Olddaze '59 Chevy short-bed build

[olddaze]

Ordered in new motor and transmission mounts, finished up the brake lines and bolted the motor to the transmission.
Time to put it back in the frame. Woohoo!

That's my brother giving me a hand. It was much easier having two people to get it into place.

And of course the foreman had to check that we were doing things right

 

[olddaze]

Ordered a big box of goodies from Classic, all stuff for the interior. Heater control unit, vent seals, fan switch, vent & heater cables, rubber floor mat & jute backing and defrost hose. All good stuff except the fan switch. It completely fell apart in my hands as I was connecting the wires, pieces flew making the idea of putting it back together hopeless. I'll try to find an OE one.

Got some sound deadner off of e-bay. Stuff went down easy and is super sticky.

Forgot to mention that we put the steering column back in before reinstalling the motor. Dash looking good with more stuff in there.

I put in the jute & rubber mat. I'm surprised no one makes a sill plate to hold this edge down, that I could find. Gonna need to make something.

Stripped down the front clip to get the inner fenders and radiator support to get it blasted and painted.

All shiny black now.

Made a mount and bent up some steel line to have an oil filter. Really happy how it turned out.

 

[olddaze]

Getting excited again and the push is on to hear it run. Ordered a gas tank and sending unit from Bob's and a aluminum radiator from Champion.

Now the plan with the radiator was to paint it black. But when it showed up all shiny & gorgeous I started having thoughts of keeping it that way. So I call up Champion and expressed my concerns about it oxidizing in Ohio weather. Guy said "no problem just wipe it down with cleaner and shoot it with rattle can high temp clear." So I do that not taking into consideration that it was super humid that morning. After spraying it I checked back up on it later and it looked like I sprayed it with grey primer. The humidity clouded up the clear horribly. I quickly grabbed a can of gloss black and hit it a gain. Turned out nice and now that it's in the truck I like the black better.

 

[Tim Stines]

I love the work you have done its looking great

 

[50 Chevy LS3]

Man, I love these detailed threads! Fantastic work! You have some great skills. Keep the updates coming.

 

[olddaze]

Photobucket has been a PITA the past few days. They must be working on it again.
Got some sill plates made for the truck. Holds the edge down tight.

 

[olddaze]

I did all the test fitting with my old doors. I should have spent more time fitting these doors to the cab before I painted the inside.

Right door had two spots that I had to grind back the edge and weld up, to correct my door gap. Lower corner by the cab corner is sucked in a little and I think I may hafta live with it.
Also installed a horn.

It's an old Shovelhead horn I had laying around. Works and adds a little bling under the hood.

 

[olddaze]

Rebuilt the carb thanks to a kit off of e-bay. Easiest carb I've ever done. Picked up brushes for the generator at NAPA for $5 and had to file the contacts in the regulator and polarize to get her to charge.

She is a runner!
It will make things muck easier now it moves under it's own power.
Spent some time today making a wiring harness for the OD transmission. All that's left to do is hook up the last two wires to the ing switch.
All up to date now on the build thread. I'll keep you posted on the truck as I get stuff done.

 

[VELCRO]

Doors

Years ago I read an article about 55 to 59 truck doors. Writer stated he never seen 2 that were the same. I know mine are different. One has the standard 1/4 x 20 screws in the inside cover and the other one has number 12 machine screws and both are original doors but not original to my truck. Neither one lines up very well with the cab. Some pushing, prying and bending helped. Once I had a picture of 2 workers on the assembly line using a 2x4 to adjust a door. Guess we need to remember they were built as work trucks. Mine never had any accessories and still don't.
I like what you have done with your truck. You do good work.
Gerald in Florida

 

[Bill Hanlon]

One has the standard 1/4 x 20 screws in the inside cover and the other one has number 12 machine screws and both are original doors but not original to my truck.

I'm pretty sure the #12 machine screws were a 1955 thing and that 56 and newer used the 1/4 x 20 pieces. The used replacement right side door I bought for my '57 had the #12 screws. I just drilled and tapped the door for 1/4 x 20.

 

[VELCRO]

doors

That sounds logical to me. The article explained the differences were because production of some of the doors were out sourced. I like your explanation the best.

 

[olddaze]

Fedex driver dropped off new seat upholstery today. Padding material should be here early next week. Never upholstered a seat before, aughta be fun.

 

[olddaze]

Decided to tear into the seat.

Mice have been having a ball.
Back cleaned up good, but the bottom has a few broken springs.

Think I'm going to pull the seat out of the parts truck to see if that is any better.

 

[olddaze]

Closer inspection of my seat shown several broken springs and the bottom tin very rotten. Decided to pull the seat out of the parts truck and see how that survived. Only one broken spring and the bottom tin was in much better shape.
The stink of mouse pee was a little overwhelming even when stripped down to metal. Took the bare frame up to the back yard and soaked it in bleach and then soap & water. Blew it off and set into rust removal with a wire wheel. The stank came back, so I cut loose with 4 cans of satin black and that took care of the stink. Hopefully gonna try my hand at recovering tomorrow.

 

[olddaze]

Ordered a padding kit from Classic Parts USA. Had two pieces of burlap, one piece of felt, plenty of cotton batting and new clips. Started off covering the springs with the burlap, reusing the hog rings from the old covering.

And since they only sent enough felt to do 1/2 the seat and I thought that something stiffer between the springs & batting was a good idea. I laid down alittle carpet.

And then two layers of batting.

Pulled the cover over it and then flipped it over so the padding stayed in place. Then sat on it while I pulled it tight and installed clips.

Didn't turn out too bad. Time to move on to the botton. Burlap, the felt, two layers of batting, slide cover over and flip.
This is where the cussing and sore fingertips enter in. Didn't grab the camera at this point, I was on a mission to get this job done. Being able to pull the cover tight and get the clips installed down in the little ditch is a PITA!

Done! Happy with how it turned out and it's damn comfortable.
Going to lay down some sound deadener under the seat tomorrow and chuck the seat in the cab. Gotta be better than the 5 gallon pail I'm sitting on now.

 

[AZ58Cameo]

Olddaze
I think its pretty Cool that you are rebuilding your 59 and saving it!
From one 4 eyed Truck Owner (58 Cameo&59 Stepside) to another
Nice job on the Restoration!
Allen

 

[JIMnWV]

Good looking work you are doing. Making me anxious to get my garage up and finished, really looking forward to getting back on my 55,been setting 2-3 years now.

 

[vwnate1]

Great Progress !

Nice work and yes , gusseting the seat springs with carpet or other heavy padding works wonders to make those old bench seats comfy although few believe it .

 

[olddaze]

Thanks guys! I try and do something with it every day, even if it's just looking at it or picking up tools. Slumping alittle right now. Really really want new steel fenders. Not in the budget right now. So, moving to the back of the cab to get it all smoothed out and in primer.

 

[50 Chevy LS3]

Nice job on the seat! I rounded up two to try and get one in the end. Same thing, broken springs and mouse stink. Thanks for the pics and the tip on using carpet.