55 TF Stretched Cab/Fleetside/LSx/Trailblazer Frame

[ChuckDriver]

Good to see you back at it!!

[Kim57]

Nice progress.
Kim

[dug224]

Welcome back. Nice job jumping back in it head first.

[ricott]

For the last 5 hours or so I've been hanging sheet metal. A storm is moving through (at 3:00 pm) so I thought I would post an afternoon update, and ask the forum a couple of questions. First the good (and I think it is real good), here is the sheet metal on the truck:





Now for the "not so good":

The wifey said "you will be good as long as you don't need to turn!"



The rockers of the truck are at 7 inches off the ground at this point. The tire is in the fender just under 3 inches. I'm thinking I will raise the whole cab approximately 1 inch (those adjusters are real handy), and then rework the fender opening to make up the rest. I read somewhere years ago that people have grafted the fender wheel openings from a late 50 / early 60 Pontiac to increase this opening. Can anyone verify this, and if so, can you send me a link? Another possibility is to roll the fender lip, but I don't think that alone would do it.

Next problem:

My arithmetic apparently wasn't so good when a set up the frame!!! Check out the front part of the rear wheel opening:



Since the frame is tack welded only, when I pull the sheet metal to do the finish welding, I will shorten the frame approximately 2 inches to center the rear wheel up in the wheelwell.

Final issue:



While I love the look of the rear wheel in the opening, I don't think I could pull the tire without having to unbolt the bed. Anyone who runs their truck this low, please chime in if you think it is possible. I'm still debating how to fix this potential problem. I'm headed back out to the garage in a little while to start working through the issues. As always, there is more to come.

Ricky

Time spent so far today: 5.5
Total time : 96.5

[Kim57]

It sure is going to look good.
Better to find those little issues now when they can be fixed without too much trouble.
I solved the problem of dropping the rear to get my rears off by making my bed tilt.
Not sure what you can do though.
Kim

[Bomp]

It looks like its doing a hundred miles an hour sittin there.
How often do you plan on changing your wheels? May be a pain to do so but heck it sure looks cool like it is.
On the front, not sure what to tell ya other than air ride. Hit the switch and you've got plenty of room.
Looks great!

[dug224]

Man, that thing looks great like you have it.

Frame Arithmetic: Hate to see you missed that dimension. Glad frame was just tacked. Check "Cab to Bed Gap". May be able to make some up there.

Rear Wheel Change: Same concern on mine. At my current bed height, when I lift the truck, the wheel falls out from under the bed just enough to change it. Air Ride? Same reasoning as Bomp. Not too familiar with them but, from what I have seen, you get lots of travel out of them.

[ChuckDriver]

That's the fun of the mock up stage, getting it right. Looking good!!!!

[dsraven]

hey ricott
good to see you back on the project. the truck looks great. hopefully you can figure out the turning thing without raising the truck body because that height really suits the look. different offset wheels maybe?
I am doing a 57 gmc onto an envoy all wheel drive chassis. an xuv I got as a write off. once I get the extended cab section finished, so I can move the cab without fear of a twisted distorted mess, I will be up against the same perils. just wondering, are you planning on a reskin of the doors? the body line tapers front to rear so how do you plan on making that right? reskin seems like the only way to me, but then I need to get out more, ha ha. with the metal skills I have seen on the goat it looks like you could just fab a whole new door, in an afternoon, between games...
I opted to use the stock door and add behind the seat room. that longer door opening definitely looks cool though. I am already committed (or should be), so I will continue on with mine. dug tells me to start a build thread but I will have to snag the paperboy or a preschooler to help me figure that out. I tried but my work seemed to go into oblivion. I will have to take another look at it I guess.
today, working on a high mount brake light mount in the roof panel. we'll see how that turns out. I can always weld it closed again. ha ha
dennis

[dug224]

Originally Posted by dsraven

hey ricott
good to see you back on the project. the truck looks great. hopefully you can figure out the turning thing without raising the truck body because that height really suits the look. different offset wheels maybe?
I am doing a 57 gmc onto an envoy all wheel drive chassis. an xuv I got as a write off. once I get the extended cab section finished, so I can move the cab without fear of a twisted distorted mess, I will be up against the same perils. just wondering, are you planning on a reskin of the doors? the body line tapers front to rear so how do you plan on making that right? reskin seems like the only way to me, but then I need to get out more, ha ha. with the metal skills I have seen on the goat it looks like you could just fab a whole new door, in an afternoon, between games...
I opted to use the stock door and add behind the seat room. that longer door opening definitely looks cool though. I am already committed (or should be), so I will continue on with mine. dug tells me to start a build thread but I will have to snag the paperboy or a preschooler to help me figure that out. I tried but my work seemed to go into oblivion. I will have to take another look at it I guess.
today, working on a high mount brake light mount in the roof panel. we'll see how that turns out. I can always weld it closed again. ha ha
dennis

Dennis...as Ricky has said, if there aren't pictures, it didn't happen! I need to come up there and help you start the build thread so we can see the progress!!! We need more high quality entertainment. Dug

[Advanced Design]

I love the wisdom of wives...You will be ok as long as you don't have to turn. Can you run a flatter face wheel (moving the centerline of the wheel inboard)?

[ricott]

Originally Posted by Kim57

It sure is going to look good.
Better to find those little issues now when they can be fixed without too much trouble.
I solved the problem of dropping the rear to get my rears off by making my bed tilt.
Not sure what you can do though.
Kim

Thanks Kim – I remember your tilt bed, and did consider that approach at first. I think I have the rear figured out. The Trailblazer rear is a 4 bar setup. Instead of removing the bed to change a tire, I could remove the bottom sway bar bolt and the bottom shock bolt, then jack up the frame. I will need a second jack to support the axel as I pull the tire, but this appears to work.

Originally Posted by Bomp

It looks like its doing a hundred miles an hour sittin there.
How often do you plan on changing your wheels? May be a pain to do so but heck it sure looks cool like it is.
On the front, not sure what to tell ya other than air ride. Hit the switch and you've got plenty of room.
Looks great!

Greg: Thanks for your comments. I agree the truck looks like it is moving just sitting there. Even my wife said "your truck has really good bones". She never gets excited this early in the game!

Originally Posted by dug224

Man, that thing looks great like you have it.

Frame Arithmetic: Hate to see you missed that dimension. Glad frame was just tacked. Check "Cab to Bed Gap". May be able to make some up there.

Rear Wheel Change: Same concern on mine. At my current bed height, when I lift the truck, the wheel falls out from under the bed just enough to change it. Air Ride? Same reasoning as Bomp. Not too familiar with them but, from what I have seen, you get lots of travel out of them.

Dug: Thanks for the comments. I hope all is well with you. I have missed not seeing any progress updates on your truck. As far as the frame math – remember I'm a lawyer (not an engineer) - and we make our living on "fuzzy math" and "fuzzy" everything!

Originally Posted by ChuckDriver

That's the fun of the mock up stage, getting it right. Looking good!!!!

JJ: It was a very enjoyable (and inspiring) couple of days getting the body panels lined up. I'm ready to burn some wire now!

Originally Posted by dsraven

hey ricott
good to see you back on the project. the truck looks great. hopefully you can figure out the turning thing without raising the truck body because that height really suits the look. different offset wheels maybe?
I am doing a 57 gmc onto an envoy all wheel drive chassis. an xuv I got as a write off. once I get the extended cab section finished, so I can move the cab without fear of a twisted distorted mess, I will be up against the same perils. just wondering, are you planning on a reskin of the doors? the body line tapers front to rear so how do you plan on making that right? reskin seems like the only way to me, but then I need to get out more, ha ha. with the metal skills I have seen on the goat it looks like you could just fab a whole new door, in an afternoon, between games...
I opted to use the stock door and add behind the seat room. that longer door opening definitely looks cool though. I am already committed (or should be), so I will continue on with mine. dug tells me to start a build thread but I will have to snag the paperboy or a preschooler to help me figure that out. I tried but my work seemed to go into oblivion. I will have to take another look at it I guess.
today, working on a high mount brake light mount in the roof panel. we'll see how that turns out. I can always weld it closed again. ha ha
dennis

Dennis: I decided to go with "the look" and not raise the truck. I determined that changing the rear tires would be doable without a lot of extra work, and I will bite the bullet and redo the fender lip on the front to clear the tires. I also may need to roll the front fender lips, but I am confident I can get this to work.

Your question on the doors – I will lengthen both doors using parts from another set of "junk" doors. I will reskin them using some of the skin from the second set of doors. As far as the front to back taper on the door skin "shelf", I looked at this last year and convinced myself I could make it work.

Please start a Thread on your project. I would love to see your idea on the high mount brake light. I have also had typing disappear so I started typing it in an email, then cutting and pasteing into this blog after losing my work a few times.

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

I love the wisdom of wives...You will be ok as long as you don't have to turn. Can you run a flatter face wheel (moving the centerline of the wheel inboard)?

AD – I love my wife – while she doesn't normally help me in the garage, she is always willing to come out and assist me. After 33 years of marriage, I really appreciate her insight. I have really enjoyed watching your Suburban build, and would love to see more info/pictures about the Buick.

THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE WHO STOPPED BY - NOW ON TO THE BUILD

Yesterday (Tuesday)I took a vacation day and spent 8 hours completing the line up of the truck's sheet metal. First step was to make adjusts for the Bed and the front cap.





This allowed me to move each of the three major parts of this project (front cap, cab, and bed) up and down to get them lined up together.

After finishing the adjusters, I used a stud gun to weld a stud at the front of the front fender and the rear of the rear fender along the "body" line that runs from the front to back of the truck.



Next I ran yellow painter's tape along the "body" line along the length of the truck.



If you hold a light above this tapeline, it will cast a shadow at the crown of the line. I marked a pencil line along the crown the length of the body

Next you pull a line tightly between the studs. Then move the parts up/down until the pencil marks on the tape on all the parts are even with the string line.



Here is the money shot before I begin welding this up



The wifey and I will be in Oxford cheering for the Ole Miss Rebels as they take on Tennessee this weekend, so I will not be back on this until some point next week.


Stay tuned, more to come!!!

Ricky

Hours on Tuesday: 8
Total hours: 104.5

[67Mal]

Great to see the new progress on your build.
Hope you have a great time in MS.

Malcolm

[Kim57]

That's a great set up for aligning all the body panels.
Kim

[jholt]

Looking great so far. Keep it up.

[rgunlock]

Originally Posted by Kim57

That's a great set up for aligning all the body panels.
Kim

I agree - great idea. Beats heck out of trying to do that with wood blocks and shims.

[ricott]

Thanks guys for the comments. Nothing to report - I rolled the truck in order to clean up my messy garage. Of course I shot some "outside" pictures.





I plan to pull the sheet metal off the frame tomorrow night so I can begin the final shortening process by next weekend. As always, more to come.

Ricky

[Kim57]

Looks good.
Kim

[dsraven]

ok dugg, I will endeavor to post some pics. I tried to post a few and actually thought I had it but then they were gone. maybe some alien has them somewhere...

[Bomp]

Lookin good there. I'll take a roll out pic anytime.

[dsraven]

hey lookit, it worked. i tried some old pics I had. that is a pic of my home made firewall and my version of the extended cab.
if I get time I will try to get a build thread started. last time I wasted a bunch of time cause it too went into oblivion....
ricott, that thing looks GREAT. even make the door look longer if you went with one piece glass conversion.
I will try to add some more pics of the xtended cab so you can see what my plan is. I just used a bunch of stuff in the shop to bend the panel over, then used a home made break and other home made tools to make it all fit, sort of. this was the first side.

[Mr.Jones]

Nice truck. It's nice to see somebody from my hometown who has ridiculous skills.

[Mr.Jones]

Originally Posted by ricott

The “official” start of this build began today. I took off from work and went to my friend’s salvage yard where I have the large sheet metal parts for this project stored. The first order of business was to get the Trailblazer EXT frame and related goodies that I will be using for this build. The Trailblazer was low mileage (32k from the insurance papers) that was a rollover. I purchased the frame, floorpan and related items last summer, but wanted to wait for winter to begin stripping it. I hate wasps, snakes and spiders, all of which could be in something like this in warmer months, but with a high of around 40F today, it was not be a problem!



He pulled the trailblazer down the hill and moved it near my 55 pickup. I spent the rest of the day stripping the trailblazer. I then cut the floorpan at 70 inches back from the firewall, cut the “A” and “B” pillars, then pushed the roof and unneeded back section of the Trailblazer frame away. Sorry I failed to get a good picture of the “stripped” Trailblazer.





I am using the Trailblazer frame for this build because of all the modern components. This frame was made to accept the newest GM V8, has great brakes, steering and a 3:73 posi rear end. My wife has an Envoy Denali, and it is a great vehicle. While the frame on the 55 pickup appears to be very solid, the effort to update it will be substantially more time consuming and expensive (for me) than going the Trailblazer frame route.

Everyone have a great Christmas, and I hope to be back with my next update by New Year’s Day. Stay tuned, more to come!!!

Ricky

By chance, does your friend have any salvageable chevy trucks (55-59) still on his lot?

[ricott]

Ok Dennis, now you have teased us, you have to start a build thread!!! That is a good looking stretch cab you have going. It looks like you added about a foot to the cab? That filler panel you fabbed up looks really good, did you MIG or TIG it in? I would like to see your idea on the third brake light, and know what you did for your roof filler panel. You are welcome to put as much information as you want in this thread, but your build deserves it own thread.

Mr. Jones - My salvage operator really doen't have anything that old. He allows me to store my junk on his 80 acre yard. The 55 in the picture is mine - I bought it in Oklahoma for the front sheet metal - I'm just not using the bed or frame. Do you ever get back to Memphis?

[Mr.Jones]

Originally Posted by ricott

Ok Dennis, now you have teased us, you have to start a build thread!!! That is a good looking stretch cab you have going. It looks like you added about a foot to the cab? That filler panel you fabbed up looks really good, did you MIG or TIG it in? I would like to see your idea on the third brake light, and know what you did for your roof filler panel. You are welcome to put as much information as you want in this thread, but your build deserves it own thread.

Mr. Jones - My salvage operator really doen't have anything that old. He allows me to store my junk on his 80 acre yard. The 55 in the picture is mine - I bought it in Oklahoma for the front sheet metal - I'm just not using the bed or frame. Do you ever get back to Memphis?

Ricott thanks for the quick reply. I routinely come back to see the family. I am station in Virginia Beach for the military. I love the exceptional work you are doing with your truck.