55 Chevy Fuelie Vette Pickup

[outlaw035]

after seeing raul's 57 Z06 pickup i just had to try it....also my 1st real attempt at major body work not my strong suit....here are some pic's of the cab and the donor car 58 vette fuelie....

raul...clay...evil1...grafting the vette hood on to the 55...please tell me what u think....the interior is not working out spent hrs trying to make it fit the dash is a go but the seats dont look like they are gonna make it...

Edited February 21, 2008 by outlaw035

[Clay]

after seeing raul's 57 Z06 pickup i just had to try it....also my 1st real attempt at major body work not my strong suit....here are some pic's of the cab and the donor car 58 vette fuelie....

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff87/ou.../55anddonor.jpg

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff87/ou.../55leftside.jpg

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff87/ou...55rightside.jpg

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff87/ou...norinterior.jpg

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff87/ou...uelieengine.jpg

Looking good so far. I'm not sure if you know this but if you paste the IMG code in your post the picture will show up.

[Raul_Perez]

Go Neal, go!! The side scoops look pretty good!! How's that '58 interior fitting? I've only used the interior parts from a '94.

[Clay]

I've got a 55 Cameo and the 35th anniversary Camero that I will try to graph together when I get some of my projects finished

[Kenny]

Great idea and a great start! I can't wait to see more.

[evilone]

im liking it

it has a truck in volved,it has a classic involved,and it has horsepower

its original and i want to see more

[outlaw035]

just trying the IMG code..

[Clay]

What, no progress?

[outlaw035]

raul...the interior is gonna be a challenge for sure...got the dash pretty much worked out have to fill the outer edges somehow....the seats is another problem that i really havent spent much time on...but i may have to go with different seats...(bummer)....i wanted to chop the the 55 but i have a few spares laying around i took about 1/4 inch out but the post dont line up and im not sure i want to mess with adding a peice to the middle of the roof which i guess u would have to do....im also having a bit of a problem smoothing out the vette inset is there any thing i can use to get this better other then body filer???....thanks...neal

[outlaw035]

clay...gonna have to bear with me on this one i have to go to see my dad for awhile he terminal but thanks for the tip i didn't know about the IMG thingy.......neal

Edited February 19, 2008 by outlaw035

[Clay]

clay...gonna have to bear with me on this one i have to go to see my dad for awhile he terminal....neal

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, take your time.

[evilone]

yo bro i did a serious chop on a 57

all you need to do is bend the supports a hair and then back fill it

YOU CAN DO IT

sorry about your dad i cant tell you i know how it feels due to the fact i didnt have a dad nor did i have a mom so all i can say is keep on going bro

[Raul_Perez]

raul...the interior is gonna be a challenge for sure...got the dash pretty much worked out have to fill the outer edges somehow....the seats is another problem that i really havent spent much time on...but i may have to go with different seats...(bummer)....i wanted to chop the the 55 but i have a few spares laying around i took about 1/4 inch out but the post dont line up and im not sure i want to mess with adding a peice to the middle of the roof which i guess u would have to do....im also having a bit of a problem smoothing out the vette inset is there any thing i can use to get this better other then body filer???....thanks...neal

I just use super glue and plastic strips for major shaping and fills, then I use body putty and primer for the minor stuff.

It looks like you cut the body to match the oval shape of the inserts, then glued them in. I took a slightly different approach when I built mine. I cut a rectangular section out of the truck body, at the bottom of the door, just above the rocker panel, then 0.150" below the belt line and then even with the back edge of the door. Then I cut a matching piece from the Vette 0.75" tall by 2.775" wide. That way the curvature from the Vette side blended in well with the truck door because all of the bodywork was done away from the actual insert. The picture below shows roughly where the truck body was cut. The bottom of the 0.75" line actually starts at the bottom edge of the door. I drew it higher on the model so it would show up in the picture. You can also see in the picture where the door line from the Vette fits relative to the truck door.

Though still a little rough, what you have looks like it's coming along nicely. I'd probably give it a light coat of primer to see how it looks and finish off the rest of the bodywork with putty and primer.

Feel free to send me a PM if you need more help.

Regards,

[outlaw035]

raul....clay....evil...check out the hood let me know what u think

[Raul_Perez]

Neal,

The hood scoop looks fine. If you have a spare hood to work with, you might try rounding off the lower front peak a little bit. That might tone down the "stepped" look of the hood a bit. I have a few spare hoods if you need something to try it on.

With that many Vette mods to the front of the truck, you're going to need to do something to the bed to balance it out. I've seen a couple of guys use the taillights from the 58 vintage Vette on the Cameo bed. They looked pretty cool. If you have the December '07 issue of Scale Auto, there's a picture in there of a pretty wild Cameo Vette under the picture of mine.

I've also done a Vette-like mod to a stepside bed with a single Vette taillight on each fender (I wanted to put two on each fender, but there just wasn't enough room):

Keep going!! You're on a roll!!

[evilone]

all i can do is worship it very nice bro

[Clay]

raul....clay....evil...check out the hood let me know what u think

Dude that thing is gonna be sweet. And when you go to post pics on here, right below your pictures in photobucket, the very last lin is the IMG Code. just click on it once and it will copy it, then paste it in here, like so:

[evilone]

it seems to me that these type of mods are "IN" these days

ima going to go out and get a 57 camieo and up grade it with new vette goods

thanks for the insperation bro

[bjscustommodels]

Awesome i cant wait to see more of this one

[outlaw035]

thanks every1 its a struggle worked on it for 3 hrs 2day got nothing done....raul i do have extra hoods but i figured when i fill in around the vet hood that will smooth it out...i was just looking at ur z06 again 2day trying to figure out the chassie...tried to put the vet chassie under it no way...cut front clip off the vet dont think thats gonna work either...might just have to piece meal thingy and never show it...also the bed set up in this model s*cks...might use a modern truck bed or try and find a older bed i hate the way the back looks...got any truck beds lying around???...also trying to figure out what color i want it...orange would be my 1st choice but some1 already has an orange 1....lol...might look at some nail polish....but long way from paint...tc ...neal

[Raul_Perez]

thanks every1 its a struggle worked on it for 3 hrs 2day got nothing done....raul i do have extra hoods but i figured when i fill in around the vet hood that will smooth it out...i was just looking at ur z06 again 2day trying to figure out the chassie...tried to put the vet chassie under it no way...cut front clip off the vet dont think thats gonna work either...might just have to piece meal thingy and never show it...also the bed set up in this model s*cks...might use a modern truck bed or try and find a older bed i hate the way the back looks...got any truck beds lying around???...also trying to figure out what color i want it...orange would be my 1st choice but some1 already has an orange 1....lol...might look at some nail polish....but long way from paint...tc ...neal

Neal,

The Z06 chassis had to be stretched to get the wheelbase long enough to fit under the truck. To do that, I used two kits. Then it has to be widened. That was pretty simply done with a bit of Plastruct strip. The tricky part is in raising the floor of the bed to make room for the transaxle.

Since you seem to be going with an older Vette theme than I did, (using the fuelie engine and late 50s dash), I'd probably put a standard independent front end clip on the truck. I have several spare ’62 Impalas with the type of front suspension I’d use if you need parts. For the rear, I'd probably use the suspension from your donor 58 Vette.

Yes, the bed can be difficult to integrate the taillights from the late 50s Vettes, and the flat tailgate just doesn't look right. You need to understand that the Cameo bed was nothing more than a step-side bed with a set of fiberglass panels bolted on to the sides. They did virtually nothing to "stylize" the tailgate when they designed the bed. One design I've seen that looks pretty good is to use the tailgate from a Nomad...but that takes you down an entirely different design path. Unfortunately, I don't have any spare beds except for the one in the picture I posted earlier. If you want it, I could be persuaded to send it to you.

For the color, I'd consider the classic colors from the late 50s or early 60s to go along with the late 50s, early 60s Vette theme that you've got going. Unlike mine, yours should have either a white or a silver insert on the side. Red and white would look good. With a colored insert, I'd probably stay away from orange. Black with a white insert and black, gray or red interior would be really classy. I guess that it all comes down to one thing...are you building it as a hotrod or a classy custom?

Anyway, send me a PM or an email if you need parts. (I think you have my email address...)

Regards,

[outlaw035]

well still struggling with some body work but moving along slow but steady......below i hope...lol are pix's of the interior with the vette dash and seats...and the bed with the vette tail lites and tubs added....

[Raul_Perez]

Neal,

The tubs look good! It also looks from the picture that you pulled the sides of the bed in at the front to close that HUGE gap between the bed and the cab. I know that you don't want to "clone" my truck, but you might want to add a small strip of plastic to fill in the top edge of the bed where the sides are attached. That really cleans up that whole part of the bed, making the sides look more integrated instead of "bolted on" as they were.

If you're still considering using the early Vette waterfall interior, I'd give serious thought to making this one a roadster pickup. That way you could easily resolve the issues with fitting the Vette seats into the truck interior tub...and then carry the waterfall shape back into a stylized bed cover.

As a roadster pickup, the waterfall interior would be really well seen...and you wouldn't have to deal with the fact that the windshield in the kit is too small for the opening. You might even try to see if the custom roadster windshield from the Vette kit will fit onto the truck. I think that it has a pretty interesting shape with the driver's side being slightly higher than the passenger's side.

Yes, customizing models can really be a pain in the a**, but it's really rewarding when it works well.

Good luck and don't give up, my friend. You'll get there.

Regards,

[outlaw035]

hi every1...its been slow going but things are looking better now...the paint job is not as nice as i would have liked...i sprayed the white then used micro marks masking and shot the red nail polish...thought all was well...peeled the mask of took most of the white gloss paint with it...i taped it off and shot it again so it offical....its a 4 footer...lol...here are the pic of the paint....engine....interior....hope fully it will be under glass some time next week....

Edited June 7, 2008 by outlaw035

[Raul_Perez]

You're getting there, Neal!!

I really like the white insert against the bright red!!

That fuelie motor os looking good, too!!