The Bob: 1956 Chevy 3600

Dry fitting the wood in the bed. The bed is square and everything fits great. Time to prep for paint.

http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...pssqxnl1r6.jpg

Crikey!!

It's coming along good.

What color are you painting it?

Nice work!

Thanks!

I'm at least going to get it to primer myself. Haven't decided if I'll apply the color or if I'll find a shop. I bought a quart of dark jade green metallic that I thought I would play around with.

More progress:

Before:

http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...psnvljcdje.jpg

After:

http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps9kaajiel.jpg

Looks great, what type of wood did you end up using for the bed?

Thanks.

It is Oklahoma Red Oak from Mar-K.

http://www.hotrod.com/news/0904cct-mar-k-quality-parts/

Nice. looked like a soft wood from the picture but Im glad you used a hard wood. Really looks good.

Stock would have been white pine but I wanted something a little nicer and more durable. There are a million and one ways to stain/varnish the wood to get different effects. I'll have to play around with it.

Damn! That door is clean! Nice work.

Installed.
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...psyqi2mn9j.jpg

I found a rather desirable 4.10 gear set (out of a '71 van) for the Eaton HO72 rear axle. The only problem is it is currently set up with a Detroit locker. With how long the wheel base is on this truck I don't see the locker causing too many problems. I guess worse case scenario is I try it for a while and if it sucks tear the two third members apart and combine the two. I think I could swap the open carrier I have into it if I had to. Any thoughts? It looks like there is some pitting on the ring gear but I'm not sure of the condition of my current 4.57 gears.....they could look the same or worse. Would you spend money on this gear set?

http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps1vbon5qo.jpg

http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...pse8ucth82.jpg

http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...psfo2lp6v7.jpg

http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...psnabctknr.jpg

I don't think it would be worth my effort just to switch from 4.57 gears to 4.10's. Is gearing really an issue?

It's a very desirable swap for the big bolt chevy guys. The highest ratio these axles were offered in was 4.10s and since they have removable third members it is very easy to swap them over. Just pull the shafts, pull the third, install the new third, and install the shafts. It can be done in an hour. The swap would drop the engine by about 400 RPMs at 45mph.

I'm wondering if the Detroit would be a pain in the a$$.