Projects Midnight Special: 1935 Chevy with a Hemi

Putting in the work to get it done..nice job.

 

Saw your thread back up.
Had to see how you're doing.
Good work.
Good attitude.
Good thread.
"I welded, it helded."
LOL
Nice jewelry.
Makes me "giddy" too.

 

Hope everyone had a great holiday and a happy new year!
With my cab floor frame done I could move onto mounting my seat, I had no idea the amount of headaches in store for this portion of the project.
Back in March I measured the inside of my cab and headed to the “pull-n-save” in search of a bench seat. I must have climbed in 15-20 vehicles trying to find one that fit my parameters and most importantly was just comfortable for my 6’2 240# build, finally hit the mark when I sat in a late 90’s explorer. (I gotta admit I hate the look modern seats on hot rods, hopefully after I wrap it in a Mexican blanket I’ll like it more. But it’s quite comfortable and I can’t financially justify a custom made seat at this point, but that can always be changed later if needed)
I must have changed my mind 20-30 times over the last month trying to decide how to mount my seat. Goal: keep it minimal, functional and and aesthetic as possible. It finally culminated into a 4” raised rear support and 2 separate front mounts which allows me to utilize the factory tilt function which gave me ample storage behind the seat for tools n such.



I still need to clean up the excess metal on the seat bracket and cap the ends of the front mount. I added a nut into each end cap for future seat belts.

Storage for Days! And the head rests are up just for test fitment, they tuck down on the seat quite nicely which is where they will mostly stay. but are a bit more comfortable for long drives if they are up.

During one of the many, many garage test drives searching for the best seat angle, my little co pilot hopped in and my wife snapped this great pic, he can’t wait to go for a ride in Dad’s Hotrod.

That’s all I got for now. Next is figuring out steering wheel location, or maybe mounting my radiator to give myself a break from climbing in and out of the cab for a little bit..

 

Looking good. Was the seat a back or middle seat? I’m assuming they all have buckets in front anymore

 

it was the middle row, all the far back seats I tried in mini-vans, suburbans, jeeps, etc were all too narrow and none of them felt comfortable when I sat it them, the explorer was the first one that felt nice as soon as I sat down so I felt it had the best potential.

 

Cool, thanks!

 

Looks like a good fit!

 

That looks like a great choice of seat, smart pick and great strong mounts too!

 

Nice work!

 

With the seat installed it was was time to move onto the next major milestone, steering. I had purchased an IDIDIT shorty steering column because I could tell there was no way I would be able to get in/out with a traditional column. One of the best pieces of advice I read somewhere on the HAMB was to get your steering wheel, sit in the vehicle and hold the wheel where it feels comfortable and that’s where it needs to be mounted. Which happened to be right in the middle of the dash. I got lucky that the 34/35 dash has all the gauges in the middle, So I cut a hole right through the dash and set my column in, then realized that it would put the steering shaft out really high on the firewall. Despite finding a few examples of people doing that and running the shaft down to the steering box I thought it was fugly. So after a bit of research on drop boxes and not wanting to mess with a homemade chain system I discovered Wizard Fabrication and the Steer Clear setup, so I ordered the longest one they had (16”) and got to work.

First I had to turn a sleeve on my lathe that I could use as a column mount, I also had to shorten my column about 2.5”


But it did make for a nice fit


They say the steering box can be mounted to the outside of the firewall, which would have been WAY easier, but hellllll no, that would look terrible! so I started cutting up the inside pieces of my floor/firewall to make room. After hacking up the original firewall trying to get the perfect position, I opted to just cut out the whole section and make a new piece.


After a good bit of trial and error, I got the steering box where it needed to be and cut the new firewall piece and got it tacked in place then drilled my mounting holes. I do love how clean it looks, and with just enough clearance between the steering shaft and the frame


and I got real lucky that it even clears my zoomies I built long before I thought about steering. Still planning on making a full exhaust system but I like having options.


It might look a little odd to some having the steering wheel up this high, but I feel that’s a small price to pay for being able to easily get in and out and having plenty of room to get my knees up for the brake/clutch.
Here’s what it looks like inside

 

Another super cool addition to my collection was this Weiand Drag Star 6x2 log intake manifold. Complete with carbs, linkage, and instructions! I’ve read enough to know that this will not perform very well for street use, but I’m gonna give it a shot anyway. I’m sure my offy 3x2 will be my primary setup, but I would love the WOW factor of six carbs if going to a car show or something.

 

Wow, I can’t believe how fast this last year has gone by since I started this build thread. Hope everybody is having a great year thus far! Work has kept me really swamped this year so I haven’t had as much time to work on the hot rod as one would like, but progress only slows, never stops. Here’s the last thing I accomplished before the summer heat forced a sabbatical.

It was a long time after purchasing my truck I realized that it was actually a few different trucks pieced together. The title I got with it is for a ‘35. The frame, bed, rear cab, doors, dash, hood, and fenders were from a ‘34. And the cowl, A-pillars, windshield, and roof were from an early ‘36 (high cab model)

One of the big visible differences being the lower corners of the windshield were rounded in ‘36, where a 34/35 had a sharp corner. And despite years trying to convince myself that the rounded corner windshield is cool/unique since it was only made for 1/2 a year, ultimately I feel the sharp corner has more attitude and just looks cooler. So I paid too much money ($500) for the cut off top portion of a cowl and windshield frame for a 34 off ebay. In my excitement I didn’t pay very close attention to the photos and both corners ended up being dinged up *doh*! but it was still good enough for me to make it work. I got to work and cut off the corners and grafted them onto my cowl. Then I took my A-pillars and chopped my 4.25” off the bottom and got them fit to the new corners. Still needs some smoothing out but definitely moving in the right direction. Lastly I chopped down the windshield frame and once I fill a few holes I can get it off to chrome along with my spreader bar I also finished up.
Cheers until the next update

 

Very nice

 

A pick up truck with a Hemi, I like it.

 

Well, you could have arranged to run on the center two's and have the outside 4 carbs as "DUMMYS". The outside 4 would have fuel lines running to them, only blocked off at the carbs so fuel goes inside them. The clear red hoses (that I used) would show fuel for that realistic look! You could run them progressive, and the other 4 (real) carbs would come in at higher RPM, but was never sure that linkage was available. Charlie Price of Vintage Speed in Florida had set up mine. WHAT A KILLER LOOKING SETUP!!!!! You just lose big time in performance - like @Tat2Neil said before, one of those setups that I ALSO had to have on my hot rod!

 

Hey Neil, after my friend Dale (another local HAMBer) helped me place my mockup hemi block in my frame with my new mounts, we thought for sure that the engine would block my steering column from poking thru either my firewall or toe board. That's when I started looking into other options like your "Steer Clear" device. And you're absolutely right, the look would have been completely wrong if mounted outside your firewall.

My brother Scott and I did not stay long at the GoodGuys Spring Nationals at WestWorld of Scottsdale, but here are few photos to look at...

 

I just did this whole thread. Great work. You have done really well at putting the cab together and reinforcing my choice to redo the wood in my '26 roadster. I think it is a tossup on which is easier. Of course someone might have to do the wood in mine again in another 100 years. You have also done a good job at keeping the thread on track. Thanks !

 

Thank you Mike! Hope the show was fun, I can tell we would stop and stare at the same type of car ha! Fun fact, If you look in the background behind the woody you can see a powder blue VW that got in the TOP10 builders choice awards, the builder (Type1 Restoration in Tempe) is one of my clients and does impeccable work! Thanks for sharing the photos, hopefully next year me AND my little pickup will be out there!!
And I saw your post about looking for a steer clear and I chuckled, you understand my headaches lol, hemi problems!

Ohhh I will need to check out your roadster, I admire those wooden frames! I just knew I would be better suited to working with metal but I really dig the wood. Also, thank you very much! I need to put an update post and get myself back on track!

 

Some of you might have seen my other post about it but I’ll add it here for continuity. I had to pull my hood out of the scrap pile (never had any intention on using it) to line up my grille shell. And since I had an infatuation with louvres, but am also too cheap to pay for them, I went searching for a YouTube video on hand hammered louvres, Japhand Kustoms delivered! Followed his video to a T and then added a few tricks of my own and after a few hours of worth of work I had a louvre stamp and die

After 2 days of back breaking work, (and using a 10lb sledge hammer hundreds of times with one arm will make you useless) I finally had a louvred hood. It’s not perfect by any stretch but neither is anything else on my truck so it’s perfect for me haha

 

With the new year also came new milestones, the biggest would be finally getting my truck set on its wheels and tires for the first time. What a day, all of my measurements and math put to the test and it was dead on the money for ride height and stance, now it’s just missing one crucial piece, the bed.
Drug out all the bed panels, hacked about 10” off the back of the bed sides to give myself equal length on each side of the tires. Then I spent the next 2.5 weeks deciding mounting height. Lots of sitting and staring and thinking. Finally made some little brackets for the front and some simple mounts for the back. And of course, more louvres!! I’ve seen a lot of these old trucks where they throw a nut/bolt through the hook slots to keep the tailgate from rattling around, but I felt I could do better so I made a small bracket for the inside that holds everything together very solid and looks nice and clean.
it’s starting to really look like something now! Hopefully in a few more weeks I can finally finish up the trans tunnel and it’ll be time to take it all back apart and start finish work and assembly, can’t frigin wait to be cruisin! Hope everyone else is making progress on your own project!

 

Slick!

 

Damn Neil; your truck is shaping up to become a metal masterpiece - one of the best I've seen yet! Your hood may be just placed into position, are you planning to be able to remove it from time to time? Your hemi will clearly be begging for attention... My eye caught those mounts that secure the rear bed panels - they resemble our hemi mounts, nice touch. Any ideas about taillights?

 

Is it a "trans" tunnel because it originally had a shifter sticking out of it? Sorry I could'r help it.
I really like the hood and the bed.

 

Hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day weekend! I knew my trans tunnel would be a challenge, especially making it removeable but the long term benefits of that definitely warrant the extra effort.

so started making my flange with a poster board template then cut it out of 11ga steel


Then after a few nights of bending/drilling and welding nuts to the back side of the floor/firewall I knew I had enough bolts that it wasn’t going anywhere once I filled in the rest.


Cutting and fitting these pieces together is like a jigsaw puzzle, very time consuming.

once I finished the flange it was time to start rolling my 14ga pieces and fitting them as close to the trans as possible to maximize cab space, and leave just enough clearance for a little air flow.


When I started I wasn’t sure how this portion would come together with the different levels and angles changes, but one night I just had to go for it and after 5-6 hrs of work I had everything tacked in place. I’m very satisfied with the end result.

My welds are solid but not the prettiest, so I usually feel better about them after some flap disc therapy. Very thrilled to have this piece finished because everything from here to the end is going to be so simple by comparison. I feel like this was the last major hill I had to climb. (Still have to cut out the shifter hole)

 

I originally had planned to run a simple stamped gas tank in the rear of the frame, but I got some good advice to not do that and put a cylinder tank in the bed. There were plenty of options, but I decided that since it was going to be the focal point of my truck bed, I had to go with the coolest of all cylinder tank, mooneyes.

I had first planned to just have it mounted off the front bed panel, but quickly learned that it was not going to give enough support so I tied it back into the frame which I should have done from the beginning, but as long as it’s right the last time.

I had them cut it 1in narrower than normal to give me my desired side clearance. Fits like a glove! And man, I will get never tired of seeing it peeking out of the bed, they’re beautiful tanks.


Next I had to sit down and figure out tail light options. Opted for some repop ford “STOP” tails. Mounted just inside the frame can’t wait to see them lit up
After a short hiatus from climbing in and out of the cab, it was time to get back to the floor. Finished cutting the rest of the steel pieces and a few nights of welding and some grinding and I’m 98% finished with the steel portion, next I’ll cut my wooden panels to fill the center and weld in my mounting tabs.

‘starting to pick up momentum now, mounted the front panhard bar and worked out my hood mount system, and also my radiator and grill shell support. I have to sit down this weekend and make a list of thing I have left to do before I can pull the body off and finish building my little hemi.

a couple rivets and some leather and steel pieces make a nice hidden hood tie down.
I’m telling myself that I’ll be on the road before the end of the year and I don’t foresee any reason to not meet that deadline. Might have to install a better AC unit in the garage so I can work through our brutal summers. Enjoy your weekend everybody, stay safe out there!

 

Some clever ideas there! Keep on trucking!

 

X2! Really coming along great Neil - Moon tank looks sensational! I'll be celebrating my Memorial Day by dropping the BEHEMOTH in my frame tomorrow nite!

 

I wanted to pay a little homage to the fact wood was originally used for so much of this truck, so I picked up some 3/4” marine grade plywood and cut 1/4” steel mounting tabs and made myself some floor board inserts.

Few will notice and even less will appreciate that I lined up the wood grain, but it scratches that itch in the perfectionist side of my brain.
And on that note, I think all of the major components have been fabricated. Time to pull the cab off the frame so I can make my fuel and brake lines and build a quick rear exit exhaust for my headers. Then do a crap-load of welding and throw a little paint at the frame and start assembly.

 

Thank you much, I like to believe I think outside the box at times

That’s awesome Mike hope the motor drop in went well! I’ll be keeping an eye out for updates!

 

That drop floor looks great! Mine is a very similar set up but un finished at the moment.