1958 SWB C4 Fleetside - NZ Build

[QBRacing]

Another day down another day closer to completion.

2x guards painted... check
1 front panel painted ... check
1 grill painted ... check

Some of my bog work on the RF guard leaves a little to be desired butill fix that up later....

Q

[QBRacing]

And I dont know why I'm in the dog box with the lil lady... I mean, I protected the duvet cover and everything....

and here is the video for the painted panels.

[QBRacing]

Midday update ... assembly has begun.

[QBRacing]

What a crap afternoon.

Not only did I snap off a bolt in the bumper filler but I forgot to remove an already broken one before painting... and they were side by side. Grrr.

A short time later and I had drilled the broken bolts out and rather than retap the crap old bolt I just drilled it and put on a nut.... sorted.

My son come and took the grill panel away to paint the chevrolet in black (hes a signwriter by trade) so better than me trying it...

Lights are all in and hooked up with only 1 small paint chip where the right lamp cover refused to play ball...

Then I thought ild finally mount my bonnet latch in the upper rad cover panel only to find I've been sent a 55-57 so it won't fit or work.... grrr

I'm going inside for a beer now

[Rickysnickers]

Looks great! Even with set backs, you are still moving forward

[QBRacing]

My son just dropped off the missing grill assembly for the front....

OMFG

[dsraven]

I would hang the grille then see about room for hood latch lever.

[QBRacing]

The importer forgot to order my door patch panels a while back so I just ordered them myself and added a new hood latch on there and a few other small parts

As for assembly ... The front end is complete and all the lights have been tested

I cant believe how good it looks in reality compared to the initial vision in my head... As always .... VIDEO TIME

[Blown58]

Your YouTube videos and all the info you post on this site is so helpful for my upcoming build! I absolutely love your truck. Do you happen to have part number for the headers?

[QBRacing]

@blown58
I can't find the invoice with the part number sorry. I do remember they are "Speed Engineering" - 1 7/8" to 3" stainless long tube headers, pretty sure they were the camaro ones

As for today... I started by blowing fuses so ripped into the dash wiring as it was gauge circuit. Couldn't find anything wrong , put in a new fuse and it works. Guess I'll wait till it happens again to test some more.

Also installed the newly made remote brake fluid resevoir. I asked the engineer to put a small divider in it so that if one circuit was leaking I could easily isolate which circuit.

I also started testing the prnd321 on the 96 cutlas colum vs the 4l60e trans as I was only able to select down to second. Made some changes to the connector that holds it to the trans, aligned the rod better and it looks like that's fixed and I now have full swing / gear selection..

[QBRacing]

My son did some sign writing today and we made some side boards from the old terrace decking

[QBRacing]

Beach Hop 2021 went great. Lots of people commented and pointed at the truck because of the door graphic and just the rumble the engine and exhaust makes. It so doesn't sound like an LS1.

The day before heading down the tuner and I thought we had a problem with the ICV on the Holley throttle body as it wouldn't work properly and after some investigative work we discovered that 2 wires on the ICV need to be reversed to suit the ICV which comes from a Chrysler I think it was.

I also made up some temporary decking from the old pool deck to match the side rails I made. I kind of like it ... all number 8 fence wire (or) use what you got sort of thing...

Pulled the diff to change the trailing arm bushes and the main mount bushes (hope I got the right kit) and finally ordered the new Lokar accelerator and brake pedal cover.

Now I just need to stop stuffing around with the back yard and get into it but winters coming and I would like it somewhat tidy before the rain turn everything to mud.

Video for you as always

[dsraven]

Looks great.
On your door issue, check the dimension of your step and get that right first. Then fit the door to the cab with no latch in place, so the latch doesnt have to bring the door to its final height, then install the latch and adjust. When the door fits the cab then fit the fender to the door. Use shims under the front cab mounts and rad support to get things right. Also, some guys have had to move the cab around to get the gaps right. Use the drivers side front cab mount as a pivot as it (originally) was a smaller hole than the rest for this purpose. That rotational movement of the cab can help get the fender to door gaps the same as well as the hood fitment.
If you google 55-59 chev assembly manual you should find a site to download a digital copy. This will have some body dimensions so you can get the step dimension correct. There is another site on moving the cab to get the gaps correct

[QBRacing]

@dsraven

The lower section of the right door opening is narrower than the left by about 12mm (or 1/2").
Both doors are the same width (or near enough).
Pretty sure its to do with how the initial panel beater did the steps and rear sections as best we can tell.

[57FleetsideC4]

Looking good. What bushing kit did you use on the C4 stuff? Did it install pretty easy? Keep it going. Steve

[QBRacing]

I bought the energy suspension kits for it. Will let you know how it gos when I actually get around to installing them.

[57FleetsideC4]

Originally Posted by QBRacing

I bought the energy suspension kits for it. Will let you know how it gos when I actually get around to installing them.

Thank You. Steve

[6DoF]

that speed shop logo is awesome

[dsraven]

here is the link to that assembly manual, and another one with random years info. always good to download a copy for future reference. you never know when they might be yanked and gone off the net. keep a bookmark at least

https://www.trifive.com/d1/55-59Assy.pdf

http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com...esto/index.htm

[dsraven]

on my truck the step/rocker is just a shade longer than the door at the front edge with a proper gap at the rear of the door. all doors are not created equal by the way. I have 5 doors and only 2 of them fit reasonably. the other could be made to fit but some work would be required. same for front fenders, it seems some are a bit longer or have a different profile at the rear. just something I have noticed. I can get the dimension of the step for you if you need it, or just fly by the seat of your pants and make the truck fit the door you have.
maybe that's why the knock off body panels seem to fit ok on some trucks and really poorly on others. the panel they had to make their mold with was not the "one size fits all" panel. lol.

[QBRacing]

@57fleetsideC4
The bushes weren't that hard. I bought a cheap 160nzd bench press. Made up a base plate from some 50mm board and pushed the middle section of the bushes out, then the bush. After that it was a matter of greasing and pushing in by hand.

@dsraven
I hear ya but I trust my new panelbeater (more than the last one at least) and what you say about panels makes sense... they are a dam truck after all. Still plan to shorten the bottom of the door while doing the patches as you cant see both sides at the same time and what's 12mm between friends.

Q

[QBRacing]

Unfortunately the plate APACHE was already taken and I wont do it with a 3 rather than an e....

How does this one fit on the bumper....

Ps the top of the surround is going to have "1958 Chevrolet Apache" on it

[QBRacing]

Oh and some of my goodies arrived...
Time to get back into it i guess...

[57FleetsideC4]

Originally Posted by QBRacing

@57fleetsideC4
The bushes weren't that hard. I bought a cheap 160nzd bench press. Made up a base plate from some 50mm board and pushed the middle section of the bushes out, then the bush. After that it was a matter of greasing and pushing in by hand.

@dsraven
I hear ya but I trust my new panelbeater (more than the last one at least) and what you say about panels makes sense... they are a dam truck after all. Still plan to shorten the bottom of the door while doing the patches as you cant see both sides at the same time and what's 12mm between friends.

Q

Thanks for the update on the control arms. They don't look to hard to do. I am pretty far away from doing this but always gathering information. Steve

[QBRacing]

Small update.

The diff is back in with the freshened up 4links. Just need to find some time to drop the control arms but I did myself an arm injury and are still recovering. Man old age sucks..

Here is a few of the bits awaiting install still;

My personalised plate and surround
The Lokar accelerator pedal, brake and light cover
The a/c bracket and condenser
My old commodore power point seen batterys in the tray now
The Eddie Motorsport hood hinges
The B&M 3000rpm stall convertor (just waiting to get trans back)
The 6 pass external trans cooler
A brake return/tension spring mount I made up

The door bits and panels have been ordered but are still at the forwarders in LA. appearantly there's no containers, staff to fill containers, or boats to put **** on.... sigh

More to come soon

Honest