Projects The Scrappy '34 pickup

First off I hope this is in the right spot, when I think customs I think big body '40-'50's cars and this is far from that.

About me: I'm 27 an equipment operator and have been been around hot rods for all of my life thanks to my father. Now I finally have the funds to build a truck of my own with his help.

What I've got: I've got a '34 Ford pickup cab and doors with the hood and grill from a Ford 8n tractor. I have the chassis and as of right now most of the front end. Over plan is to chop and channel with a sliding ragtop roof possibly. I'm on the hunt for a motor but want to keep it a simple small block. No fenders but clean and relatively traditional.
Here's the pictures of where I'm at so far.

 

Did ya read the guidelines? No rat rods! Loose the tractor parts.

 

Well that settles that. Thanks for the head up.

 

Nice frame !

 

Good lord.........

 

No on the grille, there are tons of classier looking ones to pick from. The rest is good so far. They might move this to the main board just so you know, I keep reading how they're cracking down on keeping the HAMB orderly lately.

 

Oh and the frame horns will likely have to be trimmed off once theres full vehicle weight on the springs, the axle needs to move somewhere and they're right in its way.

 

Thanks Nick. The mods can move it where ever they see fit or remove it if it doesn't fit the criteria. It's not going to be a rat rod there will be no rust when it's finished. The hood is going to be cut to fit like the original hood did and the grill is just to catch looks. It's the only grill I've found that fit the picture in my head. We noticed that frame horn issue to and we're trying to figure out the options but cutting them was definitely discussed.

 

The tractor grille & hood is a huge turn off for me. The cloth top doesn't make any sense either. But do what you want with it. You're the one that as to live with it.

 

I think you have way too nice a build to mess it up with that tractor stuff. It works for you now because it's just a pile and it's giving you a visual reference; that's probably why you're liking it. It'll be worth the time, effort and money for you to find a good 34 shell to go up front.

If you can't find original steel and want to keep moving, s repop 32 shell should be easy to get a hold of and should look right. IIRC the trucks from 32 to 34 all had pretty similar shells to the 32. Someone will correct/clarify this I'm sure.

Speedway has a glass 33-34 truck shell that takes 32 inserts for about $250. I just found filled steel 32 shells on Newegg for $150 (no idea how that'd pan out though as far as quality).

 

I could probably live with the tractor grill if the build doesn't get confused and the tractor grill makes sense to the rest of the build. I hope that makes sense.

Anyway the truck is not done yet and things change in a build from time to time.

Welcome aboard, stay and help us learn about cars.

 

Yeah, I'm sorry man, the tractor front end isn't working. And with the amount of money & time it will take to look "decent" you could buy the right sheet metal & in the end I think you would be much happier. If you don't have the money for that now that's okay just do everything you can do now. There is plenty of work to keep one busy with a scratch build. Good luck, it looks like it will be a nice truck.

 

^That. And welcome, Scrappydoo!

It's always good to see young guys get the bug and get busy...before you go any further, read up on what we're about here. Pure unadulterated traditional rods & customs.

Up for the challenge? Take a look at builds in the Traditional Hot Rods section. Buy some books (Don Montgomery's are phenomenal and the Bishop book "How to Build a Traditional Hot Rod" is a huge help), talk to some old timers...educate yourself. There are also lots of really talented young guys building (or who have built) traditional hot rods in PA that would be a great resource as you move forward...seek those guys out (would be happy to provide a short list if you PM me).

Ryan has a good primer for what constitutes a traditional hot rod right here; pay attention to the "period correct" aspect. Look at the pics attached; study how the suspensions were built, what engines were used, styling features, wheel/tire combos, finishes, etc.. Cars in this section are virtual time capsules; they are built in historic styles using historic parts (many times) using historic techniques.

The main board (Hokey Ass Message Board) is the place for hot rods & customs approximating those outlined in the Traditional Hot Rods section, but with a less-strict adherence to period correctness...these cars are traditionally styled, but may have more modern transmissions, brakes, etc.

Building a traditional car isn't a paint by numbers proposition, but there is a basic template; history has provided that for us, so read/study up and enjoy!

 

I think I understand what your vision is a bit better now. I also shopped it to the best of my understanding of what you're describing. Once I saw how it ended up, it dawned on me that what you were going for is essentially a 34 cab with a 1940-41, 1 ton/commercial truck nose.

 

I appreciate all the feed back guys. Gwhite thank you for that explanation I now see where my build doesn't fit into the traditional aspect. The hood will not stay narrow like that, it's going to be lengthened and cut like a pie slice and my fathers friend who is a retired sheet metal worker is going to make the insert to tie it all together so that it looks like it belongs there. Here's some pictures of what I've got going in mind








My front will be much closer to that of the last two pictures because that's the exact grill and hood. And the rag top roof idea isn't much more than that.

 

hmmmm....interesting. @patmanta post and observations are right on....I kinda like it now. I know you're gonna get a lot of flak here on this one for sure. But of the 2 examples you posted, I think they both look well done and if you can capture some of those vibes, you'll have something. Hopefully they let this ride for a bit.

 

I had exactly the same reaction as Pat above; Ford heavy truck has same basic styling idea but looks like it might belong there.



"Unusual and interesting grill choice" seems a better reaction than "Hey, there's half of a tractor. What's that behind it?"

 

Ha ha. That tractor front end is funny.
If you use it then it will look like a tractor with a truck cab, not a truck with a tractor grille.

 

Even with those two seemingly well constructed examples, it still doesn't work for me. Maybe that's becaue I live in a rural state where tractors are tractors and hot rods are hot rods. Never the twain shall meet (except for maybe full on tractor pullers using V8 car engines). But again, if it makes you happy, spend your time and money as you see fit.

 

I like the white one. It maybe possible to do this but, the fitment of the pieces really needs to work or it will look bad. The other thing I noticed was that all three of your examples are open cars. I'm not sure if the same vibe is going to come across with a closed cab & a specific roof line.

 

I think some reworking and convex contouring to the front would go a long way.

 

Interesting you say that because I was thinking perhaps the opposite might be the case where rural guys are so used to tractors that they look 'normal' to them. To me, as a city person, all I see is a tractor.

On the other hand, I completely understand your point.

 

don't like it and the only people that will are the civilians...and all they will do is call it a rat rod...is that the look you're going for

 

OK, I'll ask the unasked question.....
What do you have against the looks of the orginal frontend sheetmetal?

 

Chances are a civilian wouldnt call it a traditional truck if it had the right hood and grill anyway so I dont really care what they call it.

This took longer to come up than I anticipated. I dont really have anything against the original sheet metal aside from wanting my project to be noticably different. Truthfully I didnt realize a tractor grill would ruffle so many feathers.


I appreciate the handful of constructive comments and thoughts/ideas, thanks guys.

 

We are easily ruffled! Good luck with your build. I love hot rod trucks!

 

32-34 pickups have such style and classy lines whether stock, chopped & or channeled they have appeal to the masses. I know you are the only one who needs pleasing, however, you really need to ask yourself, is it improving or enhancing the look of the car ? Is it better than the original ? For me its a NO, get a pickup grille/shell or a standard Deuce one that will actually compliment the car. There are tons of pickups that have been built here on the HAMB in the last few years, look at those and hopefully you will see the light.

 

X4

 

Welcome to the HAMB!!!

 

I'm a passionate defender of traditional "period-perfect" hot rods. IMO, nothing is finer nor more pure. Non traditional stuff (by in large) makes me cringe. We've got a young man here that seems eager to dive in and who seeks to take a slightly different approach...nothing wrong with that drive/desire. Perhaps offering a perspective might help...

Josh (Scrappydoo), I hope you take this as a word of friendly advice and not a lecture. The tractor stuff just doesn't flow very well, IMO. You've got one of the most iconic and beautiful designs in all of motordom in that cab, one that hot rodders have sought and have built for decades...and, while there may have been someone at some distant point in time that fit farm implement sheet metal to the front of his hot rod, it's not exactly something that caught on (so it's not really very traditional in the strictest sense). My opinion is that the clunky tractor stuff just doesn't do any of those cars justice. It's a bit of a visual obscenity - a little too 'in your face' in declaring a desire to be different; the kind of offensiveness that takes away from the overall message. That's why people are making the references to rat rods...they're designed and "built" with precisely that in mind...they want to offend and insult. I know from our PMs you want something better.

May I politely suggest checking out these 'dare to be different' (and more traditional) approaches;