1950 Chevy Stock to Hot Rod Project

[duwem]

Just ordered Flat Out Engineering's front and rear crossmember kits.

Didnt get shocks yet. Air Ride Technologies makes coil over shocks now, going to let them get out into the market for a while then might go that route.

They have some trick ones where they switch from soft to sport with a push of a button on the dash.

[duwem]

Got all the stuff cut off the frame. Lots and lots of rivets to grind heads off of and pound out. This is evident by the swiss cheese side rails. Will fill in all the holes I dont need and weld nuts on the inside of the frame for the ones I do. Hoping I can find a fab shop that has a hydraulic punch that can make little circles for me to weld in the holes. Going to have it sandblasted, then I will start on the welding and boxing.

Thinking I will paint the inner rails with some weld over paint, you guys know of anything good?

[duwem]

I got my first of 2 boxes from Flat Out Engineering today. Front kit is backordered a few weeks.

I have not fit the parts up yet, but the fabrication and welding is beautiful.

Going to mock what I can up. Need to get the frame cleaned and boxed before I can weld in these parts.

Here is what came:

[duwem]

6 hours and 7 bags of sand later I got the frame blasted. Saved about $125 doing it myself but what a PITA!

Still going to weld in temp beams and remove the center crossmember and blast that area.

[duwem]

Well I came across a powerplant on craigslist a few weeks back for a decent deal so I jumped on it. Its a GM 6.0L LQ9 out of a 2002 Escalade with 40K miles. Same engine used in the 3/4 ton Silverados. 345hp and 380 ft lbs of torque from the factory!


Bought a 2000lb engine stand and hung it off there and said no way. Flimsy junk. SOOOO, I built my own stand from scratch with big casters on it. Took a week of nights in the shop, but at least I wont have to worry about it breaking and ruining the engine. May also be able to run the engine on it as well.

Going to pull the wring off then stick it in the corner of the shop so I can get back to work on my frame till I get some more $$.

[jevonniespapi]

Really cool stuff goin on in this thread.

What trans are you planning on using?

I commend u on deciding to fill in all the rivit holes- thats gonna take a while but will b worth it. I had thought of welding a plate inside the channel and then filling the holes w/ body filler, but ur route will have a better payoff.

How low will the frame sit? Have u taken any measurements? Im trying to figure out where the top rail will sit still.
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[duwem]

Dont know on the trans yet. I would think a mild built 4L60E with shift kit and billet servos should be able to handle the engine and weight of the truck, but then again a stock 4L80E would probably be fine as well, but they are bigger, longer, heavier and consume a little more power than the 60.

Broke right now, so I will do some more research as I save up.

[duwem]

Thanks to parkwood for the tips on this.

The last two nights I have been filling in unused holes in my truck frame. Took a little while to get the process down but now I think I have it. I have probably done 15 holes so far. Most have been 3/8” diameter. If they are slightly smaller I drill them out to 3/8 so I can use standard rod stock.

Picture descriptions:

So, first I cut rod stock to a measured length to give it a little protrusion out of the hole so it can be ground smooth with no divot.

Holes with a chamfer for better weld penetration and slug in the bottom hole.

Slugs tig welded in.

Backside.

Ground smooth.

Once the holes are done, then I will do the weld nuts on the inside of the rails so I can bolt things to them once I have everything boxed.

[duwem]

Got my Flat Out Engineering front crossmember this weekend. Bolted up the C4 parts, looks pretty sweet! Will get the coilovers when I can afford them.

[62ChevyII]

This thing is gonna be quite impressive when you get it done. That suspension along with that engine will make it a blast to drive. Nice looking parts and great work so far!

[duwem]

More work on smoothing out the framerails. Removed the area where the rear leaf spring shackles mount and another part that bumped out and put in 10 gauge plates and welded them in.

Also got some "Carolina" hot rod side mirrors. Really need side mirrors for driving in traffic, especially with the small back window in these trucks. I can see where having the side windows would make visibility a lot better!

[jevonniespapi]

Looks great! I hate filling holes... someone told me about using a copper spoon, but all in all, Its still a pain in the ass!

Also waiting for my flat out componets... how long did you wait for yours?

[duwem]

Flat out...hmmm

I think it was 2 week on the rear and almost 6 on the front. They were way backlogged. Didnt make me happy and as I look over the rear components and start working with them I'm finding a lot of little things that I dont like.

The fabriation and welding is top notch, but there are a bunch of things I would have done differently.

I dont know if Don got sick of me pointing this stuff out or what because its taking him forever to get back to me...

I ended up buying the replacement bushings for the vette stuff because Don said that would fix some of the fitup concerns, but the ones I have tried so far did not fix them...

Hope we can get it all figured out because I really want to make this corvette stuff work under the truck.

[jevonniespapi]

Originally Posted by duwem

Flat out...hmmm

I think it was 2 week on the rear and almost 6 on the front. They were way backlogged. Didnt make me happy and as I look over the rear components and start working with them I'm finding a lot of little things that I dont like.

The fabriation and welding is top notch, but there are a bunch of things I would have done differently.

I dont know if Don got sick of me pointing this stuff out or what because its taking him forever to get back to me...

I ended up buying the replacement bushings for the vette stuff because Don said that would fix some of the fitup concerns, but the ones I have tried so far did not fix them...

Hope we can get it all figured out because I really want to make this corvette stuff work under the truck.

I have some conserns about the rear end as well, as I built mine. I didnt want to pay for the rear end kit, but am really thinking if I did a good enough job building it myself... Oh well, we'll find out!

[ScottyB]

subscribed. I want to use this kit for the front of my truck too. Are you mostly having problems with the rear fitment or the front too?

[duwem]

I have not spent much time on the front, but its a lot more straight forward since its more of a complete assmebly vs individual parts on the rear. Still filling holes and saving up for boxing plates.

[ChuckDriver]

Awesome project!

[not2oldchevy]

Do you know how low your front bumper will be? Getting ready to do the same if it will be low enough. Thanks Bill

[duwem]

Nick51 has installed these same parts and he got these measurements when I requested them:

1. Front very tip of the frame (where the radiator would sit) is 8 inches from bottom of the frame to the ground.

2. Front Crossmember (Where the front crossmember is welded and front suspension goes) is 9.5 to the ground.

3. Rear Part of the frame.. Ladder bars go (about 8 inches infront of the hump in the frame) is 15 inches from the ground

4. Very end of the frame to the ground is about 18.5


Tires:
They are somewhere between 25 - 26" (the tires are P275/40Z/R17)



Measured the very front and back (bottom) of the frame. Mine is 2.25" higher both ends right now.


Don from Flat Out has been very helpful, he was on the road for a while when I posted that reply about him not responding.

[jevonniespapi]

Originally Posted by duwem

Don from Flat Out has been very helpful, he was on the road for a while when I posted that reply about him not responding.

Still waitin for my front end kit!

I didnt care about the wait due to the 110+ degree weather, but now.... Im gettin a lil antsy to get this in and have a roller before it gets too cold!

[duwem]

Originally Posted by jevonniespapi

Still waitin for my front end kit!

I didnt care about the wait due to the 110+ degree weather, but now.... Im gettin a lil antsy to get this in and have a roller before it gets too cold!

Have you called him?

[duwem]

STILL filling holes/features on the frame rails. Nearing completion of the driver side (have not started on the passenger side yet).

Last few nights I eliminated the ribs where the steering box would have bolted.

Here is the other side (which has the same features) for comparison, followed by the side I'm working on.

Soon I will start on the second side then its on to welding nuts to the backside and boxing.

[Kabwe]

Everything is looking really good.

[OJ1988]

Cool build!

[oldman3]

Nice job....Jim