My 56
FTE fan
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 3,674
Likes: 11
From: paradise, northern calif.
That is a beautiful truck, for me it all fits together nicely. The ride height (as it sits) the rake, the grill, and wheels, and body mods are all set off by that beautiful red paint. Nice job.
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 133
Likes: 0
From: Shelton Nebraska
I did not get back as quick as I intended. Here are the particulars about my truck.
2 inch chop with stock windshield
Filled Cowl Vent and Fresh Air intake
Forward opening hood
Volare front end
Power steering
Narrowed Mercury Station wagon rear end
400 Chevy
350 Turbo Hydro
I scratch built the box
Gas tank relocated to Rear
I will tell the build story as I have time. I do not haveany more pictures but will have my son help get some more.
Thanks
stubbfarmer
2 inch chop with stock windshield
Filled Cowl Vent and Fresh Air intake
Forward opening hood
Volare front end
Power steering
Narrowed Mercury Station wagon rear end
400 Chevy
350 Turbo Hydro
I scratch built the box
Gas tank relocated to Rear
I will tell the build story as I have time. I do not haveany more pictures but will have my son help get some more.
Thanks
stubbfarmer
Hotshot
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 15,882
Likes: 88
From: Durham NC
It looks like the roof was pancaked? Use a later truck roof panel? Slide the windshield into the roof or chop under the windshield like they did on Foose's 56? Original big back window or aftermarket?
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 133
Likes: 0
From: Shelton Nebraska
I farm just East of Gibbon NE the home of Gibbon Fiberglass. I do not remember exactly when I started my truck. We found the receipt for the digital dash from Dan Carpenter dated 1991. Dwight Bond who founded Gibbon Fiberglass had started Gibbon F100’s. My Dad and I had always been into cars. I worked for Gibbon Body Shop as the shop kid in High School (1972-1974). We had collected 53-56 pickup parts through the years and had a Big Window Cab. Dwight had built a chopped red 56 as a shop truck and I fell in love. Gibbon F100’s developed a kit to chop the top 2” by tucking the windshield up into the top. I had Gibbon F100’s install the Volare front end and 9 inch rear. At the time they were developing their kit for the Cordoba front end. We had a cab with a bad rear panel and top we had saved to fix a Big Window Cab with a bad floor. A friend that worked for Gibbon F 100’s and had done the chassis work took that cab and installed the chop and Big Window kits. The top and back panels are fiberglass. As I remember Dwight made a mold of a stock roof. He cut a stock fiberglass top both length and width wise to fit the chop then made a mold of the new top for the kit.
I need to go I will continue the story later.
Thanks
stubbfarmer
I need to go I will continue the story later.
Thanks
stubbfarmer
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 133
Likes: 0
From: Shelton Nebraska
In the early 90’s I was building the box. My friend that was doing the body work had the cab in primer the front fenders mounted. He was working on a front tilt hood and mounting the steering column and brake booster when we had a falling out. After a while I retrieved the truck took it home and put it in the machine shed. I did not know how to handle the situation and did not want to offend my friend. Life went on work, kids ect. and time passed. Suddenly it was 20 years latter. My Dads health went down hill in 2013. He had several projects he had not finished. I realized I had several projects started and if I did not get in gear I might not ever get any of them done. In 2014 my 40th class reunion was coming up. My 71 Chevy 4x4 project had been setting since the time of our 30th reunion. This brought things into even sharper focus. In the spring of 2014 I had the Chevy completed by Street Sweeper Customs in Elm Creek NE. Mainly just finish wiring mount trim and get running. My Dad passed away in Dec.2014. This again brought thinks into focus. I had talked to Kyle Bond (Dwight Bond’s son) about finishing the 56 about the same time I had the 71 finished. A spot opened up in his shop this spring (2015). My son and I pulled the 56 out washed it up and we restarted the project.
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 133
Likes: 0
From: Shelton Nebraska
Back when I started my 56 project I had a 70 Chevy Impala 4 door we were driving as a family car. It needed tires, brakes, air fixed and a new exhaust system. It was a $600 car that needed $1200 in repairs. I decided to use the 400, 350 turbo hydro, steering column and brake master cylinder for the 56.
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 133
Likes: 0
From: Shelton Nebraska
When we took the 56 to Kyle it was a cab and front end on a frame with engine and tranny mounts and steering column mounted. My intention was to get the cab and front end painted, drive train installed, put a primmered box on and drive it. As they started working on the truck we decided to redo some things. Maybe redo is to strong a word mainly they were adjustments that made things fit and work better. We all end up doing things a couple of times before we are happy with them. Then as we go to the next thing the last needs adjusted for the next.
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 133
Likes: 0
From: Shelton Nebraska
I had a chance to measure the clearance at the front of the running boards. It is 6 inches now. We may have raised it a little from the pictures when we did the final settings.
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 133
Likes: 0
From: Shelton Nebraska
These are some of the things we ran into. They started by raising the rear spring hangers and remounted the rear axel on top of the springs instead of the bottom. This got the stance where we wanted it. The engine mounts needed adjusted forward for the HEI distributer to clear the firewall and exhaust manifolds to clear the steering.
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 133
Likes: 0
From: Shelton Nebraska
I had not figured out what type of gas tank I wanted. I did not want the tank in the cab for more room. I thought about a 53-55 style tank but was not sure of how to route the fill tube as I did not want the 53-55 fill area on the cab. We went with a rear tank behind the rear axel. I thought about a fill door in the left rear fender. After looking at what it would take to do that in work, time and expense I went with a fill cap in the floor of the box.