1950 Five Window Build

[Curt - TN]

I have been working on a 1950 Chevy Five window for a few months and now that I have made some decent progress I figured I would start sharing some progress. We bought the truck at the end of March and made a little progress then my wife bought 3 Auburn cars and that set me back a few months but I am back on it now.

Up to this point I have been building C1 Corvettes so this is my first build with a metal vehicle and it has been a learning experience.

I bought it as an unfinished project. The previous owner installed a ford 9 inch rear with a 4 link set up, a Heidts front cross member but they still had the Mustang II control arms.

Unfortunately after they did all of the chassis work they stopped work on the project and left it out in the rain so everything rusted and the rear end filled with water so it was toast.

We started by stripping the body off the frame and getting everything blasted. Overall it looked pretty good accept for cab corners and a center section of the roof.

This is what it looked like when we picked it up:



We immediately started the tear down.






After we blasted the frame we cleaned up any bad welds and modify the front end to accepts tubular A-Arms then it was time for some fresh paint.




Next it was time to focus on the body. It was media blasted then we started working on metal replacement. We decided to just get a whole new bed for it.




We then primed the bare metal and followed up with several coats of Slick Sand high build primer.


Then we mocked up the engine and trans on the chassis.


Then came some paint.





And this takes us to where I am today.




Assembly has started, now comes all the detail work. I am sure I will have several questions since I have never seen the truck fully assembled

I have several articles on my blog and links to yourtube videos on some of the progress here. CLICK HERE TO READ MY BLOG POSTS

[mdpaulson1]

Nice work! welcome to the fourm

[Advanced Design]

Welcome Curt. Nice work on your truck! And I see a pretty sweet looking Corvette there to the side.
Is that a KWIK bracket for the AC?
I will be tagging along for the rest.

[mongocanfly]

Looking good...i like that vette to...and that vette wall art..I see a theme going on...red red red...red everwhere..

[Curt - TN]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Looking good...i like that vette to...and that vette wall art..I see a theme going on...red red red...red everwhere..

HAHA, yes the running joke around here is my paint gun only shoots red

I was up to 6 Corvettes butam back down to 3 for now to make room for 2 trucks and 3 Auburns my wife bought.

[Curt - TN]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Welcome Curt. Nice work on your truck! And I see a pretty sweet looking Corvette there to the side.
Is that a KWIK bracket for the AC?
I will be tagging along for the rest.

Doug, keen eye on the bracket but it is not a KWIK. I used a KWIK on a 56 Bel Air I did 2 years ago and it is very similar. This one is from ICT Billet and runs about $99.00 but as I found out it is not totally complete so you can count on another $60.00 or so.

Overall it is pretty close to the KWIK but did run into an unexpected belt tentioner surprise that will run the cost up a bit. I shot an installation and review video on the bracket and should have it up in a day or two. I will post the link when it is up.

[oldman3]

Curt, welcome to the group, you've done some great work, will stick around for the finish...Jim

[Curt - TN]

I made a little progress on the gas tank relocation tonight. I ended up with a Tanks Inc universal UT-N Series which will accept an in tank fuel pump.

Since I am running an early model 5.3 truck intake I had to run a fuel and return line. I decided to buy a 25 ft role of fuel line and just run it down the inside of the frame. Now I need to order the AN converter ends for the hard line.

To get the tank mounted you will notice that I moved the rear cross member back one set of lower holes. I had to plasma cut the rear inside of the cross member so I can still get the stock bumper brackets on.

To make some room for the tank you can see where I trimmed the forward lip and bent it upwards then welded it to the cross member. This gave me enough room to slide the tank under the cross member then I could drill strap holes in the center of the bracket.

For the bracket towards the front of the tank, we took two 2 inch runs of heavy flat stock and made it into an odd angle to accommodate the frame rails starting to turn upward then we had to add another strip of metal along the top for the tank to mount against.

When I mounted the tank I took some pipe insulation and wrapped it around the front mount then I found two rubber pads and put one one each side of the rear of the tank and the cross member to help insulate it form the chassis and rubbing. I also had to trim the front side of the rear cross member to make room for the tank filler tube.

Overall it was not too bad considering this is my first attempt at relocating a tank I will try to get some more detailed pictures to post soon.

[ChuckDriver]

Great build!!

[Curt - TN]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Welcome Curt. Nice work on your truck! And I see a pretty sweet looking Corvette there to the side.
Is that a KWIK bracket for the AC?
I will be tagging along for the rest.

Doug, I just posted a video review along with the installation process of the ICT Billet A/C accessory bracket, I only had one surprise It is very similar to the KWIK.

Click here to see Install Video CLICK HERE

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by Curt - TN

Doug, I just posted a video review along with the installation process of the ICT Billet A/C accessory bracket, I only had one surprise It is very similar to the KWIK.

Click here to see Install Video CLICK HERE

Curt, thank you for posting the video. That is really cool and professionally produced. Very timely as several of us have been discussing accessory drives for the LS in our AD trucks.

Would you mind if I posted a link to your video and your build on my build thread? It provides guys with more information and another option. Will the compressor clear the inner fenders?

This one reminds me of the KWIK I used on my 56 BelAir too.

Oh, I gotta go view more of your videos, especially cooling the shop...doing so is on my consideration list for my shop.

[Curt - TN]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Would you mind if I posted a link to your video and your build on my build thread? It provides guys with more information and another option. Will the compressor clear the inner fenders?

Doug, sure feel free to share the video links, they are up to help everyone out. We are still refining our video making skills but we have been having a blast with it. Just an excuse to spend money on more toys.

The one on A/C for the garage was my friend James doing his garage, it is very cool.

I am not sure if it is going to clear the inner fender yet, I had to do family duty this weekend and I am out of town but I will test fit the inner fender next week and will let you know.

I sure hope it fits because I have already painted the inner fender and I am not ready to modify them

[Zoomin]

Hey Curt, good to see you over here too. Yours builds are always fun to follow, this one looks like it's well on the way.

[Russell Ashley]

"my wife bought 3 Auburn cars" Well, that's something that most of us will probably never say, lol.
Man, I'm jealous of your shop, tools, skill, money, cars, you name it, ha ha.

[84blaze]

Awesome work so far! I love your garage floor!

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by Curt - TN

Doug, sure feel free to share the video links, they are up to help everyone out. We are still refining our video making skills but we have been having a blast with it. Just an excuse to spend money on more toys.

The one on A/C for the garage was my friend James doing his garage, it is very cool.

I am not sure if it is going to clear the inner fender yet, I had to do family duty this weekend and I am out of town but I will test fit the inner fender next week and will let you know.

I sure hope it fits because I have already painted the inner fender and I am not ready to modify them

Thank you Curt. Hopefully the inner will fit without contacting the compressor.
The shop AC video was interesting. Do you own the HVAC business?

[Curt - TN]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

The shop AC video was interesting. Do you own the HVAC business?

No, the AC company is owned by my good friend James who is one of my car buddies that I partner with to create fun car videos. You will see his garage (the one he installed A/C in) in some videos and the garage with the black and white checker floor is my basement garage where I do my builds. James is in the A/C your garage video and I am in the ICT Billet video.

I actually have a job in technology but I dabble in a few side businesses to support my expensive car addiction

[MIKESAD50]

Nice build you have going, jealous of the garage also.
What did you use on the bottom of the cab?

[Curt - TN]

Originally Posted by MIKESAD50

Nice build you have going, jealous of the garage also.
What did you use on the bottom of the cab?

Mike,
Thanks for the kind words!

I used Raptor bedliner by U-POL on the under side of the cab and fenders. It works awesome and looks great with the texture. It is easy to shoot and very easy to get consistent texture. It also cleans up nice.

I did a short video on the product showing how to apply it and what it looks like finished, click here to see it CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO

https://youtu.be/Zsyct5KEGzo

[Curt - TN]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Will the compressor clear the inner fenders?

Well I guess I should have had the inner fenders on before I planned the A/C bracket

The ICT Billet looks like it will hit the inner fender so I either need to find a bracket that sits higher or modify my inner fender.

Bummer

I found this one but it is a bit more expensive but looks like it may work better.

http://lsbrackets.com/sanden-508sd5h...umber-ls-0217/

[Advanced Design]

Curt, that is a bummer. The lsbrackets is one I haven't seen.

Here is another option that I believe will fit and it might be a touch Lower in price than lsbrackets...from VA though I believe it is a KWIK.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Nice build!

Hey, did I miss it or did you say how you dealt wit hthe messed up roof? Any photos?

Also, what color red is that?

[Curt - TN]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Nice build!

Hey, did I miss it or did you say how you dealt wit hthe messed up roof? Any photos?

Also, what color red is that?

The color is 2002 Corvette Torch Red.

WOW, the roof. I hate thinking about that Here is a little bit about what we had to do. I think that was one of the hardest parts, I had to learn about shrinking metal with heat and I had to buy a shrinking hammer and shrinking dolly.

The center of the top looks like it had a light at one point and it rusted underneath. We had to cut out a section of roof and replace it. Because we had to use flat steel the center of the roof is not a little flatter than it would have been factory but it is not noticeable.



Tacked in the new metal and it is ugly



Lots of hammering and shrinking to get rd of the oil can effect.



Now for some filler.



If you want to get expanded pictures they can be clicked on over at my blog site: CLICK HERE FOR BLOG POST

[Curt - TN]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Curt, that is a bummer. The lsbrackets is one I haven't seen.

Here is another option that I believe will fit and it might be a touch Lower in price than lsbrackets...from VA though I believe it is a KWIK.

Thanks for the lead on this. The only issue I see is that it does not seem to support the 508 style compressor I already have. I may be wrong, will have to call Kwik tomorrow.

[Flysocal]

yeah that is one sweet corvette you got there! Need to finish my truck, then 71 camaro maybe a corvette next? Nice job on the video! I watched the whole thing but after much thought I'm going with the holley high mount kit. Its gonna put the AC in the same spot as the ICT bracket but I've settled on running corvette accessories and its my best option. Since you have a recessed firewall you can run truck accessories and there is no reason not to run high mount AC. Kwik has a couple options one being for the mini compressor.