Fuel...it's cool to have the kids rallying around the truck like that and it's always good to have the cops on your side just be careful that you don't wake up one morning and look like the auto shop teacher in Grease...might not go over too well in Texas...by the way I will get ya those measurements today and pm you...when I pass through Texas in the spring I wan't to make a detour and check this one out in person
First time seeing this post! Takes me back to when Hot Rodding was experimental and Hot Rodders didn't have to worry about doing things the APPROVED way...they just tried it THEIR way. You don't see cantilever suspension on stuff...or Brass draglinks...or pipes in that configuration! You definately DON'T see chain doorhinges...especially ones that don't look ratty! Don't you know you can't do stuff that way!?!? No? GOOD. Now...get back to work...your a natural and I want to see what you come up with next!
Thanks for the complimnents, guys! Bill, your comments made my day. The last two pics are not as recent. The pipes look better on the truck than in the last two pics. I gotta weld up the keg in the next couple of days and I need to take a pic of the bed. After labor day, I should have some more photos...
We drove our baby in the parking lot the other night. Man, was it cool. We've got problems with Reverse and 1st slipping out of gear. Especially, first. First will just pop out very forcefully. Won't hardly stay in at all. Gotta take it all apart and check that out. Rattle canned the belt line around the truck. Also rattle canned the hinges. Don't worry, I'll weld those up or build some new ones out of stainless before I take her on the road. Welded up the filler neck on the keg. I am definitely out of practice on my tig welds. Looks like shit. Oh well, the cap is a hupcab off an old Dodge Brothers car or truck. We had to modify it to make it work. It was in bad shape. LONG STORY. The bed has a 2x6 tubing subframe that fits very tightly over the chassis. I bet there isn't a 1/64" of clearance. It fits perfect. The bed frame is 2x2 angle iron. The bed slats themselves are a one piece panel called FiberGrate. This particular type of pultruded fiberglass panel is called AquaPanel or AquaGrit. It was originally grey and I just rattlecanned it, too. Oh yeah, I'm not finished with the bed and an angle piece will be added to it to allow you to slide stuff on the bed easier. I also have to put some eyes for my towing straps.
LOL. KC lights are JUST what I need. Me and a couple of my students worked all through the night wiring it and building stuff. I finished the grill (or finished it for now. I still need to bend my sheetmetal for it) at about 5:30 AM. We then trailer it to a car show about 1.5 hrs away. We don't have tags yet, so don't get carried away about trailer queen crap. We parked a few miles away and drove some back streets into car show. We immediately got a lot of attention. It's LOUD. LOL. Anyway, we got a lot of compliments and me and the boys were pretty proud. We had a lot of old guys that said it was the best sounding 6 they ever heard and lot of questions on how we did stuff. It was a blast. They didn't know what division to put us in, so we were put in the rat rod division and won. I heard there was a debate on whether or not it should be in the division because ours was safe and good quality. LOL. My students looked like a couple of bantam roosters strutting around. LOL. BTW, it handles fine. I took it up to 80 (or so the speedo says. It felt more like 60) and there was no speed wobble, bump steer or nothing. Granted, it didn't handle like a 'vette, but it wasn't bad. I've been in much worse and a heck of a lot newer. Go figure... My kids all love it and alot of them want to help out. This hot rod (rat rod, whatever you want to call it) has been a good thing. It has helped bring us all together as a group. It has also gotten us a lot of attention and I have had several kids that are not our majors tell me that they want to take some of my classes just to learn the basic metalworking skills. It's been a blast. I'll post more pics as I can.
cool...you guys have accomplished alot in the last couple of months..cool truck...killer hinges...nice flatbed...that six looks awesome in there...post up a video of it running and driving when ya get the chance
Whatta great story! ...and just more proof that killing off of so many "vocational" programs in high schools is such a bad idea!
BTW, we changed out the 3 speed tranny for another 3 speed tranny out of a '68 camaro. We also had to shortened the drive shaft (which came out of a '90 Astro van). Does anybody know what that brake light came off of? It is HEAVY. Solid cast steel. I bet it weighs 10 lbs. at least. Also, those rear side lights have a brass ring around them and are labeled as E&J. Does anybody know what they came off of? All of the lights have glass lenses BTW. OT, but, I believe the loss of vocational programs in our schools is a HUGE problem that is already coming back to bite American productivity in the butt. Vocational school programs kept ALOT of my friends in high school from dropping out. All of those guys have gone on to do pretty good, but what if??? I'm really lucky to be teaching at a really great program at a great little university. My kids are awesome and very hardworking. I am blessed. We have a great demand for our students by industry and everyone that graduates can get a job if they want it, usu. in the $45-$55K range. Our grads are in demand because they aren't afraid to get their hands dirty if need be. I am very lucky.
Amen on the vocational programs...here in Ramona we have a nationally recognized automotive program that places alot of kids right out of high school into good paying jobs...recruiters are waiting for them...those that don't get placed usually have chosen to continue on to colleges/technical institutes...not everybody wants to be a cpa...congrats to you and your students
The truck looks really good! First class workmanship on everything, even those "super trick" narrowed wheels. I'm with you 100% on the loss of our vocational programs. The programs allow people to develop skills that they can use for the rest of their life. You can preach the theory in the classroom, but without the hands on experience to back it up, it's almost useless. I was fortunate to grow up in my father's fabrication shop and it has paid off for me.
Thanks, LITB. Coming fom you, that is an honor. Unfortunately, we decided not to go with the narrowed wheels (Thanks again, BTW). They just didn't look right on this truck and lowered the frontend even more (which is not a good thing). Thanks again for the tranny. It works like a charm. I'm gonna give the old one to hunter. For all of you that don't know, when I have a question or don't know how to do something, LeaveItToBeaver is one of two people I ask (our friend, Paul is the other). For those of you that have commented on the workmanship, you ought to see what him and his dad are capable of. Unbelievable. We've drove the truck around town some. We have about 40 miles on the odometer now with no problems. I've drove some of those crap roads around campus without a hitch and even went over some speed bumps without a scrape. That was a surprise. LOL.
Some more updates. Me and a couple of students worked on the truck until 7 am Saturday morning so that everything would be okay for the parade on Saturday. The parade was a blast. I never really cared for parades but this was really fun. We all had a good time. We installed the windshield wipers, installed the recored radiator, built a few odd and end parts, and also modified some trailer fenders from TSC. The fenders were square on the ends and we radiused them so that they would have a nice curve to it. We also built some brackets to attach them to the axle so that will move with the rear suspension.
Ken don't forget Ramona High is participating in the Speed reality show...DRAG RACE HIGH. FUEL those hinges look totally bitchen. Nice work with the kids. My shop teacher was a hoot. Glad to hear there are others out there teaching these young kids the craft. Just what i am looking for on my 37 build. I will be PM ing you.
Thanks for the comments. I'm going to order some stainless roller chain in the next couple of months. I have to wait until I have more $ in my account. LOL. It ain't cheap. I'll probably build them during the Christmas break. One of the classes I teach is Manufacturing Systems and I think we will use the hinges as our product. I have to teach them Quality Control, Time and Motion Studies, Jig and Fixture Design, etc. With an actual product, I hope to sell these and use the proceeds for scholarships and/or lab equipment. As long as I can get my initial investment out, I'm good. I think they will learn about marketing, design, teamwork, and a whole slew of other things. It'll be a great experience for them, I'm sure. Here are a few other pics I forgot to include in my last post as well.
Nice man! Your doing a really cool thing. I graduated last year and none of my high schools had any kind of shop, automotive tech etc... classes at all. I went to a huge 5A school for 3 of my 4 years and even that didn't have any. I wish I had gone to your school. Who funds the build?
Tumbler, I teach at a small university in the Engineering Technology department. I fund the build myself. I have alot of my own personal tools here and will probably be lending some of my personal machine tools to the department. We are using the truck to help in our recruitment efforts as well as a learning tool in my industrial design, drafting, metals, and manufacturing systems classes. When I tie the theories we discuss in our class back to the truck, it makes a world of difference. I have gotten some kids to switch majors because of this thing. Incredible. How many other things can you think of where students are spending their free time working on something for hours on end? We have a blast and they learn some invaluable skills, both from a design and a fabrication/machining aspect. If you, or anyone else, is interested in our program, let me know. It is a great program and the pay when you graduate is good.
Sorry, I haven't updated but we haven't been able to work on the truck in a while. I am taking some classes working on my doctorate and I teach an overload to boot. I have been swamped and have had some health problems, as well. Oh well, enough whining. Me and a couple of my kids chopped the top on the truck. It was actully a lot easier than I thought it would be. We were all chop topping virgins when this started. There are some things I would do different, but that is the way it goes. I'll post some more pics later when I have access to a comp that has better than dial up access. BTW, that was 4".
Hey man the truck is freaking awesome! lol the chop is amazing. Here is a video of it running for those of you that are interested..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnmRc4TTimA and some recent pics!
hey egger just so everybody knows i was eggers studentfor a while and he is awsome in the shop and as a teacher good luck with the truck man
Here are a few updated pics. We made some friction shocks, some stake pockets, some stake bed rails, machined a fine little brass shifter knob, and finished the floorboard and pedals. I don't have but just a few pics because my camera phone doesn't work anymore.
The Jalopy Journal
