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I guess it's about time I start a project thread for my wife's '57 3200 pickup.

508K views 1K replies 116 participants last post by  roger1 
#1 · (Edited)
Well here it is the first of July and I started working on my wife's truck last April. (I started collecting parts for it late last fall however).

So, I'll start the thread now and try to get it up-to-date over the next few days and then keep up with it from then on.

First, I want to give a link that covers when and how we came to own this truck 2 years ago:
'57 Pickup
(Thanks again for everyone that helped me with the purchase decision.)

So, the story from there is that my wife wouldn't drive the truck the way it was. I drove and enjoyed it from time-to-time and she would ride with me but she only drove it about 3 times with me and wouldn't drive it alone.
What she hated the most was the manual steering. She didn't like the standard transmission without the synchro first either. It didn't help matters that the syncho was sloppy in 2nd either along with the fact that it would pop out of second sometimes. No A/C, black vinyl seats and a manual turn signal were things she complained about too.

Anyway, I decided to do a restomod on the truck and try to make it a perfect grocery-getter for her. Fuel injection, power front disc brakes, automatic, A/C are all mandatory things I want for her. She would like for the truck to be painted green and keep all the trim white like it is now. She also wants the interior to be tan with a cloth seat.

More to come soon...

Here's a couple of pics of the truck right after we got it:

 
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#2 · (Edited)
Last November I was cruising craigslist and just happen to find an engine and transmission for sale that looked to me like a good one for the truck.

It was a 305 TPI and 700R4 transmission that was still in a pristine '91 Z28 Camaro with 63K miles. (They guy had picked up an LS1 and wanted to put in the car.) He was asking $1,000. He sent me photos of the car and engine and even took a video for me so I could hear it run. (He was in Copperas Cove.) After that, I told him I would take it and the following week he removed the engine and met me and San Saba where we did the exhange. To me, this is a perfect engine for the truck and what my wife wants to use it for. The truck has a 3.54 rear gear and should be a great ratio for the combo too.

Here's the car and engine before it was removed:
(Frankly, I think he was crazy for altering this cream puff car.)


Hauled it in my El Camino:


So, this started my commitment to the project.
 
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#4 · (Edited)
April 27th.
This was the official kick off day of actually working on the truck. I removed the bed wood. A little rust under here but not bad.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Another priority was to get the gas tank out from behind the seat. I also wanted a gas tank with an internal electric fuel pump. After a lot of thinking and studying, I decided to use the same tank that Speedbump used for his truck. It's a Tanks, Inc. poly tank meant for a Furd.

Here's the tank:
1949-51 Ford Poly Fuel Tank

I got their fuel injection pump setup and sending unit for it too.

I got the rivets out of the crossmember and moved it back to where it needs to be (which is 22 1/2" between the 2 crossmembers). Wow those rivets aren't easy to get out.

Now I need to drill some holes and bolt it in place. Also need to get some steel and weld it in to box the frame for strength. I'll also build 2 supports to span the crossmembers for the top of the tank to lay against when it is strapped in place from underneath. The poly tank comes with a universal strap kit.

Utilizing free time wisely while I'm waiting for my new tank to be delivered...
I cut out the flange on the original gas-fill hole.
Heck, I've got to patch a big hole anyway, I might as well make it a little bigger and make use of the flange. So, I used a 3 1/2" circle for a template and cut out the flange with a jig saw.

Then, I used a 3 1/2" hole saw and picked a place on the rear fender that had the same contour as the original hole up front.
I then welded in the flange and finished it off.

Now all I need is a new rubber mounting gasket and some hoses.

So I've got a low cost and kind of original looking solution for the gas fill. I think I like the idea of keeping a retro look rather than going to a fancy gas door kit and saved some $ too.

Now, just have to make a patch for the original hole up front out of 18 gauge sheet-metal.
 
#8 · (Edited)
I decided I wanted to raise up the tank as much as I could for maximum ground clearance as well as looks from behind the truck. I used some square tubing to do that with. I will have to notch out the bed cross brace to clear the tank doing this. I will lose some strength but I think I will gain it back if I have it fit tightly against the bars and weld it there. Also, with no room to work with, I will have to put in my bed boards before mounting the tank permanently. I don't see that as a big deal though.

I had to modify the flange on the tank fill to accept a 1 1/2". Since the stock fill assembly was 1 1/4", I welded a short piece of 1 1/2" tubing to that. No cost as the 1 1/2 tubing was some stainless tubing that I had left over from my last project.

Btw, I am going to weld caps on the top of the square tubing so water wont collect in there. I'm also going to blast the entire frame and paint it all up with black SPI epoxy primer.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Finished my tank mock-up.

It turned out to be more complicated than I thought to get my fill hose setup all worked out. It involved some trial and error, ordering more parts and a little welding. Got 'er done though.

I needed a 90 degree 1 1/2 tube to go in the middle of 2 hose sections. Also, that red hose (given to me) wouldn't work. It was just too thick and stiff. I ordered a Gates gas-fill hose off the net. I also had to weld on a piece of tubing onto the original gas-fill neck to get the right angle and to adapt it to the right 1 1/2" OD size. I will be painting the gas-fill neck and the flange on the tank with epoxy primer.

So here's some photos:




The strap kit came with the tank and it was a cut-to-fit kit where you have to bend one end and drill the hole. I cut the small reinforcement brackets off the original tank straps before discarding them. I welded them on the ends of the new straps after I cut and bent them.
I put the fixed end on the rear of the tank and the adjustable end on the front for better looks.

I'm really happy that I got this tank tucked up really high. It doesn't hang down low enough to ever worry about hitting on anything and looks better too.



I removed the fender to start stripping the 1/4" thick undercoating (yuk).
Anyway, I thought I would post an underneath photo of the flange I welded in.

Addition Edit:
Someone gave me a super idea for making a patch for the gas fill hole on the cab. After I cut off my rusted cab corners, there is a contour on them that matches that cab area and makes a perfect place to get a patch. Great idea and done!
 
#12 · (Edited)
I picked out the gauges I'm going to use. The panel is designed for Autometer gauges but I mixed in some Stewart Warner since they were about half the price.
The oil and water gauges are mechanical. I like the 270 deg sweep on those and you can only get that in the mechanical gauges.

I don't know at this point whether I'll paint the aluminum panel or leave it the way it is. I'll let my wife make that decision.

 
#14 · (Edited)
Out with the old 235 and 3 speed.



A local guy I met mentioned to me he would like to have that engine and transmission. I told him it was his for $150. I threw in an extra transmission that I got when I bought the pickup too.
 
#15 · (Edited)
I'm going to do a mock-up with the new engine and transmission so I can get the new crossmembers welded in place before I strip the frame down and blast/paint it.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Continuing with the mock-up in the engine compartment, I made a decision on a radiator.
It's an American Eagle aluminum radiator. It's a 2 core with 1" cores. It should be plenty good for a 305. I went with a 16" Maradyne M162 (2170 cfm) electric fan.
I took the radiator and fan down to a local shop and had them make a custom shroud for it. They did a superb job on it.

So here it is in place:


 
#18 · (Edited)
Power Steering Box

I did a lot of research on power steering boxes and decided to go with the newly available "400" series box from CPP.
It mounts in the original location much like the Toyota box conversion does which I liked the idea of much better than going with the later model GM box conversion that mounts the box on the outside of the frame.

Here it is installed:
(temporarily of course)

 
#20 ·
Rodger, great thread... I'm really interested in your build. I have a 57 truck waiting in the wings and I have been thinking through how to go to power steering. I think your choice for the power plant will be a great.

I like your approach too, fab up all the different systems before taking it all apart, I made that mistake when I was younger.... still putting the Belair back together. But its coming.

Here is a snapshot of my next project. It was under a cover, but the wind relocated it last year, its under cover again now.

Gil
 

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#22 ·
Rodger, great thread... I'm really interested in your build. I have a 57 truck waiting in the wings and I have been thinking through how to go to power steering. I think your choice for the power plant will be a great.
I like your approach too, fab up all the different systems before taking it all apart, I made that mistake when I was younger.... still putting the Belair back together. But its coming.
Here is a snapshot of my next project. It was under a cover, but the wind relocated it last year, its under cover again now.Gil
Thanks Gil!
What happened to your '57 grille? I hope you can start a build thead soon on it!

I really enjoyed looking at the pics of your (wife's) project. Very nice, thanks for posting and please keep the pics coming.
Thanks! You can count on it. I'm sure you noticed by now that I take pics of EVERYTHING.

Thanks Roger been thinking of your project, looking forward to see what else you do. Jeff
thanks, very nice build roger. :tu
Roger, we'll be watching this thread with delight and anticipation. Thanks for sharing your PUP (PU Project). If your PUP turns out anywhere near as nice as your 55 BelAir it will be awesome.
This is gonna be fun to follow.....:tu:tu:tu
Been looking forward to this thread...subscribed! :)
All I can say Roger is if this one turns out as nice as your 55 car did, it should be a real beauty.
Thanks to all of you!
 
#21 · (Edited)
Tight clearance for headers to steering box.

Well, I bought a cheap pair of stainless block hugger headers on ebay, tried them and promptly put them back for sale on ebay.

I could have made them work by raising the engine about an inch and over to the right a touch. But, I really didn't want to do that and it was still pretty tight.

So, I opted for a set of repro 2 1/2" Corvette exhaust manifolds. I got them on ebay as well. I'm very happy with them. They seem like very good quality and the castings are pretty smooth. I think I will paint them with a ceramic type paint in cast color.

Here's the stainless block huggers that are now gone:

Here's who I bought the ram horns from:
Standard header collectors will bolt right up to these.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SBC-Small-B...Parts_Accessories&hash=item51b607c514&vxp=mtr

All kinds of room now:


I went ahead and did a trial fit of my Ididit tilt column too. It's a plain steel (will paint it) with the column shifter. Looks like it will be no problem at all.
 
#23 ·
That steering box was a good choice for the truck, I did the Toyota box for the same reason to keep it in the stock location, CPP did the right thing by making that box. The Ididit looks good to bad I went with one of the other columns from CPP, fits good but having had a Ididit before there is a big difference in the two, maybe down the road I will change it out but first I want to get the truck on the road. You have any luck with wheels, seems I will have to get some made with the proper back space for the disk in front, I do want the stock look, or should I say my wants the look. Great seeing the progress on your wife's truck, have fun with it. Jeff
 
#25 ·
Jeff, I thought I would post my question to the group before my answer to you which I just did.
I think what I should do is mock up one of the front brakes and see what I'm up against with an original wheel and then study a decision.

Do you have an original set of wheels for yours already? Are your front disc brakes installed yet? You do have the same kit I am getting right? (Six lug kit from CPP).
 
#24 ·
Disc brakes and original wheels.

I have the CPP 6-lug front disc brake kit with the firewall mounted master on order. It will be delivered tomorrow (7/3).

My wife definitely likes the stock wheels with the small chrome hub caps. (She does want them painted white instead of the black that they are now.)

I still don't know what I'm up against trying to use stock wheels. The guy at CPP said they won't clear unless I have 3 1/2 backspace. My original wheels are 3 3/4 b/s.

It does look like they would be easy to modify though. I think I could grind of the rivets holding the 2 pieces of the wheel together, slide the outer part out and weld back up. I would mount them on an axle and spin them to check trueness before the final welding. It looks like I could get up to 1/2" more backspace doing that.

What do you think of this idea? I sure want to use my original wheels if at all possible.
 
#26 · (Edited)
Cold air intake and radiator hoses.

I am a believer in true cold air intake setups.
So, I did a lot of studying how I could fit one into the truck. It's pretty similar to the one I did for my Bel Air.
This is also something I wanted to do now before it's all torn apart.

First of all, I need one specific bellows to make what I had in mind work. I did lots of looking at photos before I found this one that comes on ram air Trans Ams.
It cost me $60 and I didn't care for that but it was perfect.



I also found and purchased this Spectre air filter as it was a great size to fit inside the fender well behind the headlight.



I then bought a 3 1/2" straight exhaust pipe and a 90 degree elbow and welded them together. I then cut a hole in the passenger inner fender for it to pass through to the air filter.


In this photo, you can see that I reshaped the inner fender a little around the hole and also figured out how to route the upper radiator hose. I had to get another thermostat housing since the original one has a 1 1/4" outlet and I needed 1 1/2". I also bought a stainless 90 deg elbow to make it work. The lower hose was easy. It is just a 1 3/4" hose with a molded 90 deg bend.

Since the outlet size of the Spectre air filter is 4", I needed a step up adapter for the 3 1/2" pipe. I found an exhaust adapter that worked perfectly for that and welded it directly to the inner fender. So, I cut the long pipe and tie it into the adapter with a rubber connector.




Here you can see that there's tons of room inside the fender well for the air filter. I am thinking about plugging the outlet on the end and cutting a hole(s) in the front side of it so it will grab air from away from any water spray that the tire might throw.

I fabricated a support that I mounted to the shroud (using rivet nuts).


I don't think it needs to be attached to the pipe but I may put a piece of rubber between the support and the pipe so it doesn't hurt the paint on the pipe when it's done.
 
#27 ·
Some nice work there Roger!!!! :congrats: :tu

I like the tilt column, but i really like that new confangeled seat that goes with it, were would a guy go to pick up a set of those....:sign0020:



Looking forward to more pics and progress.....

Rick
 
#28 · (Edited)
Some nice work there Roger!!!! :congrats: :tu
I like the tilt column, but i really like that new confangeled seat that goes with it, were would a guy go to pick up a set of those....:sign0020:
Looking forward to more pics and progress.....Rick
Thanks Rick!

Yeah isn't that seat all that's needed? However, I don't think my wife will go for that!

Btw, we dropped the seat off at the upholstery shop and my wife picked out the cloth and vinyl to get it recovered with. The same guy is doing this as did the interior for my '55 Bel Air.

Here's samples:

He's going to do the seat with cloth and vinyl and he will pleat the cloth. The cloth will also be used for the headliner and the vinyl for the sun visor. We haven't picked out the carpet yet or the paint for the rest of the interior but I think she wants brown carpet and I'm going to recommend to her to paint the top of the dash brown and everything else tan.

I think I mentioned that she wanted to paint the outside of the truck green and keep the white trim (bumpers, grille, headlight bezels and wheels).

The leading candidate for the green color is '55 Neptune Green.
 
#29 ·
Roger I do have the stock wheels and will place one up to the brakes when I get a chance and let you know what it looks like. The wheels I have are in bad shape, the holes are some have been worn bad so I do not trust them anyway for the truck, I may have one good one that you can use as a test wheel with your idea if you want it, I can send it to you at no charge if you want. They are 6 lug but not sure what year they came off of, they were on the truck. Jeff
 
#30 · (Edited)
Thanks for your offer but I do have 5 original wheels (I say these are original but I all I really know is they look like they could be) that came with the truck and they are all in good shape. I'm fairly confident that I can do the modification just fine but what I don't know for sure at this point is whether they would still clear the caliper. I think I should be able to answer that question by measuring but I'll know more when I get one side mocked up with the new brake. (My brake kit from CPP will be here today.)
I will want to know what you decide to do though. I may still end up having to buy new wheels also. And if I have to do that, I will want them to look as stock as possible.

Here's one of my wheels. Can you tell from that whether it's the same wheel that came with your truck?
 
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