 by 8' and it would be about $110-120 for all the wood. They have nice oak but it would be more than double. There are a lot of knots but that doesn't really bother me, I just don't want them to disintegrate fast. I did see some really nice 3/4" plywood with oak top. Would be about $53/sheet. Looks tight, not sloppy. Any thoughts on this quality? I would have to stain the $/-? out of it. Mike Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
measure the exact length the boards need to be. I would not use plywood, if you're not going to keep the truck indoors.
MT94SS, my buddy has a 59 stepside and he use Marine plywood. He took the torch and burnt the face and then covered in a clear urethane (like hot glass?) it looks really good. if you want i can get a pic of it. Rich
I think I will stick with the pine. Probably get the 10' pieces and cut them to length. I took apart the bed - completely! This is the bed. Now I need to find a new rear sill or weld on a whole lot of metal to this piece to bring it back. Anyone have any luck with the repop piece? $125-ish plus shipping. If you look closely you can see where I need to repair the inner panels where the wood bolts up to the sides. Both front and rear sections will be fixed similarly to what I did on the bed front panel. Mike
that license plate bracket is a rare part Wow, that looks like work. I might be tempted to fix the rear sill the same way you did the front, assuming the outside of it is in decent condition. Lotta work...but your labor is free, right? That pic sure makes me appreciate the nice sheetmetal we have down here.
Yeah, I was thinking that the bracket might be. It's perfect because it was behind that huge steel bumper and never used. Looks like it has a glass lens too. I'm going to check with my steel guy to see how much to bend a piece to repair the back of the sill. Looks like I could get by with 2 bends. I also need to repair the rear 'pockets' that this piece bolts to. Mine had a weld bead on the outside edge and it looked stock. Mike Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
The sills on all the old chevy beds were welded in at each end, after they were bolted together and aligned square.
OK, getting serious now. Tonight I took out the seat and gas tank to see how bad the floors were. I am happy that the only rot was a spot on the pass side body mount. Should be easy to make a new piece to fit there. The rest of the interior is pretty good. Minor surface rust. There is a small spot on the lower rear corner of the pass door that might need to be patched. I also noticed that the dash is two-toned. Is this right? I got some gray paint from our local independent paint dealer. I was going to get the better $70/Gal enamel but he had a gallon that he mixed up for someone else who didn't pick it up so he tinted it to match and it only cost $40! What a deal. I guess I could add some black to it to darken for the dash top. Plenty of room for the 700r4. Just need to put in a block-off plate where the shifter used to come through. I am usning the column shift. The other rust repair on the cab are both lower inner hinge pockets and the pass rear cab corner inner and out. It looks like the pass side must have been uncovered as the rust is mainly in those two spots. It's interesting what you find in a truck that has been sitting for so long. I found two 22 long bullets (not fired), a 1945 wheat penny, a couple vials of steril solution (?!?!?), a bunch of pixie stix, and a very old welding cap. I also found a guy that specializes in gm bench seats at the swap meet last weekend. $200 exchange for a restored seat, any color as long as it is black. And it has a tasteful pattern of pleats. Good enough for me. I sat in the one he had for sale there and it felt very comfortable. Coming along nicely... hopefully it will come in on budget (around $1,000 for the stuff remaining) and on time (by the beginning of April). Mike
And I found this guy, 'Ben', in the seat... Yeah, he was big. More vials too. Looks like the po was a farmer - bovine vaccines.
I used a front clip from the camaro. aan 81...but they didnt put a 454 in them and i did now problems w power steering pump. any body able to help w that? 59 fleetside
I had the steering pump mounted to the 454 that was sitting in the 72 camaro front end I put on my 57 suburban. I may have a picture some where?
nice build here is my 1957 fleetside it is a rustbucket but it runs and started working on it this winter runs moves stops.been on my yard now for 7 years ken sweden
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