kermit's 46 chevy pickup

Since i found this page well after i started this build, i guess the best way to start is to bring everyone up to the present day. I got the truck from a friend, for a very good price. It is complete, the chassis was in good shape, the fenders were junk, go figure, but the cab and bed, are pretty solid, and fairly straight. I thought about the project for a while, and decided I wanted to build it as a full fendered , dropped, suicide door, removable hard top, road munching machine.

The build begins

For the chassis, I started work on the rear suspension, a parallel 4 link setup, controlled by a watts linkage, used the plasma table to cut the flat pieces. used H.D. wheel bearings, fit into a heavy wall dom tube. for the watts link pivot. a 2000 s10 rear end with a g80 diff with 3.73 gears, setup for disks. And finally, qa1 coil overs to hold everything up. Next, the front end, I designed a front end based on Mustang II parts, spindles,rotors, brakes, and the like. I did a dwg file, of the nested parts for the xmember. and sent it off to have the parts laser cut for me. I wanted greater tolerances, then the plasma table could provide. The steering uses a custom length power rack, for bump steer elimination reasons. And again finally, qa1 coil overs to hold the front up.

Very nice [cl

I'll be watching this one !

Your watts link looks hot. Cool design, too. [cl

suspinsion

the suspension on this build rocks[cl

tuned in[

Later

You sure do great work! Love that suspension[cl

Good stuff Kermit......Good stuff.........[cl[cl[cl

The build continues

Thank you one and all for the kind words!

This post should be able to get everyone, up to the present on the chassis anyway. Compared to most of the frames i have seen on here, this one is quite tame. My goals were to widen the track, lower the CG, raise the roll center, and shorten the moment arm. I have heard the term "resto mod" used to describe classic vehicles, with updated suspensions. But, I guess what I am trying to build is a "retro mod" I want it to look like a late 60's show car, but drive and handle well. So….updated suspension Yes, but….NO 22" wheels, no rubber band tires, no LS engine.

Nice!!

Looking good,so far.

Cab Mods

The cab mods for this truck are a bit more involved then the chassis mods. Making it a removable hard top, presented me with some issues to work out. I couldn't see having doors with window frames in place and no top. So ok..they had to go. I decided to delete the door glass as well. my reasons were simple. I didn't much love the idea of having to rework the whole door opening, to have a place for glass to seal on. In retrospect it may well have been easer then the path i chose. Oh well live and learn. before removing the doors, I fabricated and installed some hidden suicide hinges. The door frames are very narrow, and I couldn't find any pre made hinges. Next i removed the window frames, from the doors. and used the top portion of the inner door panel, together with a strip of sheet metal, to construct the new bottom of the window opening. With windowless suicide doors, I chopped the top, nothing special here, just a simple chop. Once the top was back in place, I had to address the door openings, They still had the recess for the window frames. I cut and moved the inner window structure at the back of the window opening, back so it would line up with the back edge of the door. I then reworked the whole window opening, to remove the rest of the recess, and make it flow into the new door shape. This brings us to the present, on the cab. I will soon be cutting the top off again, to rework everything to make it removable. The cut will run from the new top of the door, and follow the belt line of the cab, around the back . I would like to keep the tilt out windshield, but the hinges are quite large, and probably will not allow me to keep the frame over the windshield, in nice proportion to the sides of the frame. Maybe I can fab some new smaller hinges ?

Good ideas and nice work [cl
Keep at it, your making good time, also keep the pix coming their great.

chop

the chop is perfect, l personally hate when people chop it so far down ya can't see or fit in comfortably.[

the suicided doors are awesome[cl[cl[cl

Later

tip out Windshield chop

I finally got around to reworking the windshield. I repaired the regulator, used masking tape to mark the location, for the chop. I selected this point because, I thought it offered the best chance of being able to bring the parts back together, and having the frame fit the opening nicely. I did have to cut a dart in each lower corner of the frame, and spread the bottom up rites a bit, to get everything fitting well. The masking tape on the cab around the windshield, is me working out where I will make the cut for the removable top. I am in the process of reinforcing the cab, structure. I fabed a sill to run across the cab floor at the back, using 10 ga 1x2 steel tubing. the sill is designed to take the load from diagonal bracing. I will post images of the bracing when i can.

Nice work, looks good [cl

Very nice, I could only dream of doing that good.

That's some nice work on the top there Kermit....

Removable top

I had some free time, so I had a chance to get some work done. I installed the diagonal bracing, then, I cut the top off, once again. I am now reworking the back of the cab. Because my time is limited, in order to get anything done, I rough out what I am working on, then move on. So if the metal work looks a lil rough, that's cause it is, lol

More Pictures

Here are a couple picks of the truck. I just finished fabricating new windshield hinges, I will post images of the finished windshield and it's hinges soon as i can.