1950 Five Window Build

[Donnie Lee]

You have an amazing build in a very short time, enjoying your photos & your product videos are very helpful.

Do you recall what motor mounts & trans. crossmember were used?

Thanks
Donnie Lee

[Curt - TN]

Originally Posted by Donnie Lee

You have an amazing build in a very short time, enjoying your photos & your product videos are very helpful.

Do you recall what motor mounts & trans. crossmember were used?

Thanks
Donnie Lee

Thanks for the nice feedback! I have been slacking the past few weeks and need to get a new update out.

The chassis motor mounts were standard small block single bolt through Chevy mounts already welded to the chassis when I picked up the project.

The motor mount insulators were from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

To adapt the LS engine to a Chevy small block engine chassis mount I used a ICT Billet Engine Swap Bracket. It is kind of neat because it has several holes so you can adjust the engine foreward or backward.

I also got this from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

SBC LS Conversion Motor Mount Adjustable Plate LS1 LS3 Adapter Motor 551628

The transmission cross member came with the unfinished project truck when I bought it but it appears to be the same as the one from Classic Industries part #CX1354 - 1947-59 GM Truck TH350 Or TH400 Transmission Crossmember. I am using it with a 4L60E so I had to modify it just a little.

[Donnie Lee]

Hi Curt, look forward to updates & thanks for parts info.

[Curt - TN]

I figured I would post a teaser picture on the progress of my build. Now I just need to make the other side look like this

[mongocanfly]

Looking good curt

[faribran]

Looks like you have some of the glass in place. Looks good!

[youngrodder]

Looking great....

Marc

[MIKESAD50]

Looking very nice and fast progress.

[Kevin Mac]

Looking good, you have been spending some hours in the shop.

Mac

[Curt - TN]

We are finally back on the 50 Five Window project again and have made some good progress.

Over the weekend we had to finish up painting a few small items. We painted the front bumper filler, a hood support, hold hold down and the Vintage Air A/C under dash vents. The vent under the dash comes in a textured black plastic so we decided to sand it smooth and paint it the color of the body. It looks so much better now.

- Installed the door latches finally got the doors to close properly.
- Finished hanging the under dash portion of the vintage air, had to make all the brackets since there were none and due to the modified firewall the factory VA stuff did nto fit.
-Drilled holes and installed the side mirrors

I still need to figure out how the windows and tracks go back in the doors, that is a project for another day 🙂

I have more parts on the way this week and I hope to get started on the wiring very soon.

[mongocanfly]

Looks great curt...whered ya get your side mirrors at? Thanks

[Curt - TN]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Looks great curt...whered ya get your side mirrors at? Thanks

Thanks! Those are standard side mirrors for a 50 from Classic Industries. They fit awesome, had to drill holes in the new paint, that was a little nerve racking

[oldman3]

Beautiful looking ride, nice work...Jim

[Dan in Pasadena]

Curt,
SUCH a pretty truck. Looks very very nice. Congrats!

[Advanced Design]

Looking good Curt. You are making quick progress.

[joedoh]

good googly moogly look at that red

[Curt - TN]

We are making a little more progress on the 50. We got the LS harness all installed and mounted the computer under the passenger seat. We also mounted the fuse box behind the passenger seat and will route all of the wiring under the truck and back up inside the front wheel well to get up to the dash.

We have all of the A/C lines completed and unit installed under the dash. Now we have to do the heater lines, duct work and wiring.

The truck is now on the lift up in the air to complete the wiring and driveshaft install.

[mongocanfly]

Curt..whose wiring harness did you use for the engine? I got ahold of psi the other day and they informed me they don't do custom lengths..I was previously told they did..I just picked up my ls3 and am amazed at how small the ecm is compaired to my lq9..it may be easier to hide somewhere but I really want it under the seat..all the extended harnesses I can find are going to run around 8-900 or more..thanks

[Curt - TN]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Curt..whose wiring harness did you use for the engine? I got ahold of psi the other day and they informed me they don't do custom lengths..I was previously told they did..I just picked up my ls3 and am amazed at how small the ecm is compaired to my lq9..it may be easier to hide somewhere but I really want it under the seat..all the extended harnesses I can find are going to run around 8-900 or more..thanks

I got mine from PSI and it is a standard length harness. It turns out there was enough length to mount it under the passenger seat. I did mine kinda backwards because originally I was thinking of mounting it underneath the cab but after I wired the engine side I saw I had some slack so I drilled a big hole (larger enough to get the fuse box portion through) in the bottom of the cab under the seat. I have been able to make good use of the hole sliding the wires from my chassis fuse box to under the cab and when it is all done I will make a rubber boot to seal it all in. I picked up a Speedway chassis harness but will have to extend some of those wires.

I also did a drop out batter box on the passenger side so all of the connections will be close to the computer and fuse box.

This is the harness I picked up.

1999 - 2003 VORTEC 4.8 5.3 6.0 PSI STANDALONE WIRING HARNESS W/4L60E (DBC)

[mongocanfly]

thanks curt..that's good to know about psi length...I used their harness on my last build..and they're about $400 cheaper than some I looked at.
What about the speedway harness..what's your opinion of it?

[MIKESAD50]

How are you doing with this build? Having to much fun driving to update the build finish?

[Curt - TN]

Originally Posted by MIKESAD50

How are you doing with this build? Having to much fun driving to update the build finish?

Mike, I keep thinking I am 2 more weeks away and that keeps happening every 2 weeks

I need to get this one completed because the new custom chassis comes in next week for my 1957 GMC project

I finally made some decent progress this weekend and actually got it back down on the wheels. I have the engine bay just about complete, wood for the bed is sealed ready to install, made seat brackets and got the seats installed and completed all of the electrical and A/C. The electrical was a pain because I decided to mount the fuse box and computer under the passenger seat and I had to extend a lot of wires.

I was able to keep the engine bay pretty clean, installed all of the wiring under the passenger front fender and have a drop out battery box under the passenger floor.

I had to try 3 different pipes before I was finally able to get the air intake route to work, it was very tight up against my radiator fan. I still need to fab up a support bracket for the intake piping.

I did a short video walk around of the truck tonight.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO

[Dan in Pasadena]

Curt, Can I ask some questions about your bedwood?

I've been debating whether to use red oak; which is what most sources offer standard, or did you use white oak?

Did you apply any stain? I'm thinking of a natural stain if I use white, but a light brown stain of some kind if I use red oak because it has a sort of pink tone naturally.

Last, What clear did you use? How many coats?

[Curt - TN]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Curt, Can I ask some questions about your bedwood?

I've been debating whether to use red oak; which is what most sources offer standard, or did you use white oak?

Did you apply any stain? I'm thinking of a natural stain if I use white, but a light brown stain of some kind if I use red oak because it has a sort of pink tone naturally.

Last, What clear did you use? How many coats?

Dan,
You know I am not sure what kind of oak wood it is but I think it is red oak. It was LMC part number 38-7100 and they do not say on their page.

I went back and forth on to stain or to just clear and I even considered spraying automotive clear and buffing (that will be my next build).

I ended up not using any stain. What you see in the pictures is light sanding with 220 grit between coats then I have about 4 or 5 coats of Minwax High-Gloss Helmsman clear. I think on the next one I might end up with about 7 coats to try to get rid of a little of the grain texture. Overall I am really happy with how it turned out.

[oldman3]

Curt, truck is looking super, nice work...Jim