Hot Rods Bought my first pre war

1936 Chevy pickup. I want to lower it a little keeping it somewhat period correct and stock looking with the same wheels and tires.

What would it take, drop front axle and flip the rear?
Thanks, very excited for my first pre war vehicle.

 

I like it, that looks to be a real solid nice truck. I've had a 36 for 40 years, what ever you do,,,,,don't put a Mu____ng II type front suspension on it. Upgrade the steering box run 49 up spindles and brakes and get the axle dropped . Believe me, don't make the mistake I made. Mitch

 

Those are some great looking trucks.

 

Nice, will be a fun one. A guy I know built a 37 Chev. Almost 30 years later his son is using if for his daily driver.
His is a 350/350 but very period correct appearing with deep blue base/clear he painted. Have fun!

 

Congrats. Looks great.

 

Hey, we got us a rat invasion. 2 new members @RiverRats and @DesertRat#1 both building trucks. Welcome aboard rats!

 

Won't take much to make it a Sharp ride! Hook up with Mitch, I'm sure he can take some of the guess work out of it for you. Mitch, Great looking truck! Share more, both of you and Welcome.

 

You should try to buff out the paint, if it is as good in real life as it looks in the picture. It may surprise you how good it comes out.

 

36 Chevy trucks are the bomb!! I would clean it up and drive the hell out of it. That is a clean truck!

 

Thanks for all the kind words guys.
Plan is to lightly buff the paint (it’s all original) and lower it a little.

What would be the best way to lower it?

 

Hey KJSR, great stance on yours. A arm front end? Stock frame?

 

Thanks Mitch 36, love your truck too. How is the back lowered?

 

MII front suspension, stock frame otherwise.

 

I removed the bulky spring hangers and fabbed up a set that mounted the spring eyes closer to the frame and removed a whole mess of leafs from the spring packs. I had new main leafs made and replaced all the bushings etc. The truck has a 10 bolt rear from a 69 Nova mounted at the proper pinion angle with out lowering blocks. I'd say I dropped the rear about a good 5 inches. The front is modified Fat Man independent kit with stock spindles, tubular Heidts control arms and heidts springs, I used the dinky 10" rotors with 4 3/4" bolt pattern, gonna change the brakes sooner or later, too small. If you're looking to drop the front, get a hold of SID at Nostalgia Sids, he has what you need for a drop axle. Mitch.

 

Rat, how's the cab wood ??? I've replaced mine TWICE, first time was early 80s ,set was made shitty and needed ALOT of work just to get to fit so so,, so about 10 years ago I found a guy in I think the Carolinas and got a REAL WELL MADE kit. Had the door pillars, dash cross piece and the cowl blocks. It all fit without any rework. Wasnt cheap but well worth the cost. I'll look thru my notes and see if I can find his info in case you need it. Mitch

 

Wow great looking truck! Like someone else said Nostalgia Sids can drop your front axle, that's the plan for my 36.
That paint should come back really nice, I did a quick polish on the og paint on my 36, which is a lot worse for wear the your truck and it came out decent.

Sent from my SM-G950W using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

DAMNnnnn, 66, that's a nice cab. Where do you guys find these nice trucks??? Mine was in a field , all apart with no engine/ trans. Course it only cost me 125, an old lawn mower and a trashed SBC short block, but that was 40 years ago.....oh hey Rat, I bought my wood kit from KC WOOD MANUFACTURING in Virginia, in case you need it. Mitch.

 

Looks like a nice nice solid pickup, I like the idea of keeping it stock looking.HRP

 

@RiverRats looking forward to pictures of the truck polished up a bit. I just bought a 41 ford truck that needs everything so it is a new favorite past time of mine to watch other guys put their trucks together.

 

Here's a guy who can drop your stock axle. Ran across his site a few years ago and saved it.
https://droppedaxles.com/chevy-dropped-axles-0

 

Can the main leaf in each pack in the front have the eyes reversed, like how an early Ford spring is often done? I'm not sure why it wouldn't work, might be a lot cheaper and easier than having an axle dropped. Also, I heard that 49-54 Chevy passenger car spindles can be used on some early truck axles, they have IFS but it's still a kingpin setup so maybe that's an option, I think the 53-54 uprights relocate the spindle higher which would effectively lower the truck. Not sure if the 6 lug hubs would fit anymore though which could be an issue in reusing your original wheels.

I really like Mitch 36's idea of replacing the spring hangers in the rear with something that will bring the spring packs closer to the frame, that and a couple removed leaves (leafs?) would work out well in the rear. Just brainstorming. Truck looks pretty nicely preserved, I'd like to see it very carefully polished and detailed, I bet it'd clean up real nice.

 

To use the 49-54 spindles on that 36 axle you would have to ream the king pin bosses out to the proper size. I wanna say that the 36 is .734 ( my memory says that its smaller than that and GM increased the size in 37 but im probably thinnin of something else) and the 49-54 chevy is .863. I know on my 36 I originally ran 69 Chevy van spindles and drum brakes and had to ream the axle out to something like .8125. Its not really a big deal, just find a machine shop that can be trusted with the job, its been my understanding that that axle has enough beef to allow the size increase, otherwise you can use a truck axle up to 54, same spring spacing, king pin width etc. The spindle change will get you a 5x4 3/4" bolt pattern . NOW you would have to swap rear ends, probably get one from a 55-57 Chevy car , they work out good but then you have an open driveline which opens another can of worms. Time to upgrade the engine and trans,,,,,,RAT, it never ends when building a hot rod NEVER !!!!! I would upgrade the steering box also, the 36 box is a weak link, step up to a box from the 40s or early 50s Chevy truck, its not a dirrect fit but it can be done. Good luck, Mitch.

 

OOOPs just looked , the 47-54 truck axle has .866 king pins but the spring pad spacing and king pin distance is the same as 36 so if you got the drop axle from that year span the 49-54 spindles should go right on. Mitch.

 

Good looking Chevy truck! Congrats!

 

Thanks so much for all the info so far everyone.

The wood is in great shape. I am going to do the steering box upgrade, thanks for the tip. Is there a thread on that?

I want to run the stock wheels but upgrade the brakes if possible too, can anything be done there?

 

Pic of the other side and one of how I found it.

 

Keep her as is shes nice man

willys lover

 

Jesus, that IS a NICE find. You know 36s have juice brakes and I would say that all rebuild stuff is available . Just get a drop axle from Nostalgia Sid, pull some leafs and drive her while you look for other parts for updates. I would look for a good steering box for a 37- 54, there a better design than the wimpy 36 unit. Are any of the parts around the truck in that one picture available? My friends doing a 38 and needs some stuff. Damn that's a nice truck. You must have a horse shoe up your ass!!! Mitch.

 

View attachment 4097736 Nice truck. As far as upgrades you can likely find a kit to install disc brakes up front. The rest I’m not familiar with as I installed Fatnan M11 to my truck and used lowering blocks on rear as well as removing a few leafs and shortening shackles and I would do it again
Kit also fits ‘41 IHC

 

Again thanks to everyone for the advice, I may not respond to every post but I read and research everything posted.

Here’s some more pics of the guys place where I bought the truck, he doesn’t normally sell stuff I was lucky to even see his collocation and even luckier to be able to buy from him. This is maybe a 1/4 of what he has, there was 2 other buildings I didn't get any pics of. I bought the ‘36 school bus too, I have to go pick it up still.