74 NovaMan's 1979 Chevy Truck - LS Swap - 5/6 Drop

[74NovaMan]

After that I attached the fuel tank ground and bled the rear brakes. That all went well until I went out the next day and and noticed brake fluid dripping on the Nova. I figured it was just from spillage from filling the master cylinder so I washed the Nova and put the drip trays under the truck and parked the Nova back under it. Guess what? More brake fluid!

[74NovaMan]

The paint was never perfect but it is still very frustrating, especially the second time. A closer look at the master cylinder tells me its been leaking out the back for a while. I ordered up a new one today.

[74NovaMan]

Last Sunday, we got the bed back on the truck. It wasn't easy or pretty but its back in place. I still need to bolt it down.

[SuperBuickGuy]

looks like a good excuse to get a forklift

[74NovaMan]

looks like a good excuse to get a forklift

You're not wrong!

[74NovaMan]

As I have been working under it while on the lift, I have been wondering about the shape of the drivers side frame rail just under and behind the cab. The lower edge is not square and has a rounded look as you go from the bottom part (which I think should be flat but isn't) as it transitions into the vertical bit (which looks fine). I also notice that there is a wave/kink right under the cab mount bracket.



The other side for comparison:

[74NovaMan]

Once the bed is back on we have alignment issues on the drivers side.

[74NovaMan]

Well Crap! The frame is bent! Which is a crying shame because it is totally rust free and really nice otherwise. Maybe it can be fixed. Maybe I should get it running so I can drive it to a frame shop! Maybe I should push it into a lake. We will see. For right now, I'm going to do the right thing and pretend I didn't see it (credit to VGG) as it really won't stop me from "running & driving".

[Deaf Bob]

Looks like someone hooked it sideways.
I use an equipment trailer for a frame straightener. Block and chain parts to stay and jack up the dip.
maybe the frame shop rather work on it boxless.

[Beagle]

Not sure it's sitting on there right? If you didn't notice it dog legging on the way home, I wonder if it's really a huge problem. This was from page 1:



I can't really tell from your latest pics, but the gap from bed to cab seems not as much as this in the newest pic (edit for clarity - in the new pics the gap seems smaller) ? Can you loosen everything up and shake the loving bejeebus out of it? I mean, it did used to look like it was aligned okay... can you move the biscuits corner to corner or end to end and see if it changes with the biscuit location?

[silver_bullet]

The frame being pretty much rust free, makes me think a trip to a reputable frame shop would be in order before a front end alignment.... should be a pretty straightforward fix for an experienced shop... get a quote first though...

[silver_bullet]

As I have been working under it while on the lift, I have been wondering about the shape of the drivers side frame rail just under and behind the cab. The lower edge is not square and has a rounded look as you go from the bottom part (which I think should be flat but isn't) as it transitions into the vertical bit (which looks fine). I also notice that there is a wave/kink right under the cab mount bracket.



The other side for comparison:

I took another look at it this morning and in addition to the kink directly under the body mount, it seems that there is a significant bow in the bottom of the rail about 12 inches forward at the lowest part of the frame... Bob may be right, that a frame shop may not want the box on for this...

[74NovaMan]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Here is a picture of the other side showing the deformation:

[Deaf Bob]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Here is a picture of the other side showing the deformation:

Where it is rusty and deformed on bottom, on top it might look like that too. I suspect 6”-foot from where it is on bottom

[silver_bullet]

With all of the demo'ing that Bob and family have done, I'm sure he has seen almost every conceivable angle in which a frame could be distorted!