My '39 Chevy Pickup Project

[dmw56]

You may want to reinforce that front spring hanger with some gussets. It's supporting the weight of the whole front end.

 

[Motorhead]

Nice project, we have the same engines!

Is that how the steering setup going to be? I'd be a little worried about it in the event of an accident. The drag link is only inches away from your crotch.

 

[Andrew]

what steering box is that, anyway? I'm sorry if I missed it...

 

[cking894]

I agree with you about strengthening the front bracket. I don't think the four spot welds are going to be enough to hold it. Once we get everything in place we are going to pull it all apart and weld in the extra supports and gussets.

The steering link is going to be about two feet away from me. I don't think it would be a problem in an accident. I'm going to give it a try so see how it works. If I don't like it we'll put a box out on the frame.

Keith

 

[cking894]

I got a couple free hours this afternoon to work on the truck. I was able to cut out and weld the upper door frame in on the passenger door. I also cut the windshield frame down and got it tacked together.

Keith

 

[Gregster]

The truck is so cool !! The chop on the cab looks great , can't wait to see it finished --- love your ideas .

 

[PorkChopMFMC]

Can we see more of the steering box and how it looks coming thur the firewall? I am almost to that point on my 42 chevy truck.

 

[BigShem]

looking good keith your moving right along on that sweet ride.....[cl[cl[dr[cl[dr

 

[hotrod preacher]

looks like its coming along quite well.......[cl

now get out there and get back to work[

we're waiting for more updates[P

 

[59imp]

great project! thanks for postin all the pics. if this is only your 2nd chop, i'd say you're doing pretty darn good. i like the 56 too......

 

[cking894]

Andrew, I think the steering box is out of about a 1967 Chevy pickup. It was one that we had laying around. We kept trying different ones until I found it. It is six and a half turns from lock to lock. The steering arm is one that I picked up at a swap meet.

Porkchop, here are a couple pictures of the steering shaft coming out of the firewall. I took the pictures yesterday while we were working on it. We ended up having to open the hole up more and we're building a new steering shaft. I'll post more pictures later after it's all hooked up.

I cut out and welded up the driver side door frame yesterday. Here are some pictures of how I did it. I'm not sure if it's the best way to do it but it worked for me.

I used poster paper to cut out the shape and size of the back of the door.
I then transferred that shape to the frame and cut it out.

I tacked the piece in place before cutting out the front section.

Keith

 

[cking894]

I then made a mark on the "A" pillar for the length of the front section and cut it out.

I used a piece of the lower section to fill in the middle. I cut out the back bracing and trimmed the edge to fit.

Here's the finished door.

Keith

 

[jhoutsider]

nice job...i just did the same thing ...[cl.........on my 37 chevy.

 

[cking894]

Here's what I got done today. Norman drew up an idea we have for an adjustable height rear suspension with the coil over springs. He drew everything to scale size. I cut out the cross member steel and the brackets for the pivot points. I picked up the chain binder yesterday which was be used to make the adjustments. We will finish putting everything together on Wednesday and see how it works. We are figuring that we will get about six inches of adjustment out of it.

Keith

 

[Andrew]

Hmm that looks interesting! I've never seen a cantilever system using a chain binder before!
haha sweet. Can't wait to see it fabbed up!

 

[rainman]

Only problem is I think you're coilover is dead. Outline was the giveaway. HaHa.

 

[cking894]

Hey Rainman that's some funny S*%* I don't care who you are.

I got the outside bearings and seals changed out in the rear end today and installed the third member. We got the rear cross member tacked in and tested the rear ride height adjusters. Here is a picture of the suspension in the raised position.

Here is a picture of the suspension in the lowered position. You can see that the frame will actually sit down on top of the rear end. It will sit so low that the rear tires lift off the ground. It should make it really easy to win a burnout contest. We ended up with a total of seven inches of adjustment.

Keith

 

[clamor]

That is awesome!!!

No concerns on the strength of the binder for a suspension application?

More pictures (&/or drawings) please!!!

-Chaz

 

[dmw56]

That would be even cooler if you could replace the chainbinder with a hydraulic ram so you could adjust it from your seat. But very neat set up.

 

[rainman]

Not an expert on this subject but it looks like that binder will be under a lot of stress. Like the idea tho.