52 chevy pickup

[bluetweedsuit]

So I finally got the chassis back on to its wheels. I was still having troubles with my MIG welder. It was being super inconsistent. The weld was bubbling up into a little mountain. Then it would kind of boil. Looked like lava rock. It would also weld like there was no gas. I was getting very frustrated and wasting a lot of time grinding down welds to redo them. After lots of fiddling around with no success, I went and to talked to the guy were I buy all my supplies to see what he had to say. He didn't really have any help for me ,but after chatting for a while I decided to buy a new roll of wire as what I had in the welder was the cheapest you could buy. So the guy at the store gave me half off on some really good quality wire and I rushed to the shop and installed it. It now welds waaaaayyy better! I made a few more adjustments to other settings but I am 90% sure there was some containments on my old roll of wire.



So I am super happy with that. I just have to go back and redo some a few more sections but I will wait until I'm finishing up the frame to do that.

So its back down on the wheels. The whole chassis is much stiffer and it doesn't even have the trans crossmember in it yet. Very happy with the results. Now tomorrow I have to go talk to the shop that is going to do the inspection and see if they are all good with it. Then on to the 4 link.

















Can always check out my instagram @bluetweedsuit for more pics

[bluetweedsuit]

So I after finally get this thing back onto the wheels I have been able to start figuring out ride hight.







So thats about what I figure ride hight will be. Should be able to lay the side steps on the ground once aired out. Might have to get some drop spindles for the front to achieve that though.

Started working on the frame notches for the rear. Took sooo long to cut them all out and probably 15 cutting disks. But I was able to get them cut out and tacked onto the frame.







You can see that the centre of the notch is further back then the center of the original frame hump. The rear wheels were to far forward in the wheel wells from factory so I had to move the axle back about an inch. Hopefully get it all welded up tomorrow and then I can start figuring out bag mounts and the 4 link. Should be fun!

[TheCrabMaster]

Sweeeeet! cant wait for some more updates

[M.Doban]

You're doing great work! These are always my favorite types of threads.

[mdmvisuals]

I like where this is going!!!

Nice work so far sir!

[TeckniX]

Luv the progress pics - it provides a vision and at the same time allows us to wait for the final look

[ajnardo]

love the patina on the outside. shits soooooooo perfect just like it is. this is an interesting project. cheers.

[DjGreggieP]

Wait, so in BC you can get an inspection done on a non running vehicle for out of province or is it more of just a Structural inspection? I am from SK and vehicles have to be in running shape for an out of province safety

Cant wait to see how this pans out, in for updates!!

[StanceswithWolves]

So first things first I bought I minty 86 olds calais. No pics of this other than my instagram ones but I can't figure out how to get those off the internet.

I'm going to help you out, it's really easy to get your pics from the internet off of instagram. Go to instagram.com/yourusername and log in. Then click on the picture you want and a new window should pop up. Right click on the picture and click on "view page source". A bunch of source code should pop up in a new tab. The URL you're looking for should start with "http://iphotos". To be certain you can highlight only the URL from "http:" to ".jpg". Right click it and "go to". the picture should open up in a new tab. Then when you want to upload it to a post just use the URL and you should be golden.

[CubbyChowder]

You're doing great work! These are always my favorite types of threads.

This exactly, keep it up!

[bluetweedsuit]

Thanks everybody for the positive feed back!

Wait, so in BC you can get an inspection done on a non running vehicle for out of province or is it more of just a Structural inspection? I am from SK and vehicles have to be in running shape for an out of province safety

Cant wait to see how this pans out, in for updates!!

The truck is registered in SK. So once it is all together Ill have to get an OOP to get it licensed here . The shop I talked to said that because the frame is soo heavily modified that they would require some sort of frame strength test for them to pass it. Im going to go to some other places to see what they say.

I'm going to help you out, it's really easy to get your pics from the internet off of instagram. Go to instagram.com/yourusername and log in. Then click on the picture you want and a new window should pop up. Right click on the picture and click on "view page source". A bunch of source code should pop up in a new tab. The URL you're looking for should start with "http://iphotos". To be certain you can highlight only the URL from "http:" to ".jpg". Right click it and "go to". the picture should open up in a new tab. Then when you want to upload it to a post just use the URL and you should be golden.

Awesome! That helps greatly!


Well thanks to that here are some instagram pics!

Here is the car I bought for the clip















Doesn't have anything to do with the truck but I love this car






And I little plug for Lowly Gentlemen

[mrg7243]

YUSSSSSS I love this thread.

[bluetweedsuit]

Well it seems to be going pretty slow lately. Haven't been able to get out to the shop as much as I would have liked. But some progress has been made.

I bought an engine and transmission. I did have to buy a whole truck to get it but it runs well. My hope is to part it out and hopefully come out a head a bit.

Its got a 5.7 and a 700r4 tranny. So it should make the old chevy a great hwy cruiser with lots of get up and go.

I really like how the frame is flowing. Nothing seems to look too out of place.


I got the notches all in. Still need some final welding done on them. Once I was able to slide the axle underneath and set the frame down I found that the cutless 4 link doesn't clear the frame. So I cut the lower arms off and I will have to move them in. Also cut of the spring mounts on the diff. I got the wheel base all set. It is about an 1" longer than it was. So now the wheels will sit in the middle of the fenders. I have started looking in to where to buy the air suspension. Air Bag It seems to have the best price but are pretty set on selling a package deal. Really want to go with e-level but I will have to figure out how to get some extra cash to grab that.








Looks like I am not going get much done this next week as it is suppose to get really cold this week. And then christmas is always super busy so I am hoping to get the axle welded in so I can start ripping apart the parts truck in Jan and start selling that off.

[bluetweedsuit]

Well I headed down to the shop the other day to get some work done

Made up some brackets to mount in the 4 link




Discovered that now that the lower arms are running parallel to the frame I need to extend some of my boxing so I can mount them. Not sure how I will build the mounts. Debating weather I should tie the mounts in to a cross member or just make some brackets for them so I can have the cross member further forward.

Anyways because I have to box in further anyways I needed to remove the existing cross member which consists of a bunch of angles assembled with a million rivets. I don't want move the frame as the wheelbase and ride hight is set. This made removing the cross member much more difficult then it needed to be. But after cutting it up into a bunch of pieces I was finally able to get it out.



Welded in some bracing






I have some time off over christmas so I am really hoping I can get this rear end all finished up before next year. Should be no problem but ya never know.

[StanceswithWolves]

Awesome! That helps greatly!


Well thanks to that here are some instagram pics!

Here is the car I bought for the clip

De nada!