Re: 1952 Pickup Street Rod project
 

Good point, I may add a strip of steel below to help brace underneath. My plan is to build up the frame complete with driveline, get it aligned (a local shop specializes in custom rod builds) then strip it down, finish welding, paint, and reassemble.

Re: 1952 Pickup Street Rod project
 

I've spent several weeks cleaning up the front suspension components and replacing the bushings. No small feat on an independent suspension system.

Attachment 2032194

Now on to the rear end

Re: 1952 Pickup Street Rod project
 

Looks nice!

Re: 1952 Pickup Street Rod project
 

Been working on the rear end, lots of u-joints and brake parts to clean up not to mention the oil seals.

Oh and I've been building a pizza oven at the same time...Attachment 2043306

Re: 1952 Pickup Street Rod project
 

if I tell you how clean this work is, will you invite me over for some pizza?

(its clean work even if you dont invite me for pizza)

Re: 1952 Pickup Street Rod project
 

The invite is the easy part, the drive from Kansas to Utah not so much.��

Re: 1952 Pickup Street Rod project
 

Finally got the rear end reassembled and finishing off the installation:

Attachment 2050768

I will be switching over to the body work as I wait for a donor for the driveline.

Re: 1952 Pickup Street Rod project
 

Hi all, I know you have been worried sick waiting for my next post, well I can say that I have good news. I just brought home a 2000 convertible corvette that will be the donor for my driveline and other misc. parts. I'm also hoping to modify the convertible top frame for use on the truck, stay tuned:

Attachment 2066239

Re: 1952 Pickup Street Rod project
 

Interesting! I'm in for the build.

Re: 1952 Pickup Street Rod project
 

Sounds like we may be in for another roadster pickup...Jim

Re: 1952 Pickup Street Rod project
 

So my cousin-in-law spent a long morning helping me drop the LS1, now I get to strip it down and get the Vette carcass out of the way so I can start placing the engine in the truck. I am poring over similar blogs for LS engine orientation but any suggestions would be appreciated.

Re: 1952 Pickup Street Rod project
 

We placed the engine with some aftermarket weld in engine mounts. I have the engine angled 4 degrees down in the back, it is aligned 3/4" above the clocked rack and pinion in the front. Any concerns before I weld this in place? I will now plan to place the transmission and then the cab to determine fitment of the sheet metal and the exhaust.

Any feed back would be appreciated.

Re: 1952 Pickup Street Rod project
 

Maybe throw some manifolds, or headers or whatever you plan, on there just to ensure clearance.
On 1 build I did I reshaped the steel tube on the rack for a little more clearance.

Re: 1952 Pickup Street Rod project
 

Thanks DSRAVEN, is 3/4" clearance enough? How about front to back clearance, that's about as forward as I can go...

Re: 1952 Pickup Street Rod project
 

3/4 is probably enough on the rack. since you are running urethane mounts I would see what you have for clearance from the hot exhaust, maybe run a heat shield there and on the starter if it is close. there are some factory starter shields out there if you peruse the wrecking yards. one of those under floor exhaust shields from a car may also be reshaped if you need something for the mounts. maybe reshape the steel line on the rack and see where you're at there for clearance. on one of my builds I welded some flat bar to the frame and then bolted the engine mounts (frame side) onto those. then they could be unbolted easily for quick engine removal and also new holes could be drilled should there be a height adjustment needed or an engine swap to a different engine block style, etc. just a thought.
for engine height, I usually try to keep the oil pan above the frame in the same area. if going over one of those crazy high speed bumps or trying to miss that garbage in the middle of your lane the frame will hit rather than your oil pan. do you have room to go up more or you'd rather not? what about the driveline bellhousing, will it interfere with the floor if the engine raises?

Re: 1952 Pickup Street Rod project
 

All good points, thanks. I added the starter so I can account for clearance as I add the tranny/cab/exhaust. The crossmember on the front suspension hangs down 3/4" below the oilpan so that should catch any road issues first. I'm trying to keep the engine as low as possible for added cab/tranny/clearance and weight center of gravity but at this point I think I will add the components as you mention before the final motor mount weld. Thanks again.

Re: 1952 Pickup Street Rod project
 

Attachment 2213312

I found a Tranny that looks like it will work, the mount fits nicely on a piece of C-channel. I am working on the exhaust next before I finalized the Transmission mount.

Meanwhile I'm also finishing up the electric Vespa project I've been working on with my daughter:

Attachment 2213311

Attachment 2213310

As always, any suggestions are welcome as I finalize the driveline.

Re: 1952 Pickup Street Rod project
 

I'd think with a Corvette bat-wing oil pan you could drop the engine pretty low in the frame.

Have you put the accessory drive on the engine yet to check fit? With the engine low in the frame you might have problems with the Corvette's low mount alternator getting it between the frame rails. The narrowest LS accessory drive is from the trucks and you can still run the Corvette intake with a pulley relocation kit, but even with the truck accessories you can't mount a stock AC compressor down low and clear the frame rails.

I modified my firewall to allow my LS motor's valve covers to fit about an inch and a half in back of the sheet metal, but I was still surprised how little room I had for an intake tract between the TB and the fan shroud. If I ever do a LS in one of these trucks again, I'll make sure I can get the intake/MAF and filter to fit well before I weld in the motor mounts by mounting the radiator/shroud and support for mockup too

Re: 1952 Pickup Street Rod project
 

All good points, I need to drop the cab on and look at the accessories thanks