Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

Ok...so I am starting over in the correct location for builds. Sorry for getting off on the wrong foot. I will restart with a photo of how my brother-in-law found the truck less than a half a mile from his home in Sacramento. More to come....

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

Trying to get the hang of this.....

Photo from last night setting up truck for ride height and photo after I just got it power washed. Front grill is nearly perfect.

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

No need for apologies. I thought this area would be more appropriate as you are in the early stages of your project. This is a better place for the longer term threads.
We are all pretty casual here. The uptight guys are on the F**d forums. :lol:

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

it's still a sweet loking truck no matter what forum thread you post it in :D
what badge number is on the side? looks like 31 but it has 3/4 or ton axles in the 2nd pic

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

ERRRR...another west coast jem taken to the east! haha

Now that I've gotten that out. Great looking truck you have there.

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

At least those Aussie 's didn't steal it off down under :D
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Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

When I got the truck, it had all NAPCO 4x4 suspension that was in quesitonable but possibly (??) good running condition. Wasn't sure and I wanted 2WD so I will sell.

After looking at your truck and others, decided to hand the front left fender and bed side and start looking at where I wanted to be. I believe I found a pretty good balance in the stance using the tires I got off of the Camaro. I will ultimately have painted steel wheels with hubcaps. May have to do some additional thinking and planning if I decide on a different wheel/tire combo size. As much as I like the little front/big back combo, I may stick with all four the same size since I do intend for this truck to be my daily driver. The stance shown has the bottom of the windshield and the bottom of the back window nearly level with each other and the front of the cab just under the door is 9.25 inches off the ground. Garage is not big enough for me to stand perpindicular to the side so I have to send these angled shots. The top of the rear tire is just under the bottom of the wheel openig.

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

Missed onthe photo selection. Found the one with NAPCO on the axle.

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

I will take care of it!!! Grew up out there. Everytime I go back I realize how much I miss seeing all the cars that would have rotted away long ago in Alabama.

Photo of the transport in my neighborhood. Not a great idea but Transport Guy did not destroy anything as far as I know. Transport Guy did not believe that the truck did not have brakes. He was so confident it did, he parked at the top of the hill. Needless to say, I had to back it off of the trailer and down the hill with my Hurricane Katrina '02 Highlander. Bought the fully loaded Highlander limited for $2900 in 05 after the hurricane. Replaced a few modules, power washed the carpet, replaced the seat track and soldered some wires. $1500 later I had a late model beater. Still driving it and it just turned 150k on the way home from Atlanta the other day.

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

Cool pics. The truck should look real nice when finished.
Kim

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

Ogre, don't get me started. You really don't wanna know how I feel about these trucks going overseas.

dug224, It looks like a really solid truck. I'll be watching this build. Good luck on her.

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

Got the enigine and transmission pulled out of the Jaguar this weekend. Still debating the late model LS option rather than the old school SBC.

Negotiting with a guy who wants to buy the NAPCO suspension including transfer case. Anyone have any idea what the total package is worth??

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

Decided not to use the Chevy V8 out of the Jaguar. By the time I freshened the 700r4 and spend any money on the engine, i would be over half way toward the purchase of the low mileage late model LS with matching AT.

NAPCO Sold for $800. Good deal for both of us. Guy from Calif bought the stuff so at least part of the truck is going back to where it came from.

I visited the donor vehicle again on Friday. They had just started working on disassembly. Should have it by Monday. The good news is that I talked with the disassembler and conveyed to him what I needed for him to do which is to NOT destroy misc. other systems taking the body off. See photo of Donor.

Also, see photo of Dynacorn truck that inspired me.

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

I can see why your inspired by the Dynacorn truck.
I think you'll be real happy with the LS.
Kim

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

Visited the wrecking yard this evening. Frame is ready for delivery. Will be delivered on Thursday. Front horns are slilghtly bent from the wreck but damage appears to be localized in the first 6 to 8 inches. Should be easy to overcome. Everything in place including steering rack, trailer hitch and brake system. The master cylinder is connected to the hard lines using flexible SS lines which made it convenient for the guy taking it apart not to break the system. Even picked up he factory jack to go along with the never on the ground spare. Gas tank hose is in perfect place for the gas door I plan on installing on the outside of the fleetside bed.

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

Frame has been delivered. No surprises so far. They did great job preserving the frame and components. Will pickup the pedal assembly and steering shaft that mounts to the top of the rack on Monday since they may actually be useable in the build. Trying to decide on the wheel tire combo so I start working on the stance. Looking at a 18"x8" factory wheel as shown below on ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-CHEVY-TRAI...2bc61f&vxp=mtr

Will run either a 245-45-18 (O.D. 26.7") or 245-50-18 (O.D. 27.7") to get close to the 1981 Z28 225-70-15 wheel/tire (O.D. 27.4") I was using earlier when I thought I was going with a Camaro clip. Will show more wheel with less tire than my early mockups.

Set the cab on the frame. Will have to cut 4 of the Trailblazer body mount brackets off this weekend so I can determine where the cab actually goes. Currently, the back of the cab hits two of the mounting brackets which keeps me from moving the cab forward and into place. Will calculate the weight of the sheetmetal and drive train front and back and once I get the wheels and tires in place, I will try to load the springs with sacks of concrete to simulate the weight. Any other spring loading ideas would be appreciated. Currently looks/feels like a lot of spring for the truck I am building. May end up changing them if too stiff.

The strange hump over the rear end on the passenger side I was going to try to get rid of is the spring mount top. Looks like I won't be getting rid of that piece.

If wheelbase is too short, I may consider shortening the bed by an inch or two. Could take it out of the side a few inches in front of the rear wheel opening.

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

Pretty cool.
Kim

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

Got the new in the box wheels with center caps off of ebay today. Seems like a good deal and was surprised they let them go so cheap. Paid $459 including shipping. Best price I could get from them over the phone was $580 with shipping. Tires to follow.

Mocked up the front fender and bed side on the stock GMC wheels and large stock tires. Hard to see past the bulkiness. Put white chalk on the part that will not be there when I get the smaller O.D. tires but it did not help much. The big dilemma will be the wheelbase. Shortening the bed by slicing an inch or two from in front of the rear wheel may not be so good visually. May have to commit to lengthening the frame. The good news about lengthening the frame is that it is constructed in two halves. Theoretically, grind the circular and linear welds and slide the front frame section forward. The guy who delivered it said they take them apart routinely. The frame sections overlap about 4.5" so I could get 2 to 3 inches out of it and weld a plate or two on the outside for strength.

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

Looking good. Seems like a no brainer to lengthen the frame.
Kim

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

Looks good. Like what you have going, will keep an eye out for progress

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

Thanks...This is a blast. Haven't had this much fun in a long time.

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

Thanks...need all the support I can get. Man...you are up early out west.

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

Kim: By the way, thanks for blazing the trail on the LS install. I am sure I will be asking for help once I find one. Mine should not be that big of a deal in light of the fact that they put LS's in the T.B. frame already. Steering interference may be a challenger. Been looking for a 6.0l but they are kind of expensive. Will probably stick with the 5.3l cast iron block to keep it under budget. Aiming for a 2008 or newer with low miles.

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

Thanks.
Bam and Tri5nerd had there LS's before I did and was a big part of the reason I went that way.
Mine came out of a T.B. so one should bolt right into your frame.
Kim

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

I have been watching Bam and Tri5nerd for quite some time. The talent is immense.

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

Yeah I hear you on that. Actually wasn't that early lol. Its was night time here haha!!

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

What year trailblazer do you use for this conversion??

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

The one I bought is a 2002. Would have preferred a newer frame with lower mileage but I could not pass up the deal. I believe any year 2002 and later will work. If it is a short wheel base you may have to lenghten it and if you get a long wheel base, you will have to shorten....assuming you have a SWB truck you are putting it under.

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

The wheels I got on ebay Sunday arrived yesterday (Wed) new in the box! Mocked up some 245-45-18" tires which have a 26.7" O.D. using rigid insulation I painted black. After looking a little closer at it, I will probably go with a 235-45-18 in light of the fact that the sidewalls will be slighly more vertical. The O.D. drops to 26.3" which is well withing my mockup cutting tolerances and will appear roughly the same. There appears to be no interferance between the front fender lip and tire. Now that I have the tires correctly shown, you can see that the front wheel needs to move forward in the wheel opening 1" to 1.5" and the rear wheel needs to move rearward about 1". Next move is to buy the tires and start the do the frame stretch.

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

Those wheels look nice.
I can see where the rear needs to go back but the front looks pretty good.
Kim

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

I agree...the front is starting to look ok to me. May ease it up 0.5" to 1.0" and take a look at it. Need some input on sidewall height from you and anyone else who is willing to comment. Should I keep the same or go bigger on the sidewall? If bigger, how much? I will mock up some additional sidewall heights this weekend.

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

I personally like a little more side wall especially on trucks.
Kim

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

I agree with Kim that the front looks pretty good and centered, but the back def just needs to move back a lil more

As for tires, depends your stance but the front looks good with a 235/45/18, the back could use more sidwall. Maybe a 255/45/18 or 245/50/18. Fill up the wheel well a lil more

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

Had a fresh pair of 255 55 18's so I slid them under the body. Looks like a NASCAR version. Pretty appealing to my eye but think I am headed wards smalls in the front and these bigs in the back. Have another set of four 18's available to me but I don't know the size. Headed out this morning to pick them up.

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

Looks good.
Kim

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

Kim..thanks. Made some more progress.

I had a single 245-45-18 and a single 245-40-18 laying around so I tried them. May have it. Now that the 255-55-18 is in back, it is pretty clear the 245-45-18 was way too small for the rear. I appreciate the input on the earlier thread. The 245-40 was too small (not shown) on the front but the 245-45 looks just about right. Will look for a 245-50 to try on the front before the final decision. For the wheels in this study, I used the center cutout from the fake wheels I made earlier. It helps give to see the wall height better. The front tire is sitting on 1.5" of wood spacers to get the tire up into the wheel well. The back is sitting on 0.75" spacers. Once on flat ground, it will have slightly less rake.

Located some already bagged free sand from a friend I can use to load the suspension. I will be able see how much bed depth I end up with. You may remember, the rear suspension upper spring supports are pretty high and won't be coming down since they are an integral part of the setup. The underside of the bed will only be able to go down only so far until it hits it. To make it worse, the factory kicked it up in one spot to clear the exhaust pipe which makes it a even that much more challenging. Since I intend us the existing exhaust, the kick up stays.....for now....

By the way, the thing sitting below the cab is a lift my Dad made 30 years ago using a trash compactor. I used it to drop the transfer case out from under the truck and to level of the cab. Pretty handy even after all these years. He put a frame with casters around the bottom and welded a 1/2" socket drive to the threaded shaft. You can easlily run it up and down using a pneumatic wrench. Wish I had one more.

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

I kinda like the invisible wheels, maybe you could get them made out of Lexan?

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

i hear lexan wheels are hard to keep clean :D

i too am a fan of big black side walls on trucks

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Can you please give me some specs on the invisible wheels? Can they be clear coated?:lol:

Re: Dug's 1959 Fleetside
 

Had the wife pick them up at WalMart. They come already clearcoated so this particular set is very easy to keep clean. Seriously, I believe I saw West Coast Customs make a set out of something clear. Seems like it was Lexan and the put them on an Audi. Could be wrong...all the car shows tend to run together.. Will stick with the visible wheels that fit my daily driver theme. I have been staring at the truck on and off all day while insulating my garage door. I like what I see so I may just commit to the 245-45's up front... All you guys in the North insulate to keep the heat in....we insulate to keep it out down south. This was the final phase of my air conditioning of the garage. Should be pretty easy to keep cool since three sides of the garage are 10 feet underground.