introduce myself and our project

[Dave Garon]

Hi,
My name is Dave Garon. I'm in the process of building a 56 chevy step side short box to mount on a 2004 chevy 4x4 chassis. I bought the truck in pieces, and has the typical rust and dents of a 60 year old truck. So far, we've got most of the cab panels replaced and the firewall filled. To mock up and make sure everything fit, it's sitting on a 2002 chevy 2WD chassis that was shortened 23.5" to match the 56's wheelbase. The trackwidth is ok, since I only plan on running a 285/75/R16 tire. When its complete, it'll be our daily driver - year round. We already have a 2004 4x4 with a H.O. 5.3, auto.
I'm realizing what most of you have already experienced - the fit on these 5,6,7 trucks is bad, sometimes real bad. I've got some experience in this kind of work, and have most of the same tooling the average hobbyist has. Mig, Tig, stretcher, shrinker, etc. So far. we're making progress, but the front fenders, hood, and front end sheetmetal is rough. It could be worked out, and I'd rather not buy replacement panels. The ones I've bought so far needed a fair amount of reshape to look and fit right.
I've always wanted a 1 piece flip front end. A steel one would be crazy heavy, compared to a fiberglass unit. Has anyone purchased a 1 piece glass front end? Who from? We're you happy with the fit? Any problems mounting the grill or headlight bezels?
Appreciate any help. I'll load a few pics of the project. Maybe someone else has already done a project like this.
Thanks, Dave

[lynx5653]

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like an interesting project, post pics so we can see how you are fitting sheet metal to new chassis.

[Leonard60]

Sounds like an interesting project like to some pics when you can.

[dsraven]

hi and welcome to the forum. nice to see another Albertan on here.
have you checked the kijiji calgary classic cars? there is a guy north of calgary with some various 55-59 gmc stuff. looks ;like he has some front fenders and box etc. don't know his prices because he didn't send me any when i replied to his ad. maybe worth checking for you.
I installed a one piece fiberglass front end years ago on a square body. not that much fun and lots of bodywork to do because the finish isn't great-wavy. maybe better now.
post up sme pics so we can see what you have to work with.
dennis

[59chev]

Welcome to the forum!!

[dsraven]

try this kijiji ad in calgary classic cars
ad number 1260519887
it comes up as 1963 chevy but has 55-59 stuff in the ad also
good luck
post up some pics

[Fitz57]

I put my 57 on a 2005 Silverado 4x4 using part of the 57 frame under the cab as a subframe.

I'm 3 years into this project and have a lot of info and pics for you.

[Fitz57]

Pic of the rolling frame

[mongocanfly]

Fitz..that truck looks great..

[Dave Garon]

Very nicely done. It's exactly what we want to build. A nice comfy ride with a old time cool body on it. I'd be very interested in how you located the body on the new chassis. Mine is currently sitting on an 02 Silverado 2wd chassis to mock up. I assume you had to shorten the frame like I did. Where did you shorten it? I found a nice straight section under the cab area that worked out well.
I be adding pics of where I am with the project, as soon as I figure out how to insert a picture.

[dsraven]

to inset pic in this thread ccroll down to "post reply", not the quick reply. add message text then scroll down some where it says "manage attachments" and click. a window will come up with seome spots to click for your pics, there are 5 spots that you fill seperately. then click upload and wait till it is done then they should appear in the manage attachments area. you can click them to ensure they are the ones you want for sure, then click submit and, BOOM, they are there.

[dsraven]

good spellin eh?
shooda prufe red it

[Dave Garon]

Here's a few pictures of the body sitting on the shortened chassis before body panel replacement started. I think I've got the attachments to work. I got other pictures I'll post with some descriptions.

[Dave Garon]

Everyone told me the inner cab corners are just great places to trap mud and snow and quickly rust. I left them out and replaced them with these pieces that fill the floor to the cab. Gussets stiffen the piece. It's welded to the floor and door jam. Seam sealer will fill the gaps where it meets the body.

[Dave Garon]

Most of the trucks I've seen have beat up rockers. We decided to weld in a piece of 1" square tub (capped both ends). It's plug welded to the bottom flat section of the rocker. Makes for a strong rocker, but another place to trap mud. All new panels have been butt welded, not overlapped to minimize places for moisture to hang out.

[Dave Garon]

I believe the original chassis is basically flat, vs the newer truck. Looks like you used the cab section of the old chassis to not just locate the cab, but make flatter frame rails? GREAT idea.

[Dave Garon]

Ran into a problem with the lower door hinge mount on both doors. Apparently a common problem? Ended up removing, repairing the crack and then reinforcing the back. Got the idea from a guy on you tube.

[Dave Garon]

These 3 pics have nothing to do with the truck project, but thought guys might be interested in how my time was spent in the shop before the truck build. Totally impractical, but a whole bunch of fun.

[dsraven]

um, scuze me, your garage is WAY too clean. do you work somewhere else and then drag the truck back for some pics? haha
nice job. looks like you have a great base to start with, or else you have already replaced the rusty stuff. do you have a diagram of the original frame and the donor frame? try

https://www.gmupfitter.com/pdflists/view/6

for the donor and below are a couple from the old truck for comparo. there are a couple because they are off the net and some are a bit blurry. one may be a 59 but the frame is basically the same except for the rad support location and a bit of extra length in front of the springhanger mounts. those trucks are a bit longer but the wheelbase is the same.
I had the same thoughts on the rocker panels. I have a bunch of 1" square kicking around I thought I would reinforce the rockers on mune as well, when I get that far. just finished the rear section of the floor, that took me all day to fab up and get right. now I have to remove, punch weld holes in the flanges and then set it back in place for the last time.

[dsraven]

nice car, do you still have it?
my doors have the same issue as well as the web between the inner and outer panels, near the vent window, is also cracked. the reinforcing panel that spot welds to the inner door panel near the window crank, if I remember correctly, is also compromised. that all combined makes the door impossible to adjust even if you are just trying to get it close enough to just close while you wprk on other stuff.
keep the pics coming, it is a good incentive for the rest of us.

[dsraven]

the pics in post 13, is that going to be your ride height roughly? got any ideas for a front rad support mount? bumper? filler panel?

[Fitz57]

O.K. Let's see if I can answer some of your questions.

99-07 2wd and 4wd frames are similar. They have 3 sections welded together. I ground and cut the welds on the front section shortened the frame rails slid it back together and rewelded it. Pretty simple. It sounds like how you did it.

I had new frame rails made and was going to use them with the stock cab mounts to span the drop in the silvy frame. Realized that was way too much work, then went with the 57 sub frame. I also mounted my master cyl like stock.

Dsraven has good info useing the 55 59 frame specs and good info on gmupfitter.

I made both frames exact same height where the bed mounts and rear axle C/L. This made a good base to measure off. In your picture of mock up your body is way to hi. My front bumper filler panel is very close to frame. I would post a pic but my front clip is off while I fabricate my radiator supports which is a real pain in the ass. With rad support in 6 cyl position it's 2 7/16" from top of silvy frame to top of 57 rad support bracket( bracket riveted to stock frame). My plan is to modify the bracket to fit on some 2" square tubing.

[Dave Garon]

Yyeah, kinda anal about the shop. Hate coming out the next time to a mess, but it doesn't always look like this. It's a typical 2 stall garage, so if it's not clean and organized, it gets real frustrating real quick. The front bench has a shop fridge, ice maker, and liquor dispenser. You know........when things don't go quite right.
Thanks for the chassis info. I have the shop manuals, so already have the dimensions. This site is so cool. After less than a week, I've gotten responses and help that have given me a bunch of ideas. Sure appreciate it. Hopefully some of the stuff we've done helps someone else.
Sold Nova a couple years ago.

[Dave Garon]

Ride height is higher than I'd like. I think Fitz57 has the ride height perfect.
Not figured out how front bumper, rad support, etc will be mounted Been focusing on the cab. Pics are before body repairs started. Wanted to make sure body fit chassis. Cab corners done, most of floor repaired, firewall filled. Just finishing up the drivers side. Need the time to get out in shop more often. Here's a pic of the only major floor repair and the cab corners.

[dsraven]

wow, your cab was in great shape. I jacked up my horn contact and put a bunch of small replacement panels under it till I got a cab out of the deal.
nice. I was also thinking your truck is a little tall, but hey, it's not my truck. I assumed you liked the stance there.