Pics. of my 1st hotrod truck

Guys,

Here are some pics. of the 53 Chevy I am rebuilding. She is sittin' on a S-10 frame. I mocked up the motor and body last night and snapped some photo's. This is my 1st attempt at building a hotrod. I have some replacement parts coming in tommorow for the rotten sections that can be seen. The guy who had this before tried to fill everything with bondo. I've spent many nights removing bondo and burning out rust. The motor is a mockup block. Just to give me an idea on placement. That will probably be the height of the cab. Thinking about a little lower, but many run into some trouble with driveline. May have to build a tunnel. What do you think ?










Thanks, Jase

 

how's fan in relation to the center of the radiator?

 

Looking good so far. I have a 49 we are working on. It is on a S10 chassis too. It is going to be real low. THe cab is on the frame. Yours looks like it sits a little off the frame. Have you got the front clip on yet? What did you run for motor mounts?

 

Is it a long box, the cab to rear axle looks alittle on the long side. I can measure mine if its a short box.

 

Also, are doors original? Thought 53 had push butten door handles

 

Looks like shit to me but that's how mock -ups are supposed to look from the outsider. Going to be cool when you again mock it up. Keep up the good work. Keep the dream alive.

 

There was a post a while back (http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8491)
that showed Clarks cab sitting on a 4x4 block of wood to weld in the body mounts. With the cab 3"'s off the frame you need a trans hump but not a driveshaft tunnel, 5" off and you don't need to modify the floor at all.

I personally like the 4x4 idea and that should put the fenders about 2.25" off the ground with stock spindles and aired out.

Anyone know what size tire is run on these beauties ??

 

The fan is going to be positioned a little below the center line on the radiator. This has me concerned for cooling. the photo shows the motor sagging in the rear, but actually the rear needs to come up a bit. The body is sitting off the frame at 4 inches. I going to slap on the bellhousing, transmission and see what I got tonight. That should tell me a lot. As for motor mounts, I used the the stock mounts for the chassis. Got an aftermarket kit that adapts to the mounts. There's quite few aftermarket kits out there for S-10 conversion to V-8's. Makes things much easier. This a shortbox. I guess the photo is poor. Yeah, it probably does look like shit, give me time, she's goin to be a runner. I ran the VIN# and it said it's a 53 3100.


Thanks for the comments and support.

 

Jase - Looking good, I have always like the S10 idea and Clark is a God when it comes to the conversion. I had a 53 many moons ago and hated the suspension and brakes on it but never thought about the S-10 and Al Gore hadn't invented the internet yet.

 

Gasman, it's a 51'. My bad. Boy do I feel like an ass

 

some inspiration......

 

Anyone know what size tire is run on these beauties ??

 

stock mounts w/ V8? give the motor a good eyein before ya weld. them crossmembers are off center if I remember right.

 

I'm working on a '53 also. I just bought an '87 Firebird that I plan to part out for the front clip, motor/trans, rear end, seats, gauges, everything. Story at 11:00 PM

pigpen

 

As far as cooling and having the fan centered with the radiator, I would be more concerned about being able to fit a useable shroud around the fan and have it mount well to the radiator support. Shrouds really help cooling efficiency. With a truck w/ enclosed front wheels it really shouldn't detract from the appearence.

 

if it dont cool w/o a shroud, the shroud is just a crutch, if that.

I was more concerned with the amount of room for the lower radiator hose.

 

Jase,
Looking good so far. I'd mock up the fenders, bed, etc. and determine what needs to be moved and how low you can get it. Keep thrash'n!

-Rich

 

OldsGuy, Seymour:



Thanks for the advice. I will definately take those points into seroius consideration. It's going to be tight as for the bottom rad. hose. But I think I can make it work. I just got my panels for the body, i.e. cowlings, rocker panels, floor pans, etc. This should be real interesting fixing these pieces. Trying to figure out how to block up the body when I cut the rocker panels out to replace ????? Then I got to replace the front cab floor support both left/right. Then when thats done, cut out and replace the lower cowling panels. THEN, remove the upper outer cowl panels both left/right. Also, while I was there, thought I would replace the door pillar both sides. Seems like those front corners really were weak spots when it came to rott. Like I said, it should be interesting, well see. Oh yeah, lets not forget the floor pans. Thanks guys !

 

I am in the same situation .....trying to figure out where to start on the rust repair. My truck has structural rust issues down low in the body.

I plan on bracing up the cab very similar to the way people brace up cabs when they chop the top.....except lower

 

Just found this thread..My truck (left in pic) has 205 75 15's on the front. John's has 215 75 15s (center) and Mikey is running 16s.

Dixie....Thanks but I'm no god.

Soon2b...going to the Jalopyrama Saturday? We could BS about trucks.
Clark

 

Clark, where is the jalopyrama ? Sounds cool.


Jase

 

Good luck on that firebird front clip. It is a true unibody with strut front suspension. The front clip will not unbolt from the body like the older f-bodies. You can still use the driveline.

 

If you want the truck a little lower without getting into channeling and trans tunnel issues, you could get drop spindals for the s10 frontend super cheap.