Projects Little hot rod truck

Haha ya I know, that’s been my username for way longer than the negativity towards it... Hell it’s probably been my username longer than most people who care have even been members of the site haha I thought about changing it but it’s just been my username forever so it is what it is


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Don't worry, I won't "rat" you out!

 

I Think your username predates the popular use or the term by a bit.
The guy who ran the local Shell Station in the middle of town for a number of years had a chopped and channeled 36 Ford pickup with a shortened box that I always liked and I think I have the grill shell off hanging in the shed. That caused me to like them and I was looking around the place the other day figuuring what parts I had laying around to build a bobber truck like that.

 

Looking good, build it to your liking, heard all the same crap when I started my '41.....and don't let em tell you ...you can't drive it with your arm resting out the window.....

 

I rtecall a cool little 'rod pickup' in Santa Clara, around 1953. It was a '35-36 Ford pickup, no fenders, shortened bed (around 4 feet, or less) and the cab had a flat windshield.
Exhaust 'stacks' ran up the back of the cab, and the engine was a flathead, 3 carburetors. I was watching the linkage work all 3 from the curb...I was 11, and learning fast.
Never forgot that cool little 'truck', it hung out at Sim Clark's station 5 blocks North, on my street, Lincoln St.
Sim Clark had a 'stable' of Midget race cars, all V8 60s. This truck was always around, think it belonged to his mechanic, Jerry.

 

Well.... I see that you have been here since 2004, so like myself and a lot of others that have been here for 19 years, there were a lot of fenderless trucks on here back in the 2000's and they were very popular. I even built a Model A fenderless truck in 1997.
Glad to see you doing what you love and like, stick to your guns!

 

Nothing wrong with a fenderless hot rod pickup. I'm building a fenderless model A pickup, not as low as your 40, but still cool in my opinion.

 

Ya know with a half decent rattle can paint job and some early style aluminum wheels nobody but a total Jerk with think this is a rat.
Looks like you have the proportions nailed.

 

Nice work there !

 

I like the looks of the project. Not to 'nitpick', I LOVE Pontiac engines myself, and in my last build really wanted to use a 400 CID Pontiac.
BUT, in the coupe I had there was not a simple way to get the steering, exhaust, and starter all in that area. I had 2 of the 3 mocked up and ended up going with a sbc (sorry) the Pontiac starter was a deal killer for me.
Just hope to bring this to your attention

 

I am determined to make it work. I haven’t decided what I’m going to do for steering yet, i need to start looking into that once I get the floor built and cab mounted. The exhaust will be last, I have a vision in my head of what I want, but if it gets to cramped I have a backup idea haha thank you for the heads up though, I always appreciate input from people that have been down this road before


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Why not split the difference, and build a Clutch Flight?

 

The way you started the thread talking about only 10% getting the look right, then the initial mock up and I was looking at the cab location on the frame and thinking “Oh no, he’s going to get it wrong! That rear axle needs th be moved back or the cab needs to move forward or something.” Next post you were moving the axle back. Nice job! Looking forward to more on this one.

 

keep doing your thing...we build what appeals to US not anyone else....your passion and image in your head keeps the build fueled....get er done and enjoy the build latest build, "the blue rat"

 

That truck is do you have a build on here for it? I’d love to check it out


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if you are going to chop it, I recommend about 2 inches and cut it under the rear window. That will move the rear window even with the door windows, keeps it from looking bald headed on top and you can separate the front posts, cut and slide them back together.

 

yes the build is here from the day I brought the cab home..click on my profile page and the albums if the link here doesn't work
chopped mine 3 3/4 inches and channeled it 4in...be careful.. I am only 5"8" and it gets tight, especially with the steering wheel. I should have used a bomber seat instead of the narrowed S-10 I choose. Guy I know builds bombers and I sat in his 36 and was amazed at the difference...let me know if I can help with any questions you might have
good job so far

 

I hope you fit in yours better then I fit in mine! I'm 6'1" and 270 lbs. My 39 Dodge (39-47) has the stock location for the floor pan and the roof is not chopped, but the firewall has a 3" setback to clear the Dodge 360. I have a bucket seat sat back against the cab, under the rear window ledge. Getting in and out is a bit difficult for this fat old man, but once in, its not bad. The biggest problem I have is I can't seem to get a good angle on the gas pedal. I'm on gas pedal #3 and have moved it a few times, just can't get it to a place its comfortable to drive the truck more than a couple hours. Gene

 

I like the proportions too. When I built mine I channeled it quite a bit and also chopped it about 4”. I’m 6’ and 220 , while it’s a tad bit cramped, my wife and I have put many, many thousands of miles on this truck over the last 15 years. my wife drove it quite a bit too while I drove my ‘40 coupe. I recently sold it to my wife’s best friend and she is now driving the wheels off it. The only advice I would give is As follows: build it to YOUR liking and if you do chop it, either lay the “A” pillars back to shorten the top after the chop or make the cut across the roof near the front or rear of the roof instead of cutting across the middle o the crown then having to deal with adding material through the middle of where the roof skin is crowned. That was my first chop ever I learned that lesson the hard way. Luckily I had a donor roof skin to use to fix that mistake. This is my old Cometkazi truck. It’s been one of the fastest, funnest hot rods I’ve ever had. It handles like a go kart too. I’ve even auto crossed it! I had a blast and did very well with it.

 

Proportions on this are also really nice!

 

I like what you're doing!! Fenderless trucks can look nice!!! Here is my '35 Chevy.

 

Well done. I don't generally like the "Rudy styled " trucks, but yours looks nicely detailed.

 

Progress has been very slow... between getting the house ready for winter and dealing with California’s wonderful power outages I haven’t gotten much done in the last few weeks. I did get some goodies for the truck though.

I picked up the motor/tranny that I will be using. It’s a 1955 Pontiac 287 with the stock hydromatic tranny. It was freshened up with new bearings and seals less that 1000 miles ago then pulled out and replaced with a 347.

I also got an old polished Edelbrock 6x2 intake, NOS Schiefer flywheel (for later) and a old polished fuel cell for the truck.



Hopefully later on this week my power will stay on and I’ll be able to start cutting the metal and building the new rear frame and maybe even the subfloor in the cab.


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I kinda like a well done "Rudy" styled truck.Having had a ton of 55-57 Pontiacs I gotta say the ol 287 is definitely not a wailer. At least not in a 35-3600 lb Pontiac but if you get the truck set up with that motor you can pop a 59-60, 389 in it's place with just a little dressing of the crank flange against the old hydro's fluid coupling. I've done just that on several occasions. Don't forget to address the crank flange problem or you'll tear up the trans.
I have a 347 punched .125" to 370 [1958 Pontiac dimensions] in my 34 in my avatar with a close ratio muncie and a Winters quick change. I totally love this combo. Sounds nice, has a nice lope to it and pulls hard.
Your 4 speed hydro should be a blast in a light car. Should bark second gear easily. Keep us entertained with your truck build. I love it. BTW, I have a good used "886" factory Pontiac cam [57-58 fuel injection cam] if you need one. I'll never use it.

 

I am definitely interested in that cam, that would be perfect for this motor, ill DM you, thank you for the offer and the input. The eventual plan is to put a set of ported 347 heads on this motor with a small cam and the 6 carb intake. It’s not a racecar but it’s light enough that it should look, sound and move real good.

All of my projects are Pontiac powered, I want to keep that theme going so I’m trying to build up my collection of parts for this and the other cars I have, plus whatever follows me home down the road


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Alright, time to squeeze some progress in here.

I was originally going to run this 400 out of 67 GTO with some mild “go fast” parts and call it good, with a t400 it would have been a solid and reliable drivetrain.



After ALOT of deliberation and some parts swapping I came up on a stock and (most importantly) RUNNING 55 Pontiac 287 with the hydromatic tranny.



Since I settled on the early V8 this means I don’t have to build side mounts for the motor or do any reinventing the wheel type projects. I dug into my stash of parts and pulled out a NOS Hurst front mount for an early Pontiac with frame brackets.



Now I just gotta do some motor/tranny swapping, frame clean up, lay out and welding, then I will finally actually have a motor/tranny mounted in the frame and I can move onto the next step.

Pics to follow


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Wanted to finalize things before the motor swap. Moved the spring behind the axle, mounted it through the wishbones, lowered the front by almost 5” and pushed the axle forward about 3”. This got the truck sitting right where I wanted it and the axle sitting perfectly beneath the grill. Still need to weld and clean it all up, but it’s all gonna get blown apart this weekend so I can do the motor swap.




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Say, RATROD... With ALL those Poncho motors, are you aware of the B-O-P (Buick, Olds, Pont.) aluminum Jeep bellhousing? It has 2 starter ports, one on each side.
Sooo, the beloved Tin Indian CAN have a right hand starter.
I never heard of this until the guy that owned The Goat Farm in San Jose brought me one out of a 442. Fit my 455 Olds perfect!
My '27 Hiboy had the Olds set in, but starter on the right hung me up.
Then my friend passed away, and willed me his Chrysler hemi. Out with the Olds, and in with the new! Bellhousing got here too late. Hemi now...

 

I’ve heard rumors about different bell housings but I’ve never been able to confirm. What I have learned about Pontiac’s is that there are WAY more tips and tricks than most people know. They were so widely used for drag racing back in the day but all that history seems to be largely forgotten.

Also, it sounds like you might have an extra one of those bell housings haha


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