** YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN ** The truck Chevrolet should have built.

[Dieselwrencher]

Originally Posted by drewskiren

Bound to make it slower, but safer. I'll try it out, thanks.

At first I thought it would be slower too. Once I got the hang of it I could move the cut off tool up and down or side to side and take off the high spots and then level it out. It actually goes along pretty fast. Like already mentioned, those flap discs are pretty sweet for finishing it off. I grind everything with flap discs anymore it seems like.

[drewskiren]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

At first I thought it would be slower too. Once I got the hang of it I could move the cut off tool up and down or side to side and take off the high spots and then level it out. It actually goes along pretty fast. Like already mentioned, those flap discs are pretty sweet for finishing it off. I grind everything with flap discs anymore it seems like.

I have flap discs in the picture, just haven't ground down far enough to use them yet, still finding holes to weld up. I need to finish up quick, I'm ready to move on to the next phase.

[67chevy1series]

that looks sweet so are you putting top and bottom trim on

[Strut]

These would have made that alot easier....

Amazon.com: Northern Industrial Butt Weld Panel...
I use them alot myself... Work really well.

[drewskiren]

Originally Posted by Strut

These would have made that alot easier....

Amazon.com: Northern Industrial Butt Weld Panel Clamps - 4-Pc. Set: Home Improvement

I use them alot myself... Work really well.

I have these, but grew tired of fiddling with them. If you look closely you can see them in the bed. A real pain to put together. A flat magnet or a prying screwdriver were faster and easier.

[Strut]

Originally Posted by drewskiren

I have these, but grew tired of fiddling with them. If you look closely you can see them in the bed. A real pain to put together. A flat magnet or a prying screwdriver were faster and easier.

Yeah, I know what you mean... They're good for holding the metal though.

[Dieselwrencher]

One question I have just because I'm curious, that's all. What is your plan to get the body line straight on the rear section where it doesn't line up? I'm guessing cut and weld? Post #183, last 2 pics.

[drewskiren]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

One question I have just because I'm curious, that's all. What is your plan to get the body line straight on the rear section where it doesn't line up? I'm guessing cut and weld? Post #183, last 2 pics.

Slice and dice if I need to.

[drewskiren]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Nice work! Keep at it. When I used to work in a body shop, my old boss always had us grind down the welds with a cut off wheel because it heats up the panel less and you have more control on top of the welds. It did seem to work better after I tried it.

I do like the grinder with the cut off wheel better. I can slice the head of the weld off instead of having to grind through the whole thing.

Originally Posted by brn agn

Here is an idea for you (if you have not tried it yet). I have found that grinding the welds down with a thin cutting disc on the angle grinder will prevent the metal from getting overheated. After I get the welds close to level, I finish them off with a flap disc. It may be worth a try to see if you like it better. Either way, you end up digging black stuff out of your nose and ears for the next few days!

Moving onto the flap disk now, I love that thing!

[drewskiren]

Grinding all the welds down still. Going back and welding again when I find a hole. First I have been grinding them pretty close with the cut off wheel, then finishing with the flap disk. The whole weld area will end up being lower than the adjacent areas slightly which will make it easy to have a thin layer of filler/ thick primer for blocking out before paint.

[67cheby]

looking great

[drewskiren]

Now we go into uncharted territory.

I really want this truck to be one I WANT to drive, all the time. So I need to make it as functional, smooth, fast, efficient, good driving, and quiet as a new truck. I figured the easiest and best way to go about it was to have as much modern equipment as possible, including the frame and modern suspension geometry. (4 wheel disc with ABS, factory rack & pinion, etc.) So here we are with a 2001 2wd Silverado frame. Problem is, nobody has done any write-ups on something like this. I will be engineering this as I go and could probably use some ideas from you guys here on the forum. Let the comments fly!

First thing I see tonight is the carrier bearing mount is way too tall. (The hoop looking thing.)
Body mounts on the frame aren't needed because the 72 body mounts line up perfectly with the wider new frame rails.
Overall frame length will need to grow by approximately 4 inches.
Too much frame kick up in the rear.

[mcbassin]

Man! that was some sweet sheet metal. Hard to find one that clean anywhere except in the desert states. Nice work on the shortening job. thanks for the detailed explaination.
I have always hated ginding mig welds too. It seems like the mig wire makes welds so much harder (like brinell hardness) than tig or stick welds. Only prob with tig it gets the metal so hot you may have more warpage to deal with. Stick is too porous like flux core. Keep the pics coming!
BTW, that gate looks prestine too, where did you find all this clean metal?

[drewskiren]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Man! that was some sweet sheet metal. Hard to find one that clean anywhere except in the desert states. Nice work on the shortening job. thanks for the detailed explaination.
I have always hated ginding mig welds too. It seems like the mig wire makes welds so much harder (like brinell hardness) than tig or stick welds. Only prob with tig it gets the metal so hot you may have more warpage to deal with. Stick is too porous like flux core. Keep the pics coming!
BTW, that gate looks prestine too, where did you find all this clean metal?

The bed was lucky sight unseen, but sold by an honest old man who couldn't use the truck any more. He told me it was straight and I believed him, flew to California and drove it back to Memphis. The tailgate is one that Chuck here on the board had, he got it from somebody who got it from Arizona, but it has a tiny overall bow so he didn't want it. I have a way to fix the bow, I'll probably knock that out this weekend.

[67cheby]

Beautiful, work and parts as usual nice job !!

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by drewskiren

The bed was lucky sight unseen, but sold by an honest old man who couldn't use the truck any more. He told me it was straight and I believed him, flew to California and drove it back to Memphis. The tailgate is one that Chuck here on the board had, he got it from somebody who got it from Arizona, but it has a tiny overall bow so he didn't want it. I have a way to fix the bow, I'll probably knock that out this weekend.

Great work on the bed.

What are you planning on doing to flatten out the bow in the tail gate? I have a slight bow in the one I just picked up for my 69 and was thinking of ways to fix that.

[drewskiren]

Originally Posted by 68 TT

Great work on the bed.

What are you planning on doing to flatten out the bow in the tail gate? I have a slight bow in the one I just picked up for my 69 and was thinking of ways to fix that.

I'll post my efforts here. Basically a hydraulic ram and wood to spread out the force.

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by drewskiren

I'll post my efforts here. Basically a hydraulic ram and wood to spread out the force.

I was considering the same idea but with a long piece of heavy wall rectangular tubing I have.

A wood 4x4 like you are thinking would be better as it would flex more and allow you to compensate for the spring back the metal of the tail gate will have when you release the hydraulic pressure.

I also thought about an eyelet welded to the center of the tail gate bottom edge so it was pointing up when the tail gate was open. This way I could use the engine hoist to pull it back into shape.

I like the jack and 4x4 method better as is won't involve welding anything to the tail gate and is probably safer with less chance of damage.

[classicchev]

hope you did not push your garage wall off it foundation.


Darren

[mcbassin]

Nice fix for the bow in the gate! Thanks for sharing the pics with us.

[kyull67]

Nice work! Can't wait to see more progress!

[VA72C10]

Nice job on the gate!

[thirdstreettito]

Great build! Good work!

[VA72C10]

cool! Looking forward to this part!

[Dieselwrencher]

You can more than likely ditch the carrier bearing cross member and relocate it how you want and where you need it once you get the rear axle and power train set in the chassis. As for the frame kick up being too high, you could do some figuring and this might be an idea. Right where it kicks up starting before the last cab mount, and before the spring mount, try to find how much kick up you need. Cut the frame at maybe a 45* cut somewhere in that area. Remove some material needed to get the kick up you desire. Cut the other at 45*, bevel each side, weld up, then plate the inside and either bolt this in or weld it in. Then place your rear axle and figure out where you can add your 4" of frame to achieve your desired wheel base. Good luck with this portion of the project. It is coming along nicely!