bonvo Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 this is a copy and past from another forum but i thought you guys might like my other project my 56 chevy stepside this is how i got the truck it has always been a california car so the 99% of the rust is surface for $500 with clean title and motor and tranny in it i couldnt pass it up:D after i got it my priority was to stop the rust so i busted rump roast stripping the rusted parts back to bare metal and getting a good coat of paint on them im still working on stripping the rust off of it and as im doing so i tell my grandma about my little project she asks me where i have seen the cheapest parts i told her about classic parts she told me make a list of parts i needed and she would see what she could do i did then i get a box with all the parts i need to make it drivable again!!! thank you grandma!!!she told me it was a xmas gift once the parts arrived i started cooking with gas a buddy and i do a mock up of the body panels to see how its comming along then i pull the drives door off i knew the hindges were bent because of the horror story of a trip to the weight station the po had told me (ask me if interested) then due to my injured knee (ive had it all threwout this project) i couldnt put the door back on im waiting on some help to do that but i put the motor bits on it to make her fire again after 15+ years well today i made it look like a truck again and i can actually get in and out of it pics well finally got it out of the back yard hopfully there will be more progress soon im trying to get it ready for my move to oregon so i dont have to trailer it biggest thing i need is a radiator i posted a parts wanted thread but have gotten no reponces yet anyway here are some pics from today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonvo Posted May 20, 2012 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 my friends steve and jason helped me push the "big ***************" well i did some work to her today not alot but i replaced the ballast resister and took a grease gun to every grease fitting on the ubderside of the truck ( holy hell theres alot of them) took some pics to show you guys what im dealing with looking from the front axle my "exhaust hanger" installed by a PO mickey mouse wiring master and lines that i dont want to deal with they have a nice amount of rust going on and just cause i cleaned it well the move to oregon went well had a trailor blow a tire on the way up and delayed up enough that we had to stop for a night now my chevy is parked at my uncles place untill i get my own place now im slowly pecking away at it i have swapped the coil and found that the condencer is toast busted out all my brake parts from our host and gonna start workin on that soon looks right at home if you ask me well got some parts today and they cost me nothing out of pocket there alot nicer then the copped up ones that came with my truck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodsWagon Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Nice! I've got a 56 GMC myself, 270ci six, sm420 4spd. It has a 58 chevy cab and nose on it and a custom bed with 73+ fenders, so it's a bit of a mutt. I've always liked the single headlight eggcrate grill trucks like yours better than the dual headlights like mine. You staying with the 235 or do you have something else planned? My six is coming out for a Caddy 500/th400/np205 combo that I have in the shed. When you do the brakes, switch to a dual circuit master. Power brakes would be even better and there's a kit sold for that. The brakes are gone on mine from sitting for 20 years and it was a bit sketchy driving across town with nothing but the handbrake on the back of the transmission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonvo Posted May 21, 2012 Author Share Posted May 21, 2012 my brakes are shot to lol thats one of the many things it needs as for engine im not sure its tempting to play with the 235 but i have access to a 350 and 700r4 trans for free so i might go that route you should post pics of your truck i also know where there is a short bed with the correct fenders if you want me to get you the info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodsWagon Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Nah, the bed that's on it works fine and the hydraulic liftgate is integrated into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quidam Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 (edited) I have better pics but I'd have to find them. I owned this '57 3100 in the late '70's. I bought it in Newport News, Virginia for $1100.00. I later traded it for a '68 Z28 Camaro when I lived in Colorado. When I got it, came with a whole new clutch setup, Genuine GM 11" flywheel to pressure plate, as the old was slipping. I went through a few Muncie 4 speeds and one rear end while I had it. It had a '68 large journal 327 CI./275 HP however...It had been dyno tuned by Motion Performance out in Long Island, NY. It had: 700 cfm Holley dual line double pumper, Eldebrock C4B intake, Erson 292 duration, 490 lift cam, ACCEL dual point distributor and Mallory coil, Hooker headers, 252 low gear Muncie with a 3:90 gear in the rear. My BIL took these, a bit overexposed. I ran an AC mechanical fuel pump on the motor but it wasn't enough. Added an AC electric pump to back that up when I was "on" it. It would empty the float bowls somewhere around the end of 2nd gear without the electric. I dropped a '69 350 ci motor in it before I traded it. Doug Edited May 23, 2012 by Quidam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonvo Posted May 23, 2012 Author Share Posted May 23, 2012 nice truck man that is almost the color i want mine lol to bad you traded it that thing was clean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quidam Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 nice truck man that is almost the color i want mine lol to bad you traded it that thing was clean Well, I missed driving it but I got over it. Here's what I traded for...everything you see there, I built. I chem stripped and sand blasted this one. You're probably not going this far with your truck huh? Thought you might like to see this. The V-8 bellhousing original to these years, was part of the motor mount deal, with the front up rights and rubber mounts on the bell. I had a chain from the left frame rail to the engine block to keep it in place. I see your truck has floating rear axles and 8 lug, 3500. My daily driver now is a 3500 Chevy, but it's a "one ton" type truck with ten lug. I'm kinda sure they considered my truck a half ton... Looking foreward to more pics:) Doug Oh, I had this one quite a bit longer than the truck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonvo Posted May 29, 2012 Author Share Posted May 29, 2012 that maro is bad rump roast lol it was worth the trade mine is a 3600 3/4 ton thing can climb a tree with a granny low 4 speed and 5.88:1 rear gears Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodsWagon Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 The H072 rear end in your truck is gaining a bit of popularity as a stronger alternative to a ford 9" in the offroading and truck pulling communities. 4.56's are the most common ratio for them, but 4.11's are found and are handier for a street truck. Pretty cheap to grab the center section out of one in a junkyard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonvo Posted November 6, 2012 Author Share Posted November 6, 2012 well i pulled the radiator out of the truck to start fabbing in a radiator pulled the hoses to find this pulled thermostat housing to find this whats left of the thermostat concerned i pulled the water pump off to have this bleed out of it but after getting it off i found this so over all it looks like a good flush will be what this thing needs popped the valve cover off to find this over all it looks like the motor is gonna be very happy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quidam Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 (edited) Hey, Man, that looks ugly. Looks good under the valve cover though. You plan to flush it? I had a Justy EF 12 looked something like that so I took the oil plug out and went at it with a parts cleaning brush and lots of kerosine. I had to change the oil and filter twice within a short time, then it was clean. Just something about certain old trucks...like Brats. I got paid 250 hrs work on this truck from California a few years ago. In the end with the motor, it had so much bore rust I couldn't get enough compression for it to run. I think water got down the carbs tho from a leaky roof. S 283 CI with cam, springs, aluminum retainers. Power glide 2 speed auto, Pontiac rear. Edited November 6, 2012 by Quidam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonvo Posted November 7, 2012 Author Share Posted November 7, 2012 that looks like a bad rump roast project man im gonna want to see more of that cleaned some stuff like the 2 halves of the thermostat housing water pump and valve cover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
czny Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Good old 235 6cyls! Had '51 & '54 Chevy 1/2t stepsides myself. IIRC, the 2 spd electric wiper motor from a '57-59 2t truck will fit in yours. It fit my '54 & saved me from the vacuum motor blues. 12 volt of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonvo Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 from what i can tell my wipers are electric as for the motor im surprised when i first went to start it years ago i spent a whole 30 bucks on points condencer and a carb rebuild it lit instantly you just cant kill these things Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
czny Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 Now you can't hardly find a Delco-Remy point & condenser set for any GM product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mechanical_misfit Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 sweet truck! I had a `54 210 two door post that had the 235. Same old story, it sat for 20 years, and all I added gas and a battery and it started right up. I eventually did the carb rebuild and tune up, but you can't argue that these things were made to run! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonvo Posted November 20, 2012 Author Share Posted November 20, 2012 made to run and made to last this is part of why im seriously considering keeping the stock 6 in it perminantly i do however dread having to go threw the head and make it unleaded fuel friendly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonvo Posted March 2, 2013 Author Share Posted March 2, 2013 awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikaleda Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Cool old Chevy, it's good to see people are still taking the time to restore these old trucks. Just my opinion but, don't ruin it with a 700r4 trans Chevy made much better trans than that TH350 were dang near bulletproof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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