Dug's 1959 Fleetside

[dug224]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

if you think the frame is rigid enough i'd take the front panel off and see how the bed fits
maybe a uni-cab is in your future. it would look sweet

extend the bed spear into the cab behind the door?
there's a lime green truck on the hamb where the owner extended the bed spear into the door
didn't attach the bed, just extended the bed spear. looked pretty nice.

Now that I think about it, the back of the cab is a ton straighter than the front of the bed so the effort I would spend taking care of that I could dedicate to connecting the bed to the cab. In addition, my cab corners would no longer require replacing. Once I button up the side of the cab with the bed, the corner is no longer visible and I could descretely patch it. Extending the spear into the door is a really great idea. Don't get my fabrication skills mixed up with yours or Kawbe's. Need crawl before I run. There is a '58/'59 coming to one of our local U-Pull-Its. May buy some parts to practice on. In fact, using the leading edge of the bed including the bullet for a bridge panel may be the ticket. In that case, the spear would end just behind the door. Thanks for the input!

[dug224]

Quick update. My friend Brad offered to loan me an LS engine and transmission while he searches for a low mile version for me. Picked them up last night. This one has 121,000 miles and is out of a 2005 Truck. I need to learn about intake heights on these LS engines. This one seems really tall and may interfere. Should be able to drop this combo in the truck this weekend to determine if the hood will close over it in the stock mounting location. If it doesn't, I may have to raise the body and ultimately add lower suspension parts to get the stance right. I will drop by the dealer to see if they have some Trailblazer V-8 motor mounts for the 5.3 I can try out.

[dug224]

Learned that to use a 5.3 out of a truck, I will need to change the oil pan to a front sump style. As can be seen in the second photo, the oil pan hits the cross member/steering rack. Based on the "car-part.com", there are plenty of the front sump 5.3's available. Will change direction and go after one with the the correct pan. Also, maybe due to lack of demand, they appear to be slightly cheaper than the normal and more common 5.3's. The front sump aluminum block 5.3's come in the '04 or newer Envoy, Trailblazer, Ranier (Buick) and Ascender (Isuzu). There are eight of them within 100 miles of me at this time. Most are low mileage. I am still optimistic I will be able to use factory motor mounts and drop the engine right in. It also looks like I will be lowering the suspension an inch or two based on the fact that the body will have to be raised to get the engine under the hood and the trans under the firewall/floor.

...also learned that you can't stuff the engine in with the exhaust manifolds still on. Those shock towers are really tall. Ended up sliding the body way back on the frame and dropping the unit in vertically.

[DeeGee]

I think you should revisit the wheel choice and do something like this...way cool!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJPTSaARlvs

[dug224]

Originally Posted by DeeGee

I think you should revisit the wheel choice and do something like this...way cool!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJPTSaARlvs

Nice....but I think I am over the clear wheel thing. Back to real OEM aluminum. Dug

[dug224]

Moving slowly but sill moving....Ended up getting a bargain on a 2004 Aluminum Block 5.3LS and the matching 4L60E transimssion with 66k miles out of a 2004 Envoy XL. They had it on the shelf for about 2 years. I also got all of the accessories that came with this engine except for the alternator.

Learning about what wiring stays and what wiring goes and trying to decide if I should modify the wiring or buy a wiring set completed. I was relieved that the transmission consumed about half of the open electrical plugs on the wiring harness. Pretty good source on the internet from a hands on guy who is selling his programming services.

http://lt1swap.com/programming.htm

Searching for a set of factory lower engine brackets that mount to the frame and have yet to find any cheap. The brackets I have are cast iron and are for the in-line 6 and will not work. Remember, I am basically putting an old body on a Trailblazer/Envoy frame and installing an engine that would have come in that vehicle so not a lot of heaving lifting like many of you are doing. May end up fabricating the engine brackets to take advantage of lowering the engine as low as possible in the frame. It also gives me an excuse to use my new Lincoln toy.......

.....I bought a new-in-the-box 110V Lincoln Plasma 20. Could not pass up the deal at $450. Retail at Lowes is $999 plus tax. It should be able to handle the light stuff I wil be cutting. Supposed to cut up to 1/4" hard stuff including SS and up to 3/8" mild steel.