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And yes they did use Pontiac V8's. There's a BBW in a local junkyard here that is V8/stick shift. Pretty kool.
 
Discussion starter · #24 ·
Man, I'm not sure I can run that bumper as low as it is. I'd get stuck coming out of parking lots. I think I'll clean it up with a different bumper. I'm wanting to pirate a Pontiac bumper that I have - more bumprettes, kinda like fat mid-year Vette bumpers. I'll steal the taillights too. They look like they were made for the truck - exact same diameter but buldge out. We'll see. It should go into the shop in the next month or so.

Mike
 
Discussion starter · #25 ·
Might keep the rear bumper after all, and the '56 Pontiac taillights fit like a glove. I'll post pics later, forgot to take some.

Anyway, my daughter and I had a fun time today dismanteling the front clip of the truck. We first got the hood and fenders unbolted. Not one bolt broke! It was amazing how easy it came off.

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Plenty of room to pull the engine and trans. I don't recommend pulling them as a unit - I couldn't get the hump on the trans to clear the crossmember. I'm not using that one again anyway so I torched it off.

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The firewall and drops are very clean and rust free! The only issue is the inner metal around both lower hinge pockets is rusted out - pretty minor.

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I did use some cleaner on the firewall and it looks like new paint. The only thing is the pinch weld is kinda rusty, just surface.

We got the whole front suspension off too. I am using this axle for my '55 gasser and the T/A clip is going on here.

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Good day's work with the kid helping. She wasn't that thrilled at first but I gave her specific jobs to do and she started having fun.

Now to measure everything and get ready to graft the new subframe.

Mike
 
Discussion starter · #27 ·
Cut off the old front frame today...

Here's the cutting portion...

There are three holes on the top of the frame that I used as referance marks for the axle centerline. I will probably use the front one for the clip unless I have to cut off more than I think, if so I have the measurements for all three.

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This is what mine is
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This is the axle centerline hole
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cutting off the crossmember and rear spring rivits... there are a lot of them. I cross-cut them then removed the four bits left. It only took about a minute or two for each one with this method.

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Old frame off - note the support bar that joins the rails together and is used as a place to put the jacks
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New frame introduced...
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The front of the remaining stock frame needs to be trimmed to fit the curve of the clip still. I just set it up there to get an idea on how far I need to trim. I looks like the new centerline will be almost 20 5/16" from the first hole (18 5/16" plus the 2" forward).

I hope that I did the steering column correctly. That was the vague part of the other posts on this. I just used the sawsall and cut everything flush at the old box. I know that I will have some trimming to do to get the bearing into the column.

So far I have about 5 hours into the transformation not including pulling the front clip and engine - that took about 3 hours. Not bad.

Mike
 
Great progress Mike, we did a 50 chevy truck with a 79 camaro clip, and used the camaro column as well, it all fit so well like it was made for it, camaro also donate the rear axle, seats, gas tank, 350/350, and wiring harness.
 
Discussion starter · #30 · (Edited)
I lost another post here. It's at about 9 hours. The sub is tacked in place and the b-body springs and spindles are installed. Now to hook up the steering - I think I am going to use a borgeson joint instead of welding it solid. I have some pieces left over from another build - the 'D' shaft etc.

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It's a roller again.
 
Just finished reading through your entire build. What a great project. That’s got to be the biggest rear truck bumper I’ve ever seen. Mine originally came with a Bardin bumper but it was only about half that height. Dig the Pontiac tail lights. They look factory deluxe. Things are certainly moving along now. I like what you’re doing. And I’ve always been a fan of those Pontiac bumpers. I even thought about adding those on mine at one point.

A few years ago a local car show turned up a GMC with a Pontiac engine. I came down from Canada, but I don’t remember if it was American or Canadian built. It’s the red one in front of my truck. Unfortunately I lost my hard drive and the rest of the photos from that event that had close ups of the engine.



 
Discussion starter · #32 · (Edited)
Hey Mark,

I've seen the GMCs with that drill before and I think they were fleet vehicles. I seem to remember that they had Chevy dashes instead of the bigger GMC ones.

I got my clip hooked up this past Sunday. It rolls and steers with a Caprice steering column. It sounds weird, but I wanted to have the tilt and it gives me a column shift and I already had it so the price was right. The wiring harness I got from Speedway has the hookups for it too. I will paint it the gray same as the dash and door panels and it should hide pretty well. Have the original wheel on it but will probably put one of my '60s chrome spoke wheels on it instead.

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Mike
 
Discussion starter · #33 ·
After a test fit of the front sheetmetal I found that I need to trim the frame about 3/4" to move the clip back. The tires were a bit too far forward in the wheel well. I followed the advise from other builds but 1" forward seems to me to be the best not 1 3/4".

It all comes off for trimming this week.

Mike
 
Awesome build Mike. Just read through your posts, thanks for letting us enjoy your enthusiasm.

The rear bumper... the down side of these wrap around bumpers is a slight impact pushes the bumper into side of the bed, resulting in bent panels... :mad:

But they are old school cool.... anim_25
 
Discussion starter · #37 ·
I did get the frame shortened and re-tack welded so the wheel should be in a better position. Spent about an hour on it. The main thing that I did was cut the wheelwells on my '55 gasser. That was unnerving!:eek:

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Discussion starter · #38 ·
Got the frame situated. 3/4" back was perfect. Installed the sheet metal and it looks great. The stance will be about 3" lower with the engine etc.

I will load pics later.
 

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