It'smecords 40's ford truck build

[itsmecord]

It'smecords 40's ford truck build 9-18-2011

Copy and pasting some of this from another forum so bare with me.
So here goes.....I picked up a 40's ford truck cab to build with my wife,then found out baby #2 was on the way.Moved back to amarillo texas,then sold the cab to a buddy out here. We were going to build it for him but then we decided to see if we put all his spare cash,and all my spare parts in one pile,and I do almost all the labor if we could'n built a clean little truck to make some money on.
Now at this time I do lack some pictures so I'll tell ya whats going on and mix that in with a couple pics.
So we hauled the cab out of a trading buddy of mines personal salvage yard in arkansas and hauled it the 500 miles to my shop.

 

[itsmecord]

9-19-2011

The first order of business was to set it on the '36 master sedan frame I had,and see if we could make it work. Next I cut out the ol' firewall and welded in a wheel barrel.

The next morning I started on the floor,out with the old-in with the new.
Dont know where those pics got of to. So I framed the floor out with 1x2 rec. tube
then skinned it.

 

[itsmecord]

9-20-2011

So,then It was on to the chop. I decided on 4" and out came the tools.

What you caint see is a little "smoothing" then back on with the lid !

 

[itsmecord]

9-21-2011

Got the back section welded back in,I had to pie cut a little to get it all lined back up but I am really happy with the chop so far.

 

[itsmecord]

9-22-2011

I had a 3:73 4x4 s10 rear axle,and a pair of old latter bars laying around So I welded them in yesterday. Power is gunna come from a free 307 that I am gunna throw a 350 cam in,and a pair of small chamber vortec heads on with some straight to the ground headers. A s-10 5-speed is going to be used for gear changes. I figure that the rear end,and trans "should" hold up "ok" to a peppy 307. I am looking for Idea's for the front suspension though and could use some advise ? I don't even have an axle as it stands but will be going with a straight style. my question is how to suspend it ? I want this truck low without bags,or a Z so I think parallel leafs are out,maybe a little notch and "buggy" style spring ? I will be running a radiator/grill shell in FRONT of the tires as well if that helps any. Sorry about the pictures being so big,I edit them in my photo bucket account to be "small" for forums and they are still the same when I post them.

 

[Snake Farm]

Love the "mail slot" rear window! [cl

[P[P[P

 

[itsmecord]

9-22-2011

Made some more progress on the truck today. Just about finished welding up the cab,and cut/hung the doors to see where we were at. Also mocked a little home made bed up.
I am still happy with the chop so far but I need to find some taller tires to go on the back I dont like the look with the shorty's on there.

 

[itsmecord]

9-23-2011

Just about finished the floor today one thing I know for sure is that my wife is WAY better on the bead roller than myself or my buddy she did the beads/and steps in the kick panel while i "powered the thing".I still need to make a couple filler panels from the kick panels to the inside of the truck. Also got a little more done on the chop.I have been taking it easy on the top and making sure every cut counts,and is necessary to save time in the long run.

 

[itsmecord]

9-24-2011

So I finished welding the top strip in today,and then spent the rest of the day cleaning the shop up. Nothing picture worthy tho.

 

[Old Iron]

Got some good stuff goin on

Jim

 

[itsmecord]

So I am head'n out the 30 miles to my shop in the morning to get some more done on the truck. Starting time tomorrow marks one full week on the build. Any body have any comments or suggestions so far ?

 

[LUCKY DEVIL 13]

So I am head'n out the 30 miles to my shop in the morning to get some more done on the truck. Starting time tomorrow marks one full week on the build. Any body have any comments or suggestions so far ?

Build looks good but can't enlarge any of the pics to really get a ggod look at your truck

 

[skull]

chop

chop looks good

the one thing about a 307 is good fuel milage, but ya can't beat on it like a 350 or it'll break on ya. if ya drive it nice it'll last 200,000 or more. l know this from have'n 3 or 4 from when l raced and cruised years ago.


the rearend and 5-speed should hold up fine unless some likes to do 5000 rpm launches[ddev

like'n how it looks[cl

Later

 

[itsmecord]

Did not have a very good,or productive day. I had a grinder burn up on me,then had another one grab and end up cutting into my leg.....pics dont do it justice at all,I guess that when the blade cut me is was so hot from cutting the metal that it kinda cauterized the cut because it didn't bleed a drop.I cleaned it out good and relized it was deeper than I had thought.
Anyway,I also got the passenger door all but finished before I ran out of wire.

 

[Sam_Fear]

The floor looks great (as far can tell from those tiny pics ) What's your bead roller? How about a few more pics to make up for the little one in the first posts?

A suicide front end probably the easiest way to get the front low. There are also a couple variations of front suspension designs using parallel leaf springs, but the suicide front axle is the classic hot rod front end.

 

[ripgut775]

Got the back section welded back in,I had to pie cut a little to get it all lined back up but I am really happy with the chop so far.

how much did you chop out the top? looks like mine i took out 5" out the back and almost 6" out the front.

good start bro and nice chop. i will be watching this thread[P

 

[itsmecord]

Sure,here ya go !

I guess in this day and age,everyone has high speed internet. So big pics should be ok.
My roller is a eastwood fab unit,its the cheepest I could get my hands on and is also a MUCH heavyer unit that the Harbor Freight one.

 

[itsmecord]

how much did you chop out the top? looks like mine i took out 5" out the back and almost 6" out the front.

good start bro and nice chop. i will be watching this thread[P

I took 4 inches out all around. Sorry about the late reply man I just now saw where you asked.

 

[itsmecord]

Today was not that great for the build. When I started out on the chop I spent some time working the dents out as best I could from the top.
Today I completely finished welding the top in,and I have to admit I am a little uneasy about the way it looks. It's caved in at the center,and if I jack the middle up then the front of the cab on either side of the center pop down.Pop those up and they oil can on me. So I need to spend some more dolly time I guess. I am frustrated because I had it braced up in the position It would be in once finished,then tacked,skip,tack,skip.......And while the weld was still hot I would hammer it flat'ish. Removed the temp' braces and it went to ****. Any helpful words would be GREAT !

 

[fuzz]

If it'll make you feel any better, it happens to me all the time. The welds shrink and sometimes all that hammering just doesn't seem to work as well for as it does for other guys. I have had to make relief cuts and weld some more, hammer some more and beat high spots down and spresd lots of bondo to make it look good. I'm sure you will get some better advice just hang in there and good luck..