53 Is back from the Body Shop

[QUOTE=53 Chevy5;563439]Ya, my wife told me to stick my face in the head light hole, I didn't know that I was giving some provocative while I was posing **), it is fun to look at though :LOL: .That one may be a bit rim overkill for me. As for ride height, I guess I would say normal if there is such a thing. It will be a daily driver so some ride comfort and practicability is needed. Thanks for the link though, it is a nice guide of what direction to go.[/QUOTE

You can google 53 chevy pickup and see a wide variety of pics with various wheel/tire combinations. :)

I've googled my brains out looking at wheels on these pickups, but like you found, nobody has rim specs or size listed. I talked to my local tire guy and I'll have him help me out and order from him. He is too great of a guy not to give business to and his boy is just starting to take over now also, so I think I will help them out.

Did a little more messing with the seat brackets again tonight. I'm getting closer to what will work good but not quite there yet. I am at the top of my height range so I need to lower things about 3/4 inch to get things in the middle to adjust tilt and so.I will do that by getting rid of the stands on the bottom of the slide rails. The rails are off of the 2000 Chevy pickup seats I was originally going to use. At least I'll use part of them.

Is that your original seat frame?

Yes, it is the original frame. I will make some metal skirting for the sides to cover up the rails.Hopefully the astro van seat will look like it belongs there when it's all said and done.. In hindsight I would have just used the old seat and brackets but I burned that bridge a long long time ago. Maybe a nice foam seat is better than the old spring one anyway

Got a few more things done today but first was a little house keeping.

Did some more seat work today, I got the sliders to work with my new lever and made some metal skirting to cover above the slides. I wish I could move the rails back further but the way that the bottom of the cab is made it would be a major pita. At some point you have to say that.s just the way it is. I can cut about 1 1/2 inches off the front of the rails so that will help. I was so sick of taking the seat in and out that it just wasn't going to happen today. I need to do a little filler on the welds yet but again, another day.

We bolted the box and fenders together and figured out how all those supports went in. It really didn't go so bad. The thing that does drive me nuts is the running boards don't line up for crap. I don't know if the mounts on the running boards are that far off or the support brackets are bent that bad.The holes for the supports are about 3/4 inch off on some holes underneath. That was my signal to quit for the day.

Nice work on your seat. That stinks on the running boards. It's always something.

Not sure if it's the same as yours but, when I did my uncles 48 I found I had revered one of the mounts with the wrong side, after I swapped 'em , things went so much easier.

If I didn't have to fight this thing together, it wouldn't seem right. I never took the mounts off the frame so they should be where they need to be. I will see what I can bend around this week.

Well.. I can't see why it's putting up a fight. It's certainly not the mounts if they've not been removed ... has the body/box been apart? Could it have twisted?

I'm not sure, I haven't looked at it much yet, the passenger side fits ok. It has new box sides and fenders, Its either aftermarket stuff sucks as usual or at some time it the pickups life the brackets got bent up, which could easy be.

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Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

I'm not sure, I haven't looked at it much yet, the passenger side fits ok. It has new box sides and fenders, Its either aftermarket stuff sucks as usual or at some time it the pickups life the brackets got bent up, which could easy be.

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It could be that aftermarket stuff is not perfect. A long time ago we did 3 trucks like yours in a body shop I worked at. We had so many parts we had to return because they didn't fit or were just junk, it was pathetic. When I started doing my 72 I thought the aftermarket stuff would be better but no, not really. :LOL:

Today I declare major combat operations over. Rest assured there of course will be insurgents to be dealt with but as of tonight, all body panels aside from the tailgate are bolted on with acceptable tolerances. I'm not 100% sure what the deal was with the running boards but tonight we I got everything bolted on with a little bending and moderate taping. I am pretty happy with the way it's all fitting, that sure is a good feeling. On a side note we are catching the edge of that ice storm and good grief is is slippery out there going back and forth to the shed.

That's good news. At least you're able to assemble it and start the real work.. fitment!

Must be scary trying to install those part with a freshly painted body "right there"..??..??

We definitely had to be careful. We had it covered in tape and my wife was watching and helping so it all went well. I definitely learned some tricks on what should go on first an how to bolt it up nice. I'm glad nothing back there was painted because it would have been ugly.

We used to fit everything before painting because they always needed some sort of work to get put together. Just like yours did. It is looking very nice. Watch those wet spots and puddles. Dumb ice is hiding under the water waiting for you to slip and get a painful bath. :LOL:

Yeah, that is what I'm having trouble getting my head around, why wasn't the pickup bed, rear fenders and running boards all pre fitted before paint and are you now going to have to dismantle it all again to have them painted ? Does your painter have enough of that mixture in stock so that it will perfectly match the cab and front fenders ? I sure you have a simple explanation as I may of missed something.

Valid question, this is why. I talked to to body shop about this pickup in early summer and I was very happy that they will do this kind of work because most will not. They were going to start on it when they slowed down a bit. The problem was that they never slowed down and just kept getting busier so they just opened a slot and scheduled it in. But from the very beginning thier plan was to do the front, send it back to me so I could put things together and then do the back during a slow time again.They were so busy i didn't dare throw the box at them too. I asked them about matching the paint and they said it was no problem. They have a computer eye that scans the paint and then matches it perfectly, he really reassured me of that. I've had these guys do work for me before and have never been disappointed. They hold a high bar for the other shops and I know them pretty well and trust them.

http://www.clubhotrod.com/attachment...116_202715.jpg


Looks nice and tidy with that filler panel in there!

I don't know if you're on Facebook or not but Custom Classic Trucks Magazine is doing a quick build of a '52 Chevy pickup for Speedway Motors. They're doing daily live feeds of what they're accomplishing. You might find some ideas for yours if you're interested.

I seen that on my latest Speedway catalog, kinda cool but I wish they wouldn't chop up a restored one. I think they should have chose one to save instead.

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Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

I seen that on my latest Speedway catalog, kinda cool but I wish they wouldn't chop up a restored one. I think they should have chose one to save instead.

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In what I've observed on facebook, it doesn't look like they've cut up anything. Looks like they built a new chassis with Speedway parts and dropping the restored body on it with a few modern conveniences.

Saw the first video segment yesterday. Pretty nice truck to start with.

My 72 worked out the same way at paint jail. The guy is still suppose to paint the bed when he gets slow. Uh huh. I'll do it in the spring hopefully. I'm still waiting for him to fix momma's truck that I've already paid for. :LOL:

Paint jail, lol. The good news is if push comes to shove, I am capable of painting yet

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Originally Posted by randyr

In what I've observed on facebook, it doesn't look like they've cut up anything. Looks like they built a new chassis with Speedway parts and dropping the restored body on it with a few modern conveniences.

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I checked it out, I bet they have a larger budget than me:LOL:

Here is what I did today, re worked the top of my seat bracket where I cut it off for clearance for the new seat. I cut the tube down and replaced it with a donor pipe and put one of the eccentric balls out of Farmall M brake in the top. Welded everything up and smoothed it out and it turned out real nice. I got the frame sandblasted now and a little mud applied on some welds.

Stopped by my local tire guy to look at rims in the catalog and as fate would have it, he had the style I was looking at on hand that he ordered for another guy. He let me take one home and put it on to look at it. What do you think? Sorry about the blurry pics, my phone camera sucks.

Love the wheel choice!

Thanks, I think the painted center goes better with the green than an all chrome wheel would.

I agree, I really like it on there. Nice touch on the ball to finish off the seat frame too. That is nice thinking.

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Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

I agree, I really like it on there. Nice touch on the ball to finish off the seat frame too. That is nice thinking.

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Growing up as a kid with little money, a persons eyes get trained to look for things that will fix a problem with little cost. It's still is a useful tool :)

I'm a grown up with little money.

X2 on the cheap fixes.

It doesn't always have to be top shelf liquor. The day after the hangover feels the same.

Yeah, I hear all that. I pretty much quit drinking due to the cost and the BS and time loss. I always have too much to do to lose more time. Haha

I think I hit a wall this week, hard to get myself to work on the pickup seat. Right now I am doing a bit of mudding on the seat frame and I hate every minute of body work. I can't say I do a bad job, the panels are straight when I'm done and I can lay paint pretty flat. That being said I think I would rather have a tooth pulled without Novocaine than do body work. Did I mention I hated body work? I tell you how much, I would rather accidentally sew my butt cheeks together than sand body filler.

That sounds like it might be painful. :LOL: I'm going to blame the snow for my lack of progress. Haha

I think if you have a shed, the snow excuse doesn't work:)

Sure it does. You have extra work to do because of the snow. Someone has to move it. :LOL: