Dug's 1959 Fleetside

[dsraven]

that looks great. nice lay out and organization. I like the bus bar idea too. the trailblazer came with a bail of wire for sure. fun sorting through it all and figuring out what is not required anymore.

[dug224]

The wiring is complete and 100% commissioned. Ended up with 14 relays in order to incorporate the factory stalk/wand controls (cruise (not connected yet), wipers, W.S. washer, flash to pass, high beam and turn signals) and the shift safeties (brake pressed to shift and no start in other than park and neutral). Used toggle switches to control headlights and dome light so far. I've got three spare toggles for the rest of the stuff. I even grabbed a newer factory receiver hitch mounted trailer plug and wired it in. Ran a couple of wire looms from engine compartment to panel packed with spares for whatever I forgot to wire initially. Also got to start the truck. The first time we did it a few days ago, it was running rough. As we were investigating the oil pressure sending unit location we discovered that a large vacuum hose on back of intake that goes to the brake booster was disconnected. Plugged it in and the engine smoothed right out.





Freshened up the front and back light buckets. Had some serious problems using the Chinese cheap 1157 LED bulbs. After some head scratching, we determined that they back feed power and create all kinds of lighting scenarios that don't make sense. See Youtube for more on that. Ended us using old school 1157's and will order some brand name LED's that have separate lighting circuits.




Bought some Dolphin gauges (GPS Speedo) with billet mounting panel. Turns out, the factory gauge bezel won't fit over the gauges so I am sending back. Apparently, the factory QC did not catch that these new (?) gauges would not fit the panel with factory bezel. Seems someone should have dropped a set in and tried them before shipping. The problem is the big chrome ring around each gauge. When I get my money back, I'll reorder the same gauges arranged with the speedo at the bottom and the other gauges along the top of the panel.


Ordered a new steering and generic (Honda) hub adapter. Since there apparently are no adapters that fit the spline for this air bag column, I'll cut the middle spline area out of the factory steering wheel and attach the generic adapter hub to it. Time to start reassembling the front clip, installing doors and doing the final fabrication on bed.

[dug224]

Some front wiring....

[Simple10]

Coming along nicely dug👍👍

[dug224]

Originally Posted by Simple10

Coming along nicely dug👍👍

Thanks. Finally got a little momentum! If I can get all the loose ends tied down, I may try to drive it tomorrow.

[dsraven]

keep on the momentum and you'll be done. looks great. I like the headlights, haha. I know, "testers". funny about the bulbs back feeding. was it a ground problem inside the socket or possibly inside the bulb maybe?

[dug224]

Originally Posted by dsraven

keep on the momentum and you'll be done. looks great. I like the headlights, haha. I know, "testers". funny about the bulbs back feeding. was it a ground problem inside the socket or possibly inside the bulb maybe?

Definitely the bulb. Apparently, the circuits inside the cheap 1157 LED's are not separate.

[dug224]

Zip tied all the loose stuff and took it for a spin. Photo of my buddy Jim who happens to be the brains behind this electrical work. OBD reader working nicely off of the plug I installed at the new panel. The only problem we had during the ride was that the cooling fan wasn't coming on. Blown fuse. When we commissioned it, we had 10 amp fuses in everything. Turns out the fan needs a slightly larger fuse. If I can make it small enough, I'll post the video of the ride.







Set the '95 bed back on the frame while we had it out and running. I'll soon be able to get back on the fabrication that we were doing 2 years ago to make it fit.

[dug224]

Short video of the truck actually moving.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c56I...ature=youtu.be

[dug224]

Some time lapse progress...wife has been out of town.






Hung the sides and got the sheet metal out I had bent for mounting. Now, if I can remember how I intended to mount it.

[dug224]

Decided to start straightening the bed bullets so we can get the bed welded together. As you can see, the bullets are in bad shape especially the passenger side. This bullet is smashed in about 1/2" down the entire side. On the driver side there is a section about 3" long that is not smashed. Copied the radius and cutout a wooden buck thinking I could simply hit it with a hammer to recreate the radius. Did not work.






Ended up using dolly I rescued a few years ago from the recycle bin at my buddy's welding shop and a small sledge hammer. I beat the sheet metal with the dolly into the outside half of the wooden buck. Not smooth but gets me to a point where the filler will be less than 1/8".

[dug224]

Got the hood on and adjusted it the best I could. Put the LED headlights, grill and bumper to see what it will look like when finished.



To get the rear wheel placement in the wheel opening in the right place, I will be hanging the bed sides shoved forward to within 1/2" of the cab. It's a little close but shouldn't hit the cab once I get them secured.

[dsraven]

looks good. nice to get some parts back where they are supposed to be eh?

for the bullets, how about some reverse thinking and using a formed dolly on the inside and a formed "plannisher" hammer on the outside that you hit against? once you get the dents bashed outward you could have you helper hold the panel level on the "dolly" while you hammer on it from the outside to get it levelled out some. just try not to hammer on dolly too much or the metal will expand and make a bigger mess for you to figure out. you might also wanna take the sharp edges off the wooden hammering tools. if the bullet is supposed to be "round" like a piece of pipe, what about that theory of using a piece of pipe the right size as the "hammer" or "dolly", depending on which side is which at the time? a piece of pipe could be cut to fit in the backside, a piece if metal could be welded to that to hold in a fixture of some sort, then the panel could be held over the dolly as a form to hammer the high spots down against from the outside. the longer the pipe dolly the straighter the bullet would be, theoretically. lol.
just a thought. the wood looks like it is working too, for the basic shape. a smaller dolly could also work once that part is finished off.

[dsraven]

curious, what is the finished bumper height/rocker height now that it is going back together? mine looks lower for some reason. tire size maybe. maybe just a different shape on the fenders and box sides too I guess.

[dug224]

Originally Posted by dsraven

curious, what is the finished bumper height/rocker height now that it is going back together? mine looks lower for some reason. tire size maybe. maybe just a different shape on the fenders and box sides too I guess.

The bottom of the bumper at the center is 8.5". The bottom edge of the driver rocker at the front where it meets the fender is 7.75".

[dug224]

Originally Posted by dsraven

looks good. nice to get some parts back where they are supposed to be eh?

for the bullets, how about some reverse thinking and using a formed dolly on the inside and a formed "plannisher" hammer on the outside that you hit against? once you get the dents bashed outward you could have you helper hold the panel level on the "dolly" while you hammer on it from the outside to get it levelled out some. just try not to hammer on dolly too much or the metal will expand and make a bigger mess for you to figure out. you might also wanna take the sharp edges off the wooden hammering tools. if the bullet is supposed to be "round" like a piece of pipe, what about that theory of using a piece of pipe the right size as the "hammer" or "dolly", depending on which side is which at the time? a piece of pipe could be cut to fit in the backside, a piece if metal could be welded to that to hold in a fixture of some sort, then the panel could be held over the dolly as a form to hammer the high spots down against from the outside. the longer the pipe dolly the straighter the bullet would be, theoretically. lol.
just a thought. the wood looks like it is working too, for the basic shape. a smaller dolly could also work once that part is finished off.

All good ideas. I've got some pretty large and heavy pipe that I'll use try to smooth like you suggested. Regardless, the bullets are a mess. Like my roof, I'll make it better but don't have the time to make it show quality. Thanks

[dsraven]

well, lots of guys like it that way anyway, lol. get in there and drive that thing! it's gonna look great.

[dug224]

No going back now. I pulled a string down both sides to line up the body line. Considering that the truck had been wrecked more than once, the Envoy frame I used had been wrecked in the front and the truck body is 60 years old, everything lined up pretty well. The rear wheel placement has been something I have been really concerned about from the beginning. By moving the bed forward to a point where the front bed cap is about 1/2" from the cab, I achieved a satisfactory wheel placement. I'll post a better photo when I have it out next.


After I got I lined up, I welded the bed in each corner and will come back later with some additional brackets or maybe even an entire cap over the bed rails. Still have to weld the loose front bed cap (at cab, red magnets holding it place). I cut it off of the '95 front bed cap and it will simply slip over the shortened front bed panel and line up with the tops of the bed rails. I'll install the bed diagonal support pieces next followed by installation of the doors.

[dsraven]

did you shorten the front bed wall at the top so the bottom dished section is flat where it meets the floor? I cut mine lower to the bottom edge and brought it up so the top and bottom are flat and the top holds it's rigidity in case I transport a something that will bump against that (my scooter).

[dug224]

Originally Posted by dsraven

did you shorten the front bed wall at the top so the bottom dished section is flat where it meets the floor? I cut mine lower to the bottom edge and brought it up so the top and bottom are flat and the top holds it's rigidity in case I transport a something that will bump against that (my scooter).

I cut mine at the top. I first cutoff the top rail which is basically a "tube". The cut left the bottom of the tube slotted (open). I then shortened the wall and will slipped the tube over the top and will weld soon. I did not maintain the dished profile at the top which would have made it stronger. It would have looked better. I'll let you know how stiff it gets when I weld the top rail front and back. If I haul a scooter, I'd stick the wheel in the front corner of the bed if I felt like it deflected too much.

[dug224]

Installed my new low budget steering wheel. I couldn't find an adapter that fits my Trailblazer column so I made one out of the old steering wheel. After cutting the middle out of the old steering wheel, I used my bench grinder to turn it into an adapter. Painted it matte black and attached it to the steering column spacer with the factory nut (that held the original wheel). I then drilled a hole through both the adapter and column spacer and installed a 10 mm nut and bolt. While I was in there, I soldered a wire for the horn onto the factory assembly.





I found a place to install my really loud set of horns. Installed them just behind the passenger headlight using a fender bolt. With the new steering wheel and horn button, the horn is now fully functional.

[dsraven]

it's coming together nicely.

[dug224]

Still have the momentum going!! Jim came over and we cut and fit the rear closure piece. It really stiffened up the bed floor.




While the rear wheel placement isn't perfect, I'm satisfied. The rear wheels could be an inch or so back for a more centered look. Note the headrests are outside of the cab. I'll have to sit up pretty straight to keep it off the glass once there is glass.

[dsraven]

wheel placement doesn't look so bad. sure, the axle could go back a bit but it isn't glaring as much as you think. the headrests though....maybe remove them and see how it fits, or possibly remove some stuffing, lower the seats a bit more? nice thinking on the steering wheel adapter.

[dug224]

Originally Posted by dsraven

wheel placement doesn't look so bad. sure, the axle could go back a bit but it isn't glaring as much as you think. the headrests though....maybe remove them and see how it fits, or possibly remove some stuffing, lower the seats a bit more? nice thinking on the steering wheel adapter.

To keep the back of my head from touching my spine in a wreck, I'll keep the headrests in place when driving and move the seat up and the back more vertical. If I'm at some sort of car show, I'll simply remove them since it looks much better with out. The seats are already a bit too low. I'm about 6' tall and my legs are a bit cramped but not too bad. Any lower and it would be uncomfortable. Your extended cab will definitely be a seating advantage. When I run out of things to do, removing some of the stuffing will be considered.