52 Chevy Pickup With Complete C5 Suspension and Drivetrain

[Nate_ERC]

Well, everyone keeps telling me that I should start a build thread on this 52 Chevy truck we are building. I tried to push it off on the owner, but it turns out that he doesn't even own a computer. Is that even possible anymore!?

So anyhow here it is... The truck came to us as an ex pro street basket case. We are doing a complete custom build on it. It's getting a Torque 3G chassis that uses all C5 components. Some of the performance upgrades will be big brakes, coilover suspension, and a worked LS1 with a Kenne Bell blower. It's going to run a 6L80e transmission.

We are keeping an old school theme, it will feel (to me) more like a pro street car. With the vette chassis it will be a pro touring car at heart though. The owner plans to autoX it, and take it to some vintage races.


Here are the initial renderings...
http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck1.jpg
http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck2.jpg
http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck3.jpg

And here is the truck when we got it...
http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck4.jpg
http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck5.jpg

[Nate_ERC]

We immediately bust out the green tape so that there's no misconceptions. This is going to get some major surgery,

http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck6.jpg

[RomsMotors]

I had the same idea. I'm in the process of buy a 1950 Chevy pick-up and do the same or make it a Rat Rod. The rendering looks great. Keep us post with progress.:bow: :thumbsup:

[Nate_ERC]

In the mean-time we began construction of the chassis.

http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck7.jpg
http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck8.jpg
http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck9.jpg

The perimeter frame rails go on once the chassis is under the car, and use the factory body mount locations.

http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck10.jpg

[Nate_ERC]

Here we are taking measurements to see how much we will have to widen the body. We want to run rims with a good sized lip on them.

http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck11.jpg

[Nate_ERC]

At that time we also started to get creative with the back of the truck.

http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck12.jpg
http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck13.jpg

[Nate_ERC]

We sent the cab out to get media blasted, and started marking up the donor cab. Any guess what's coming next?

http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck14.jpg
http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck15.jpg
http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck16.jpg

[Nate_ERC]

We brace up the cab, and start cutting.

http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck17.jpg
http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck18.jpg
http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck19.jpg
http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck20.jpg

[Nate_ERC]

The new pieces are welded in, and it starts to take shape. The new stance is pretty cool (for a truck) ;) .

http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck21.jpg
http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck22.jpg
http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck23.jpg
http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck25.jpg

[Nate_ERC]

We drop the bed back on, then start working out tail. I say we should have just ironed out the foil and called it good. :thumbsup:

http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck26.jpg
http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck27.jpg

[Nate_ERC]

I couldn't find any pictures of the hood going together, that was not fun! We will hammer out a one-piece hood for the finished product.

http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck28.jpg

[Nate_ERC]

Building new seat brackets, and the floor. If you look closely, you can see the perimeter rails of the chassis.

http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck29.jpg

[Nate_ERC]

We set up the supsension outside of the car to get the geometry all dialed in. The narrow control arms should work out great. It took a couple days of us fighting it before we realized that one of the spindles off of our donor corvette was bent!

Here is the factory setup...
http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck31.jpg

Now with the narrow control arms...
http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck30.jpg
http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck32.jpg

[Nate_ERC]

A couple shots showing the underside, and the narrowed rear cradle.


http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck34.jpg
http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck33.jpg

[Nate_ERC]

And finally, the sheetmetal work. The tail is really starting to take shape. I think it might actually look good when it's done. :lol:

http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck35.jpg

[rjsjea]

Great build pics.........that's gonna be an awesome truck:willy:

[Garage Dog 65]

Split it right down the middle !!! What are you thinking .... :lol:

Looks great and she'll be a stellar project ! You guys do beautiful work and thanks for posting the build.

Jim

[Kendall Burleson]

Killer project fab work is looking good went will you bring it out?:hail:

[KPC67]

Wow:wow:. I just love the 47 to 53 chevy trucks. That thing is going to be perfect!

Kevin

[96z28ss]

You guys do some really great metal work!

The thing that puzzles me the most is the amount of money required to get your chassis under a car or truck. At some point the chassis isn't the best choise for a project don't you think.
Granted I understand that the owner of the vehicle decides what his budget is and how much he wants to spend.
The cost of the widening of the body and the cost of designing and machining new narrow control arm. Doesn't those added cost far outweigh the ride and performance benefit?
You can put an Art Morrison C5 chassis under it, and not widen the cab.
Then the moeny saved could be used in other area of custom work on the body or bed of truck.
I'd like your input on it.
How much work would it take to get one under a Camaro?

[dhondagod]

Stupid question but I have to ask...





What are you doing for a windshield?




Killer work so far!:thumbsup:



Chris:cool:

[Nate_ERC]

Thanks for the compliments guys. The truck will be at SEMA 2008.

Regarding the cost of the chassis, there are a few things to consider.

- Narrow control arms are something we only had to design once, and it's fairly cheap to have them machined.

- The cost of the chassis for the customer is much lower than it would be resale, because we are charging our shop rate, not a flat rate to build it.

- Lastly, the chassis takes all oem or aftermarket Corvette parts. We can buy all the parts for the drivetrain and suspension brand new from GM for way less than it costs to outfit the car with more "traditional" performance parts.


As far as using a G Max goes... The G Max is a great chassis, but it's a totally different animal. Our platform is going to essentially turn the car into a C5 Corvette. The AME platform will make the car perform like a Corvette, but it is still riding on comparatively dated technology. We prefer our route because we feel it offers a lot more versatility, and has a lot more "wow" factor.

As for the installation difficulties, this project is a little deceiving. The chassis will fit the stock width truck with the narrow control arms. The customer decided that he wanted more space for a dish on his rims, and liked the way these things look widened. Considering the complexity of the build, it wasn't that big a deal to just go ahead and widen it up.

[Nate_ERC]

We are getting custom glass made for the windshield. :thumbsup:

[speedfreak]

Very nice work.
The frame looks really cool.

Brian

[dave96dcm]

Dumb question but why are there so many tacks in this picture?
http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck9.jpg

[Nate_ERC]

If we would have snapped some more pictures you could get a better idea of what's going on. There are 1x1 beams running on the inside of that rail. Those are plug welds.

[Garage Dog 65]

We are getting custom glass made for the windshield. :thumbsup:

Hi Nate,

When you get to the custom windshield part - can you show us how you do that ? Metal template and then that goes off to the vendor - or do you send the entire vehicle and they do the template and windshield install ?

I will go through that process when I do the front and rear windshields on my Porsche project.

Thx ! Jim

[MarkM66]

Wow. :hail:

http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck35.jpg

How were these bed corners fabed?

[awr68]

VERY nice work!! I so need to get down to your shop!!

[Bowtieracing]

Beautifull and highly skilled fab work:hail: Can you tell me what you doing for the corvette you had there ?

[ccracin]

The AME platform will make the car perform like a Corvette, but it is still riding on comparatively dated technology. We prefer our route because we feel it offers a lot more versatility, and has a lot more "wow" factor.

You guys are doing some very nice work. But, "Dated Technology" how do you come up with that? Not trying to start an issue, I am just interested in your thoughts. Never have enough knowledge. Thanks.

[Nate_ERC]

Jim - In the past we have sent templates to the vendor, had the glass made, and installed it ourselves. I'll put up some pictures when we get there, but it'll be a while. ;)

Mark - Our metal shaper is a stud! :cool:


bowtieracing - Wow I need to bring you in the car next time I drive through central oregon, that's some car spotting skill! The 63 splitwindow is a ground up custom. It's got a c4 chassis with an LT5 motor and 6-Speed.

Chad - I was trying not to start an argument regarding the AME chassis as well, because IMO they are two different means to the same end. The Torque chassis is built strictly for using all of the C5/C6 components (torque tube, IRS, etc...), whereas the AME chassis can use some or all of them, but is not purpose built to use the ENTIRE C5/C6 setup. In any event my comment was primarily concerning the 4-bar setup in the MaxG chassis. Even though it is clearly very potent, I personally would call it dated (at least vs GM's "latest and greatest").

[Bowtieracing]

bowtieracing - Wow I need to bring you in the car next time I drive through central oregon, that's some car spotting skill! The 63 splitwindow is a ground up custom. It's got a c4 chassis with an LT5 motor and 6-Speed.

.

Nate , based on this truck , you have to let us see more of the vette :thumbsup:

[ironworks]

I'm curious about weight, what does something like this or your impala weigh?
If you have tubing inside the frame it must be a pretty heavy frame. How come you did not just narrow the track width instead of shortening the a arms.

Nice work, your sheet metal guy is kick ass.

Rodger

[ccracin]

Chad - I was trying not to start an argument regarding the AME chassis as well, because IMO they are two different means to the same end. The Torque chassis is built strictly for using all of the C5/C6 components (torque tube, IRS, etc...), whereas the AME chassis can use some or all of them, but is not purpose built to use the ENTIRE C5/C6 setup. In any event my comment was primarily concerning the 4-bar setup in the MaxG chassis. Even though it is clearly very potent, I personally would call it dated (at least vs GM's "latest and greatest").

Thanks Nate, that's good information. Hey this hobby wouldn't be what it is without different products and yours looks pretty nice. This will be one that I watch seeing that I am partial to trucks!:thumbsup:

[XcYZ]

Wow, fantastic! This thread is Hall of Fame material. :bow:

[Stuart Adams]

Very cool.

[Nate_ERC]

Rodger -

For the truck we are shooting for a 3200-3500 weight. This puts it in the range of a stock Corvette. We are setting up a custom coil-over suspension, which I will hopefully have pics of soon.

The Corpala hasn't been weighed or had the suspension tuned yet, but it's a friggin' boat. Well north of 4,000 for sure. We used really beefy aftermarket monoleafs.

As far as the track width, we can't narrow it much and retain OEM setup. We want to use the original cradles, motor mounts, steering, etc. You can see in the pictures that the rear cradle has been narrowed a couple inches, but there's not much we can do to the front.

[ironworks]

Sounds good, I'm hoping to weigh mine really soon

[Nate_ERC]

What are you thinking for weight?

[ironworks]

I'm hoping for less than 3000, but the bed is pretty heavy since it houses the actuators inside the side panels and the lineX we sprayed in the cab is pretty heavy. The fuel tank is also pretty big at about 22 gallons. Plus the budniks are not to light either. Now the nova on the other hand is pretty light. I hope to weigh both really soon.

[Nate_ERC]

Some more progress on the truck. We had a local Corvette racing guru come out and help us finalize the set up for the steering and suspension. The front suspension is still on the bench, but the rear is mostly in. We will probably move the coilovers so the top sticks out in front of the control arms, so it will be a lot easier to take them in and out for suspension tuning.

http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck37.jpg


Meanwhile we made some more progress with the sheetmetal on the back of the truck.
http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck36.jpg


On the interior, we are finalizing the seat mounts. The owner wants to be able to quickly pull out the show seats, and drop in some racing seats on track days.

We've also begun to mock up the firewall, so we can finish up the floor.
http://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck38.jpg

[abadsvt]

Looking Good! One question though? Why is the motor so far into the cab? It might have been just the angle of the pic. Did you not want to extend the torque tube?



ps. I like the back end of the truck!!!!!

[96z28ss]

You can't post pics of your truck project with a camaro in the background and not tell us about the camaro.

[Nate_ERC]

Josh - I dig your truck! I like that body style way more than the 50's ones :_paranoid


96z28ss - That Camaro is our mule. We are prototyping a Torque 3G chassis for the first gens. It will probably look exactly the way it does in that picture until the scramble about a month before SEMA.

[Nate_ERC]

Some more progress on the truck. We are working on getting the interior of the cab all set up.

Mock up of the wheel, column, and cluster.
http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/t1.JPG

Checking booster and master cylinder fitment.
http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/t2.JPG

[Nate_ERC]

Some pictures of the under dash pieces.

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/t3.JPG

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/t4.JPG

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/t5.JPG

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/t6.JPG

[Nate_ERC]

Lot's more progress with the truck.

We got the steering and pedal assembly mostly finished up, and should have the vintage air unit installed soon.

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck43.jpg

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck42.jpg

[Nate_ERC]

We also put in the brakes and wheels, and dropped the truck to ride height. The Willwood calipers don't clear the Boyd rims at all. We'll probably use different rims, but we may machine some spacers or something.

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck44.jpg

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/turboford/truck/truck45.jpg

[jy211]

Looks good :thumbsup: ..on the front wheel, I'd look at a larger diameter one...just me though!:captain:

[abadsvt]

Looks Sweet! It is so cool once the project starts taking some shape again. Keep up the great work.

Josh

[Nate_ERC]

Still making headway. We pulled the motor back out, and started the engine compartment metal work. The first step is to build the new inner fenders.

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/images/truck/46.jpg

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/images/truck/47.jpg

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/images/truck/48.jpg

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/images/truck/49.jpg



We also started making the new firewall...

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/images/truck/50.jpg

[Nate_ERC]

It's been a while since I've posted updates, but there's been loads of progress.

The firewall is nearly finished. The radiator supports are finished, and under the hood things are starting to take shape.

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/images/truck/51.jpg

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/images/truck/52.jpg

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/images/truck/62.jpg

[Nate_ERC]

We've got the mounting built for the Vette tail lights and the recessed license plate.

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/images/truck/53.jpg

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/images/truck/55.jpg

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/images/truck/57.jpg

[Nate_ERC]

The guys from Griffin Interiors came up here, and started the work on the interior.

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/images/truck/58.jpg

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/images/truck/59.jpg

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/images/truck/61.jpg

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/images/truck/62.jpg

[Nate_ERC]

Now we're playing with the brake setup, and mounting the Penske coilover shocks.

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/images/truck/63.jpg

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/images/truck/64.jpg

[G-Body]

Thats the sweetest tail gate i have ever seen really nice peice of art work!

[ryans67deuce]

Please ditch the Magneto's for a more up-to-date wheel.... That truck is way to sweet for those out of style wheels...

[rocketman]

Looks great, but the top looks to tall, might be time to chop it

[Nate_ERC]

We are gunna ditch the wheels for sure. I think they are still deciding what to go with.

The owner is like 6' 4" so I don't think a chop was ever really an option. :P

[rocketman]

We are gunna ditch the wheels for sure. I think they are still deciding what to go with.

The owner is like 6' 4" so I don't think a chop was ever really an option. :P

Thats cool, I was wondering my dad has 48 Chevy truck and he chopped it 4" and I'm 6'4 and fit great we mounted the seats on floor, but each his own, still a good truck don't get me wrong

[bill amsley]

Still making headway. We pulled the motor back out, and started the engine compartment metal work. The first step is to build the new inner fenders.

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/images/truck/46.jpg

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/images/truck/47.jpg

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/images/truck/48.jpg

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/images/truck/49.jpg



We also started making the new firewall...

http://eckertsrodandcustom.com/images/truck/50.jpg
awesome nice metal skills bill

[fleet]

I emailed Eckert's today.

Hopefully there will be some updates posted on this and the LT-5 swap into a '63 Vette SWC build thread.

They do great work.

Would like to see the outcomes.:cool:

[texas56]

We are kinda at the same point with ours. Are you having any trouble with locating the pedals in the toe board area?Would you happen to have a pic looking through the back window down toward them? It seems a little cramped where ours is between the brake and the throttle.:_paranoid nice build you guys got going there!

[speedshftr]

:bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:

with talent like this how in the world did america get in such bad shape.that truck took some seriuos skills you guys should be very proud of yourselves.hats off to everybody involved!!!!

[waynieZ]

WOW What an awesome build.