1957 Chevy 1/2 ton Long wheel base Step Side
(aka Model 3200)

The IFS will give me rack and pinion steering, 11" disc brakes, coil over shocks and a much better ride and turn in than the old stock solid axle. The image on the right is a shot from above showing the changes to the steering rack and the upper A-arm where it attaches to the original frame. You can also see the aftermarket oil filter I added to the old 235 straight 6.
The rear axle drops my rear diff ratio to 3.23, gives the truck a posi- rear end, and big disk brakes. This is far from a bolt in change though, all the stuff on the axle in the image in the left had to be removed with a cutting torch, then all the original mounts had to be welded on.	Here's that same axle installed using the stock spring perchs and shock mounts. This is a work truck and the stock suspension in the rear was fine for me. I had some clearance problems with the calipers that the Centerline rims helped me solve.

Update:

this is now a series of Old versus New images

A 3/4 shot, the truck is fairly straight, but that ugly bent up bumper just has to go. I'll be replacing it with a stock bumper and a rollpan.	A 3/4 shot from the other side, you can see the new rollpan installed as well as the driver's side cab corner and new door. I also replaced the ugly huge dual mirrors with a single stock round mirror. As Raul Julia said, "What's a behind me, she no matter."
	Here's a shot of the passenger side with the new door and fixed cab corners. Oh how do you like the stake bed sides? I made them out of Maple since it's a really fine grain hardwood, and should last a long time. After the edges were turned with a router, I stained the wood with deck sealant. (if this image looks a little wonky it's because I made it from two shots with my digital camera. The longbed just wouldn't fit into the frame )
This is a shot to show the stock ride height, your basic "before and after" pictures. Notice the truck rides a bit lower with the new suspension. The new rims are Centerlines in 15x8 with 235/60/15 tires in the front and 255/60/15 tires in the rear. They are part of the new line that Centerline has of 15" rims that will fit in 16" applications; something I needed due to the rear disc brakes from the Z-28.
	The interior is just going to get cleaned up a bit. Replace some of the cheezy wiring, and a respray to the stock color of light grey with blue accents. This was one of the main selling points for this truck for me-- the dash hadn't been hacked up. Well that and the nifty cool #1 billiard ball shift knob.
A couple of shots of the bed after I removed the warped, split pine boards (after I stepped through one). Notice how nice and rust free the frame is. The bed will be sandblasted, coated with POR15, and shot with a single stage enamel. I plan on using this as a work truck for the immediate future, so I'll be putting in a bed liner after I repaint it. The bed will just be a sealed 1" plywood sheet until I get around to doing the cosmetics on the truck in a couple of years.
	Ahh, the best laid plans of mice and men. As you can see from this image, I changed my mind. The bed is made from a single sheet of stainless steel. I tack welded it to the edge rails that I left in the upper images after sandblasting nine coats of paint off the bed. I then painted it with an acid-wash etching primer, and had the bed sprayed with Rhino-coat spray on bed liner. The coating is about 1/4" thick and is water tight with the tailgate up. This is a work truck, and I felt that spar varnished oak planks just wouldn't last very long. There wasn't much rust, just lots of paint to remove, so I didn't go with POR-15.
This is the rear section of the passenger side of the cab. It has the starting stages of rust rot in the corner. I have a patch panel to replace this.	Here's a shot of the replacement panel installed. It really looks smooooooth with the replacement door. Everything lines up now.
The driver's door is the worst of the rust damage. The outer panel has peeled away, and the lower hinge is extremely loose. I will be replacing this door completely.	This is a good shot of the new driver's door and stance with the new suspension. If you look really hard, you can see the exhaust exiting just in front of the rear tire on this side. With the Fenton headers, there's a twin on the other side too now. Dual exhaust in a straight six sounds really cool.
Eventually I will be making a slightly extended cab by taking a portion of the roof and rear wall from a large window cab and adding about 6" to the length. I will be shortening the bed the same amount. When the cosmetic changes are done, the truck will be painted two tone, either butter yellow over barn red (similar to the color scheme of this page) or the stock medium green over white.

1950 Chevy 1/2 ton Step Side

My wife liked the looks of the Advance Design series trucks better than the Task Force series. So being the nice and generous husband that I am, I got her one for her birthday. It's a bit rough, but it does run, and almost everything is there. It's not stock though, the engine was swapped from the original 216 for a 1968 292. Now that's what I call more power. Arr arrr rrrrr.
	I just really like the look of an old truck sitting in the weeds.
The interior is in pretty good shape.....or so you'd think from this shot. Actally the seat is nice and the dash is straight, but the gauges need work and the floors have to be replaced. Once the '57 is finished, I'll start on this one.   Maybe. I have some other projects too.

For Further Information Contact:

Miq Millman
Tualatin, OR
e-mail: miq@bigllama.com
URL: http://www.bigllama.com