1952 Chevy 3600 - Project for me and my boy...

I will holler one of these days. I actually prefer to work alone, *mostly* nice and quiet. But you know how it is, occassionally you need that extra hand.

 

It sure saved my toes/fingers/leg/whatever from getting smashed!

 

i hear ya. i like bein alone tinkerin bud every once in a while its nice to talk someone

 

So I spent most of the weekend cleaning up the front of the frame. Would love to just remove the cab and do the entire frame all at once, but unfortunately garage space will not allow for that. Soooo, I will prep and paint the front of the frame, then the rear, then lay the cab back to do under the cab.

Have been using putty scraper, screwdriver, and drills with wire cups. Hard work! I should have degreased it first, but really didn't want to bring the hose into the garage and get everything wet. And my driveway is steep, so I have no option to wheel the truck outside. Soon, I will build a small frame, lined with plastic, to catch the water, and direct it out the garage door (think downspout splash pad, but a wee bit larger). Even though it has been slow, we are making more progress. And my helper actually showed up to work... lol And my Prep Step and Zero Rust should be here sometime this week.

 

awesome!!! i like your helper. i used to be one of them, then i got my own projects

 

Good daddy !

I see you're teaching him to use safety gear , that's important to do at an early age so he'll always be comfortable with it .

 

Thanks Skeeter. Yeah, Nate, he knows. He had a bandana over his face too, but had just taken it off. I try to get him in the mindset when working on something, safety is important.

 

That's too cool when the younguns get involved. Right now my daughter is like, "Eww, I don't want that truck!" (Probably because she doesn't believe it IS a truck. It sure as hell doesn't look like one, and the last time it was, she can't remember what it looked like!) But just wait until it's back together and she takes a ride with me, seat belt buckled. I bet I might even get her out there helping me again, once she sees all the shiny red parts!

 

Like! Can't wait for that first ride either!!

 

Front of the frame go painted over the weekend. Looks ok from 4-5 ft. away, but I'm not happy with the Zero Rust. Using the prep step as a cleaner (as suggested) had little to no effect vs. the wire cup I was using. And the actual Zero Rust paint? When I swiped it on a small area, it would gel up before I could come back to smooth it on the next stroke ( > 10 seconds). Might be good paint, but didnt turn out smooth using the brush method. Maybe the key to using it is to thin it down and spray it?? Ohh well. When shackles, u-bolts, shocks, and springs come in from the host this week, I'll be assembling the front end/drop axle and can start on the rear.

 

looks good from here

 

Yup, it looks great!

Ya know, if you took the cab mount bolts off/out you could do like I did and roll the cab straight backward on the frame allowing access to the frame that is under the cab and the bottom of the cab. It really makes that part easy!
Anyway, Thanks for the pictures, it looks GREAT!!!

 

Absolutely Zig. I do intend to do that, but wanted to get my rear end mounted first, so when I lay the cab back, I can install the new master cylinder and plumb all of the brake lines.

 

Damn~

Now ain't THAT a great idea! What the hell was I thinking~~~ (Must have been a money thing at the time. Paint/elbow grease was cheap... I didn't want to scare my wife with, "Oh, hey, while the cabs rolled back, there's this great double master cylinder for c-h-e-a-p. No honey, I'm not like you ex that sunk a truck load of money into his car!") HA!

Great plan of attack, though! Can't wait for more photos!

 

When we got the truck, the brakes didn't work. So I figured the MC needed replaced. And while I did that, I figured I would replace the lines. And since I was going to replace the lines, disc brakes were totally necessary for safety reasons of course. And to do the disc brakes, I needed the 1/2 ton axle. And since I was putting that on, it only made sense to have the axle dropped. Well, we all know, if you drop the front, you gotta drop the back. While dropping the back, you gotta have lower gears for highway use, right? You get the idea. Its kinda like dont ask dont tell. She doesnt ask how much, and I dont tell!

 

im dealin with this too. but not with brakes. with the engine

 

Front end assembly went well. Kind of. The new leaf springs from the host were about 2mm (0.078") too wide for the rear hanger. Didn't know if the hanger had been distorted from the tightening of the old bolt, but I didn't want to chance buying new hangers, bolting them to the frame and find out I'm in the same situation. So I just ground down a tad over 1mm on each side of the springs.

Disc brakes will be here tomorrow, and wheels on Friday. Since I am off on Friday, I should get some more stuff done this weekend.

 

ooohh man that drop axle looks sweet.

 

Yessss in deed!!! that's looking mighty fine!

 

Thanks guys.