vette/3100 AD hybrid

whats up builders? Hey fella's,been scanning sites for yrs and RRR seems to me the best site for info on doing what we do and love.So I have become a member.I live in north TX and am a fabricator for a municipality.I design/fab everything from custom railings to stairs to pond drain covers to special tools ,anti theft devices on sports field light poles,buildings etc.Weird stuff that nobody makes most of the time.I dabbled in art,oil painting ,sculptures for yrs and once I got into fab/design all that energy went to that alone.My Dad was a mechanic/parts man for GM for most of his life.I have always loved cars/trucks and working on them.I started my first build in 08 (3 yrs to complete) on a 51 3100 set on a 70 Cutlass sedan chassis with 455/TH 400.I sold it on E-BAY in may of 2011 and told myself and wife no more builds for a while,well,here we go again.A month later I got an idea stuck in my head of a vette chassis with a old truck body chopped and shortened to fit the narrowed vette frame.I thought how cool would it be to have that rat rod look but around town and on the the highway it would handle like a vette dicing in and out of traffic with people thinking "what the heck was that?".I wanted to keep the vette chassis as close to factory for handling as I could.So I kept the stock length and geometry and narrowed it to accept the 53 cab.I purchased an 84 vette some kid was selling that his Dad built for him with 335 SB .It has alot of good internals and was built to race around town(alum intake,rollers,edelbrock carb,billit dist,headers etc). Kid said it was scary fast.I like doing something different,non traditional,something nobody has done yet,I'm just weird that way I guess.I then bought a 53 chevy 3100 to put on the vette chassis.It has really been a challenge so far and I hope I can get some good idea's /input from you guys.This only my second build so I'm still learning.Got a couple questions, Does anyone have a preference on build your own header kits? Is there one you guys like ?Also I moved the firewall back 4'' to move the cab forward and the master cyl/booster is going to be a trick.It will have to be mounted on the firewall,under the floor is not an option.Is there a brake/pedal assembly you guys like for underdash install? Sorry for a long intro,just had rotator cuff surgery so the combination of time at home and pain meds could be the culprit for this painful intro.I have attached some pics,still along way to go so......My builds/albums are on photobucket http://s1132.photobucket.com/albums/m579/51c/84 vette vs 53 chevy bobber rat rod truck/ Thanks Fella's...If the link does'nt work just type in 51c under search on photobucket and you can see my cut/chop projects.....

I like to read. Great intro, could have been longer. Thanks for the pix of this awesome project.

Welcome to RRR! Lots of info, lots of pics, crazy build... awesome!

welcome. looks like you have planned it out nicely. going fenderless? someone in boise idaho had a very nice one, on a vette chassis, but it was more of a show car, and with fenders.

VERY COOL! I like the unusual.

This is one wild project. I love it

Welcome to the site! Where in N. Texas are you located?

Thanks fella's,she will be fenderless/hoodless as of now.Will look a little odd because the motor/drive train in a vette sets off to the passenger side 2'' for weight distribution. It was a design GM came up with to account for the weight of the driver when driving it hard/cornering,weird geometry stuff.I want to bring the headers out over the splice in the front end/frame.I guess if someone says"hey,your engine is not centered" I'll just say "c4" chassis.I wasn't sure in the early stages about the exposed engine because of the offset,but liking it now,thanks guys.......

I live in Bailey,about 10 miles south of Bonham,Thanks Jeremy.....

Love it! I was a GM tech for 12 years myself and have boned out a couple of C4 vettes. Nice combo. Make a build thread too ! [P

philobeddo said:

I live in Bailey,about 10 miles south of Bonham,Thanks Jeremy.....

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I know exactly where that is. I used to stop at the store right there at 78 & 11 once a week to make a delivery for a friend of mine who runs a newspaper in Paris. I also remember heading south on 78 right out of Bonham seeing an old 50s F-1 truck kinda behind a place on the right side of the road, wonder if it's still there. Lots of cars around that area if you know where to look.

I'm only a part time TX resident now and currently I'm in central Florida. But if you ever get over to Paris you should stop by my friends shop, it's at 555 Lamar Ave just a few blocks from the downtown area. He builds lots of rat rods and has cool stuff there all the time.

the old ford is still there,the store is at the end of my road and use it often.i go to Paris sometimes and i will look up that shop next time I'm there....thanks bubba.....

Cool looking ride.How much did you chop your top?

philobeddo said:

the old ford is still there,the store is at the end of my road and use it often.i go to Paris sometimes and i will look up that shop next time I'm there....thanks bubba.....

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I sometimes miss stopping by that store once a week. It was the only place I could find that carried the wasabi flavored Funyuns a few years ago.

You can check out some of the stuff the shop in Paris has built through the link in my signature.

Love your idea and pics, would love to see more of the build!

Welcome aboard! Awesome build.....that has to be the best use of a "Barbie" Vette that I've seen [cl[cl[cl The patina on that two tone truck is great too, but I'd go full fendered if it were mine.

Get that build thread started. [P[P[P

to answer SS, it's a 3'' chop. I was gonna do 4'' but too limited on cab space since the firewall was moved/cut back,thanks buddy.....

Any recent pix of Clyde?

No,not for a while it looks like.Doc says 4 wks of not using my shoulder so doing research on headers,fuel tank and brake pedal/master cyl/booster.What a puzzle this little unit is going to be.....would'nt have it any other way....thanks buddy

It would be a bitchin' truck with the proper sheetmetal back on it. Do it justice - put the doghouse back on! Then you don't have to worry about all that ugliness hanging out everywhere and just have a mean-ass AD Chevy. Of course everyone says "build what you want", but that's just my $.02 [ddev