This post highlights the rebuild process of the old 305 in my 1985 Chevy Short-Box, Step-Side Restoration Project.
I'm finally getting some pics taken of my progress (which has been relatively slow as I simply have a ton on the go this summer). This weekend past I finished up the frame restoration. Basically, it involved grinding down, spot blasting, cutting out, repairing and painting of the frame. It's actually done, but I haven't taken pics of the painted frame yet. Here's what I do have;
A bad portion of the frame needed to be repaired. Here, I've ground off the original rivets used to secure the leaf spring supports to the frame -- and pounded them through to remove the supports. The bad section was then cut out with a small cut off wheel in an air grinder.
After welding in the new piece of steel, the welds were ground down to produce a smooth, finished surface (well, better than the rest of the frame anyway!).
The leaf spring supports were then reattached with grade 8 hardware. The key to this was marking the location of the support on the frame before removing it. Of course, I had to do this on the top of the frame as I was cutting out most of the side. I would imagine you'd track poorly if you were to be off much here, which would cause excessive tire wear, among a host of other problems, such as handling.
Last, the frame was ground down with an angle grinder and stone, then with a wire cup brush to remove as much rust as possible. (Yeah, the underside was fun.)
I'll have to take a few more pics and get them posted -- I'll update this as soon as I do.
my 67 c10
I have a1967 chevy c10. I'm just starting the tear down process. It's been fun so far. I unlike you have an exceptionally clean frame. So all I have to do is blast, prep and paint. I'm curious as to what your going to use for your finishing solution. I'm considering Eastwood's ceramic chassis kit. It seems ideal. And the price is right. Do you have experience with them. And i would love to see your progress on your project. More pics would be helpful. Thank you!
Dano
85 chevy
i am resently going to be doing the same type of frame work to my 85-c10 long bed i have to rebuild the whole truck on to anouther frame because the orginal is rotten to the point of beond repaire if there are any tips you can offer me it will be deply apreshated
Steps for the rebuild
Do you know where I can get some fiberglass Steps for a stepside like this. I know that US body does the rear fender and steps in 1 piece but a few years back I had to replace the rear fenders do to a slight mishap so they are already glass and now I'm just wanting to replace the steps
long box to short box
Hey Kyle,
I am starting a frame off rebuild of an '86 chev long box, my plan is to cut the frame down and turn into a shorty, I know that I have to cut out a section behind the cab, but I just need to know how much? I think that it is 12", am I right, if not then how much?
Thanks Kevin
How's the frame work coming
How's the frame work coming along? did you run into any other surprises?... i was happy to see that i'm not the only person that ran into this issue. I'm restoring an 1980 Shortbox Stepside 4x4, and i had to do the exact same thing as you with the rear frame rot, both sides. Truck's running great though so i am looking forward to getting her back on the road soon!