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Hey everyone, need a little help here. My truck was hit hard on passenger side at some point. I'm not positive that my door frame and rocker are lined up square and I want to make sure I have some accurate measurements as I piece everything together.
Would someone measure their '56 cab across the rear lower door frames? See pic for what I mean. I'm most interested in outside to outside by where my thumb is here. This would be relative to the door jamb on the driver's side. If my total cab width is off here then I know it is a problem with this jamb. Door jamb is caved in at bottom 1/3 Rocker panel bends in the last several inches
I tried aluminum oxide in the blaster this evening and it really cut through the paint and rust quickly. Here are a few photos of my test areas. Will do the rest of the cab in the next week or two.
Front passenger floorboard looks ok. Firewall came out nice. No rust to speak of. If the rest of the window frames look like this I will be in business! Also test fit my bench seat. It's out of a 1991 f150. If I put it close to the floor I'll be able to drive pretty comfortably. It's tough at 6'4" to fit in these things. Seat from drivers side
Hey everyone, need a little help here. My truck was hit hard on passenger side at some point. I'm not positive that my door frame and rocker are lined up square and I want to make sure I have some accurate measurements as I piece everything together.
Would someone measure their '56 cab across the rear lower door frames? See pic for what I mean. I'm most interested in outside to outside by where my thumb is here. This would be relative to the door jamb on the driver's side. If my total cab width is off here then I know it is a problem with this jamb. Door jamb is caved in at bottom 1/3 Rocker panel bends in the last several inches
Hope this is what you needed. I just skimmed thru your posts and really enjoyed what you have done so far. Thanks for sharing the pictures. This is from my '53.
Ken.
I have a question on your C notch. You said the instructions said to leave more than half the frame height, but it looks like you took about 2/3rds away in your cutting. Then you put all the weight of the truck on the coilover behind the notch. Is this going to be a concern?
Originally Posted by Waygonner
Rear c-notch. Instructions say to leave more than half of frame height
Hope this is what you needed. I just skimmed thru your posts and really enjoyed what you have done so far. Thanks for sharing the pictures. This is from my '53.
Ken.
I have a question on your C notch. You said the instructions said to leave more than half the frame height, but it looks like you took about 2/3rds away in your cutting. Then you put all the weight of the truck on the coilover behind the notch. Is this going to be a concern?
You raise a great point.
The c-notch is exactly half of the frame. I know it looks like more but it's because of the angle of the photo. The frame was 4" at that point when I started and now it is about 2 1/8". I'm hoping that with the full boxing it makes it strong enough but I'm also curious to see how it handles the weight. I'm less concerned since it's a pickup and there is less weight on the rear end than if it were a car. It's something I'll keep a close eye on, though. I would be curious to hear from members who have done the c-notch before.
The c-notch is exactly half of the frame. I know it looks like more but it's because of the angle of the photo. The frame was 4" at that point when I started and now it is about 2 1/8". I'm hoping that with the full boxing it makes it strong enough but I'm also curious to see how it handles the weight. I'm less concerned since it's a pickup and there is less weight on the rear end than if it were a car. It's something I'll keep a close eye on, though. I would be curious to hear from members who have done the c-notch before.
It's not just the static weight of the truck you would be concerned with. There's a lot of forces and torque associated with stopping and starting, cornering, not to mention how hard you would be doing each of those actions, if you would have a load in the bed or towing a trailer, etc. There's a lot of things to consider. Perhaps a truss or bridge over the notch to add some support and gain some frame height would be something to consider. Just a thought.
I’m with Wayne. The mere cutting off the half of the frame reduces the bending-stiffness by 8 times! Of course you boxed the frame at that spot, but it isn’t as strong as before. I guess your truck will have much more power than before? I’m curious of the further progress and the report of your test drives. Keep going!
It's not just the static weight of the truck you would be concerned with. There's a lot of forces and torque associated with stopping and starting, cornering, not to mention how hard you would be doing each of those actions, if you would have a load in the bed or towing a trailer, etc. There's a lot of things to consider. Perhaps a truss or bridge over the notch to add some support and gain some frame height would be something to consider. Just a thought.
Definitely a lot to consider. Towing and heavy loads aren't in the plan, nor is autocross. You guys are right, though, the 302 I'm putting in will have about 300 horse at the crank and then lose some through the aod so it's probly double or triple the original power.
I'll give no limit engineering (the makers of the kit) a call next week and talk this through with them.
The frame was originally 4" span with 2" to make the C shape top and bottom. Now it is essentially 2" by 2" square tube. I'm not sure the difference in strength there.
I have to add that also the weight of the truck was on 4 spots with the original suspension- the front of the leafs and the rear of them. The way you have it is all the weight is on 2 spots- directly above your springs, which is right behind the notch. It looks to me like a good pothole could fold up the frame at the notch. It seems that the notches I have seen on custom frames were the same size as the frame which puts it up into where the original bed floor is- that's why so many lowered trucks have the bed floor raised or modified to clear the rear frame/notch/suspension. I think all that have commented are on your side and not being critical but we sure don't want to see this be a huge problem or worse cause a accident after you truck is completed. I'll be following along. Thanks for posting your progress, Greg.
Back to work on the truck this afternoon. I had a couple of clean up projects to take care of. 1. Install the steering rack as the hardware I ordered came in yesterday. 2. Fix the front radiator support/body mounts.
As I've said before, the truck was hit hard on the passenger side at some point. The mounting holes for the support took some Carnage. One I had to replace with a new plate and recreate the oblong hole. The other I was able to weld up. There were a few stress cracks near the one I welded up so I grounded a u into them and filled them in as well. This is the drivers side one that I had to cut out. Passenger side that was able to be hammered smooth and welded up the damage. Repair plate welded in on drivers side Welds ground down 1/2" wide oblong hole. I drilled two 1/2" holes then filed down the material in between them Driver's side finished Passenger side finished Fixed xmember and installed steering rack.
I am working out how I will fix the dash. It will probably work best if I can harvest par of the dash from a donor truck. Does anyone have a '56 that they want to sell some metal out of? Here is the dash when I started. The worst part is above the glove box where a stereo was mounted, then removed and replaced with tin and Bondo. Bondo gone and tin pushed back. This is the area that I would like to get a patch panel for. I think it would be very difficult to get the radius and Apex right.
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