Projects Building a 57 Chevy Shop Truck

Argghhh Matey

 

I had a very long tiring day moving everything out of the garage



to make room to get the 57 spun around using the chain fall, which worked pretty good



Then moved more stuff to get the 41 out



Then bolted the winch in the floor and used that to pull the 57 up the hill



Then put it on wheel dollies to position it around the corner



Then moved everything back to be able to get the cars back in

 

She's real fine my 307

 

200 rough ridin ponies

 

^Love This^!!

 

I have this hanging in my garage for my '57

 

I've got a couple 57 inspired pieces saved

 

well, I saved me pennies up to Heavan
for I knew I needed a lemon
and I would get a bad used 307

cough it up cough it up 307
cough it up 307

nothing can stop smoke
noting can stop smoke 307

when it takes her to the track, she's really slow
the oil slick she leaves makes the biggest show
my 2-barrel smog head 307

 

Ha ha ha, we don't know if it smokes or not, they might of put new rings in but left the used cam.
Don't forget the crazy torque it had on the shipping trip over, rotated the world !



Those orange valve springs are those 9,000 rpm mam-a-jammas

 

Your build really resurrected some poignant memories of my 56 BBW.

Sold it to a guy in Tampa, FL to buy my first 32. Wonder what happened to it.
350/350, posi rear, Chevelle clip, tilt/tele Caddy column with 59 Chevy wheel. Sigh!
Apologies for the hijack!
Keep on keeping on with yours.

 

Guaranteed to spin the tires....
around a corner....
In the rain

 

Got the cab corners, lower front fender sections and braces in the mail, more parts to work with when I get to those areas.

 

I managed to get the rear frame degreased, cleaned and attacked by the wire wheel during the process. I used the por15 metal prep which is like an ospho bath to neutralize the rust
There was a fair amount of factory black paint still on it.



Made a shit ton of dust everywhere lol




Took a break from the frame and shoveled snow for a couple days



The Mastercoat rust converter I wanted to use is still out of stock so I put 2 coats of Rustoleum rusty metal primer on it. Laying under it with a tiny chip brush getting into all the crevices really tweaked my neck and shoulder, that was 4 straight afternoons of painting taking about 3-3.5 hrs each day.



And 2 coats of satin black, I think it turned out pretty good, no more getting dirty on this end.

 

Looking good! Excited to see progress on this thing!

 

Crazy to think it's almost 7 yrs to the day that it arrived, it's nice to "really" get working on it.
Like always no schedule or hard dates of getting it finished, if I feel like working on it I will, if not I won't. Lol
The main difference is the other cars don't need any major work any longer to get me sidetracked but also nothing to do to catch a break from working on it.
Well there is the off topic shovelhead that needs repairs, so there is that.

 

Wire wheels…sneaky bastards.

 

Lookin good man

 

That frame is clean.. nice work little blood to get the project going

 

Putting a little of my soul into it, got to combat those other souls floating around out there

 

1. I got out the aftermarket cross sills for the 57 p/u to compare to the originals which have a couple pinholes, of course there were only 2 of the 8 metal pads that stop the sills from spreading.
   
   
2. 
   And of course the new ones are wider than the originals so I couldn't rob those, but I had some 16 guage to make some.
   
   
3. 
   Put the bed I'm using onto the chassis and hung the Dan Carpenter tubs in for a look see.

Next will be squaring up the bed to make sure it's where it's supposed to be, dropping plumb lines and locating the wheel tubs.

 

Last night I came up with a tentative plan on how I wanted to approach this job, bottom lip over wood to support the bedside and the side lip hidden inside the wheelwell.
This afternoon's fun started out by squaring up the bed and making a template of the outer and inner circumferences of the tub.



Next was finding centerline of axle and transferring it to the bedside so I could hang my template. I wanted the lower lip to be even with the angle strip that rests over the wood, the angle strip is one inch above the bottom edge of the bedside, so move the template up an inch and drop the outside lines all the way to the bottom.



I used a body saw and Dremel cutoff wheel to cut it, the fit is pretty close.



I'll need to flatten those 3 body lines so the lip will sit flush against the bedside but I think this will work out.

 

Very tasteful on the wheel tub install. Chassis is looking nice too. Are you running 8" or 10" wheels?

 

I'm in a pickle there, I have several vintage mags on hand but none of the 10's have the correct backspace.
I did this measuring awhile back telling me what will fit



This is a 15x10 US Indy aluminum slot, it almost hits the bedside which the little 2 3/4 tubs would take care of



The problem is the other side, wheel lip is right on the fender lip, no room for a tire.



So I would love a 10 inch rim but it would need to have a custom backspace to work.
I have a 15x8 Cragar on it now with 1.5 inch backspace which fits great at the fender lip with a 235/75/15 that's 9 inches wide, but the rim doesn't even cover the drum and wouldn't be good for hauling a load.

 

Thanks for the details. Yeah, that's pretty tight. I was wanting to run 10" slots on mine without tubbing but you run out of room in and under the fenders quick. While I still have the original rear in there I have a '74 truck 12 bolt I am planning on running which is even wider. I have pair 8" slots I need to make work I think. Showing the 235/75 is great reference too. Keep truckin!

 

This rear end (early Bronco 9 inch) is 4 inches narrower than the stock rear, I do have a pair of Ansen 15x8.5 5 spokes that I'll mockup one day.

 

Today I roughed in the passenger side, it fit just a little different than the first but overall it's pretty close

 

So my whole plan on the bed floor was to get some Amish rough cut bed wood cut, rub it out with used motor oil and use black regular steel strips.
Well thinking about how the Amish have no phones, you have to call their driver to get ahold of them. I was thinking I'd have to drive 2 hrs, give them the measurements, drive home, drive back when it was cut, then drive back again. I would have the wood, but I would still have to cut the grooves and plane the thickness on the edges for it to all work.
I have a small table saw so I could do the groove but I have nothing to plane the part from groove to edge, I do have a router that came in an auction lot, I have no idea if it works or not, or how to even use it though.
While giving that thought I started price shopping the metal retaining strips, some of the places the shipping was more than the product because they are oversized packaging. After comparing several companies and looking at their bed wood kits also I remembered that Holley was having a holiday sell so I checked their site. To my surprise Bros Trucking had the oak wood and stainless strip kit complete with stainless hardware for a pretty cheap price (compared to other companies) and FREE shipping. As compared to others it was about $600 bucks cheaper when you factored in their price and the shipping, heck it was only $20 bucks more than the Bros pine wood kit and regular steel strips plus it didn't have free shipping.
So call me a gold chainer if ya want but I took the plunge and bought something to fancy for this kind of build style I'm doing. Now I have to think about what to protect this fancy wood with, would it be a sin to still do the used oil treatment on oak ???

 

I did a trailer deck with used motor oil once, and I hated it! Think about it....used oil is dark because it's dirty!! That dirt remained on the surface forever! No bueno...
IMHO boiled linseed oil is a better choice. It's (relatively) inexpensive, easy to apply, absorbs well, you can put on multiple coats, and you can touch up damage very easily.
Just be careful with any rags that get saturated...they will spontaneously combust if not handled properly.