'50 3100 Son/Father Build Eastern N.C.

[Donnie Lee]

Hello, we've spent many hours reading thru builds & have lots of questions. My son purchased the '50 Chevy 3100 5 window last summer, it has 283 engine with 3 spd on the column from '65 C10 truck & rear end from '75 Camaro, this was installed by p.o. 10-12 yrs. ago, engine tired & smoking. The front cab corners are rusted thru, floorpan needs replacement, we haven't disassembled truck so don't know what else we'll find.

I want to order floorpan & cab corners, who are the recommended vendors that you are using?

Additionally, we have no bodywork experience, no welding experience, so is anyone on the forum from Raleigh area/east that we could contact to discuss replacing the metal components?

I'm shopping for a digital camera so we could post photos along with the build.

Thanks To Everyone

[Donnie Lee]

Finally have some photos to post.

[Chevy-49]

Nice truck to start with, welcome

[Advanced Design]

Have fun Donnie Lee. There are a number of vendors here that sell the body parts you will need. Post up some pics of the rusted areas and the folks here will be able to give good advice.

What are the plans for the truck?

[Nut Case]

Donnie Lee I suggest that you enroll in the University of Youtub, I'm still working on my GED, have learned a lot about a bunch of stuff ( Mig Tig, less bondo is more) stuff like that. Then read as many build threads and steal, steal, steal, make a file and save lots and lots of photo's. That's how I'm going about getting idea's. My goal is to start my pay back to the forum by the end of the year with the resurrection of my build thread, I've got a few surprises coming.

Just a suggestion for you gather data and plot your own course. I'll be lurking about And pilfering the best stuff and invite all to do the same on my up coming thread. Nut Case

[Donnie Lee]

Thanks Chevy-49, Advanced Design, Nut Case

The truck is in good condition overall, the photos don't show some of the issues, we found a variety yesterday afternoon. We decided to remove the interior, got down the the floorpan and found rust-thru on pass. side worse than on drivers side. We didn't get everything on the floorpan completely scraped off, so more could appear. I have some photos and will try to load. Neither of us have any experience or tools needed for removing/replacing this metal, and will need to find someone in our area to perform this work.

The rebuild includes new IFS that we have ordered from Gayle Bridges Co., new engine, either 327 or 406 that are available locally, auto transmission, bedfloor replacement, wiring, & I'm sure some other items will come up

[Advanced Design]

Donnie, that isn't bad at all. I would guess the back cab corners will need attention too. If you don't want to tackle it yourself, hopefully you can find someone in your area to do the repairs.

[Donnie Lee]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Donnie, that isn't bad at all. I would guess the back cab corners will need attention too. If you don't want to tackle it yourself, hopefully you can find someone in your area to do the repairs.

Hey Doug, the back cab corners appear to have been replaced, but I think they were overlapped to the inside & bondo heavily applied to flush the outside, I need to take some photos & post.

[Hampshire]

Good pick on an IFS from Gayle....

[lower50's]

That does look like a solid truck, remember its 65 years old. I'm sure you will find someone to help. Good luck with the build.

[Hilljack51]

Solid truck to start your project with, and I'll definitely follow along. I suppose it helps that the PO showed it some love and affection as well, which is a lot more than most of these old trucks can say. I hope you can find someone to help you, I sure would if you were a bit closer.

[SalvagedSouls]

I'll tag along on this one.

[Donnie Lee]

Hampshire-Thanks to your build

lower50's-Overall it pretty solid

Hilljack51-I've been looking for an excuse to move to S.C. other than cheaper
gas

SalvagedSouls-Thanks for looking & I see you have multiple builds, any advice welcomed

[Donnie Lee]

Getting back to the truck after a couple of weeks, I need to remove the hood & watched a video of youtube numerous times. The video doesn't clearly show the upper bolts that are removed, does anyone have photos or identify the ones to remove?

Also want to remove the front clip as a unit, this same video shows this but I'm not sure which bolts he removes inside the cab, & if there are any under the fender, it does identify the two under the radiator support, any photos of this?

Thanks in advance

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by Donnie Lee

Getting back to the truck after a couple of weeks, I need to remove the hood & watched a video of youtube numerous times. The video doesn't clearly show the upper bolts that are removed, does anyone have photos or identify the ones to remove?

Also want to remove the front clip as a unit, this same video shows this but I'm not sure which bolts he removes inside the cab, & if there are any under the fender, it does identify the two under the radiator support, any photos of this?

Thanks in advance

Donnie, the hinges bolt to the hood and should be pretty straightforward to remove. The hinges bolt to the cab inside and outside. Look up in corner behind dash and you should see the bolts.

The outer fenders bolt to the cab and you can see them inside the wheel well. The inner fenders bolt to the toe pan on the cab on the right (passenger) side. The left side inner fender bolts to a bracket that is mounted to the toe pan. All those bolts may fight coming out.

A great resource that I have used for years is the factory assembly manual for these vehicles. Google 50 Chevy truck factory assembly manual and you should find several suppliers. The manual shows how the body, frame is assembled in line drawings.

Have fun and give a shout if you need more info.

[Donnie Lee]

Thanks Doug, received '47-'54 factory assembly manual via brown truck today, looks like I will be doing a lot of looking & reading many pages of small print.

[Donnie Lee]

Made some progress !

[Advanced Design]

Good progress Donnie. Nice looking Nova there too!

Missed your question on the body panels. I suggest you contact Dave at Hollister Road company for his advice. He is a sponsoring member on here, restores these trucks for a living and will steer you right on the quality of needed parts.

Another good source for parts and information is Nsane hot rods. He is a sponsoring member and does restorations too.

[Donnie Lee]

Hi Doug, progressing slowly, my son comes home most weekends & that's when we work on the harder/heavier items, I piddle around on it some during the week.

The Nova is a 70 model that I race on the dragstrip in the footbrake class to have some fun. It's an original SS car in decent shape, a 20 footer.

I'll contact Dave / Nsane after I get some closeup photo's of the bad areas to be sure & order the correct parts.

I still following your build and really liking your brake choice shown in post #1130, also envious of your welding skills in the last several post.

Donnie

[Donnie Lee]

Haven't posted in several weeks, now have the truck down to rolling chassis, last weekend my son used 3/4 cans of oven cleaner & pressure washed the entire frame, did a great job of removing old grease/loose paint. Also started removing brackets & rivets (FUN), have a few more to remove, for some reason can't get latest photos to load showing progress.

Have a question, it's time to install the IFS purchased from gaylebridges.com. I haven't had any luck finding someone nearby to weld in, have talked to a shop about 1 3/4 hrs. away. His rate is $50.00 hr. & he says he has installed IFS on quite a few vehicles including early F100 trucks, but has not had an install using the IFS we purchased. How many hours do you estimate it takes to tack weld the crossmember, tack weld the upper spring mounts, install the upper/lower control arms & spindles to check for proper alignment/movement, then remove the control arms/spindles & final weld.

Thanks
Donnie Lee

[mongocanfly]

I would say to plan on at least 4-6 hrs

[Donnie Lee]

The IFS is installed, will get photo up soon. I was surprised at how rigid the frame is in front now. I strapped the chassis down on open trailer & the installer reached over & grabbed the ends of the frame & they will move/twist far greater than i thought possible. We were discussing whether to install 4-link rear or leaf spring kit like TCI. He has installed both & says the leaf spring kit will give a lot of body roll considering how rigid the front is with new IFS.

So this brings up the question, which gives the best ride, 4-link or leaf spring?
The 4-link cost more, I was leaning towards the TCI kit, & i guess if the frame were boxed at least back to above the rear end, the chassis flex would be greatly reduced.

[Advanced Design]

The black truck was put together with a triangulated 4 link and the 48 Burb has a parallel 4 link with panhard bar. The truck rode and handled well.

[Donnie Lee]

Ifs installed, still undecided on rear suspension.

[Henney]

I'm a big fan of 4 links. They do cost a little more but I feel it's money well spent.