1949-50 3100

[dwcsr]

We pushed it out so we can see what it looks like height wise. Seems a bit to tall for me even with 275/17's it would still be to high. I'm thinking 3-4 inch drop.
Here is a rear view of the gas tank and how it looks from the back.

[Denee007]

Fantastic progress! That's looking great, must feel good to have it rolling around now!

[dwcsr]

Originally Posted by Denee007

Fantastic progress! That's looking great, must feel good to have it rolling around now!

Thanks, it does feel good to see it out of the bay. With any luck we'll have it at the painter in 2-3 weeks.

[dwcsr]

Here are some other pictures of the Holley accessory drive brackets for the PS pump/Alt and Ac compressor. We did have to make recesses in the inner fenders for them to fit

[solidaxel]

Dave, do you know if the Holley brackets are wider than the stock alt. bracket?

[dwcsr]

Originally Posted by solidaxel

Dave, do you know if the Holley brackets are wider than the stock alt. bracket?

It is wider by about 8 to 10 inches on the Alt side. Total is about 15" wider than stock. One of the draw backs of the vintage air system is that you can't use the stock GM AC compressor and Sanden doesn't fit in the stock location other wise I would have made the stock ps brackets work for what we wanted. The nice thing about the Holley is that it looks like is belongs there not a fabricated plate type mounts. The cost of Holley vs fabed plate brackets is also good, it was a few dollars more for far better quality.

[dwcsr]

Did a little more work on the gas tank. 67-68 Camaro EFI tank with a rear fender fill. The original intent was a rear fill but we change our minds on that. As you can see there is plenty of room for a rear fill. I used 2" 304 stainless welded up the elbows and a reducer to 1.25 to mate up with the original fill neck. We may need to enlarge the hole for the grommet and still have to make the fill vent tube and the bracket to secure it to the bedside. The fill pipe could be made from steel pipe but SS was what I had. Don't know if I'm leaving the fill tube straight up like it is or angle it with the fender

[99 to Life]

I like that idea, I'm prolly doing a blazer tank just so I have side access, but this is a good alternative too. Id think you might have some fill issues with the elbow higher than the inlet or atleast thats what it looks like in the pic. Looks good though.

[dwcsr]

The pipe is almost level side to side, it looks up because the angle from the tank to where it goes through the bedside. But I see what your saying, I'll have to see if the top of the pipe at the bedside is lower than the bottom at the elbow. I don't think it is

[dwcsr]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

I like that idea, I'm prolly doing a blazer tank just so I have side access, but this is a good alternative too. Id think you might have some fill issues with the elbow higher than the inlet or at least thats what it looks like in the pic. Looks good though.

I looked at it again today and as I thought it slopes toward the tank at about 3/8" per foot so no problems there. Just an optical illusion i guess.

[dwcsr]

Mounted the PCM and fuse center. Made some shields for a little heat protection, just need to route the cabling out of the way.

[99 to Life]

looks good, liking it.

[49Fireman]

Originally Posted by dwcsr

I have the steering shaft routed and it clears everything. I will have to notch the rail a bit near the lower ujoint. The heat shield clears by about an inch which is a 1/2 or 3/4 of an inch from the manifold. I tacked the shaft supports in place and will weld them up later when I can get at the pieces better. We did have to move the column over about 2" to make all this work, if we moved it any further the steering wheel was at a weird angle in the cab.

Nice work on the entire build thus far. I was reading the thread and I was bummed when I ran out of posts to read. I will definitely be following. I'm starting my build in the next couple weeks and I am anxious and nervous after seeing all the difficulties you've had to overcome but I applaud your work.

[dwcsr]

Thanks, We are getting close to sending it to the painter. I'm longing for a different truck in that spot if you know what I mean. I just have to stop thinking of things to do to it. We added a third brake light above the back window this week end. I'll post some pictures this week of the process. We made a die set to form the light housing, shaped it, welded it up and the added an extension that fit the slope of the back above the window. we still have to weld it in but its shaped and ready to go.

[dwcsr]

This is how we made the third brake light housing. You can do this for just about any shape or size dish for what ever purpose.
First was the light, its a 41 -48 Chevy car tail light. It has almost the perfect shape for this detail but it is to long in the back and interferes with the dome light. We will be chopping off the bulb socket and using LEDs. Next was the form tool, its shaped the same as the the rubber mounting gasket but slightly larger and has a beveled edge so the metal will for a roll over look. The top plate is smaller than the bottom so you can get a good hit on it at the edge. So we make a outline on a piece of 16 gage just for guidance.

[dwcsr]

Next we trim up the outline and and punch two hole for the locator bolts, These bots clamp the pieces and also keep it from moving sideways when hammering the metal. clamp the piece slit the corners so the metal has some place to go when you hammer it over. Lock it in the vise and hammer the side down using a rawhide or plastic mallet, wood mallet will work also.

[dwcsr]

Hammer the ends and take it out of the die form. Now you have to cut the excess off the corners so they join flush. hammer them so the meet for a nice weld and weld them together, Tig is best gas weld is also good Mig is last choice. Mig makes a hard joint that would need to be annealed before you go further.

[dwcsr]

Up to this point it looks like a rumpled piece of scrap metal but once your corners are welded and you start shaping the light housing to the desired form, hammer the ruffles flat and you end up with a fairly nice looking part but it has a bow in the light mounting surface. This can be fixed in a shrinker. Now you have the top flat but have a lot of uneven metal around the edge so take a marker and scribe a line and cut it to the line.

[dwcsr]

From there you can add the taper piece that fits the roof line and you have a mounting for the light. It took about an hour to make the die form set and another hour for the housing. finishing may take another hour

[FarmerSid]

Nice work Dave!

[oldman3]

Nice job looks great...Jim

[49Fireman]

Since you are giving away all your secrets, I imagine it's pretty safe to say we are going to have to make our own instead of hoping you start mass producing them.

[dwcsr]

I am looking at trying to make them but as it is now its costly to make it. I need a better form, get the blanks pre-cut to a pattern so they don't take as long to shape and trim, make some jigs to shape the extension that welds to the roof. Its a ways off if I do it.

[dwcsr]

We have the light welded in and rough finished. It keeps the dome light in the same position and could go back more almost flush on the bottom but I wanted it out a little for that fifties look.

[49Fireman]

Looks cool!