48 chevy truck

[wfo guy]

I have disassembled a chevy 6400 truck to use the cab and possibly the front clip. I have a 2015 mustang irs and just purchased a 1991 corvette front suspension for this. This may end up a fenderless hot rod with really good suspension. I believe I will build the chassis from scratch as I have done on the last 3 builds. Lots of unknowns at this point.

[charliebob]

I like your plan

[wfo guy]

I spent the morning doing hammer and dollie work on the front sheet metal. A little plastic will be all it needs. The upper grille bar was ugly when I started. It's a usable part now.

[wfo guy]

This was not the most productive day for O&S. I was going to repair the left side cowl panel and weld the vent door closed. I got the panel straightened all right but when I went to grind some areas to weld, I found lead. Lots of it. 1/4" thick. I did the repair and ground down the welds. I've had an hour to reflect and I'm going to cut the panel off and put a repro on it. I hope the repro is close. I don't have a long term plan but I want it to be as good as I can do it. When I found the lead, in retrospect, I should have quit. I kept working thinking I could make it better. I'm pretty sure the lead was done at the factory. The last pic is of the 48 chevy rear cab mount. I couldn't figure out how it was bolted on. After cutting the small panel at the rear of the cab open, I found out that the bolts that go through the frame were missing. The cab was sitting on the 2 rubber bumpers on the rear.

[ModernMuseum]

Cool looking project. I have a 49 Studebaker 2R truck that I hope to get to one day.

[wfo guy]

Don, a complete frame replacement is necessary in my world. Once you get used to modern driving and handling, it's tough to go backward. You have a nice collection of toys.

[wfo guy]

Another piece of the puzzle arrived.

[dhutton]

Nice! You’ve got my attention now…

Don

[Motown 454]

I'll be watching this too!

[wfo guy]

O&S was in low gear but my 1st obstacle is almost completed. I put the vette suspension on 2 stands and removed the hubs. I found a bolt pattern template on the internet and printed it off. I could see there wasn't enough space to offset drill new stud holes. This is going from 4.75 to 4.5 bolt circle. I started looking for studs with the largest knurl I could find. I found a 16.5mm that was .100" less than I wanted. Turned out to be as large as I would find. Then it got interesting. That was a 14mm stud. The 2015 Mustang irs is 14mm. I picked up all the store had and ordered enough to do both front hubs. I have a 4.5 hub that I chucked in the rotary index table and set centers in the mill. I removed it and put the vette hub in. The center that goes in the wheel is the same size on both wheels. That made my offset correct. I milled a hole small enough to allow a press fit on the knurls. I removed the hub and used the press to install the studs. Then I used a spacer and nut to tighten them and make sure they were square. I test fit into a wheel and they fit as they should. I did a tack weld on the back side of the flange to insure the studs didn't come loose. Then I changed jaws on the rotary index table and put the rotors in and machined them with the same offset as the hubs. Having one setup from center allowed me to have a simple setup. Tomorrow when the rest of the studs arrive, I should be able to bolt some wheels on and start laying out some stuff.

[wfo guy]

Do you know how to make a vette look better? Put Ford wheels on it. LOL. One pic shows the clearance from the spindle to the rim with deep back space wheel. The hub conversion is completed. The pics are of the front end upside down to reveal the fiberglass spring. The real black part is the spring. The other pics are a rough location to show the 96" wheelbase. The c4 has 96". The AC Cobra was 90". That should make this interesting to drive.

[wfo guy]

O&S did a little today. I removed the left cowl panel and installed the replacement. I had trouble finding some of the spot welds to drill out. The rest of it was normal. I have a tiny bit of welding to do but for the largest part, it's done. One less item on the to do list.

[wfo guy]

O&S put in a few hours today. I filled 35 holes on the firewall. I need to do some more planning before filling anymore.

[wfo guy]

O&S has spent more time thinking about this project instead of working on it. I'm going to spare everyone the diatribe of thinking and proceed to some progress. I have spent hours removing clutch head screws. I'm not done yet. I have the right floor removed and trimmed and a pattern made for the metal. I was concerned about the cowl repair rusting so I sanded, ground and bondoed the panel and area. I shot 2 coats of epoxy on it to hold it till later. I have removed most of the dents that I could get access to. My plan at this point is to get the rust repair completed and finish filling the holes in the firewall that a rod wouldn't use.

[LCA1971]

You might want to find a 3100 dog house. The 6400 is wider than you're going to want and the wheel wells opens are a lot larger the the 1/2 and 3/4 trucks. I'm currently build a 54 3100. As soon as I get picture privileges, I'll post some. Good luck with the build and I'll be following along. Chris

[wfo guy]

After an embarrassing amount of time, I have a tiny bit of progress to share. The right side floor repair is partially welded. The plug welds are done and the toe board is tacked. I rolled 2 ribs to kind of emulate the original and the area where the trans cover goes was offset rolled. I ran out of time to complete the welding today.

[wfo guy]

O&S finished welding the floor pan in. I have a kick panel repair to do along with the holes on the left side floor where the brake cylinder and a hole for the pto control was cut. I made the patterns for those 2 before I was surrounded by no desire to proceed. LOL.

[charliebob]

Looking good!

[wfo guy]

O&S has been limiting his exposure to iron oxide by not working much. I'm sure the EPA approves. LOL. I filled 2 holes in the floor and 3 in the firewall.

[wfo guy]

O&S has entered into S.S.D.D. I removed the brackets for the rubber seals on the pedals and the starter rod. More holes to fill. I did fill a few today.