Hey ya'll, ...I'm new here, My name is Sabastian (aka SeAMuNkY) and I'm 33 years of age. I live in southern Kentucky and work at Franklin Automotive Center. My uncle owns the business, and the last couple years I've talked him into restoring classic cars for customers...... so far things are looking good for the business. We just finished up our first project, a '66 Mustang convertible, this summer. Right now we are starting back together with a '52 Chevy pickup, which is why I'm here. We've bought most all of our parts from Classic Parts except for a few parts that weren't offered..... and some of the larger parts we got locally to save on shipping costs. The restoration business is not exactly what I want to do, but it is still better than just doing mechanical tech stuff, which is what I used to do everyday..... I really want to build Hot Rods and Kustoms..... my personal vehicles are a '49 Chevy Fleetline Kustom that I've been working on for what seems like eternity now........... I've been collecting parts to build a '27 Ford Coupe Hot Rod..... and I just recently picked up a new project, a '52 Chevy 2 door sedan..... it will be a '60's inspired Gasser..... ....I think that's enough about me...LOL!!! ...I need help.... I'm looking for info on installing the Cassic Parts bed kit in the '52 Chevy truck...... basicly, just the angle strips...... the holes don't seem to line up correctly..... and when we line up the holes, it doesn't fit right..... should the angle strips need to be trimmed abit on one end, or what??? There wasn't much left of the original to look at because someone welded in a huge peice of steel in the floor.....so we cut most of it apart..... I've searched the net looking for pics and info, but haven't found much..... Thanks in advance for any help..... SeAMuNkY
I think our host offers unpunched angle strips, or if not Mar-K does. We always use these because the holes can be drilled EXACTLY where needed. There are about 4 spot welds through the bed sides to the angle strips between the rear of the bed and where the fender bolts on and a couple between the front of the fender and the front of the bed. Drill evenly spaced 1/4" holes and plug weld with a mig. You just have to finish the ones outside either end of the fender because the others are invisible behind the tire. Hang your bed cross members on and use some old scrap 3/4" wood to rest the angle strip on so it will be at the right height for your bed wood to slip under. The carriage bolts that go through the angle strip and cross member are 5/16 if you want to keep it exactly correct. We just use 1/4 all the way around. If you can't punch square holes you can drill 5/16 holes for the 1/4" carriage bolts and the square shoulders will catch enough to keep them from spinning while tightening or you can get bolts with a splined shank to lock into a round hole (like lug bolts in an axle). Good luck.
WELCOME Sabastian ! ..And GOOD ON YA for not ruining that sweet old truck , looking at the floor support rust I can see where many would have scrapped it or taken the easy way out and made another Hot Rod . Here you'll find many experts who know the answers to most any odd minutuae detail question as well as biasics on Auto Repairs and other O.T. sujects too (like grilling Road Draft Tubes , right , Andy ? RIGHT ? Plus there's at least one old farm mechanic here who knows how these old rigs were run and maintained back when they were just , well , just old trucks and not considered anything special (hard to imagine that but I swear it's true) . So , jump in , the water's fine ! remember to tell us about your '47 Fleetline too .
Yes, WELCOME! Awesome job you've done on your ride~ Might as well call it night and day! How did you manage to get your block SO CLEAN!?! I'd have been tempted to clear-coat it and leave it at that! Beautiful ride! The 49 is Z-Z Top cool!
Hey ya'll, ....thanks for the welcome.......and compliments...... I just got in from a long, long day of wetsanding and buffing the cab...... I painted it Saturday and wet sanded all day Monday and part of this morning.... then buffed the rest of the day...... I've got the first cut done..... tomorrow I'll do two more steps of buffing..... then I can finally start to put it together.... I can't wait...... Oh yeah, I just uploaded some new pics tonight for anyone interested..... they are at the same place.... here Zig..... on cleaning the block..... I started with oven cleaner and a pressure washer..... that got most of it.... then after I pulled it and got it on the stand, I dosed it again with oven cleaner, then hit it with a small wire brush to get in the all the tight spots..... then cleaned it again with carb cleaner and a wire brush ......the carb cleaner helps take off everything, even old paint...... then finally clean with brake parts cleaner, to evaporate any oil residue that may be left, and wipe it down with plenty of clean rags...... by then it's clean enough to eat off of...... not that I'd want to ...LOL!!!! ......then I cover it real good with epoxy primer and single stage acrylic enamel...... Nate.....yeah, the floor was pretty rough...... if it were my truck, I probably would've done the good ol' S-10 frame swap with a SBC/350 Turbo....... which my uncle wants us to build someday soon...... we already have the S-10....LOL!!!! .....but, the customer wanted this truck to look original....... it won't be original, but the average Joe won't know that..... like, we'll be adding chrome bumpers and grill..... turn signals..... I recommended swapping the single line master cylinder for a dual line..... I just think it's safer..... especially havin' about 20+ grand tied up in it..... last thing I wanna see is it smashed because they had a wheel cylinder blow out 3-4 years from now...... and it will have electric wipers..... and seatbelts!!!! .....so, yeah, it's not really original...... but still going to be a really nice lookin' truck...... This is my first time building an AD truck..... so far, I like it..... wish I had one..... but then again, I wish I had every other old car or truck I see...LOL!!! coilover..... thanks for the info.... I don't think welding the angle strips on are an option at this point in the build..... the bedsides are already painted as well as the strips...... my uncle took the bed apart, but didn't tell me the strips were welded to the bedsides...... until I mentioned it to him this morning after reading your post...... so, I was like...... NOW you tell me!!! I guess we'll figure something out.....
Nice rides! Welcome aboard! Reared, no pun intended in west Tennessee. Know your area well! Looking forward to seeing the progress on the truck!
Thanks, ..... I plan to post some updates as I have time for.... it might be useful to someone that wanders through here looking for info... just as I was.....
