I've been meaning to start this thread for a while now, so there has been plenty of progress and plenty of pictures. This: Is my 1949 Chevrolet 3100. It has been in my family since it was new. I have been patiently waiting to build this truck since I was about 15. 10 years later, I have a wife and four kids, and have finally reached a point in life where I can build this truck the way I probably would have ten years ago. I tossed around many ideas over the past year or so. I always knew I wanted it on the ground, but thankfully I have listened to a few friends of mine, and eyed a few builds on here. I originally wanted to do a full blown build on the truck, but I decided to leave the body the way my grandpa left it and keep the 216. The body really is in fair shape, but there is typical rust. I did not get pics of both cab corners or the rear lower sections of the front fender. I plan on replacing the weatherstripping, installing new wiring, adding a T5 trans, and possibly touching up the interior a bit. Thank you for checking out my project!
A few days later I started modifying the chassis. I didn't want to do a typical C notch, because I wanted the frame to look as factory as possible. I z'd the rear rails, and re-contoured the rails to look semi factory.
Today I got the rear suspension tacked together minus front gussets on the air bag plate and shocks. Hopefully this coming week the rear gets finished along with installing the air tanks (two, three gallons), the 20 gallon fuel cell, and the front suspension. The rear end is from a Mazda pickup (so I could keep six lug and my factory wheels) The downfall is that its has 3.09 gears. Im trying to find an RX series car right now to rob a new chunk from. The RX cars have 3.50 gears from what I'm told. I also have mazda truck spindles and hubs to use up front.
Heres what our shop looks like at the moment. Anywho... The rear is all tacked together now, and I'm moving on to the front suspension today! I'm really happy with how the shocks came out. I'm pretty sure that the gussets I added to the front of the bag plate arent going to stay at that angle. I think as the bag opens in its clamshell nature it will rub the gusset. All i'll have to do is angle it out a bit. Overall I'm stoked about the rear!
Right on! My truck (same yr, same model) was bought new by my grandfather. I just got it "done" and love it. I did 74 Camaro susp/drive train. http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Blacktailer/library/1949 Chevy?sort=3&page=1 Great build, good luck. Join the A-D forum too. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?groupid=132
nice work on the frame rails. its a refreshing change from the giant notches too often seen on bagged rides.
Soo.... 23 hours went into this dude Saturday! Got in around 6:30 Sunday morning. Needless to say we busted ass. Cutting out rusty floors, making templates, replacing cab corners... 2am this morning... Results... A few small problems. I'm only getting about 6" of lift as of now. Solutions... Uniball upper control arms and a different shock setup on the rear. Example... With shocks... Without... The start of a beautiful sunrise as I closed the shop for the morning, lol.
I got the chassis stripped down and started welding last night. Its a busy week for me. My youngest turns 11 today, has a choir concert Thursday and a sleepover Friday. I plan on having the chassis painted Sunday. If that happens, I can start fitting the body Monday and Tuesday. I wont get to work on it for about a month after Showfest so I'm trying to get as far as I can before next Thursday. I fixed a little bit of my lift issue. I re-angled the upper balljoint up front, and remounted the upper shock mount. I clocked it downwards on the tube to fully compress the shock.
Front suspension pics... I did re install a tube gusset for the upper arm mounts, but didnt get a pic of it. :/ Showfest pics... Got er home... Started on the motor tonight...
Sorry I've not updated my thread lately. Not much has been done, work has been busy, but over the course of time some things have been done. Got the motor settled in... All the air ride is buttoned up... Swapped over to 97 C1500 front spindles and rear axle... Narrowing the rear housing... Added front shocks... This weekend I re-did my upper control arms to accept a bolt in ball joint that actually fit the spindle. Got a little more lift out of the front this way... Now I'm currently cutting the cab apart to replace all the rust. Once I get the body ready, Ill finish the chassis. Steering, brakes, fuel, electrical, etc. Still gotta build that wiring harness for the motor, but hopefully I'll be driving this dude after tax time lol.
This is gunna be sweet! Here's a pic of my 49. I went s10 frame route. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
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