Looking really good,like the hood pins, makes the truck look meaner!

 

Hey all! Here's an update on some fabrication and a small headache as well!

So I've always been concerned with making my truck fast and fun, but also with safety as well. I was horrified when I took out the old driveshaft, cleaned it up, and saw the nasty "buzz box" welds holding the in line slip shaft on. I knew I needed a new driveshaft and needed to make a driveshaft loop to give me a safety catch in case of u joint failure.

I bought a u bend off of summit racing, punched a top plate and welded it together. I had to drill out the holes in the stock crossmember to make everything fit.





It came out well, bolted into place and I have plenty of clearance with the driveshaft.

I also started to mock up the rear sway bar. I should of done this a long time ago, but I didn't understand how everything actually worked and was intimidated by the idea of it. I finally sucked it up and went through the instructions again and again. It turned out to be quite simple.

HOWEVER! Being that i already boxed the frame, I now had to line up four holes to get the tube that houses the splined bar in. Great...

But the solution I thought of was pretty neat. I used the measurements in the instructions to make a drill template for some 0.125 pilot holes. I used a 0.250 drill to further pilot out the hole, then went to the hole saw.



This worked great! Except for the fact that I couldn't hold the drill straight!

I brought out the cut off wheel and cut a tangent to the inside holes I just drilled. This gave me just tolerance to line everything up and get the bar in. However, when I inserted the splined bar in for the sway bar, I could feel a slight drag due to the tube being a little sprung/bent . Now I will have to sand out the holes a little further to release the stress on the bar.



A little metal work, grinding and some welding will have this eyesore of cutting looking pretty again in no time.

Here's some shots of everything mocked up as well. I sanded the polished aluminum arms that held the bar and tie rods together and shot them black.









The sway bar itself is a really trick unit. It utilizes shoulder bolts to replace bolts that hold in the top links on the four link suspension to the rear end brackets. Tie rods then connect the rear end to machined bars on each end. The machined bars are then connected to one another via a splined bar that fits through a tube welded into the frame.

The TCI four link truly only requires hand tools and some light fabrication. I'm liking this kit more and more, especially when things start going right.

Looking at this just sitting in the box as components, and the idea of having to line up four holes AND figure out how to mount everything was too much for me. So i procrastinated. Until I actually read the instructions with all the parts in front of me.

Unfortunately, I ordered the wrong u joint size on the end of my driveshaft, so I'm stuck waiting for a conversion u joint. Rather than sit around, I'm finishing up all the stuff I didn't get around to doing quite yet.

I'm also thinking about new ways to clean up the engine bay as well as a way to clean up the looks of the frame. Either make pieces to cover up all the places the frame is not boxed, or make concave cuts into the boxing plates to not make the transition between boxed and unboxed frame so harsh.

I also think a c-notch is in order for this frame as well. Thats another intimidating thought...

I'd enjoy some tips from anyone who has done a c-notch or maybe has some fresh ideas.

Happy building everyone!

 

Hey Daniel,
Looking good. I like the design of your rear sway bar - you'll like it.
Not sure if you are done with the exhaust ..... We tried the turned down exhaust under
the bed.... That didn't work for us - drones like heck under the bed & kicks up dirt/dust everywhere.
Not to mention all the fumes... We went back in & turned our exhausts out the side in front of the wheels.

Looking good over there in Fremont! We went over that new Bay Bridge for the first time in August - nice to see it finally completed!

Ben in Austin
1950 F1

 

I may put the exhaust over the rear axle and put the pipes out the back at a 45 degree angle right under the tailgate. Pointing down. Ive seen a lot of exhaust done like that. I haven't driven the truck yet, so I don't know how the drone will sound or if fumes will get to me yet. It dumps before the rear axle, so I don't know if it will be a problem for me. I'm not a big fan of exiting by the wheels. It will be much easier to run it over the frame. I would like to put in the gas tank in the rear before I decide to do that however.

The new bay bridge is awesome! I drove it maybe two weeks after it opened, it was traffic all the way through. The light and design are really cool. There's been a few issues with engineering or bolts cracking. It comes on the news every now and then. Besides that, I think theres been a few sideshows and guys doing donuts in the middle of it and a couple protests blocking the traffic. Besides that, the bridge is awesome!

 

Mistakes!

Anyway, when I ordered my rear end, the shop told me they put on a big yoke on the 9" to accept a 1350 u-joint. Great! However, they only used a bigger stock yoke. 9" Only came with 1310 or 1330 u joints. Not too sure. Anyhow, I ordered my driveshaft from a local guy and asked for a 1350 u joint in the rear without measuring the rear end yoke

I go to install my driveshaft and it doesn't fit. No surprise there. I measured the yoke to find out it was a 1310 u joint. Not the normal 1.062 cap size, but the big cap size. The 1.125 is the big cap. Thats the bigger size they were referring to when they installed the yoke. The bigger, stock size yoke...

Off to find a conversion u joint! 1310 to 1350 u joints are no issue to find. They're cheap and plentiful. However, a 1350 to a large cap 1310 is nearly impossible! I found one supplier in NY so two weeks and $60 later and it finally shows up. I also made sure I ordered some u bolts. That would be a complete waste of time only to forget the bolts

I woke up early to stop by into work to use the arbor press to get the u joint in. Some of you may chew me out for putting pressure on the caps and not the solid formed piece to put it in, but I only had a couple hours before class and won't be going into work for the rest of the day. So I made due. I may make a tool to help me do this in the future properly. Until then, here are some pictures of this mornings work.







The Achilles' heel is now taken care of. I now have a usable driveshaft with the correct size caps (I measured twice ) A couple hours of brake work, bolting in the seats and belts, and some fluids will get me back on the road. Hopefully by this weekend, I'll be driving this truck for the first time in about 9 months.

Happy building

 

Finally got to test drive this truck after almost 9 months of sitting and working on the suspension engine and other stuff.

It feels great to finally start that thing up, put it in reverse without the rear end clanking into gear. It feels great to stop as well! The rear suspension floats over bumps unlike the leafs that would throw the rear of the truck into the air every time it went over something.

By the way, Ben you were right about the drone! It loud. Very loud. Too loud. I'm definitely going to be running the pipes out of the back, or even consider changing out the muffler later if that doesn't work.

Here's a shot of the rear suspension with the bed on, driveshaft in. You can see all the muffler mounts and the mocked up sway bar, new 9" rear end with all the TCI coil overs and bars. Notice the driveshaft loop.



As far as a bed goes. I will be making a separate frame to bolt into the sides and front pieces of the truck. I will then make another frame for the bed wood to sit on, then try to engineer a system that will enable me to lift up the bed floor assisted with gas shocks. It will make showing off the suspension and frame easier, but also make it easier to work on any parts underneath. The bed will be wood, I plan on doing a light and dark stain. Every other wood plank will either be dark or light. It may end up looking like a good contrast. We will see.

Have a great weekend, and happy building!

 

i just finished reading this thread very nice and detailed i can't wait to get mine started I'm still waiting for the shipping guys to get my 54 to Oklahoma from California
keep up the great work

 

very nice build. I like it alot .
What is width of your rear axle, wms to wms?
what ist the width of your 18" rims and what backspacing?
Does the wheels fit under the Fenders without any modifications?

 

Thank you! What part of California? I've seen a lot of the 53-56 or just old Chevy trucks sitting around a lot over here. These are a lot of fun, it'll be great to see what you do with your truck once you start working on it!

I don't know the axle width off the top of my head. I measured from axle face to axle face, WITHOUT taking into account the thickness of the rotor. The Wheels are 18x8 with 4.50 inch backspacing. I'm currently running a 245/50/18 tire on all four. It seems on the rear axle I could have given half an inch on each side and went more narrow. The tires are really close to the outside of the fender and I have about an 1.5 or maybe a little more on the inside between the bed. I have yet to really drive or corner my truck hard and won't be able to until I get my bucket seats in (which is a few months away). So I can't tell you if there will be any rubbing. If I had any issues, it would be with the outside of the fender lip and not the other way. Currently there is no issue that I see.

I can get you the exact dimensions that I ordered to give you a ball park, however you do need to consider the thickness of the brake rotor hat or brake drums. Each build and wheel is very different. The size tire you choose will also make a difference. I have room to expand if I choose to cut and widen the fenders without having to tub the bed.

I recommend having a brake kit, wheel, and tire all picked out before you order. I would also order the brake kit from whoever builds your rear axle, therefore they take into account the thickness of the brakes and make sure everything fits. My guy didn't have my brake kit and ended up putting on a different flange than I had asked (Big Ford vs. Big Ford New). I ended up having to switch out brake kits from Wilwood, a hassle I could have avoided if I had him install the brake kit.

Hope this helps, if I forget to get you the dimensions, feel free to bug me more about it via private message or on this thread!

 

Haven't had much time to work on anything this past month. School has been taking all of my time. The little time I had on the weekends has been filled with bad weather recently, but I should have some time this weekend to fix some lose ends/noises.

I'm in the process of designing my new aluminum fuel tank. Working on getting the sending unit mount all drawn up right now. going to be using an autometer fuel unit. Should get to fab work in a few weeks.

As far as a bed frame and wood, I'm waiting till i get a fuel tank installed to see the clearance I need to make a new frame and get the mechanics of the lifting part all worked out.

I have a show in San Jose in November Id like to make sure i get to. I have about 2 weeks to work out the little bugs, but hopefully Ill make it. Been there the last three years, taken my truck to two of them. Now I'm hoping I don't miss the third

 

Hey Everyone!

Still alive! for now...

Anyway, I've been a little busy with school occupying most of my time.
Here is some clutch carnage from my friend's Miata, clutch went out while on a hill in San Fransisco. Got it towed back to San Jose and I helped rip this thing apart.



I'll be making some desk art out of this.

I mocked up a fuel cell out of some cardboard. I didn't realize how big I made this tank until I lifted this thing under the frame. Glad i didn't start welding the aluminum together before.







Now I have a reference of how to make it smaller. I'll hopefully begin starting the fabrication for that up soon.

Here's a little shot of it out. I still have to do some timing and fuel. Engine is running rough, so hopefully I'll get some time to tune this thing soon between the bad weather and busy weekends.



Hopefully get some time to plan more where I want to go next with this build once I get some time off for winter.

 

That is a really nice truck, love what you did with it (I also appreciate your use of depth of field, some really good photography).

 

Daniel,
Wow. I read your entire thread on the 54 build! You have really progressed! I am a old dog and wont learn many of those new tricks you have done. But great to watch you continue to improve your truck and yourself! I was impressed! I can see you are a good designer and fabricator too!
Thanks for all the great pictures! You will inspire others to work on there trucks too.
Regards,
Chris

 

I love the truck! I'm not too happy with you though, I had just convinced myself I wasn't going to box my frame with dimpled plates, then I saw how good yours looks, and I think I might just have to do it. Oh well, what's a few more days(or weeks...) of fab work at this point! Keep up the good work

 

Thank you! Thanks for checking out the thread!

Thanks for the kind words Chris. Its a lot of fun working on this project. I have a lot of knowledgable people that are willing to help me fabricate and come with ideas and solutions. It has helped tremendously working in a fab shop with coworkers with 25 years under their belt in sheet metal and machining. Gives me help, but most importantly, I am able to learn from what others teach me.


I never thought about it until i saw a different thread with a boxed frame with the dimples. Its a little difficult as far a dimpling the plate, 3/16 in my case, took a 25 ton press brake to put those in. Definitely worth it knowing the attention to detail extends beyond the exterior and also onto the frame where a handful may even care to look.