Projects 1954 Chevrolet 3600

We took on another project at my shop. 1954 Chevy 3600 that has been in the same family since new. Going to get the cab ready first.

 

looks good. Hope to see more pics. Break a leg!

 

Here are a few from today. I always start with the worst part first so the rest of the build seems easy. The cab corners looked good but had tell tale signs of a previous repair. Nate (the third generation owner) dropped off new inner and outer cab corners with the truck. Nice thick quality and extreamly good fit. They are from Classic Truck Parts in Mo.
I measured carefully and made the first cut...


You can see where someone had used some kind of thin aluminium to patch the rust hole and bondo to smooth it off. then the filled the corner with tar. What a mess.


I found this little guy in the process.


Then I replaced the inner and crimped the edge where the outer will go. The crimped area lets me attach the new corner nearly flush with the metal on the cab. It's a must to get the door gap right.(just my opinion)


That was enough for today. Several trailer/trophy queens needed some attention too. More to come.....

 

I started on the outer cab corner this morning. Man these panels fit nice!

 

I skipped all of the boring pics of striping the paint. I did some more work on the cab corners and the cowl area.



Next step was to remove the cab.







And now time for some detail work on getting the rest of the paint off.

 

Lookin good . Like some of the projects in the shop too.

 

Is that a dually rear-end with singles on it? Looks like the track width is wider than the front?

 

Thanks. You can see most of the other projects here: http://www.ccmauto.com/
This truck is the first one I started working on since I found the H.A.M.B.

It is about 5 inches wider in the rear. As far as I know, it has always had single wheels on the rear. I'll ask the owner to be sure......

 

Nice! Gotta follow along on this one as I just got a 50 5 window myself.

 

Beautiful truck.......

 

Thanks. I'll pass it along to Nate, the owner.

 

I had a couple hours to spend on this project yesterday and hit a brick wall. It looks like I missed something on my estimate.

Look close. That's bondo filling up holes. It was under the door seal and finished off nice. Here is after the bondo is gone.

It would cost me more in time trying to explain what needs to be done and how I missed it than the fix itself.
More tomorrow........

 

It's not often someone like me can talk to the man that painted the best paint job I have ever seen. Let alone be able to have him drop by 30 years later and start sharing secrets on how to. I hired him on the spot!

First pic is what we found on top. Odd place for rust dots but they went away with 50 grit and light pressure.


This one may look scary but to get a mirror finish the foundation needs to be perfect. We gave the entire panel a skim coat.


He said it would be a work of art. And it is.....

 

Wow.I got way behind on posting progress on this one.The chassis has been redone and the body work is nearly finished so we set the cab back on.

 

Very nice work fellow's !!!!

 

Oops! forgot to mention to click on the picture of the chassis in post #14. It will link you to some video's of the cab going back on.

 

Thanks. reminds me of the 54 - 5window we did in the mid 80s Did the same stuff you're into.

 

Here are a few pics I missed posting.
The doors had a small bit of rust behind the door seal so I ground it out till I hit solid metal and welded a patch from behind. If you patch one this way be sure to seal it off from the inside too.


Here is the end result.


Next was the running board.




Next, a good coat of sealer on the cab.


Followed by a few coats of primer/surfacer.



And then, get the crew together to set the cab on the chassis.


More to come.....

 

And now some color

 

Very nice work

 

Thanks servi.
Here are a few more.
We sent some stuff off to powdwecoat.


Man, they do a nice job.

I shot the interior Friday.



This is the guy that owns it and his 9 month old son. This would be the third and fourth generation.

 

I normally wait about 30 days before I start sanding and buffing. I started on the passenger door, and it was ready.

And the dash.

Sand and buff.... repeat. Sand and buff... repeat.

The back of the cab took the longest. That's a lot of real estate to get a flawless mirror finish.

My arms were about shot from all of the polishing and the lovely Red Head stopped in to check my work.

"yes, it will have a better shine after I'm finished" Sheesh!

 

Nice work! What's the name/code of that shade of green?

 

Thanks GreenMonster48. It's not an easy task and labor intensive to get the results I want.
The paint is the original color for the truck. This should sum it up.

It took a bit of work to get a correct modern mix. PPG Delstar DAR single stage seems to hold the best shine for the longest. Give it a try.

 

Nice work

 

Beautiful paint work. Is it ppg sealer and primer you are using as well? Very nice to see how quality work is done.

 

Thank you. You should see the smiles of the four generations keeping an eye on me. It makes every minute worth it.

 

Beautiful paint work? Not really, but thank you. Anyone can paint. It depends on what you do with it before and after that counts.
Is it PPG sealer? Yes, their DP series. PM me for the primer and proper mix.

 

Thanks for the code!

 

No problem. Nice F1!