1958 SWB C4 Fleetside - NZ Build

[Advanced Design]

Congratulations on the build approval! The notches are looking good.

[CANUCIT]

looking very good, I am enjoying watching the build in progress

Michael

[murd969]

Cool build. I always look forward to see what others do with the C4 suspension. I ran that in mine so I’ll be watching to see how it comes out.

[QBRacing]

Hey guys ... I finally have some progress today.

the Dana 44 C4 Corvette rear end finally arrived today as well as the flat out engineering mount kit and a set of aldin coilovers

everything looks pretty clean (bar rotors which have surface rusting).

couple of pics for ya ... and a short video

[QBRacing]

ok.... so I got bored tonight and decided to remove the diff in preparation for the c4 corvette rear diff install.

only had to Google how to get the rear spring front eyelet locking pins out. I discovered mine weren't even in correct... ie had no nut on the tapered pin and the pins had slid downwards making it almost impossible to hammer it out. a few choice swear words and a big f-n hammer and I got there.

started mocking everything up but had to stop as I don't have any 1/2" or 7/16" drills. grrr.

this is where I left it tonight.

Q

[Scottish58chev]

Nice progress

[QBRacing]

Here is a quick video I made to explain the issue I had with the locking pins not being installed correctly as per my last post Insert Youtube link here.

Struck another issue today (surprise surprise) when I decided to drop the C4 Corvette rear end under chassis (Also mentioned in that video). The rear end went under with some push and shove and didn't take much to line up. However when I went to fit the rims to the diff I couldn't use the old nuts. The old diff had some silly yankee size like 7/8*20 or something weird like that and the newer C4 Corvette rear end uses a M12*1.5, Grrrr rrrrr.

without them I couldn't fit the rims or lift the centre diff housing so I called it a day and come inside to work on my CV (which is what I should really have been doing all day).

Q

[QBRacing]

One Dana 44 C4 Corvette differential installed in the 58 Apache. Man I wish I had a hoist...

Looks fricken sweet too. can't wait to pull it all apart now, remove all the old mounts, blast the rails and cover all the steel in metal prep and POR15.

[Az. Hank]

Oooh yeah, just love that Corvette stuff....

[murd969]

Looking good. I ran the C4 stuff as well and I love it.

[ChuckDriver]

Looks nice!

[_Ogre]

just saw this build thread, another 4 eyed beauty
i have to admire the hoops you guys in other countries jump thru to build classic american cars/trucks
here we are used to 2 day free shipping and get pissed if something takes 3 days to come

nev68 is building a right hand drive 56 truck in south africa using jag components
it can be a lhd only in stock setup, modified he has to convert to rhd SA 56 build
amazing work converting the dash and truck to rhd
he's out of work and hasn't posted in over almost 2 years, hopefully nev68 is still at it

[QBRacing]

Finally my welder is coming around in the next few days. he wanted to flip the chassis to weld the underside so I had to remove the cab and wellside and annoyingly the rear diff I just installed .grrr.

figure since it's all pulled down now I might as well hit the chassis with a wire wheel, metal prep it then give it a quick etch and either some fresh paint or even por15 if I have enough left

here's some pics....
my son's 49 Fleetline, my 71 SB efi Nova and the 58 cab...
then the workshop where the magic happens
my freshly rebuilt c4 corvette rack

q

[QBRacing]

a little more progress today.

Used the marine clean, metal prep and POR15 on the Flatout Engineering C4 rear brackets.

Man I love that stuff. it looks smart as.....

had a little left in the paint tray so started hitting the chassis rails. (ild already power washed them a while back).

welder coming over tomorrow to get the front sorted.

yay

[Scottish58chev]

Awesome progress, look forward to seeing it done

[_Ogre]

por15 is recommended to be top coated due to lack of uv protection
seeing as i rarely park truk on mirrors i didn't top coat truk frame 15 yrs ago with no noticeable uv degradation

[QBRacing]

so I finally got traction on the front end today

started by tacking each of the plates into place then stood the chassis up on its side to get good welds

then we flipped the chassis upside down and lined up the c notches which were weld in.

then we mounted the subframe so he could weld down onto the underside of the chassis

then we righted the chassis and welded the top of the subframe in

unfortunately we had to stop there as I had to goto a day surgery but he's left his gear here and assures me he will be back Friday to finish the job off

[QBRacing]

while I was at it I snapped some pics of the chassis rail damage I need to fix...

In the first pic you can see it took a hit side on and all the holes cracked and split. on ran right along the top of the c channel and it is right where the c notch needed to go.

we decided ages ago to cut it out rather than drill the end of the cracks as it just spider webbed every which way.

and here is my replacement patch for it too.

[QBRacing]

well that sucks.

my certifier who has to inspect the welds before I can linish and paint the front end is fully booked till the end of April. Grrrr.

todays job was Ito get in and removed the rear leaf hangers and use an orbital wire brush to clean down the rest of the chassis. Then I coated everything I could in por15

dunno what I'm going to do for the next month but I might arrange a media blaster to hit the c4 suspension bits so they are super clean and purdy for when I get to put everything back together. better get in and order the nolathane kits I suppose.

pics of the chassis. top sides and bottom all black...

[QBRacing]

The other day I decided to clean the C4 Corvette suspension.
I tried engine clean and oven clean with a powerwasher but bit the bullet and had someone come blast it instead

all I can say is ... best 400 bucks ever....

[slammed57]

Originally Posted by QBRacing

well that sucks.

my certifier who has to inspect the welds before I can linish and paint the front end is fully booked till the end of April. Grrrr.

todays job was Ito get in and removed the rear leaf hangers and use an orbital wire brush to clean down the rest of the chassis. Then I coated everything I could in por15

dunno what I'm going to do for the next month but I might arrange a media blaster to hit the c4 suspension bits so they are super clean and purdy for when I get to put everything back together. better get in and order the nolathane kits I suppose.

pics of the chassis. top sides and bottom all black...

nice work , over there in new zeland , is it mandatory that the welds have to be inspected by a certifier? Iam just curious

[murd969]

Looks good. I would have paid $400 for that as well.

[ChuckDriver]

That turned out nice!

[corvettruck]

Nice to have clean parts!!
Looks great

[QBRacing]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I have reinstalled all the C4 Suspension bits tonight so the chassis is finally rolling under its own weight. now I need to get the cab on and the steering column ordered I suppose. Cant wait.

Here s a short video showing it all done and installed.