Thread: My First Project: 52 Chevy Pickup

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I'm with Rumrumm on this one. My plan would be boxing the rails on the existing frame, then fabbing up the necessary mount points to use the transfer case, differentials, and suspension out of a donor truck. Haven't seen many bolt-the-body-on-a-newer-frame deals that come out looking right. Usually the track width is wrong and or the wheelbase is wrong and most tend to "comprimise" on the dimensions and the truck ends up looking tacky.

Got a sign in my garage that sez, "If you don't have the time and the money to do it right, when are you going to have the time and the money to do it over?". It's there as a constant reminder to me to avoid the quickie shortcut deals that always seem to cause way more problems then they ever cure!!!!!

I[COLO
R="Blue"][/COLOR] If you don't have the time and money to do it right, when will you have the time and money to do again?
Excellent advice thanks Dave, I have suffered from me taking shortcuts too, and kick myself for my stupidity,take three steps forward and four backwards.

Start simple.I have done about 8 of these ole trucks.Start with how much money do you have? Next how much rust. No since in starting on something rusted to h e ll.What do you have for tools? Skill? Place to do it?Fall in love with something you can do not something you will have to dump quick in 5 years when you run out of???????
Oh and keep the stock frame..frame swaps are just asking for headaches.

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Oh and keep the stock frame..frame swaps are just asking for headaches.[/QUOTE]

The frame is rusted to hell, there isn't a lot of hope in saving iy from what I can see. Working 7 days a week doesn't allow me much time to look under it

You haven't said what your skill set is yet? Me, i could build a frame, i boxed my frame for my '49 though, came out great. Buying a frame will cost you $8000+ from what i have seen. Doing a frame swap, i could build one much cheaper than that, plus by the time you modify a swapped frame, you'll be sacrificing something (length, track width, ride height) plus have a lot of time and money tied up in getting everything to mount correctly. Hope you can weld. Even a rusted Stock frame, i could salvage and use, unless you can stick your hand through it for the full length. make sure you know what you are getting into no matter what route you choose.

Welcome. I'm another truck builder here. I think as Richard and Dave have said, figuring out what to do is important first. For example a 350 chevy engine is easy to come by already running, for a reasonable cost. Or you can rebuild one for less because there are so many parts for them.
Secondly, if money is an issue, make a list of what you can do now by yourself, and tackle those things first. Stay away from attractive stuff like guages, wheels tires, uphulstry until later when your almost done. One of the guys on here said he's built 4 of these. He probably has a great idea where to start and what order to go!
Lastly, stock steering will save you a ton of time and technical figuring on your own. IFS is great, but either you take it to a shop, or have tools and knowledge and cash to work it out. It opens several cans of worms early on in your build, but would be the place to start physically. Mentally, I'd go to a chevy site where people have been there done that to a truck just like yours(which is a real beauty by the way!) and see what they have done. After a few different reads, you'll start to see a theme of what makes sense and what doesn't.
I think you will also find stores online like LMC trucks ( http://www.lmctruck.com/ ), and MACS auto parts ( http://macsautoparts.com/Default.asp...cd2=1276967363 ) , for stock stuff and no limit engineering, ( http://nolimit.net/ ) and classic performance parts ( http://www.classicperform.com/ for hot rod conversion stuff that comes with instructions and a support phone line are very helpfull (got a motor mount for my truck that is for my 460 motor here and front brake conversion setup, etc.. makes it easier to build!)
Anyway I hope this is helpful.
I think the guys on here would probably recogmend figuring out the chasis first, boxing your frame after you get your suspension, brakes and power train worked out, then working your way back up to the body and linkages.
Or you can follow my build thread http://www.clubhotrod.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34090 and meader around at different things, but get to the same place hopefully n the end!
Seriously cool truck welcome and have fun!

Heres a bunch of research all in one place for you.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...d.php?t=274702

Hey man. I got a few suggestions. i have always wanted to do this too. But like other people have said I have never seen it done right. In my opinion if you go through with making a 4x4 don't go bigger then 35-37" tires. Actually with the designs I have done these seem to work perfect. Just need to find the right lift to make it go together aesthetically (this is the biggest downfall on the trucks I saw is tire fitment). Here is a pic (no you are not the first to think this up, lol) of an original 1953 Chevy pick-up with an original 1953 Coleman conversion kit to make it 4x4 which consisted of a front axle and transfer case and brackets, adapters and emblems. The rear axle stayed the same. Now the book I have read and it has excellent info on how to restore your truck so this can help you with a few ideas. It is done section by section. ie drivetrain, body, etc. I know you are not doing a resto but it will be helpful on the do's and don'ts of this truck. How to Restore Your Chevrolet Pickup [Paperback]
Amazon has it here: http://www.amazon.com/How-Restore-Yo.../dp/0879385006
Good luck and have fun.

Another thing is I don't think the short box trucks look right lifted. I would recommend looking for the longbox stepside if you plan to lift it. It seems to me they look too short. If you can throw a little money at it another idea is they have companies out there making aftermarket frames for these trucks. maybe you can get one with no suspension brackets or just rear suspension brackets. But mind you they are about 5 grand.