Projects Building a 57 Chevy Shop Truck

Looking forward to seeing the direction you take your paint…

 

This whole adventure started as me wanting to make a Project X themed truck, yellow, cragars, etc. but I didn't think it would really work.
I do have to say I like the factory dark blue and could see it in a weathered dark blue look, it's a shop truck so I don't want nothing fancy.
Then I started matching that old flaky bed paint and all of a sudden the whole bed is done, leaving only cab and front clip. Since I did the water drops I've thought of doing different paint styles on the rest, maybe some lace, maybe some panels with endless lines, maybe this on the doors

 

Mixing styles won't work out well, IMHO

 

You go Bob Ross

 

Ha ha ha

 

The Project X theme would have been interesting. I would like to do a 2 tone on mine similar tri-5 Chevy's but there's no good "breaking line" in my opinion. I am sure you will come up with something cool and appropriate for the shop truck theme.

 

Project X would be cool as well as a two- lane black top truck. I have seen a tri-five truck on here somewhere that had the rear fenders opened like on TLBT, looked tough.

 

The Project X theme really just looked like a yellow truck with cragars, not really any connection at all.
Maybe if the hood was off with a blown sbc and it sit a little higher in front, but without that it's definitely just a yellow truck with cragars like this one.

 

I do still kinda like this photoshop I had done when I was thinking of using a fleetside bed, I could still incorporate that "Bad Man" stripe super subtle like.

 

I started s****ing the crud off the frame, lot of original paint still on it



Original paint under the undercoating too

 

Started de-greasing the crossmember, I'll treat the front frame like the rear, wire wheel it, ospho bath, primer and paint.

https://youtube.com/shorts/e0jy43j_RLM?si=Lt3cTci7C7z0Ugex

 

What kind of sponge/scrub pad do you have attached to the drill? Looks like it saved some elbow grease…

 

$10 dollar set of nylon brushes I bought off Amazon, they work pretty decent

https://a.co/d/2TRuzhk

 

I had got the majority of the frame cleaned except around the steering box, so I decided to remove it. This pitman arm was pretty difficult to come off using my old tried and true methods of aluminum wedges, pry bars, hammers and heat.
So I hit the s**** bucket and found a pair of 1/2 inch or so plates that looked like buggy spring plates off of something from the past. I cut the back out on one to slip over the steering box shaft, drilled the holes out for the bolt heads to slip into so I could weld them in place. The reason for that was how close the pitman arm was to frame, the width of plate along with the width of the head of the bolt was just to thick.



The contraption worked like a charm and pulled the pitman arm with relative ease, so I got the steering box/column combo out, along with clutch and brake pedals.



Even found the number on the frame

 

I have to say the plastic was one of my better ideas, sure is making a mess



But the frame is looking clean



I didn't do the bottom side yet or any under the cab but it sure seems like it'll be less messy when I wire wheel it.

 

I need one of these in 2XL! I have lived and hoarded stuff for thirty years in my current home, I started selling stuff I know I'll never use again, even though it is COOL. Nothing car related yet! Funny how we can fit 2 1/2 cars in a 1 car garage. By the way, your Kaiser/projects are COOL! No downsizing needed please!

 

Plastic was out since I was drilling, chiseling and grinding rivets to remove the brake and clutch ***emblies, making a mess.
Almost as much of an ***ault on my nose from BP Blaster and really rank old gas when removing brake and fuel lines, it actually ran me out of the garage. LOL



When you use a chisel and hammer you quickly find out where the rust is, it's right down your shirt, pants and in your face !

 

Pb blaster works. I hate the smell. Wife wants me to take off clothes before coming in from shop and not for the good reason. She washes them separate. I now have only shop clothes and the shirts stay in shop.

 

Back when my garage still had the apartment and tenant in it I had used BP on something. The tenant called me up saying I was g***ing him out, they were puking and turning green. LOL

 

I cleaned a gun once with PB Blaster and it took the bluing off. Pissed me off too!

 

My brother was a roofer. They had a separate washer and dryer for his work clothes.

 

My son is a Toyota tech and he definitely has shop aroma when he comes in from work and there's a stain in the laundry tub to prove it. I ask him if they had laundry service and he said yeah, but things get lost, so he's afraid to use it.
I got some of that stinky gas on my pant leg, man it was powerful, I threw the paints down in the ba*****t instead of putting them in the laundry basket. LOL
I put the old gas lines outside and plugged the tank line before I made a break for fresh air, that gas looked like rootbeer it was so old.

 

Even with all that cleaning I did it still makes a hell of a mess, I think I'll use the full face respirator to finish it up.



Amazon just dropped off some new brushes to tackle the rest, supposedly the knotted is better, we'll see