99 Chevy Silverado

I had started this project a while ago, but put it down.




I decided to use acrylic paints, as they are cheaper. I am doing the interior in a green, just didn't realize that brushing acrylic paint is NOT like enamel. I am going to have to learn how to paint well with acrylics.


I was a mechanic in the late 80's and we always painted blocks and transmissions bright colors. made other stuff "pop" it seemed. I decided to do that with this truck

Ok, so, back at it, needed to change up some thoughts. (Man, I really need to finish a build, completely!)

So, after deciding what to do with this truck, I realized the gas tank must come off.



Started by taking my blade and turning it upside down and began scoring. I will get pics of it when I actually finish this tedious part.



Decided to put the engine together. It is a fuel injected engine, not exactly my usual, but, this is a service truck and I don't have a good Cummings Diesel.



Probably going to change the colors up, now that it is going together.



Had to remove the Chevy logo and the C1500 from both sides, as it is going to become a dually. Has to be bigger than a half ton at this point.








Decided to mock it up, to see the height. Didn't really like the first height, but the second seemed better. Once I get suspension in and an idea of how big the roll back or hauler will be, I will know how to proceed with the frame.

Still playing with the length. I got online and searched roll back beds. Seems they make upwords of 21'. That's 10 1/2" long.

I was thinking about a 16' bed, (8"), so, checked it out with a ruler to see what it would look like.




Seems a bit more do-able. I am amassing styrene to build this, so, I can't wait to get some more info.

Ok, so, the last couple of days I have had a chance to work on the truck.

Started by making the new flatbed for the rollback.



Don't you just love those fancy clamps?

I made the bottom side rails first, even cut the ends at the back at an angle.






Next I started adding the cross members.






The I played around a little to see what the cab would look like with the bed.



Here, I got really brave, cut the back side of the frame off and began to build a new frame. Not sure how accurate this would be to a real truck, but, I did my best.










After getting it all together I played with it again and mocked it up a bit





Started to get the front suspension done, but had to stop for a while. Should be able to do a little more later on tonight.

Ok, so, I know this is not a lot of progress, but, what I am doing seems to be taking a lot of time to do.

I couldn't get the plastic strips to stay together with just glue, so, I hatched a plan, using straight pins.

I drilled holes in the plastic, then put the pieces together.

I think this will work better than I thought, so, I will probably do a lot more drilling.








What you are seeing is the beginning of the frame work for the bed. This is the piece that will lift.
I will be making the hydraulics and the pivots later. I have to locate the correct drill bits for what I am doing.

I wasn't sure how to do all of the cuts and how to get them to stay together, but the straight pin idea seems to have a lot going for it.