This project started when I went hunting for Model A parts at a guys place in Southern Alberta. I asked him if he had any other junk and he said he had a 1936 Ford pickup cab but it was toast and at the bottom of a deep coulee. It had a ton of bullet holes, was missing a door, but the price was right. It needed a haircut for sure I cut out about 8”. Dont feel bad at all... I wanted a speedster / bonneville style look so I laid the posts back. Really need a bigger shop. For some reason I figured I would braze the new metal in but kinda regretting that. Had never done it before so I figured I would give it a shot. Its gonna get painted eventually. New patch welded in after doing some wheeling. Some new driprail made. Not the easiest to do and should have made some dies for my nibbler Picked up a 36 ish frame from a buddy. The rear rails were rotted from the x-member but I wanted to have it low so they would get cut out anyway. Digging the look so far.
After cutting the rear frame rails off and putting in a 32 style front crossmember, I pinched the front frame rails and swept them up. Threw the cab back on and put a 63 buick nailhead in. Then I started to make the hood. I bent up some rod as a buck and used a paper patter to get the general layout of my steel. After cutting it out, I ran it through my english wheel with a rubber band to get some shape. Then I took the band off to get it to follow the contour of the cab. The grille is for a 38 plymouth that I had laying around after I sold a coupe that I had. After getting the shape, I threw a bead in it to follow the lines of the body. With a little bit of extra shape in the panel, I made a flexible shape pattern to make the other side. Not much shape to it but the pattern helped. With the other side done, I mocked it up with clecos. Will make a hinge for it and louvre it at some point. Starting to get the bonneville look.
Spent some time on the roof. Counted 86 bullet holes in total that were all the way through. A lot of dents from birdshot that will take a long time to fix too. Slow and steady Had to finally put some lights up. Couldnt see anything so I bought some led tubes. Easy to install and plug right in. Brighter than the sun now. Bought some new tires and threw them on wide 5s. Had the local welder cut me some rear frame rails I designed and then welded them up. Added them onto th rear of the frame and got all squared up. I picked up one of those jd2 model 32 benders and bent up some 1.5” tubing for crossmembers.
So this is the current look. Really digging it. Picked up a So Cal dropped axle. Said it was supposed to fit stock spindles...but its gonna take some massaging to work.
Me Like,... that grille really suits it. And I thought that I had the only workshop that has the "hidden floor" look.
Cool project and good vision.. I like 'bobber" trucks and I'd say yours is going to be pretty cool...
What a beauty! And that Plymouth grill has a perfect look. Keep the pics coming. This is exciting..................... Any design plans yet for the bed?
The Plymouth grill has a good look on there. That's a heavy chop, have you checked interior room? I am guessing the 63 Nailhead is a 401? What trans do you plan to run, the 63 was one year prior to the ST400, so it would have been coupled with a dynaslow originally. Nice work salvaging the cab and making into a vehicle.
Thanks. Bed lenght will be determined here soon. I have some scrap 47-53 chev bedsides that I will cut down for mockup to get a view of the proportions. Too much snow to roll it outside again for a good view. Not going to have a bobber sized bed, it will be longer to somewhat match the lenght of the hood and cab. Should end about 8-10” behind the rear wheels (56” long maybe)
The seat will probably be about 6” off of the ground max. Still enough room for me. The motor is a 401. I put a 64 st400 behind it. Its not the switch pitch though, so when I find one of those, it will replace mine.
The chop is pretty much done, so I figured I would do some lead work on the roof patch I made. Had too much heat going when I brazed it which gave me a bad looking weld and some shrinkage.
Truck looks great! I ended up with a five foot bed on my 1938 truck. I wanted to make sure the distance between the front of the rear tire to the cab was smaller than the distance from the back of the rear tire to the end of the bed on mine. Here’s a pic. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Matt & Dan E: Nice proportion talk here! TOO many R--rod sawed-offs running around now, good to see some HOT ROD TRUCKS! 1954: There was an older guy in Santa Clara with a little chopped '36 pickup, no fenders, bed about 5 ft. long. Very proportioned, had a shiny flatty with 3 juggers, Hellings bonnets. And big & little whitewalls, and 'Full Moon' hub caps. Truck was white, and wheels red...just the outer stripe of wheel rim red, between the WWW and the chrome Moon 'wheel covers'. All my buds (12 year olds) and humble self flipped out when we'd see it...Imagine! a truck as a real Hot Rod!
My friend has a switch pitch that he wants gone i beleove its rebuilt too but hes in Los Angeles Sent from my SM-G930V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Havent been on here for a bit but there is some progress Got the rear suspension tacked in. Its just an ebay style kit and some coilovers. Threw a little bend in the panhard bar just incase I want to get the truck super low in the future. I had to buy back this 1938 plymouth grille surround that I had got rid of prior to this project. Once the hood gets trimmed into a channel in the grille surround, it should look killer. The lower facia part might stay....if it does then a belly pan will be in order. Got a donor bedside thrown on for dimensions. I plan on making my own bedsides. Im pretty happy with the look. Not too bobbed.
Your truck is really coming together. It looks well proportioned and I really like the grill surround. Carry on! I am looking forward to seeing more progress.
Looks Kool! I thought brazing with Brass was a no-no. I know it was done years ago but not much anymore. I have two friends that are fabricators and they both cuss like sailors when they see brass.
I'm a fan of building a truck to be a truck - must have a useable bed! We took 9" out of this '35 bed (truck is a 40), still able to haul stuff like engine blocks etc.
Not sure. I had some laying around, so I used it. If you heat it up too much then its not healthy. Wont be using it on this project anymore anyway
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