High School 1935 Ford Pickup project

[shop teacher]

I am the auto shop teacher at Bloomington Kennedy High School. We recently acquired a 1935 Ford Pickup that we would like to build for the Back to 50's show at the Minnesota state fairgrounds.
It is in pretty good shape considering its age. It has a flat head v/8 that turns over! We will try to get it running next week. It needs all gauges and electrical system. The body is pretty solid and mostly complete. The frame looks good except for the rear spring mounts are rusted off.
What it needs is all glass & regulators are gone, grill & front fenders are mangled, gas tank is rusty, box has a rusty steel panel over wood(is this stock?), front floor is gone, seat gone, and left outer door handle missing. I think that the mechanical brakes should be replaced with a hydraulic system.
My first priority is to get it some tires so it is moveable and try to get the flattie running. The next step is to get a plan - what style - from restoration to rat rod? This will be all new to me , i know Chevys mostly, so I could use much help , parts, and advice. Thanks, Bill Johnson

[Cajun Kenny]

hey teacher welcome one thing you might want to do is lose the "rat rod" in your posts it will help disspell any future hardships you will definitley recieve..
have a good one and good luck with your kids and your "HOT ROD" build..

[MN Falcon]

Bill, I might be able to help you some. There is a lot of good info out there, and I can help direct you to other websites that deal more specifically with Ford trucks. I have a '46 1/2 ton that I have been tearing apart and finding parts for (my wife wanted this project -- so I am going to have to hide most of the add ons from her).

What is the wheel bolt circle on the '35 (the '46 was 5 on 5.5" circle -- this is the same that all 1/2 tons were until they started metric in the 90's)? As far as the bed goes the '46 also had sheet metal over wood -- so that is likely stock. Most people finish it with just wood though.

Check to make sure what flathead motor you have, over time they did get swapped out. I am pretty new to the flatheads also but have learned a lot over the last year. There are many people on the forum that are experts though, so if you ask anything specific you will get lots of good help here.

As for glass, I think Harmon glass had a lot of the patterns and could cut it for you (I think the '35 had all flat glass)

[alvisoroadsters]

yeah the 1935 had all flat glass. I've just started building a 1935 Ford Pickup incidentally.

check the number of head studs on the flathead/read the stamping on the head. the "8ba" was the largest/latest flathead produced before their demise.

as for a floor either fab one up, or bitchin products has a good one for a couple hundred. and i'd reccomend scraping the mechanical brakes, get a good set of '40-'48 drum brakes for a real clean traditional look.

good luck on that! make sure to post some pictures, id like to see it.

[TEACH]

Hey Bill..good to see ya here. For all this is the same school I do my chopper class at. The kids are real excited to do the old "hot rod" build.

[gbones32coupe]

Hey nice to meet ya I'm a teacher too auto body in bensalem high school PA. Welcome. can't wait to see your "Hot rod build" get some wheels on that thing this week. Get it in. Get it running. It may look like a big project but the best thing to do is start small projects and finish them don't get carried away with restoration yet. get it out there and have some fun with it. then take it back apart and restore it. Ill bet that flatty will run like a champ!

[shop teacher]

We had a guy cut us all the glass- any information on install for these trucks? Thanks, Bill

[JohnnyFast]

Welcome, Bill. Good luck with that project. I wish we had classes like yours when I was in high school (late 50's). Of course, that would have been like shining up a late 80's pickup today. :)