55 Chevy stepside project

['55Chevylover]

The newly painted cab is now going back on the frame. I was holding my breath the whole time.

['55Chevylover]

Now the front fenders, doors and new hood is going on.

['55Chevylover]

More assembly. Fenders, hood and front grill outer shell painted and installed.

['55Chevylover]

This is the steering wheel that I am going to use. It is a Flaming River steering wheel. I am going with about the same color on the interior. Also the gauge panel was specially designed with the engine turned look. Most of the panels you see on these trucks are plain chrome. I wanted something different.

[bowt1ed]

Gotta say - I love that steering wheel! Nice work on the 55! Only wish mine was coming along that fast....

[bowt1ed]

Hey 55 Lover, what tire/wheel combo are you going with? Not a bad stance without bagging. I went the No Limit Fat Bar and Camaro sub route myself (no bags) and looking to still get the nose down a little bit. Although with a cut-coil stock spring now, hopefully more with new shorter springs. Looking nice!

[Kim57]

Looks good.
Kim

[Highsider]

Absolutely LOVE the color!

['55Chevylover]

Originally Posted by bowt1ed

Gotta say - I love that steering wheel! Nice work on the 55! Only wish mine was coming along that fast....

Well, it is not really going that fast. I started working on it in 2001 and I am just now posting the past photos to catch up with where it is now. Thanks for the comment.

['55Chevylover]

Originally Posted by bowt1ed

Hey 55 Lover, what tire/wheel combo are you going with? Not a bad stance without bagging. I went the No Limit Fat Bar and Camaro sub route myself (no bags) and looking to still get the nose down a little bit. Although with a cut-coil stock spring now, hopefully more with new shorter springs. Looking nice!

I now have American T100 classic chrome 7" on the front with 235-60 BF Goodrich on the front. The back has 8" American mags with 255-60's. It actually dropped the whole truck about 3" with this tire. I will more than likely have to raise it up another 1 - 2"s so I can get better clearance on the front. The front suspension is now about 2" off the floor. I won't be able to drive it with speed bumps.

['55Chevylover]

Now for the wiring. I went with the Painless wiring kit. The fuse box will be at the rear of the cab between the seats. I am going to have a console with the glove box that has a false bottom for access to the fuses. This actually looked like a rats nest with all the wiring strung out. I had a professional do the wiring. He does a lot of motorcycle wiring. The wiring was run under the fenders to hide it from the engine compartment. I didn't want a lot of wires running around in there. The black wire running along the top of the valve cover is the wiring for the A/C components.

['55Chevylover]

Radiator and cooling fan installed. Some of the earlier photos of the truck. Kind of looks like a rat rod with no rear fenders. The chain at the back of the truck was so we could pull it out of the garage.

['55Chevylover]

A/C box going in, LED park lights, new door hardware, door glass, windshield and back glass is in and new Hooker Super Comp Ceramic headers.

['55Chevylover]

I had a cabinet guy finish the bed wood for me. He put the stain of my choice and put 5 coats of sealer. This sealer is what they use on boats when the wood is refinished. He did not put this on the underside of the boards because he said the wood has to breath. If he put this on the underside of the boards, they would warp. It only took us a day to install the wood.

[made2drag]

i absolutely love your truck and how you conquered it! did you make the dash filler panel to shave it or is that something i can buy somewhere? thanks

['55Chevylover]

Brake reservoir, door wire cover from a Saturn to feed the wires out to the power windows, rear fenders on, gas tank painted black with tail lights and bed lights installed and I am going with the side exhaust in the steps.

['55Chevylover]

Made smooth firewall cover, steps installed, I am going to replace the fender welt, rear bumper installed, smooth firewall cover installed and I had the hood hardware nickel plated.

['55Chevylover]

Firing it up getting ready to bring back home. It is now sitting back in my garage. I still need to do a lot of little adjustments to it. Also, for what reason, it does not run as good as it did before I took it down for the final body work and paint. I will have to figure out what they did to it so I can get it running right again. The vacuum plug was removed from the rear carburetor, so I will have to get another fitting so I can run the vacuum hose to the power brake booster.

['55Chevylover]

I bought the new wheels and tires last week, 11-23-12 and finally got them on the truck. These tires dropped the truck 3" so I may have to raise it back up about an inch or two. I am also installing new polished angle strips in the bed. These are the valve covers and Hilborn scoop that will be going on the engine when finally finished. On the valve covers, I had the black Chevrolet script removed and powder coated with the Corvette yellow as is on the truck. Now this build is up to date. I will try to keep the updates coming until completed finished. Hope I don't bore anyone.

['55Chevylover]

Originally Posted by made2drag

i absolutely love your truck and how you conquered it! did you make the dash filler panel to shave it or is that something i can buy somewhere? thanks

This is a panel that I bought a Brothers. It is made just for the '55-'59 Chevy trucks to get it smooth. I also filled in the holes on the left of the gauge panel so it is smooth all the way across. All the stereo, A/C controls, light and wiper switches will be mounted on the console.

[Kim57]

It's coming out real nice.
Kim

[_Ogre]

looks real good.
bed wood came out spectacular

[oldcouple]

So, its gonna be yellow?

['55Chevylover]

Yep, it is Corvette Millineum Yellow.

[bowt1ed]

What wheels and sizes did you say those were? Almost look like AR TT's.