Hello guys and gals, im working on a 1940 chevy pickup. all i had to start with was a cab, doors and a busted windshield from another 40 in much worse shape. i figured id share the progress, someone might care...lol This is what it looked like when i got it home from the scrap metal yard it has lived in for the last 15-20 years, this is also my "garage" im trying to keep this REALLY cheap if possible. Im going to be using the motor from the orange and black nova in the background (425hp smallblock) and a free 3 speed transmission. I bought a winters style (not actually sure of brand) quick change rear with a few diff sets of gears a while back with plans to put them in the nova, but its always just been a temporary place to "keep" a bunch of performance parts till i got what i really wanted. I've got to say thanks to monzadood (fellow HAMBer that you may know) for helping me find some lost paperwork and goztrider for helping me locate a nice front axle for it (fellow HAMBer that you may know) so im going to be using a 38 ford axle up front, no drop, doing a spring behind setup.
my "gas" tank quick change, full spool, 6 sets of gears, extra set of hubs and ring and pinion I did alot of editing to this pic, not too worried about the quality of the edit, just the idea it portrays, this is what id like to do with my truck, something very close to this. I know not everyone will like it but as has been said on here many times, if they were all the same it wouldnt be interesting
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=108650&showall=1 A link to this controversial style of build. You may find something of use there.
Thanks Richard, i read the "bobber" thread, i can see both sides of it, if the lines and proportions arent right it will look like crap, ive thought about making fenders for it up front, something like a motorcycle fender, mounted to the spindle so it always fits the tire right, but i dont know what ill do as far as that goes until i get to that point, i just now got the front half of the frame cleaned up and ready to drop the motor in, i have a wooden mockup of the firewall of the cab mounted to the frame for when i set the engine in, gotta keep that distributor out of harms way...
looks like a nice project! I'm kind of partial towards this style truck even though looking at that bobber thread, looks like a lot of people hate them. I'm building a 42 chevy right now it looks very similar to your cab: good luck, keep up with the progress pictures!
Just so ya know when it comes time to ID it for Registration, That's a '41-'46 cab, not a '40. The '39-'40 was the same sheetmetal but the firewall was flatter, didn't have that 2" "bump out" and had two verticle ribs on each side instead of the "X"s.
Looks real similar to the one I just got done whacking on!! Need any suggestions feel free to shoot me a pm.. I know a lot of members on here think these trucks dont look that great... As you can tell by reading that bobber thread... But if you can get the porportions right they can be pretty cool little rigs, Personally I just like the fact they can still be used as trucks!!
Thanks for the info DrJ, im going to have to remember that i , uh had to use the firewall from a later truck, yeah thats it officer, mine was too badly damaged..... lowriding 'lane im assuming youve channeled yours, how much? like the chop too, mine will get that either this winter or late next spring LUCIFR i will definetly be messaging you in a little while about that chop, you got me wondering about that top cut, hopefully thats the only one necessary heres what i got done today and a shot of what ive got done to the cab so far
its blurry but it gets the idea across. the 85 toyota frame aint looking to bad, going to have to cut out that crossmember and completely re-do it, thought i might be able to save it, but its all going too...
yup i channelled it 5 inches, and it's on a z'd 68 chevy frame so i had to channel it that much to cover up the bottom of the frame. For chopping the top, i cut mine right in the center of the roof like lucifr, so that i didn't have to lean back the windshield. but when I lowered the roof, the top windshield posts were about 1/2" too far out on each side to line up with the lower windshield posts, so i put a cut in each side to pull in the top windshield posts to match. Also, in the back, the lower part of the cab has a wider curve to it than the top part when it's lowered down, so i had to make a bunch of relief cuts in the corner and bend them in to match the curves, then when i weld it up all solid i'm going to heat and shrink the metal so it smooths out. I also cut a section under the rear window so i could keep the whole window after the chop (take a look at the picture, maybe it'll be clear) Hopefully that helps you start figuring on the chop! good luck, let me know if you have any questions
lowriding 'lane, im probably going with the "mail slot" rear window on mine, im going to build the bed up tall enough to be even with the bottom of the rear window, i think it will help with the "lines" and proportions of the truck. The back of my cab is pretty rough where the beltline is, im thinking of just putting a flat patch in place of the beltline since it will be hidden by the bed. im hoping to have the engine mounts welded in mid next week, im not too good with the welder so i got to wait on my buddy who is in my opinion a master fabricator to come help with that part, i make the parts he welds them up for me. figured id show a pic of where i found it and what it looked like
i forgot to add that in the background up and to the left, hidden behind the trees on top of an old van is 2 5 window chevy cabs, a bed and a chassis too, this yard has a couple other old chevy cabs and a few fords too, and an old dodge truck, power ram or power wagon, its the flat paneled one that looks like a kaiser jeep, has a couple of mid 40's chevy cars, a back half of some 5 window coupe, most of a model T cab sitting inside a model A, some other random 25-30 cars\trucks in various forms of dissaray......
sinister13, what engine/trans combo are you running? 'lane, are those current pics of your truck? have you got a floor in it yet? much room to sit? im a big boy and need some space, but its looking like the tailshaft\driveshaft is going to cause that part of the floor to crowd me a bit.....
Being An Old Lead Slinger From Days Past, Your Truck In My Opinion Is Very Cool. What We Think, We Can Create. Keep Those Thoughts Coming.good Job On Your Project. Lost And Found In Las Vegas.......roy Delaney
sinister13, what engine/trans combo are you running? I am running a 350, man. 3 spd., 60 impala rear end, 46 ford front end, f-1 brakes, f-1 steering box, ansen style pedal assy., stock seat for now and more room than my buddies chopped and channeled coupe. the 116" wheel base and rear air bags makes for real nice ride.
hey sinister, i see your running the 3sp manual, im going to be doing the same, are you using a newer 60+ saginaw? or something closer to period? reason im asking is i put a saginaw 4sp in the nova that the motor came out of, i ripped the counter shaft in half while in gear at about 5000rpm, wondering how much more the 3 spd will take, i hear they are stronger, is your 350 built up? or mild, or stock? thanks for the info Roy, i appreciate the compliment, im trying like hell to get this thing rolling before the summer is up, but with no garage and little help its creeping along....
LOVE THE TRUCK I'D MAKE THE BED ABOUT 1 FOOT LONGER,WHERE DO YOU LIVE IN VIRGINIA?i'M NEW TO THE BOARD ALSO AND A VIRGINIA BOY (CHARLOTTESVILLE)BUILDING A 38 DODGE TRUCK 3 INCH CHOP WITH A 4 INCH TAPERED CHANNEL
those pictures are from a few weeks ago, i did work a little on the floor and the inside since then. I've got the pedals mounted now and even with the chop and channel i've got plenty of room to sit. I'm going to be making a seat that's only around 4 inches high, and sitting on that (on a block to put me at the right height) i have a load of headroom still. I'm 5'10 so i'm not huge, but it seems like it'd still be comfortable for even a taller guy, and there's a ton of legroom still.
Frosty21, mine is just the cab, if it was a whole truck id probably go a different way with it, but since its just a cab i figure this is better than rotting in that scrap metal yard
Oh yeah..haha. The '46 was like a partial restoration/in progress. It was stripped down to the cab and chassis already, it sparked my intrest, but man is it solid...I'd feel bad about hacking on it. I'm doing something similair to what your planning with an '37 Chevy cab I saved from the crusher and an F-100 frame.
Anti- I think my tranny is later, reason being is because you can down shift into first and with my 60 wagon, you really only want to put it into first when almost stopped. the later ones ive been told were syncronized(sp) so...? and my motor is stock.
in a previous post i said that "I cant weld too good" well what i should have said was I had a friend try to show me how to arc weld about 8 years ago, didnt turn out too hot, but my buddy let me borrow his gasless mig and i didnt do too horrid for basically never having welded, i didnt have a wire brush handy or i would have cleaned them up a bit, but heres a pic of a motor mount im working on, the welds on the pipe through the center dont look too great but im fairly proud of the end cap....
in this one you can see the frame after i cut almost all the stuff off of it, i still have to take care of that crossmember, but am waiting till i have the engine mounts in place, then im going to build a new one, something simple that looks alot better
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