So, deciding on whether i want to get back in the game. I want a toy I can use, and take on riding trips. so the idea of a hot rod flatbed came into mind, so we can load the old dirt toys in the back head up north and go play. while a standard cab from the 30s on would work, I would rather something with some inside space for all the required gear and coolers and other crap that go on camping / riding trips, and since my sheet metal fab skills aren't that great, and the idea of an extended cab wasn't thought of until the 50s, the idea of a 4 door car body on a long dually frame with a flatbed / stake body behind it came to mind. that's as concrete as i have right now. I think I would like the look of a pretty good rake, but not too low, so that it can be driven on dirt still so we can get to the good riding spots, and not trash rocker panels. So does anyone have any pictures like that of a 4 door flatbed either real or photochopped? I think it could be done to look nice, and be very functional. I'm open to any body, but one with a squared off back, more than likely a sedan from the 30s as i don't think it would look right any other way with a bed behind it, and I don't really want to have to do major surgery on anything to make it work. it might not be possible without chopping bodies, but I'm open to suggestions. any input / pictures would be great.
Sometimes you can find an old rail road truck, here in the mid west they used dodges in the '50s and '60s and they were all pretty much quad cabs. Just for an idea.
Well, right now there's some Notaford sedan bodies for sale, if you're still in Mass. And I think there's some 1-Ton+ truck chassis around too, there usually are. I'm a pretty good Craigslist raker, PM me if you want some leads. But if you've got a rake going on, wouldn't that make for some complications as far as toy hauling?
yeah still in mass unfortunately.. that's a story for another day.. I don't think the rake would make any difference, just hauling an old 3 wheeler, and a old quad. this is the idea i have. to me i think, just from an abstract sketch, it seems like its a 30s era body with 40s front fenders, tool box to tie in the lower part of the body, and hide the frame kick up. not looking to do anything till at least spring, and when i do, going to have the body trucked in from the southwest I think it's going to be a wash money-wise as the cost to ship is probably less then the cost to repair the rot on anything found around here... thankfully around here 2wd trucks are cheap.. when you find them..
and the more I think about this, it looks like a Chevy G van / ford E van cutaway chassis would be great for this, the frame is relatively flat, the front wheels are near the front end of the frame. and the back is flat so the rear axle could be moved wherever i needed it to be in back, looking at specs on the interweb the frame width is roughly 35" is that going to be too wide to plop an older body on? I always see everyone talking about using narrow width frames like the S-10 and such..
Any standard 30s sedan would work. They had no trunks anyway. Think something like a Model A Ford with a longer frame and flatbed on back. Remove rear fenders and fill in. The only problem would be width -- those bodies are awful narrow! Even a four door midsize truck frame would be way too wide. Getting into the 50s might be a better idea. Bodies are wider. Maybe a 50s Nash Statesman or Ambassador, with the rear cut off? Nash used the same body for their early 50s truck. It was made for export, but dealers could buy one for a service truck. Will take some fabbing for the rear of the "cab", but something like that would be more fitting for a modern truck frame. May still have to use a "mid size" like a Dakota rather than a full size truck frame.
Something like an A sedan on a long wheelbase AA or BB frame is what I keep coming back to. I might want to see what just mounting spares where the rear wheel wells looks like before I filled them. You also might want to look at COE builds with cabins on the back.
Would'nt want to cut up a nice one cuz they are pretty rare but the oldcr Suburbans sure have lots of room, though they are only a two door. Food for thought.
Just an opinion, but using an early 30's squareback sedan w/40's fenders doesn't work looks-wise. Don't know of any squareback late 30's sedans, but they might work w/the 40's fenders. A ~ '48 chev suburban would work, but would be kinda long w/a bed on the back. Friend has 2 that are (were) for sale (mn), pm if you're interested. Still, neat project. Marcus...
I would like something with IFS but honestly it doesn't have to have that, that being said some of the long 1-2ton trucks from the 40s-50s would probably work I think. what's the frame width on those?, then I could ditch the front fenders all together... but then again I might have issues with law enforcement as well. anyone know roughly how wide of a frame could fit under a 30s sedan?
and what about taking a 40s sedan and grafting a same year vintage truck cab back? I would rather not do that, as now I have to find two vehicles, anyone have any thoughts on that?
you're getting into the territory where you'll be looking for people's cast-offs and such. Unwanted sedans and pieces of cut up cabs. That stuff is around up here, but finding a matched set takes a little time. It took me 3 years to piece together the cowl, doors and back of an A sedan to make a Purple People Eater style cab, but I've got it all. It also depends on your budget.
couple ideas i had perusing the interweb.. first off most of the 30s coupes had quite a large backseat area, so even though they didn't have 4 doors, there's lots of room, as long as its not eaten up by a Zd frame. maybe start with that, and see what could be done to add a set of rear doors in the future, or make a 4 door cab out of a willys wagon. seems there's a lot of folks doing that for trucks. and when did the 1+ ton trucks with long wheelbases start getting wide frames? 60's 70's? I could definitely use a modern dually axle, but the wide track width would become a visual problem i think as the flatbed would have to be way wider than the body to cover the axle, or the axle would stick out..
You could do something in the visual department. Maybe a chevy art deco 1.5 ton truck with surbuban body and flat bed. Or an AD truck with a panel body and a ramp. Both can be run with modern drivetrain and wheels and old nody/frame. There is some nice truck on ebay, and the bif rigs cost between 1-2000. But a good pick up cost from 4000 and up. Or maybe a school bus?
maybe i could fit them in the back of this! thats gotta be the funniest / coolest burb ive seen in a while.. nah i would want something low, not really looking to build a tall rig...
I just saw an ad for a 34 ford model bb, 34 international, & a 52 military international 6x6 on Craigslist in Eastern CT. Might be a man worth calling. The BB or the International would work great or the 6x6 might strike your fancy.
So, I've decided that yeah, not going to get to this for a while. but thats good, gives me time to sketch, plot, daydream etc.. So in my internet surfing, heres what I've got. what I'm thinking is take two vehicles. right now a mid 30's chevy sounds right. basically what i think would work, would be grab a 4 door sedan, and a pickup. on the sedan cut after the c pillar, change the angle of the rear door from slightly canted forward to straight up, possibly using the pickup window surround, and graft the pickup rear panel to the sedan. which raises the question, are the roof lines of those two vehicles the same? they look close. I think I've settled on a chassis too. this ones a bit on the odd side, but bear with me. I was looking at an Isuzu NPR gas chassis and GM varieties, 1 ton to be specific. they have narrow flat frames, and come with a 5.7 or 6.0 power plant depending on the year. So I wouldn't have to piece together a mill for the build. plus they have a solid front axle, which could be modified for a more hotrod look. I do believe they are leaf fronts, so one could theoretically swap to coils and control arms, so the frame could be bobbed after the front axle for the right look. I would think it would need to be Z'd front and rear a bit to get the height right, but the frames are thick enough on those, so a simple C notch, might be enough. I'm not going for in the weeds, as I do intend to use this thing as a truck, I'm thinking like a 1/2 ton truck stance, or slightly lower. so far the first challenge of that combo, is swapping the steering box to a non cab forward unit, I'm sure theres something out there that will swap. but get there when we get there. I'm hoping to go on a vacation to the southwest next year, so while out there, I hope to scout out the right bodies to ship back. so I got some time to ponder this...
Several of the late 30s manufacturers had pickup versions of their cars. Made a cab back, front doors forward same as the sedans. Studebaker did the same with their last truck, based on the Lark. That would be the easiest to make a four door cab with. Nash had a late 40s truck (the last Nash truck) that was car based, but those are hard to find. With a 30s car it would be easy, just use a Model A sedan body on a long chassis and put a bed on back! Would be a bit narrow though. I'd think you could cut the back of a 50s truck cab off and with some creative body work weld it to a bobbed 50s car without too much trouble though. Flat window in back is easy to have cut to a custom size, a few pie cuts and maybe a little narrowing or widening would fit it up.
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