Ok, my mistake for not making things clearer. I wasn't offering you the tanks, I was offering to measure my tanks for you so you could see if they would work for you. You had said that you were going to go to the bone yard and measure some, and I was offering to save you the trip in the snow. I see that Gator412 wants the measurements too, so I'll get them in the morning and post them here.

Sorry for the confusion.

yes the 78 supreme is the same, they are both g-body cars. g-body cars have almost the exact same front clip as the camaro. the reason the camaro is a better choice is because i has far greater suspension geometry. the camaro roll center is about where the camshaft in an engine is. the roll center on a g-body car is below the ground.

Thanks dusty the measurements would be great.can you take pictures with the tape measure next to the hanger brackets too?

Actually, The G-Body frames (58") are 3 1/2 " narrower then a Gen 2 camaro sub frame (61 1/2"). And, G-Body frames are not symmetrical from side to side making it difficult to find a reference point. We had two examples of a G-Body with this same issue. Please see my previous post on a G-Body graph. 58" is the width of a 47 - 54 chevy pickup.

The forward edge of the shock mount hole is the center line for the wheels on a camaro sub frame.

I've graphed both of these front ends over the last year. Bottom line, the camaro is easier and the correct width for 55-59+ chevy trucks.

well from what i understanded was that the monte frame had a little bit wider track width compared to the camaro. the reason i ask about the cutlass supreme is because i can get one right now for 300 bucks. that is the whole entire car. sounds like agood deal to me because i can use anything i would need off of the car. so what i am asking is the supeme will work for what i want to do?


hey tom..... what was the post number on your g-body graph?

i would look around for a camaro. i found a z28 for $100 with a 3.08 rear. and i got quoted $350 for a firebird front and rear end from the junk yard if i pull it. it shouldn't be that hard to find a camaro.

Streamline55, The Camaro is the way to go...IMO... for reasons expressed before...
Here is the post http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/i-c...8-a-105440.html.

It took us 3 1/2 days of measuring to get the G-Body front end square...

Thrash... in all realality i might be able to make all the money back from that car. plus if i miss somthing i need i can go into the car and grab it. i know where i can get a camaro sub frame at but they want 100 bucks for it and its suspension needs to be rebuilt. im just in a pickle!

Ok, I tried to get some photos, but I couldn't get a clear shot of the tanks on either side from beneath the truck. I did get pics of the hanger brackets with the tape measure though.

For a pic of the tank itself, I copied a pic from my CUCV (pronounced KUK VEE) manual, as they are the same thing as the civilian Chevy and GMC trucks. Keep in mind that these trucks are Diesel models, however the fuel tanks are identical to the gasoline model.

The first pic is a shot of the tank hanger bracket - sorry it's blurry. I only included this shot to show you where I took the measurement.

The second pic is a closer look at the tape measure.

The third pic is copied from the manual for the CUCV. Notice that the tank has a flange running around the center of it where they welded the two halves together. All of the measurements include that flange. Also notice that the front of the tank is shorter than the back.

The back half of the tank (where arrow 13 is pointing) is 11 inches tall.

The front portion of the tank (where 22, 23, and 24 bolt into it) is 9 inches tall.

The width of the tank is 14 inches

The overall length of the tank is 54 inches.

These measurements do not include the guards (numbers 12, 22, and 34 in the third pic.) If you plan to include those guards, add 1 inch to both the length and the height of the tank. Width won't be effected.

The fuel level sending unit (18, 19, and 20 in the third pic) sticks up another 3 inches above the tank.

All of the above measurements are identical for either side of the truck, and both sides of the truck have exactly the same parts. These tanks originally bolted to the outside of the frame.

Just for reference, if anyone wants a copy of the CUCV manuals, they can be found online in PDF format for free. Here's where I got mine:

http://brochures.slosh.com/cucv/

As I said before, the CUCV is almost identical to the civilian model of Chevy and GMC trucks of the same years, with the exception of the electrical system - the military CUCV is 24 volts whereas the civilian model is 12 volts. Also remember that the CUCV is a 6.2 liter Diesel with a Turbo 400 automatic transmission. The pick-up is model M1008, and the Blazer is model M1009. Any manual that ends with the letter P is the parts manual, and has exploded diagrams like the one I used for this post.

Hope this helps you, and if you need anything else please don't hesitate to ask!

Dusty

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Hope this helps...

http://50chevy.freeservers.com/Susp...html#Suspension

Dusty

Thanks Dusty ....now where did I leave that tape measure?

Thanks for all the effort Dusty.I wont have time to run a tape on my truck for a few days but this will be here when I am ready.

Double D that is a truck to be most proud of. Incidentally, I have anti sway bars on my 55 and you are 100% correct about needing them for safer driving. I am particularly intrigued with your bed cover and how it seems to blend in with the line of the truck. Can you tell me where you got it and did you install it or have it done. Congratulations on having such a beautiful truck and sharing it with others. To me that is the purpose for having one.
Face

Face I bought the bed cover from Pace Edwards.It is a Jack Rabbit bed cover.I had to go through a dealer since they don't make one for a 58 Apache.I drew them a detailed diagram of the bed with all the measurements and the dealer faxed it to them.The box on the truck is 65 inches wide and the cover is 64 1/4 wide so the rails are shimmed out with the brackets they sent and the rails are the right length but they don't cap the bed rails totally.I had to modify the bed to make the clamps they sent work.Pace Edwards did not want to ship it because they could not guaranty it would even mount to my bed,I paid for it in full and assumed all responsibility's for installation before they would even ship it to the dealer.It was $1050 and a 3 month ordeal to get it(first one ever ordered for a 58 apache) but not hard to install and I am very happy with it.I use turtle wax vinyl protector to keep it dark black and protect it from all the snow and extreme cold.It is water tight except in the back corners were the tail gate butts up to the side rails.When it is windy a little water gets in but not much and it mostly keep out all the dust from our local dirt roads.I put in a 3/8 universal bed liner from J.C.Witney.Without the bed liner the tail gate seal would get damaged easily sliding tool boxes in and out.

Hey Guys.... I'm cleaning up and painting my firewall and ran across a couple of indentations that I don't think are suppose to be there. The problem is I don't have anything to go by to see what it should look like or how far it has been beat in. Here are a couple of pictures with the indentions circled. If any of you have a clear shot and can send me a pic of this area on the firewall it would be too cool
Thanks,
Dave

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