My SSR: 05 6 sp. with 4.56 gears, Flowmaster cat back, Crane cam and Rockers, lowered, Intro wheels, K&N.
Mine looked the same and did take significant effort to depress. Once the tool is inserted the rest of the job goes easily. Don't know if it's been mentioned already, but there are 2 cables that need to be pulled also. They are behind each seat.
Umpire 13, Thanks for the call today. As soon as the truck was off the lift I did just as you told me to. I gave it a whack with a hammer and now it works just fine. The spring clip must have been wedged funny or something because I had tried pushing on it really hard.
You guys have been awesome with the offers of help with my minor (but annoying) problem. Thank God it is in the rear view mirror now.
My SSR: 2004 slingshot yellow#106972 Born on 3/15/2004 adopted 6/30/2006
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott
Umpire 13, Thanks for the call today. As soon as the truck was off the lift I did just as you told me to. I gave it a whack with a hammer and now it works just fine. The spring clip must have been wedged funny or something because I had tried pushing on it really hard.
You guys have been awesome with the offers of help with my minor (but annoying) problem. Thank God it is in the rear view mirror now.
Thanks!
Scott
I am glad it did work.
Next time I go by I will look you up.
__________________ Baseball
"Not only a game that builds Characters It also reveals them"
Update of what is going on right now. Since I could finally open the top, it was time to disassemble it. Simple and easy to do. I was shocked! My hat is off to the engineer who designed this monster. Even the rear glass was easy.
In a moment of forethought, I went ahead and reassembled the thing to see if I could do it without scatching anything, or major adjustments. Worked like a charm. The designers did good for a change. (I did index the fastener location tho) Soon it goes to the bodyshop for work on the areas that are not removable.
One thing I thought has been a tad different about this truck, was the amount of velcro that holds panels in place.
Not just interior panels but major wind bearing panels as well. Not that they will blow off, just suprised to see this mounting fashion. One screw, some velcro and a couple christmas tree clips!
Hey Umpire, could you give me a call when you have a moment?, or pm me your work #?
My SSR: Black, '03, 1sb, #1256, License Plate was WOW FCTR
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott
One thing I thought has been a tad different about this truck, was the amount of velcro that holds panels in place.
Not just interior panels but major wind bearing panels as well. Not that they will blow off, just suprised to see this mounting fashion. One screw, some velcro and a couple christmas tree clips!
A couple people have had issues with the exeterior windshield post covers coming off.....but not many.
__________________
2003 Black SSR #1256 1sb
100000 miles (02/04/07).....
150000 miles (10/22/08)....
175,000 miles (3/2/10)
yes, that would be the major one I'm speaking of. On this truck, if seems that the adhesive is letting go off of the post rather than the velcro failing. I have plans to cure this problem when it is reassembled in a couple months.
Hey Guys, An update has been posted on hrcs website. You get to see the truck outside and completly assembled. It is still in bare metal but it shows the direction we are taking this thing.
IMHO I don't care for the gas cap location. Also, I think the rear bumper need to be reshape. It looks too big, too wide with too much of a curve and doesn't flow with the rear body lines.
RRR, Thanks for the feedback, somethings are yet to be changed, possibly.
Funny thing about the rear bumper,.. as the '53 has a flat rear body panel/tailgate,..2003 we have a curved one. So, the dilema was wether to stay true to '53 style or to try to meld the two. I did form one that followed the contour of the 2003 but it looked like crap to the fenders. I'm talking about the visual curve to the outer most point of the fender. I also sunk it in a couple inches and narrowed it 1/2 inch several times. Just didn't look right.
The bumper you see is the best of both worlds,..narrowed and re-shaped to resemble the "53 without loosing the visual from any angle other than from above. ( I may go in and do bodily harm to my webmaster for THAT shot!) Reality is that it looks great in person and most people think we pulled it off well.
Scott, Cool running boards, you may want to increase the gap here as you might run into a problem with the paint chipping off the finders due to the amount of flexing the vehicle has.
Gaps have been addressed. These photos are from 3 months ago. Many changes have been made since then. If it flexes enough to contact from 3/8 inch away,.. there are other problems that we are not aware of.
My SSR: 05 6 sp. with 4.56 gears, Flowmaster cat back, Crane cam and Rockers, lowered, Intro wheels, K&N.
Scott, since you're talking about flex, there's a popular upgrade being done right now by a lot of members of this site. It involves adding to or replacing the single cross brace under the gas tank. There's another pair of mounting holes ahead of that bar that can be used for an additional bar or a stamped steel Envoy EXT brace (#15076943) that seem to increase chasis stiffness. You being a metal shop I'd just build an X-member out of moly tubing connecting the 4 holes. Also, I believe, on 05 and 06 models they added an X brace under the engine too. I've never looked under an 03 or 04 to verify this, but one of the SSR engineers claims that is true. Also, you could do your customer a huge favor while the doors are apart and ask him if he's ever had interior door handle problems. The inner pivots are very thin plastic and break very often. There's an improved part and a TSB from GM on them. If you search door handles, there's tons of threads about them along with the updated part #s.
We will install the additional cross brace for sure and explore the one beneath the motor. Granted we could make a stronger, better one but the owner of the project insists that we just do what Chevy would have done. (And apparently did, so we will too) With considerable more HP under the hood, flex is not a good thing.
Cool call on the door handles!!
I am new to these trucks and learning daily, mostly from the posters on this board. Since I have had it apart, it will be my problem if it EVER fails, so, that upgrade has to happen as well.
Monday morning I'm gonna give Umpire13 a call. The man is my personal Hero! Without his help on this project, ain't no way I'm in position to make my deadline. I would imagine that he will have an impact on the final assemby stage too. Giant thanks to the ump!
I was going thru the parts the other day and there a really a bunch of things that won't be used. anyone need lights, front sheet metal, (minus hood) running boards etc?
I'm not trying to pawn this stuff off on you guys but I know how pricey it can be if you need one. If you need, just call HRCS and they will make you a fair deal.
My SSR: 05 6 sp. with 4.56 gears, Flowmaster cat back, Crane cam and Rockers, lowered, Intro wheels, K&N.
Scott, Maybe I can save you a few minutes. Here are the #s for the inner door handle replacement parts. 15841790 and 15841788. They were somewhere around $120. per side when I replaced mine 2 yrs. ago. The only other part that has been a pain to a lot of owners is the electric rad. fan. Mike in Az (forum handle) has a nice coversion fan with shroud that plugs right in. He also has large core replacement radiators and trans. coolers set to bolt in the R. I've had BeCool build me a large rad. so Marty there is familiar with them. The rad. is undersized for V-8 hp. Anything I can do to help PM me.
Love it! Why the rear bumper change from the original concept artwork? I like that plate surround on the bumper. What year and style exterior rear view mirrors are going on it? I always liked the '57 Bel Air's on the SSR.
Last edited by Maui Mike : 08-08-2008 at 08:52 PM.
My SSR: 2004 slingshot yellow#106972 Born on 3/15/2004 adopted 6/30/2006
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott
Topspin, Thanks so much for the heads up.
We will install the additional cross brace for sure and explore the one beneath the motor. Granted we could make a stronger, better one but the owner of the project insists that we just do what Chevy would have done. (And apparently did, so we will too) With considerable more HP under the hood, flex is not a good thing.
Cool call on the door handles!!
I am new to these trucks and learning daily, mostly from the posters on this board. Since I have had it apart, it will be my problem if it EVER fails, so, that upgrade has to happen as well.
Monday morning I'm gonna give Umpire13 a call. The man is my personal Hero! Without his help on this project, ain't no way I'm in position to make my deadline. I would imagine that he will have an impact on the final assemby stage too. Giant thanks to the ump!
Thanks For the kind words
I can get the Bezels and at your good price. As for the not used parts we will talk.
Richard
__________________ Baseball
"Not only a game that builds Characters It also reveals them"
My SSR: 2006 FPR 6 speed Silver w/ Blue Flames by Juan Perlata www.airkolors.com
I really like what I'm seeing after not looking at the progress photos for a while. I love the tailgate and bumper... Neat project. Wishing you continued success!
__________________ Life is not measured by the number of breathes we take, but by those that leave us breathless...
Maui Mike, The reason behind the bumper is that the owner flat did not like that style of bumper and said no. He really didn't want the plate recessed either, just screwed on the rear body panel. I said no,.. not gonna build something that looks stupid or unfinished. He relented and I got my way on this one.
Forgot to mention, we are using tri five mirrors on this monster. Good call. They look proper and really cool on this body shape. We went thru several style changes before setteling on those mirrors. Besides being the best looking they also fit into the period that we were trying to recreate with a modern flair.
abadssr, I don't think the add'l weight will be much. Since some parts are lighter than the stock ones, running boards for instance. I expect that it will only increase by 150lbs at the outside. Mainly because we are replacing sheetmetal that is at best 20ga. with all 18ga.
Maui Mike, The reason behind the bumper is that the owner flat did not like that style of bumper and said no. He really didn't want the plate recessed either, just screwed on the rear body panel. I said no,.. not gonna build something that looks stupid or unfinished. He relented and I got my way on this one.
RRR, yes the owner is aware of this forum. He is not an internet guy and is not interested in figuring out how to get here. His sons however are guys who may stop by.
The owner said that he would pass the site info to them and they could tell him what they read. He did get quite a charge out of the fact that this project has gotten some interest from other SSR owners.
Bottom line is this guy is having his vision of this truck built and figures if folks like it ..great, if not..tough.
Can't really argue with that.
My SSR: 2004 UV with flames #10443 (BOD: 05-24-04), 2005 "Sinister SSR"#19055 (BOD: 12-09-04)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott
Bottom line is this guy is having his vision of this truck built and figures if folks like it ..great, if not..tough.
Can't really argue with that.
That's the way to do it - people are going to love it or hate it, but if you don't get any reaction it's not Kustom!
By the way, awesome job! Your metal work is pure art. I'm really enjoying watching the transformation, and hope I get the chance to see this truck in person one day. I think the rear fender flows with the body lines beautifully. And great minds think alike - check out the gas cap location, door handles and mirrors on my "Sinister SSR".
Vettegirl.
Indeed we do think alike to a degree. I tried several variations of the mirror you are running. (nothing so ornate or stylized, but similar) They just didn't look right for the shape of the front end, as it sits now. Hell of it is, something along those lines would have been better, considering the period we were trying to re-create.
Love your taillamps!! Obviously you have a talented person doing your alterations. Are they Oldsmobile? Just guessing here, but they are way cool.
One question about the door handles tho, (They look great btw!)...Did you have any clearance issues to the glass?
Most times builders don't really discuss issues with owners unless it is a realy big deal and could get expensive, we just work around it. I have no idea if you are a builder/owner or a client so please don't take my comments as an offense.
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Why the rear bumper change from the original concept artwork? I like that plate surround on the bumper. What year and style exterior rear view mirrors are going on it? I always liked the '57 Bel Air's on the SSR.
Wishing you continued success!
Life is not measured by the number of breathes we take, but by those that leave us breathless...
Tri-Five mirrors, perfect 
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