I love that Elky.
Dave

Hi Bryan
Everyone is welcome to contribute what ever they can. I check this forum a couple of times a day. I'm sure there are plenty of people here to help on your truck also.
Kim

so.... what is the correct name for the rocket looking things on the Fleetside?
And any recommendations on the best way to restore squished ones?

CharlieG I always called them torpedoes.I have no body work skills yet and would not know how to fix one.I would just buy a panel for that side.I will see what I can find for you.Bryan59EC trucks is trucks I owned a 68 three door suburban before I owned this 58.47 to 72 does not matter a good place to start would be with pictures.I also spend allot of time reading daily posts and direct everybody that posts about a 55 to 59 Chevy trucks to this thread.More people means more ideas and opinions to share. Dave and Gator the optima dry cell battery is about 1 1/2 inches shorter than a wet cell.It might be a good idea to use on of them for extra ground clearance for the battery box.I have a red top optima in my truck and it has plenty of cranking amps for my high compression engine.Dave I did not get my parking brake in today as the cable would not move .I got it freed up tonight so I will start that project tomorrow.It is just a stock 67 truck cable,they are cheap and you can get them from NAPA or any of the after market truck parts companies.( Brothers Trucks,Classic Industries,Harmons,LMC....)I put on my new rocker covers today while I soaked my brake cable in trans fluid.here are some pictures.Deliveryboy that sure is a pretty truck I love that blue.TCH your 55 first series looks good,allot of the stuff we do to the second series will work for you.XXllmm those out the fender headers are beautiful very nice work. I am in heaven keep up the good work guys and keep sharing those ideas and pictures.

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I would think the optima would be the battery to use due to the lack of fumes that would eat the floor.

As for repairing the 'torpedoes', as DD called them (and I can't think of a better name)... It sort of depends on how badly they are squished. If you could post a picture or two, that might help us to see better. If they are real bad, you could cut them out of the quarter panel and replace them with a length of steel tubing (of course, not the whole tube, just a section of it sliced lengthwise). At the tapered front end, you would have to do some fabricating, so if your body and fabricating skills are limited, it may be easier to replace the whole quarter like DD suggested. I'm not sure if anyone makes a replacement for the fleetside or not. You might check a few websites (Brothers Trucks, Classic Industries, Harmons, LMC, etc.)...I don't know.

Thanks DD... He (my son) bought the truck with the cab blue and as near as we can figure it out, it is a '98 Corvette blue. There is too much pearl in it to get a match with the gun at the paint store. So we are just comparing it to other colors we see. It's real close to Viper blue also, so we aren't sure...

Yep.... it's either fix the ones that are there or replace them.

Got the paint on the doghouse and front frame today. Not as nice a job as I was hoping. Sprayed the sealer too thick and ended up with more texture than I was trying for. I did want some texture. Not looking for a glass finish under the hood. The body work and welding turned out really nice. I think it will be fine when I get everything back in there. Don't think anyone will critique the orange peel too hard. There are a couple more pictures in my project journal. Man I love that big block.
Dave

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I worked on the parking brake cable for awhile today.I took off the stock linkage and made the first bracket.I need a right angle drill to drill the holes to mount it to dash support the parking brake handle bolts to.The first picture is the bracket for bolting down the cable.The second picture is the 67 brake cable.The third picture is the cable attached to the brake handle.Just below were it attaches to the handle is the part of the cable that bolts to the bracket I made.The fourth picture is the stock rod and handle.In the picture the dashboard support behind the brake handle is were the bracket bolts up.The cable goes out the hole the stock brake rod goes through.I took the bracket off the fire wall that holds the felt seal and I will use a rubber grommet in the 1 inch hole.I will have to weld a piece of all thread to the threaded endof the cable to make it long enough to reach the stock splitter for the parking bracket cables.I will also have to make a bracket for the other end of the parking brake cable to just push in with the stock retainer.When I get more done I will take pictures of the cable mounted to the bracket in the cab.I ran out of time this weekend so it will be a couple of weeks before I can do more.Dave you will want your engine and trans in first anyway so the cable wont be in your way.The bracket for the other end will most likely bolt to the power brake booster bracket between the booster and the transmission.The last picture is to stock rod coming out the fire wall.Soon all that will be gone and a cable will come out the fire wall and follow along under the cab to a bracket that holds it in place.

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New to the site, recently purchased a 1956 1300 longbox to haul motorcycles to the track. I am just gathering parts and info to modernize the truck for summer: So far clean 93 vette IFS/IRS, flatout crossmember, rear install kit and master brake setup. 1983 c-10 suburban donar truck 350 goodwrench and tired 700R

I am tapped out after the above. Anybody have info on using the tilt column from c-10? Anyone else have experience with flatout x-member ?

Thanx

hey chrisape - nice work. by the way, just what engine is that sitting in there?

What part of TN you in Ray
Dave

Thanks, I have owned this truck since 1998 and still working on it! That engine is a 1996 454 Vortec from a 1 ton van. I am running a Megasquirt EFI controller for fuel and timing, backed by a 700R4 tranny.

I haven't got around to the tilt column yet.Sounds like you have quite the project going.Do you have any pictures to post?

Since this is my first 59 I don't know what a lot of things should look like. I have a major space between my inner fender walls and my firewall. Looks like there should be some kind of beading or rubber strip go in there. Any suggestions or ideas or what you dids. It's a good half inch in some spots and allows things from the wheel to spatter up into the engine bay. Maybe it just doesn't fit as snug as it's suppose to but it looks to me like there should be some kind of rubber seal between the sheet metal and the firewall.
Thanks,
Dave

Dave it needs a new seal.I got my fender to firewall seal kit from Brothers Trucks.It was cheap.I put them on first then used black NAPA brand weather strip adhesive and put the tip up in the slot of the seal and lightly squeezed while I moved it down the length of the seal from the tire side.The first picture is from the engine bay.The second picture is from the inside of the wheel well.

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