Projects my '53 Chevy truck project

working on the right side now. just finished the inner cowl, floor and toe board. filled in a few more holes, namely the clutch pedal hole, the throttle linkage hole, and the floor starter hole. i will also fill in the parking brake rod hole in the toe board and the parking brake pedal hole in the floor.



i got lucky that the last owner found a factory heater block-off plate for the inner cowl panel.



the finished floor.



another shot of the right cowl. i am now thinking of just welding up the radio hole in the dash for a cleaner look. the factory radio delete plate isn't working for me.



a rare heater delete plate.



the cleaned up firewall.





next, i will work on the outer cowl panel. fill in the louvers and raise the fender mount. getting close to finishing up the cab restoration.

 

Please tell me your a professional bodyman by day and not a goat farmer who needed a decent truck to haul scrap so you thought you'd try your hand at metal work.
Looks like the cab has never been in trouble in its life....beautiful work.
How bout a pic of the tools your using so I can compare them to mine to prove to myself I can do this stuff.
Cant wait for the chop.

 

You are making it look way to easy. Keep up the great job!

 

i herded up the goats early so i could get to work on this truck. actually, my day job is a welder/fabricator. i did work at a bodyshop almost 30 years ago. they made me do all the corvettes because i was good with fiberglass. i couldn't take the itch anymore and quit. now, i only work on my own projects.

okay, started working on the right outer cowl panel today. the replacement panel is a good fit.



then i cut out the fresh air louvers. don't need them since i have no heater and want a smoother look to the truck.



just marked the cutout with 3M blue tape and used a 6x1/16" cutoff wheel.



then i welded in a piece of 19ga. sheetmetal just like the original part. only tack welded for now. i still need to cut up this panel some more.



then i layed out my cut for the raised fender mount. this is pretty much the same as i did on the left side cowl.






next i cut the panel and raised it up, added a filler piece at the bottom of my cut.



then i removed the panel so i could weld it up. then the cowl brace was installed. this needed some rework to make it fit. the other side needed the same mods to make these replacement parts fit.



then i have to mount the door to make sure the cowl panel is installed in the correct position with perfect door gaps.



i will continue more tomorrow......

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You make me sick....your attention to detail and meticulous planning makes me think your some kind of engineer! Keep up the good work

 

okay, i finished up the right side outer cowl panel today.

i used some undercoating between the inner and outer cowl panels before i welded it up.





all welded and ground down.
next, i will have to practice my lead technique on these factory cowl seams.
no plastic filler on this baby.



i still need to cap the ends of the cowl brace to make it weather proof.

 

I love checking in on this one. I need more practice.

 

a little mod to the cab today. i wasn't happy with the radio delete plate, so i totally erased the radio from the dash.

here is the factory radio delete plate.


removed the plate and ready to fill it in.


ground the formed lip of the opening flat so i could have a clean butt welded plate. then welded in a piece of 19 ga.



welded it up.



then ground down the weld and worked the area with a hammer and dolly to complete the process. now it looks like it never was there.



also had to fill in a foglight switch hole in the dash.




added the transmission panel and filled in the right side cowl brace to firewall to make it weather tight.



tomorrow i will fill in the left side and the parking brake rod hole in the toe board. that is it. the cab rust repairs and mods will be complete. then i can pull the cab from the frame and start the frame and chassis build. this will be the fun part of the restoration.

here is a peek at what is in store...

 

cab is done. here are the final pictures before i pull it from the frame.

 

nice work man!

 

Great job looks great.

 

Great work on the panels and firewall, thanks for the pictures.

Joe

 

impressive work, love what you did with the dash

 

The dash looks much better now!

 

What are your plans for the rear suspension...

JIMENEZ BROS CUSTOMS.

 

the rear suspension will consist of 32" ladder bars from Chris Alston, and coil overs from Heidt's

 

this is the fun part of Project SubLime. this is where i modify the frame and add a custom suspension. here is the plan:

1) fully box frame
2) narrow back half 10"
3) shorten frame 7"
4) make custom crossmembers to tie rails together
5) install Heidt's front crossmember 1" further back to shorten wheelbase another inch
6) tubular A-arms and coil overs for front suspension
7) Chris Alston 32" ladder bar rear suspension
8) rear coil overs and panhard bar
9) narrowed 9" ford rear with 4.11 detroit locker
10) 15x8 front and 15x14 rear chevy ralley wheels

well, the project is on its way. today i pull the cab off the frame and set it aside for now.



then, i set up the bare frame on some stands, took some measurements and planned everything out.




then i completely tore the frame down to the individual pieces.




stay tuned, it is going to get fun....

 

i sure look forward to your updates... thanx

 

i brought the frame rails and front cross member to the shop to build the frame and chassis. the plan with the rails are:

to shorten them 7"
completely straighten then (meaning unbend the 4 degree bend just past the rear axle)
trim the top and bottom flanges to even them up to 2 1/4" wide
bend the rails 4 degrees 65" from the front
completely box them
cut up the front cross member and only use the front half to mount the core support. the half with the front engine mounts will but cut off and tossed.

here is where i cut out 7" at the parking brake cross shaft area of the rails.


here is one rail tack welded back to gether and 7" shorter next to the stock rail side.





here is where i rebent the rails 65" from the front. the bend is 4 degrees. the frame will now be 25 1/2" wide at the front (like stock) then continue to widen like stock, but at 65" where the stock frame is 34" wide, mine will now keep that spacing all the way to the back.



i have both rails shortened and rebent in the new location. i started to box them and should have them both boxed tomorrow. then i can set the rails in a jig to hold them in position while i weld in all the new cross members.

stay tuned.

 

the stock 3100 series frame rails are made from 9 or 10 ga. steel. i will be boxing the frame with 3/16 plate, which is 6 or 7 ga.

 

looking Good!

 

A little late for me to answer but that one isn't mine. It just was the best photo of an AD truck I had for use as an example to give answers to his earlier questions with.


I haven't checked in on this for a while 65Standard but it looks like you are really making some good progress and I like the direction it is going in.

 

here are the rails so far. tons of work to go. i got a nice present from Chris Alston today, my rear ladder bar suspension.






the front radiator cross member is just sitting there. i cut away the part that was for the front L6 motor mounts. didn't need that part.




once i finish grinding the rails down, i have to correct the warpage. not a big deal for me. i do this all the time. the rails are now 7" shorter than stock and reformed to be 14" narrower for the steam roller tires.

 

this week i finished welding the boxing plates and rough ground the welds down. then i marked the rails where i need to trim in order to channel the cab down 1 1/4". i cut the top of the tube/rail and the trussed the inside to bring the strength way up. i basically have a bar joist truss inside of a boxed girder. this technique makes the rail exponentially stronger than just a channel frame rail. this give me strength up and down, side to side, and prevents twisting.




i welded nuts inside before i boxed the rails for the bumper brackets.



the rails are now finished (except where i need to finish boxing by the radiator cross member). i still need to finish sanding/polishing the welds on the left rail. then, i am ready to put the rails on the frame table and set it all up for the cross members and front and rear suspension.







stay tuned...

 

I love these style trucks! Man it's shaping up nice, can't wait to see the frame all finished up. Keep the good work!

Ryan

 

this week i finally got the rails on a frame table. i started to lay it all out and make a few cross members. i got the frontmost cross member for the radiator support tacked in, the Heidts front suspension cross member tacked in, and a rear cross member tacked in.

the new frame is now 7" shorter and with a 109" wheel base. it is also much narrower at 34" wide, compared to 48" wide when stock.








i need to add the middle cross member and X-bracing, the ladder bar cross member and the rear coil overs cross member. then i have to fabricate cab mounts and new longer running board brackets. tons of work to go on this stage of my SubLime build.


and the 32" ladder bars for the rear suspension...

 

Here is the narrowed 9" setup.

 

Nice work!

 

okay, i had a small change of plans with the frame. i decided to add 2 1/2" more to the bottom of the frame rails. i added the material and started to weld it up. now, the frame rail is 2 1/2" x 8 1/4", and still a full 7" tall where i cut down the top of the rail to channel the cab down.

here you can see where i added the new material. once i weld and grind it down, it will all look like one huge frame rail



here is the front Heidts front cross member and the cut down radiator front cross member welded in on the fully boxed frame.


the narrowed 9" big housing, big bearing ford rear end. i'm using Chris Alston 32" ladder bars. i still need to add the coil over mounts and pan hard bar.


i started to weld up the inside of the right rail. here you can see how huge the rail is now. and it looks like it was always that big.


stay tuned, it is going great so far...

 

Are you "Youtubin" this also? You should be! You could prolly sell it to the Speed Channel! Nice work!