Project '53 Truck

Ged

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Ged
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Good weekend spent at the GMC and a few other projects, my better half got the patio cleaned in exchange for a little me time in the shed.

I started finishing off the rear suspension which needed some shocks and to redo the panhard rod mount that I wasnt happy with.
A peice of heavy wall 100x50 made up the new shock crossmember to which I welded in some captive nuts and end plates. Its jammed in there with some Bilstiens for now but im not 100% on what shocks I want to use on the rear yet so there are just tabs tacced on.

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The finished peice bolted through the chassis

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Id already removed the panahrd rod bracket at this stage as the arc on it was causing too much sideways travel on the axle for my liking so i made a new one out of 6mm and extended it down.

The old bracket

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The new bracket sits level at mid travel upangled fully down and downangled fully up keeping the axle alot more centered.
Still needs a few holes and a triangular brace to the new crossmember

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I finally could afford 2 more wheels and tyres and in the intrests of the overall width I went for steels for the inside and ill get alloys for the outers. As the flange on the steel is 7mm comparted to 20mm on the alloys that has cost me 13mm of clearence on the inside.. so im a little tight. but ill space it out if it needs it.

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So now it rolls

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Stuck both wheels on one side to see how wide it is going to be (7ft 8"), ill have to decide if im going to go the full 8ft on the bed.

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So with that done I decided to fit everything up properly one last time and cut the inner wings for the new shock towers.

Bottomed out.
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Monster truck mode

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Really happy with it, Sits fairly low for a big truck and when its raised its silly, cannot wait to start on the headache rack now and get the stacks and winch mount incorporated into it.

Cheers,
Ged
 

FM155

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I'd be running it at monster truck height all the time lol :p
Looking great! (y)(y)
 
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Ged

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Ged
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Looks really great! Just out of interest, what grade of steel are you using for the chassis components you are making?

Everything section and plate wise is Mild steel S355. Most of my turned parts are en8 bright bar.

I'd be running it at monster truck height all the time lol :p
Looking great! (y)(y)

Lol I dont think I could get into it, havent measured it yet but it must be twice the ground clearence height of the defender.
 

quattro Rick

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If it rides anything like a lorry on air bags, when they're fully up or down the ride gets very very bouncy 😂
 
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Ged

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Ged
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In order to move on with the bed I needed to decide what I wanted to do with the Stacks/steel rack winch mount etc. Had some sketches done in CAD and got some 4" box ordered up I test fitted it up and it just looked a little spindly. So back to the drawing board with 6" tube and I liked it alot more.

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So after hunting around it was going to be impossible to get the 6" tube in anything but 6mm wall which was going to be way overkill but I did end up finding some 120x120x3mm in stainless, till pretty heavy duty but it might make a decent roll bar lol. So I got it gathered up along with some 100x5 to make the structural lower beam that the bed and winch will also mount off all in stainless.

First step was to make a jig to allow me to miter cut the box on its 45, This worked for most cuts but some had to be done by hand as the saw couldnt get though it.

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Then a few hours of measuring and taccing test fitting. Getting it to be square in all 3 planes as well as parrallel was a bit of a nightmare but with some time i got it almost perfect.

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Then onto welding and cutting the sides out to let the exhaust come into the stacks. The heavier stainless really tested the 200A machine but it got there.

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Couple of bracing tabs and lower plates with drain holes. I also added a diverter plate inside the stacks to keep the gas going upwards. The exhaust will enter the lower box on a vband once ive decided where its going excatly.

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Test fitting went well its damn near perfectly square with all the complexity of the cuts and size of it im happy with how it tuned out

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Just the winch mount and main brackets to make and then ill start on the bed from it.
Havent decided weather ill polish it yet or leave it raw or paint it.

Cheers,
Ged
 

Ged

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Ged
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Still working away but starting to struggle for parts and suppliers. I managed to get my driveshaft collected before the lockdown started as well as a pair of batteries I set about fitting everything up.

Quick test fit and worked out where i needed to make a bracket for the carrier bearing, not easy working on these things on your own the driveshaft is 4" tube and a bit of a brute.

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After that i got it painted and made a carrier bearing plate out of 6mm plate and got it all bolted in.

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Pretty happy with how it turned out think it will stick the power lol

Moved onto the battery tray then I salavaged one from the scrap yard but it is a little big for my application. I decided to mount the 80ish kg of box and batteries as far back as possible to try and get some weight over the backend. These are 1000A cca and 135AH batteries and should give pleanty of juice for starting and running anything I might need.

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From the first pic you can see the box was too long and would cause issues trying to slide the batteries out if I ever needed to change them so I cut it down and added an angle the just sits above the feet of the batteries which will let me slide them out when the beds ontop.
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I still have some fab work I can be working away at but like everyone in these times im unsure of whats happening next and waiting to see before I start spending more on the truck So things will probably slow down here as I tinker away at smaller aspects of it and work out whats happening next.

I may strip the truck and start finish painting the chassis as I think im far enough along with the fabwork now that it wouldnt be too damaged from here on in but im not sure.
 

svensktoppen

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If that won't take the power then nothing will 😁

Hold on to the cash, really is the only way to go in this crazy madness we are living in. Stay safe, hold tight, and hope for the best.

Not that there is anything to actually spend money on, lowest monthly spend in a very long time in March, lol. Everything has a silver lining 😎
 

Ged

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Ged
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Exhausting work, I got the proper steering connector made from en8 wee bit of lathe and mill work, bit of a pain cutting the tapered hole.

I then stripped the body off to let me finish out the exhaust and get ready to finish paint the chassis.

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All fitted up perfect. will need to be finsih welded out and drilled and plug welded.

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Body removed back to just a rolling chassis

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Connecting up the stacks to the turbo with 4" stainless pipe

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Started finish welding everything out, getting slowly better with the tig still no consistancy and shakey hand syndrome but its getting there.

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Few wee brackets to make and that will be the job done. Then I think its getting close to strip down time.

Cheers Ged
 

Ged

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Ged
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If that won't take the power then nothing will 😁

Hold on to the cash, really is the only way to go in this crazy madness we are living in. Stay safe, hold tight, and hope for the best.

Not that there is anything to actually spend money on, lowest monthly spend in a very long time in March, lol. Everything has a silver lining 😎

Missed this comment, Hopefully my only weak point in the driveline will be the 14" clutch which im happy enough with for now lol. I put a summit racing order in before this all really got going kinda mixed feelings about it now, but hopefully it arrives today according to Fedex.

Cheers for the support.
 

svensktoppen

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Most deliveries still go through, just might take a few days extra. Basically when you get the message that it is out for delivery then you're good, ignore any messages before then.
 
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Boydie

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Great read Ged, hopefully you can continue as best you can during this lock down!
 
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Dave..

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Texas Metal on Discovery are doing a heavy truck build. Shortening the chassis and adding air you should be able to see it on Catch up.
Very interesting, although it was a modern (ish) dump truck.
 

Ged

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Ged
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Thanks for the support still have some get up and go on the project so far in lockdown long may it continue.

Texas Metal on Discovery are doing a heavy truck build. Shortening the chassis and adding air you should be able to see it on Catch up.
Very interesting, although it was a modern (ish) dump truck.

Just started watching them last night after your comment, apart from the over dramatising by the americans its not a bad show. They definatly know how to fabricate for sure.

The packages actually arrived on tuesday, so got to work unboxing the new shiney.

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What in the box will actually let me start and work on the cab properly, its an IDIDIT 8 position tilt steering column complete with a 15" joes racing wheel and a dress up kit and cruise control kit.
It has great features not found in the 50's such as self cancelling indicators and hazards and the option of full beam on the column not the floor. I got to work and put it all together.

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Then like a kid with a new toy it had to go in, so I measured from the LHD setup and mirrored it to the other side of the cab and started drilling.


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It fits pretty good they come with a drop bracket which i think is a little to low for the std seat so i may adjust it slightly up when making the reinforcing plates for the finished mounts. once ive the brake pedal and clutch mounted ill start and work on cutting the dash apart to make it RHD.

I then threw the cab back on the chassis to check clearence for the steering shaft. Its tight but it will get there, ill be making a custom knuckle to adapt the 1" DD column to the 3/4"/36 spline shaft. I want to use the breakaway shaft just incase anything ever did happen.
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Next I started onto the air system making brackets for the air dryer and rear relay and quick dump handbrake valves.

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Pretty sure thats almost all she wrote so I started stripping, time for paint this weekend.... If i can get my hands on some.

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Cheers,
Ged
 

Dave..

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Thanks for the support still have some get up and go on the project so far in lockdown long may it continue.



Just started watching them last night after your comment, apart from the over dramatising by the americans its not a bad show. They definatly know how to fabricate for sure.

The packages actually arrived on tuesday, so got to work unboxing the new shiney.

View attachment 273013

What in the box will actually let me start and work on the cab properly, its an IDIDIT 8 position tilt steering column complete with a 15" joes racing wheel and a dress up kit and cruise control kit.
It has great features not found in the 50's such as self cancelling indicators and hazards and the option of full beam on the column not the floor. I got to work and put it all together.

View attachment 273010View attachment 273011

Then like a kid with a new toy it had to go in, so I measured from the LHD setup and mirrored it to the other side of the cab and started drilling.


View attachment 273012View attachment 273009View attachment 273008

It fits pretty good they come with a drop bracket which i think is a little to low for the std seat so i may adjust it slightly up when making the reinforcing plates for the finished mounts. once ive the brake pedal and clutch mounted ill start and work on cutting the dash apart to make it RHD.

I then threw the cab back on the chassis to check clearence for the steering shaft. Its tight but it will get there, ill be making a custom knuckle to adapt the 1" DD column to the 3/4"/36 spline shaft. I want to use the breakaway shaft just incase anything ever did happen.
View attachment 273016

Next I started onto the air system making brackets for the air dryer and rear relay and quick dump handbrake valves.

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Pretty sure thats almost all she wrote so I started stripping, time for paint this weekend.... If i can get my hands on some.

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Cheers,
Ged
I fast forward past the BS bits and concentrate on the actual fab work. The new steering with tilt looks great.
Once the frame is painted you will start seeing lots of progress.
 

svensktoppen

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Didn't realise you were converting to RHD. Makes sense while in there I guess.

Are you making a new dash as well then? Would be a shame to loose the style of the original dash, and the old instruments. They look fab :cool:

Steering wheel looks fantastic in there!
 

Ged

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Ged
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sexmo VTS
I fast forward past the BS bits and concentrate on the actual fab work. The new steering with tilt looks great.
Once the frame is painted you will start seeing lots of progress.
It wasnt that bad compared to some, ive watched it all now lol need antoher program to start on. lol

Didn't realise you were converting to RHD. Makes sense while in there I guess.

Are you making a new dash as well then? Would be a shame to loose the style of the original dash, and the old instruments. They look fab :cool:

Steering wheel looks fantastic in there!

Yea, just couldnt justify not doing it when it wasnt going to be "that much" extra work, and after driving the ram around its not fun LHD in a 8ft truck on Irish roads.

Gauges have been a royal pain I looked into a full digital dash but noone would do one in 24V to utilise the J1939 CAN out of the cummins ECU Except Murphy etc but complete custom program with no templates and no support after several emails.
So then I looked into std gauges the likes of Dolphin make etc to replace the 1950s, but again no CAN or 24V support. So ive ended up with VDO singlevui CAN gauges. They arnt the most period correct but they do support can and some tell tales built in fault code display etc. Bit of a shame I reached out to alot of comapnies but nobody wanted to know. So function over style on this unfortuantly.



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Anyway been working away on the strip down paint and rebuild over easter. Alot of finish welding and grinding to clean up everything. then just the usual amount of blasting undercoat top coat on most parts with 2 pack.

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Went with gunmetal on the accents and straight black on the chassis just a subtle contrast to break everything up.

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Getting it all back together for the last time...hopefully..

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Engine returned to its home also buttoned up alot of smaller items like the sump gasket, pickup pipe, dip stick, clutch slave and throwout bearing etc.

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Front axle kingpins where pressed out and hubs swapped and bearings replaced then back into place

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Should have it into a roller by the weekend and onto starting to pipe up the air system.

Cheers,
Ged
 

Dave..

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Try this but there is a lot of BS for the cameras.
 
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