'55 Chevy 3800 Cummins

[xj_man_646]

I think there is a huge advantage to taking the time to model it out before cutting any steel. I wish I still had access to and knew how to use CAD...haven't touched it in 12ish years. Still, impressive for sure. It would take me a year to do all that work

[6DoF]

Friday evening i got the front clip situated on there and got to making plans for how to move fwd with it. tire fitment was good but needed help and the core support mounts need re-done.

but it looks soooooo gooooood.

[6DoF]

to anyone who thought i was going to be eating fender steering, you weren't wrong!

so straight on the tires tuck great, and obviously at full drop the sheet metal is going to limit my steering. however, i was more limited at ride than i expected so i need to go a little further than just a lip trim.

since every little bit counts, i started messing with a body lift. 1/4" didn't change much, and 1/2" you could tell there was significantly more under rocker gap, so she's now sitting with a 3/8" spacer on the body mounts.

next was the wheel spacers, could i pull them in even more? since the sheet metal is my steering limit at drop and i now know where that is, it looks like my current clearances will allow me to narrow it another 1/2" per side. so i have ordered some 1.5" wheel spacers that'll be here today. this should be a big change up there. enough of a change that it'll most likely require that i "tub" the inner wheel well.

then the fender trimming itself, i channeled my Jeep Cherokee Fender trimming experience from college when i did more than i can remember and got to it. the fender lip that sticks in has 3 sections to vs a full round. i trimmed 2/3 of that lip off at the outer bend line, leaving only a minor flange. then to the dismay of my forearm, i hammered that little seam up and out of the way. this rolled lip leaves the fender just as stiff as factory, with significantly more clearance, but also with a clean finished edge that's still painted and won't ever cut a tire.

finally i think i'm going to have to invest in an air management system with height sensors. that'll make sure i'm always at full ride when tooling around town, but also make it easy to lower for a softer ride on the highway. excuses for more toys ... aw shucks.

as it sits now without the new wheel spacers, i can now get my full hand between the tires and fender at steering lock at 8" ride. at 3" ride i still have enough steering to change lanes quickly on the highway, but never plan to drive it that low for more than a picture.

[Cobound]

Things are never easy, right?! Bummer, that factory edge looks nice, but doesn't look like you took a whole lot off...looks like a good trim! Kinda not even noticed since you have the outer lip still there

[6DoF]

Originally Posted by Cobound

Things are never easy, right?! Bummer, that factory edge looks nice, but doesn't look like you took a whole lot off...looks like a good trim! Kinda not even noticed since you have the outer lip still there

my new wheel spacers will be in this evening and i'll get new pictures up. but with it being so low, you never notice the missing inner lip unless you know to look for it.

[xj_man_646]

Why is it that you needed wheel spacers in the first place? I can't recall. Keep the tires out of the steering / suspension?

The clearance issues you're experiencing is why aftermarket front end kits for slammed trucks involve a substantially narrower track width.

[6DoF]

Originally Posted by xj_man_646

Why is it that you needed wheel spacers in the first place? I can't recall. Keep the tires out of the steering / suspension?

The clearance issues you're experiencing is why aftermarket front end kits for slammed trucks involve a substantially narrower track width.

i'm running dually wheels on SRW hubs. the normal dually spacer is 4.5", so using a 1.5" i've been able to narrow the track width by 6"!!

this really did require the wheels i have, and a good bit of control arm massaging as well. the wheel center on these hits the barrel way out at the lip, not inside like usual. this gave me WAY more caliper clearance. if you look back though, i had to clearance the LCA from hitting the wheel at drop since the inner lip is right at the balljoint pivot now.

[6DoF]

so amazon got me the wheel spacers next-freakin-day, and i got them on last night. looks like this helped, and i'm going to call this good enough to move on.

my justification:
- anything lower than ride is fender limited ... cuz form > function?!?!
- at 3" i have enough steering to probably drive a normal road.
- at 8+" ride i get full lock with bump clearance, and you only use that going slow anyways, so unless i'm parking in a ditch and articulated the clearance should be good.
-if i am parking in a ditch, i can just inflate the bag stiff enough that the front doesn't articulate.

Ride @ 8.5":





full drop:



Ride @ 3"


Rear isn't actually that wide vs the body for a dually.

[Sir Sam]

Looks good.

[Cobound]

I'm kinda in love w/ the thing, really dig that wheel/tire choice, too. I love builds in general, especially as I don't do them but appreciate all the work and finish details that go into them. Miss my uncle even when I see these sorts of things...really need to get to Back To The 50's in St Paul, MN some time you're done w/ it!!

An old neighbor buddy of mine is a builder, he's done some incredible work, too...man, big props!

[6DoF]

thanks!

i updated my cost sheet with a "gearhead math" cost and an actual cost to build. the difference being basically all iterations of the project including anywhere i made/lost money changing plans.

i started with the 6400 ... sold it for a +$2000 profit
then got this 3800 ... -$610into it after selling the engine/trans and seat
parted out a 4th gen camaro for a t56 that i later sold ... total part-out +$500 profit
was going to mate it to the TDI from the Golf ... fuel savings paid for the car, sold for +$3000
a c10 chassis and built the IFS for V1.0, that i later sold ... parted it all down for +$250 profit
drove home the $500 YJ, fixed it ... traded straight up for the 96 cummins ram
parted down cummins ram ... -$400 into keeping the 12v n chassis
build the chassis and sold it to build the new hotness ... lost -$750 on that

all-in I'm doing ok so far, neither number is hateful all things considered. i think i'm on track that once fully functional i'd be able to sell it for more than the actual (higher) cost.

[6DoF]

with the body so low on the chassis ... the steering box, ended up right in the middle of the driver side core support body mount. add in the need for as big of a radiator as i can get, and the jungle gym steering, and i'm running out of room! only free space is under the frame really, and i need both body mounts and bumper mounts still. so i placed a body mount puck, and some small tabs where the bumper would be ... and started trying to connect it all to the frame. i'm not super happy with how this looks, it just seams overly complicated. but i'm starting to think that's only because i don't have all the BS i'm building around in there.

[6DoF]

decided i hated it ... started over.

the core support mounts are now inverted, so they bolt to the bottom of the frame instead. i was trying to keep the core support sitting on them even with a loose bolt, but this is just going to be way cleaner. the core support is basically flat against the front of the frame, so the lower plate will weld to it.

the bumper is also a completely separate mount now and should provide a little more protection. still need to figure out a better diagonal support thought. that might need to wait until it's built since i don't have the C30 crossmember modeled.

[Cobound]

SELL IT

[6DoF]

detailed some more 3D n got a little more plate ordered Saturday from my buddy, can't wait to have the the front clip mounted. also spent Saturday replacing the ENTIRE power steering, pump and all the lines even up to the hydroboost, in my 2500. freaking blew out the ONE day my wife drove it to work, and it was our anniversary. none of the crazy rusty lines blew, was a new chinesium hose from the new cooler last year ... WTF!?! whatever, all new now.

Sunday i managed to get a little done even while trying to cut my finger off. while removing the bits of the factory dash support that were in the way of the new pedal assembly, i managed to GASH my finger on some grinder flash. one of those super deep, you felt it go that deep, and you are rushing to wash it really good before the nerve endings catch up n it hurts. but got that all cut out and clearanced!

so i got the Helix pedal firewall assembly and it's really nice, but sux. the dash side mounting plate is way off at the wrong angle and almost an inch too long. tech support said it was designed for the cars, but "should also work in the the truck". well i'm debating between cutting it up or returning it for the CPP.

also chopped the seat frame out of the yukon bench, no going back now! i had it latched while i was cutting and it stayed together well, so i'm now 100% convinced that once bolted to the floor it'll be great. just more attention to lining it all up than GM would have done in a factory.

[6DoF]

:insert excuses for lack of progress:

chopped up the seat and got it's final resting place all figured. now i just need to fab up the mounts. shouldn't be too bad.

chopped up the Helix pedal bracket and got it to fit. she's bolted to the firewall and the dash, but now i need to weld it back together. also bought a 2nd pedal assembly just to steel the pedal for my clutch. pretty happy with this, need a longer bolt and to chop off the extra now.

[Sir Sam]

cool

[6DoF]

seat is officially placed, and temporarily secured. the rear mounts are bolted to the factory seat location then tacked to the seat frame. the delrin spacer blocks are just sitting there but will be screwed to the seat frame and not the floor just for support. thought, i might also delete em after the mount is fully welded since the seat leans on the back of the cab anyways. the forward mounts will be riv-nuts in the floor vs the current self tappers now that i know the placement is good. fold n tumble seat still works great too. with the console down you really notice the driver seat being offset probably 2-3" from center of the cluster.

fit the steering and kind of wish i had gotten the 28" vs the 30". i'd rather have the brushed natural finish, but the 3 different finishes kind of sucks, so i might try and get a black 28". in the picture you can see it exits the firewall really close to the frame, and i could use it a little further away from me inside at that placement.

also got the pedals bracket all modified and welded back together, easier than shipping them back to try something different. cut up my 2nd set for the clutch pedal, and spliced the bolts to make the length i needed to get thru the whole thing. it feels pretty good, but now i need to figure out the height to place the clutch master. i was shocked and excited tough that the pedal shaft that came with the hydroboost for whatever application was perfect as-is!

[Cobound]

poomiim

Get in there and take a proper pic

[6DoF]