Projects Building a 57 Chevy Shop Truck

Goofing around with old wheels
15x3.5 Rockets are to small
15x6 torque thrusts with one inch positive offset, don't like that on the front
14x6 torque thrusts, to small

Had these 15x3.75 Barts on but can't find the photo, then I moved them to the J

 

Making good progress!

I sold my last Task Force truck about 10 years ago, something I still regret.

Devin

 

Thanks, I just seen a 57 panel come up for sale, which is something i was looking for before a truck, the torture of being out of room...lol
I ended up putting the Bart slots on the truck for now, just to look at some bling in the garage on it.

 

Surgery on the ol ticker in the morning, so I won't be doing much of nothing for several weeks, hopefully the new upgraded hardware helps the beats to run regular and helps the pump function out so I can get a few more years under my belt.

 

Best of luck to you and hoping you have a quick recovery.

 

I'll be wishing the best for you Swade.

 

Good luck Phil. Looks similar to what they wanted to do to me a few years back.

 

Good luck on your surgery today.

 

Amazing how well those pacemakers work. My sister has had one for over 20 years, a couple upgrades and battery changes and it still ticking.

 

Praying for a successful surgery and quick recovery.

 

Good luck prayers sent.

 

Good luck, Phil. I'll be praying for you!

 

Get well soon Phil

 

Best of luck!! Hopes for a speedy recovery!

 

Hopefully everything went well.......take it easy for a bit. The panel will wait for you .

 

Hope all went well yesterday and you have a great recovery!

 

Thank you, surgery went well but I still have pcv's which is where the heart beat and heart contraction for the pumping feature aren't in rythm so a little work to figure out yet, but I'm back home, oh yeah, they don't knock you out for this surgery.
6 weeks of not raising your arm above your shoulder and not lifting more than 10lbs, so I'll be sleeping like the projects just awaiting our return to mechanical mayhem.

 

follow the docs, do your physical therapy and they'll have you up and back in action in no time.

 

It's been 8 weeks, was doing light jobs like rebuilding the carbs on the Henry J which turned out a little more involved than I thought but in the end I have two matched carbs now.



Back to the truck today,
I decided the next move on the 57 would be permanently mounting the engine/trans with these tubular mounts, this will finish the hard mounted items on the chassis since I had already installed the 9 inch, Posies front/rear lowering springs and disc brakes, still needs front/rear sway bars yet.
The mounts that were in the truck were homemade front mounts and a loose piece of angle iron that the trans was strapped to. The fronts weren't even bolted to the chassis, just sitting in the holes, if you remember during the 2600 mile shipping trip the engine bounced out and fell onto the axle bending one mount and the mechanical fan.
Looks like I'll need to move the brake line through hole since it's right where the ends look like they need to go and I'm going to raise the mount to the top portion of the C-channel because that engine is way down in the hole.
I did the engine today and I'll mockup the trans crossmember tomorrow, I'm not mounting anything solid until I pull the inner fenders and bolt those fenderwell headers on to have a look see.



Finding center with the handy garage kite string



Old mounts

 

Glad to see you’re back at it!! She is coming along!
Sorry if you posted already, what size are the rear tires?

I am a little worried my 8” tires will rub with the posies out back.

 

The ones on the truck are 235/75/15's which are listed as 9.3 inches wide, these are on an 8 inch wide rim which might be a little wider than they're measured width, there's about an inch on each side.

Inside -



Outside -

 

Never know what you'll find, not sure why this was even bolted onto the trans but it's not even any good for mockup the way it's off center. The trans itself is very clean but this mount looks melted, maybe it was just used for cushion on the angle iron or something.



New crossmember alongside the piece of angle iron that the trans was strapped to, just a little difference.



Measure, then cut an 1/8 off each side, crawl under the truck with your prized possession then realize it's not going to work like you thought because the trans is to close to the floor, measure again and cut another 4/8's off each side for a perfect fit the second time around.



And resting in position

 

Thank you! I’m running exact same tire size and mine are sitting the same height.

I have stock springs and the helpers right now. I guess my springs are just really done.

 

You have the 3 spd column cover, I tried one in my '57 years ago, my dad located everything with the 4 spd cover...I wanted the flat floor...no dice.

 

Great to see that you’re back on it, should be ready by the spring thaw!

 

I didn't realize the 4 spd floor had a different cover, I'm looking to raise the engine/trans as high as I can, that engine is deep down in the hole and my back doesn't work so great leaning over the fender.
My other cars have tilt front ends or no fenders at all on the front to accommodate my issues, I can get another 1.5 inches in height it looks like from the posted photos.

 

One less thing to worry about, I'm thinking about putting the Dan Carpenter wheel wells in the rear on this, take advantage of that 4.5 narrower rear end.

I'm really hoping to spend the winter getting the Henry J done and ready for spring, it was last driven in 2014 and way closer to being roadworthy over the truck here. I also have the 41 pickup apart for the last year and a half, need to get it back together and on the road too, lots of stuff ahead this 57.

 

@swade41 the 4apd cover is about 2 inches higher in the front and tapers back to about 1/2 inch.

Hey, not like you have anything else to do, but you could modify yours as well . Should be able to find one I’d think , I’ll try to get a profile pic of mine before work today



As I recall it just the BH on the TH400 that was keeping the 3apd cover from sitting down, worth a shot for you to try and see what gains you might get

Hopefully this gives you an idea. My angle isn’t the best, but it’s right a 2 1/2 inches from top of cover to bottom

 

@Budget36 ironically I seen one listed today on marketplace, pretty cheap but shipping would easily double that, not even sure if the guy would ship.



@59Apachegail I also ran across this photo which has the exact same size tires I have, 235/75/15 and 215/70/15

 

That would be the one. Maybe a HAMBr near it? I’ll check locally There is a classified ad on here someone having 55-9 parts

I’ll have to take another look at mine, I don’t recall the offset on the driver’s side, it’s probably there, just never noticed