34 Dodge Humpback

Been a little over a year since I started work on the Dodge and may I say its been one heck of a time! I decided to re do the thread because the original had been corrupted somehow. Lots has happened since the last time I was on RRR. Talked to some people at the SEMA show about potentially getting freebies. Got published in Rat Rod Magazine issue 11 and won 2nd place at the Field of Dreams Car Show March 31st. Its been crazy, but this is only the beginning. Here, I'll start the thread off with the first picture of the rat on its own wheels.

Link to the original thread http://ratrodsrule.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19509

Before and After

Just as a recap, I bought the Dodge because it came with a Chrysler dual quad manifold with matching AFB's. It looked like this

The plan was to turn the shell and keep the manifold, but I had something else in mind.
We tossed out the junk frame and with sawzall blades in hand, made the initial measurements for a 5-1/2 inch chop and a 2 foot length reduction.

I started on the de-lemozine portion, and nearly left it because it looked so cool.

But again, I had a different idea. Armed with the masking tape and metal ruler, I set out to perform my first chop job. This is how it turned out.

More later. Still in school so I need some sleep. Rather be welding than doing math...[

chop

still say to much chop, not safe, l would not let my kids drive it that way.

first rule of rod building...... MAKE IT SAFE

l base that off of the 33 l have sitting in the garage and know how limited the front vision is just in stock height.


4'' would be plenty, other than that, l like it.

just my 2 C

Later

You obviously have a LOT more done if you had it in a magazine, so post up the pics. [P

recap cont.

After welding her solid, I found a couple old sprint car tires and a tractor tire for a mock up. The tractor tire is 20 by 4.75 by 7.5. Looks great, but I've only got the one (looking for another just for fun).

The sprints are 15 x 18 rims and measure 40" OD when aired up, closer to 2 feet wide. I thought about extending the keystones I have to 15 x 15 but decided I'd hold off until it was rolling. (Me standing next to it. nearly a 50" tall tire!)

The tractor tires look so perfect, but I've heard from more than a few that they don't run good, especially with the suicide front end. Heres one right after we dropped it on the frame (early '50's International Scout frame full box), the firewall is sitting on the trans and the body is to far forward. This is 140" wheel base

Looking at the sprints and that tractor tire again makes me wish I had the skills to make my own wheels. And that I could find another 3 rib tire like the one I have. Heres a mock up and a length test for the I beam that was destined to become our "split wishbone"

More...

Here it is right before the we put the axle under the rear. We went with a relatively modern rear end out of a suburban because it was the closest to clearing the over 60" wide body. Its getting tossed out as soon as I find an old school rear at least 70" or figure out how to widen on. Is it difficult to extend an old axle?

Found some old ladder bars that perfectly fit the shackles on the scout frame. I cut the back off of the frame so it wouldn't stick out the rear doors. Heres some pictures of the body being trimmed for the axle.

Mounted up a couple BF Goodrich All terrains for size and bolted the keystones on. Here it sits on the rear, no jack stands.

A front view. Almost changed my mind again about the suicide front end. The axle was just sitting up there so we could try different hubs, but it looked pretty good where it was.

Some mock ups before the front end was done.


This was the point where I started thinking, "Dang, this actually looks like it could be in RR magazine." Used the pieces I cut off the rear of the frame to extend the front.

I did some pretty precise measurements to get all the angles right then welded em solid.

Then I found an old pipe and welded it to the front to tie it together. I want to bring the frame in closer to the pipe at the top and bottom so it looks more like it belongs.

More Cont....

The shell sits perfectly on the pipe and looks so great. Spent a long time finding just the right angle.

I found these old Ford 17.5 heavy truck tires in the yard. They don't look too bad and might stay until I get the money for some different ones. A friend of my fathers loaned me some mechanical model A brakes that might be kind of cool to use. They don't bolt up to my smiley A axle, but we could make them fit. Are there any disk brakes that are hidden by the drums or just look old?

Most recent progress

A week before the car show I mentioned in the RRM article, we started on the front suspension. We had this old I beam left over from some construction project that was screaming for a re-purposing.

It was just long enough to cut 2 pieces out of with about a foot left over. I ran these back to the original spring perch of the frame. some old engine mount looking things with rubber bushings were on the front of the frame that fit perfectly into the shackle. So, I cut them off and welded them to one end of the beam. The other side got sandwiched between two 1/2 inch steel plates drilled with a 23/32 and pinned with an 18mm bolt. Unfortunately, they do not make hardened 11/64 inch bolts to fit the model A axle and 18mm is the closest.


Ran a smaller pipe through the front one so the suspension wouldnt fall down, made a jerry rigged tie rod out of some scrap, and bailing wired everything else on for the show.

Now

Heres how she sits right now. The steering wheel is out of a 37 pontiac. nearly 18" in diameter. Seats out of a '74 Corvette. The thickness was perfect to see out of the 5 inch windshield.


Check out the headers in this picture. Really looking good. Kicked the tires away from the body with a couple 2 inch spacers, but the inside of the drums still rubs bad on the body.

Here it is at the car show on March 31st. The guys at the booth gave me a windshield sticker....

We have a nack for collecting old junk, here it is in my driveway in front of our old cement mixer and some other odds and ins.






Any suggestions or comments would really be appreciated. Lots of work to do. I wish i was done with high school so I could work on this stuff full time [ Thanks for looking, Zach.

That looks really cool Zack, congrats on getting it to the show and in the magazine.

Are you planning on putting the doors back on it?

Personally I think it would look better with them, just my two cents.

Yes I plan to put the doors back, I just havnt chopped them to fit the new frame. Thanks for the reply!

You get lots of credit for taking on a big project and keeping it going. While the hump back is not a favorite body style of mine, you are converting me with what you have done to yours.
Please do not consider the Model A mechanical brakes. They are inadequate under any circumstances.

Once yu graduate high school you will wish you were retired so that you have the time to work on it.

Looks good and excellent work. Keep it up and put some juice brakes on it, those old mechanical brakes are not all that great.

Very cool

Hey Zack you should be very proud of what you have accomplished. Who cares if they humpback is rare, as you say, the restoration is far to expensive. You have the proportions just right. Please do not consider using Model A brakes, as has been mentioned, they are not at all safe. I believe that So-Cal or someone like that has a disc brake set-up disguised as drum brakes but I am not sure what axle it works with. Check out some sites and magazines. A car must be safe to enjoy driving it. Also congratulations on your magazine piece. Have fun and remember school is important for a job good enough to make enough money to build more rods. Steve

Back!

It's been a while! School has been tough as this is my senior year in high school and I'm trying to get my school to pay for as much of my college as I can which means lots of big long classes. The rat is coming along nicely, but progress has been slow. Since my last post here on RRR, I've done a lot to her. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking!

Here I've got a coil over mocked up. I love this look and it works out okay with the headlight a little higher than where had it. I haven't shored up the front suspension because I need to finish the bags on the rear to set my ride height with just the right amount of stinkbug.





Some work on the doors. They were both really messed up; rusted all the way through the bottom and incredibly bashed in. The passenger side was missing a door hinge but I located one from back east.

The doors were kind of tricky, but I think I got pretty much exactly how I wanted them. I wanted to kick the post out at the bottom so that it matched the pitch of the windshield. The original window curved in at the bottom and it didn't look very good. I took the skin off and moved the structure back then rolled the skin over it again. This is why you can see all the measurements with the body lines.



I wanted to keep all the complexities of the body lines at the edge of the door so I brought my section line in past the corner. It worked really well. Remember I had to shorten the door because I moved the cowl back so I wouldn't have to mess with the windshield posts. The top of the door still fit, but the bottom needed almost 2 inches out of it.







Here you can see that the bottom of the window is fatter than the top, and curves at a different angle than the windshield. Just after that is my solution.





And the finished (tacked) product. I will shorten the inner structure pieces and add them too. Window is 7 inches tall at its tallest point. When I sit in the rat like I'm driving, not slouching or anything, it is just perfect to see everything. Suicide doors looking good.

I will post more later. I mentioned the SEMA show a while back and this year (2013) I was approached about putting the Dodge inside on a display frame machine at SEMA 2014. Rat Rod magazine is also waiting for a "finished" article on the humpback so I've got a lot lined up. Stay tuned!

I like the over-all direction of this build, it's so ugly it's cute.

but the front part of the car is too big, the grill is too tall and the tires are too big, looks clunky. and 2 too many headlights.

with the big ass-end, the look should follow a progression more tapered to the front.

like big and littles on a fad T.

an exaggeration going both ways, extremely big and wide in the rear to extremely small in the front.

just my 2 cents, not meant as an insult.

peace, love, and happy motoring.

Hour glass

I plan to cut the grill she'll down so it isn't taller than the cowl. As for the tires, I want to put the 20s with the tractor ribs on. They are huge and really unique. From the top, the car should look like an hour glass. The rear slicks as wide as the front tractor tires and the narrowest part at the fire wall. The headlights are staying as I've never seen someone do quads. The idea is that it's a collection of rare and odd things that almost can't be replicated. Thanks though!

Your build is coming along and I personally think it's looking great.
You're not building a bucket T. BUILD IT TO LOOK THE WAY YOU WANT IT!
Just make it safe for you and everyone else on the road.

I had some not so encouraging comments about my "ugly" '48 Dodge PU.
you just have to let roll off your back and keep on keeping on.

What are you planning for the motor/trans.?
Stay after it. I want to see it rolling down the road.

Glad you came back. Keep posting pics! Good stuff. I like the quads. Good to hear you're gonna cut down the shell - looks great but too tall. Don't plan on driving at speed on those tractor tires - you know that's not going to be safe. Either keep them on separate rims you can change out for shows or find something road worthy.