'55 Chevy 3800 Cummins

[Cobound]

Right...what seems like the little things can be so big

[6DoF]

got my bolts in and ordered a TON of parts!

Turbo's: S362/65/.7 under an S475/96/1.32 ... plus some hot side pipe fab bits
Fueling: new injectors, new valve springs, new pump governor spring

door guts: vent window assemblies, glass, seals n slides

plus electric wiper motor

did a bit of work aligning the doors, and drivers door i'm super happy with. the passenger door doesn't seam like it's going to fit. it's very tight against the cab, but adjusted all the way out ... then on the front edge at the top it's almost against the A pillar and the back has a lot of gap still ... but if i til the door back, the body lines end up way low. i have moved the door up some since the pictures, but didn't help much.

[wrath]

My Dad used to work kwality/repair line at GM and how they fix door alignment using a block of wood wrapped in a chamois to fix door problems like that. Just close the door on the block of wood and it bends the hinges just enough to fix the problem.

I have done the same on a lot of G-body, W-body, Y-body, and F-body to fix droopy doors, which is usually caused by fat people or children dangling off them.

[6DoF]

parts started coming in, first turbo is on site. credit card still trying to recover from Black Friday ... ugh

then it was on to re-doing the core support mounts and radiator mounts. wish i had done this from the start, but whatever it's there now. i even drilled and tapped the frame for am extra bolt in the face to help bumper mounts later, something about going into the new paint was panful the old body mount hole and the new face bolt should make the bumper mount easy enough.

after getting the new mount tacked in place while everything was held by the old mounts, was time to burn. when i cut the bottom off with the old mounts, i had to move the mounting for the cross bars and the lower tube up too. just cut and welded, doesn't look perfectly symmetrical but it aint going nowhere. had to bend the rad mounts quite a bit to get it to angle forward at the bottom vs straight up and down, now clears the fuel lift pump mini-belt just fine.

what it didn't clear however was the dang water neck getting past the belt tensioner :dohh: right freakin into it! is an aftermarket belt routing kit already, so i just modified the brackets a bit and good to go. ordered what i hope to be all the parts for rad hoses, cross your fingers that should be doooone then.

something else i ordered was new valve springs to hand the higher R's and PSI, made sure the rear valve cover came off and it cleared by less than 1/2", all win with that!

[6DoF]

been bouncing around working on everything and anything to get myself a fat check mark on the list. as much as i hate christmas tree style clips, these zipties with one molded on are pretty solid. cut the tree n not reuse like a normal ziptie vs trying to save it.

working on black friday sale parts, i got the upgraded "60lb" valve springs all installed. #6 was a wanker to get to, but we got it! valves are lashed, but i feel like i want to re-check them after running it for a while. also got the 4k governor spring in the pump to let this thing eat.

i had forgotten to seam seal the new eyebrow plate i welded in before paint. not really a big deal and i'll leave it like it is, at least she's sealed now. actually did the whole tape both sides, smear it, and peal for nice lines. i'm pretty happy with it. this is not the same 3M Urethan i had used on the cab before, it's SIKA 221. seams like awesome stuff.

got the other turbo and started planning for how to cram it all in there. the normal flipped manifold was just all kinds of wrong. worst part was i only had 3" from the v-band on the back of the turbine to the firewall. then factory 2nd gen turbo location was basically in the middle of everything so i ended up making an angle adapter. normal manifold orientation, but will tuck the "small" turbo down under it closer to the engine. should have better room for piping, and more room for the atmospheric turbo. crossing my fingers the design was good, had send-cut-send laser cut all the parts and hopefully i see em soon.

the chineese short throw shifter i bought was hot garbage. didn't realize it until i bought a second one for my other truck. swapped that one out for a CORE shifter and loved it, so just swapped this one too. they are hands down the best shifter i have ever used. i even got one for the jeep i like em so much. just tight n right. the hurst style stick for the ram however didn't quite work in the 55 i'll have to cut n weld that later.

[nblehm]

Dude this thing is SO cool.

Was reading the first pages and frame and suspension stuff again. My project adhd really wants to build a jeep cab ramp truck. Went back and looked at your build.

[6DoF]

Originally Posted by nblehm

Dude this thing is SO cool.

Was reading the first pages and frame and suspension stuff again. My project adhd really wants to build a jeep cab ramp truck. Went back and looked at your build.

thanks man! i'll gladly send you the chassis 3D/2D!

the only thing i think i'd change is where the step starts in the front ... if i could make it closer to the cab i'd be able to rout exhust between the tire and chassis vs frame n cab.

i'm also having issues with the summit racing paint chipping off. not sure if it's my application or a paint issue, cuz it's the same for all 3 colors.

[nblehm]

There is a f450 rolling chassis for sale near me for under 2k. Might be a cool plate form to start with. 12v or a bbc and a jeep body, ready to roll

[6DoF]

Originally Posted by nblehm

There is a f450 rolling chassis for sale near me for under 2k. Might be a cool plate form to start with. 12v or a bbc and a jeep body, ready to roll

12v or BBC ftw ... i'm really getting the itch that i need a bbc in my life

if you can use the chassis, suspension, and entire driveline i could see a body swap being worth it. but if doing new bod mounts, engine and trans mounts, then some suspension ... it's worth just building the custom chassis too.

[6DoF]

Started getting things torn down and reassembled in the rear axle for new gears. going from the axles factory 4.10s to as high as i possibly can at 3.21. the Cummins loves load, and this way i'll be able to do highway speeds with the 30" tires

front shocks are on, and got the little bracket i made the other night on after the paint dried. something satisfying about a little stupid tab that the brake lines can ziptie too. just a nice KISS thing.

also cut down the shifter. makes ya cringe grinding into new chrome, but it's 1000x better. custom cut shifters that fall exatly where your hand is just makes the whole feel. and the fact it stood straight up is kinda cool.

[6DoF]

got after the crazy door assembly again last night ... why were the stupid horizontal lower felts even more ridiculous to install than the vent window!?!?! 4 clips, just pop em in, the dude on the youtube said it was easy ... i blame the aftermarket for copying GM vs doing something better when GM made a crap design.

but it's together, it's functional and smooth, and i like it. though, i don't like how much paint i chipped. i'm not sure if it's my application, or the paint itself, but i'm getting flakes vs scratches in all 3 colors.

[xj_man_646]

Flaking paint would point to a prep or some other type of adhesion issue IMO. Compatibility issues in my limited experience would bubble, so I don't think that is your problem.

[6DoF]

wife helped me last night, there was definitely a learning curve to the windshield install. still only took us about 30min, and afterwards she said we'd be way faster the next time. even offered to help other ppl if she got paid

only thing i broke was when i knee'd the flasher button on the new column ... little jerk broke off inside :dohh:

[6DoF]

Originally Posted by xj_man_646

Flaking paint would point to a prep or some other type of adhesion issue IMO. Compatibility issues in my limited experience would bubble, so I don't think that is your problem.

yup ... i know a few places i cleaned the primer wrong, but i could have also ended up with a dry spray or something application related. one thing i saw was maybe i laid it down too thick as well.

or all of the above! sux, but i'll touch things up and should be good.

[6DoF]

still haven't gotten back to the rear gears, but i got the turbo angle adapter all burnt in! i enjoyed the crap out of building that. welded and welded again to get the exterior corner radius on the plate, then internally ported back to smooth again.

50deg, T4 to T3, as compact as possible.

[xj_man_646]

That adapter looks pretty good. This will be compound turbo in the end, or single? I can't recall.

[6DoF]

Originally Posted by xj_man_646

That adapter looks pretty good. This will be compound turbo in the end, or single? I can't recall.

compounds incoming!

S362/65 ... s475/96

[xj_man_646]

Schweeeeet.

[6DoF]

the problem is that i'm setting up my fueling and the turbo's to be WAY more capable than the current head gasket

i re-torqued the head bolts to the higher spec, so that'll help a little ... but i really need studs. to get the last few head bolts out i have to actually pull the head or engine, i can't just replace them one by one in the new doghouse. if I'm pulling the head, i really need to fire ring it to truly hold what i'll throw at it. might as well buy the ported head pre-machined for those vs wasting money machining the stock head when i can just sell it as-is. plus you have to have the rocker pedestals machined for the studs or buy upgraded ones.

for now i'm just doing the bare minimum to not have to re-fab anything later and to support an entertaining truck. it'll be "tame" for now at only 45psi max, but that could still be 450+hp if i get the screws turned right.

the stupid thing is that Hank will push 60PSI, but his fueling is junk.

[6DoF]

if someone ever asks you to help them install the windshield on a truck with the gasket vs glue-in ... do it, it's a cool process and pretty satisfying. plus it's a 2 man job, help a dude.

if someone asks you to help them with the rear window on a truck with the gasket style and the locking strip ... you punch them in the face and walk away. what an epic process of hateful things! the seal is missing a chuck where the lock strip goes, so it's extra floppy and unstable to get the glass into the basic opening. then the lock seal needs tucked into the groove under both edges, but the gasket is all over the place without it. the corners are especially hateful where it's all collapsing. took me 2 nights cuz the first night i had to take a break to throw stuff around the shop and start over last night

but it's in! it's clean, it works, it's good to go!