’33 REO Speedwagon build w/ a twist

C series internationals have steel bed floors like the beds you have. IH pretty much allways has steel bed floors other then in the Knox beds of the K-KB series. Where is that R series Travelall located?

 

Hey guys, I know this is OT, but I thought you may be interested. This 1933 Reo Flying Cloud was advertised in a local magazine 'Just Cars' ref: JCM3258154
I can't upload it for some reason. But you should be able to check it out at www.justcars.com.au
RodL

 

Ruth, NV

 

Thanks Tim. I am definitely proud of pops. This build is way easier than the Auburn. Even though we are tracking down pieces from all over the country, the parts we are finding are in prety good shape. Plus, I think Dad is done building shiny cars. The Auburn was too nice and took all the fun out of it.

 

Sorry for letting this thread languish while Dad and I have been distracted by getting all the Diamond Ts running.

In another amazing streak of luck, Dad located an honest-to-goodness REO pickup bed a few hours away in southern Missouri. The gentleman there had restored one ’37 REO Speed Deliver pickup and was planning to restore another. He was planning to fabricate a brand new bed, and sold Dad the original. The ’37-’38 pickups had different cabs, but very similar beds as the early trucks. Now, we’re in business!

<O</O

 

For all of you that have patiently waded through these ramblings, the payoff is at hand. I present you.... drum roll....
The Franklin Olympic Pickup.

<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

 

-----------------------
Very cool project! Thumbs up on
everything you're doing! I was just
thinking too..maybe you've already
settled on the name..but a few other
possible phantom "Franklin-esque"
name possibilities came to mind that
Franklin might have used, if they
had ever built a Reo-based Franklin
pockup like yours.

"Franklin Air Wagon"
"Franklin Aero Wagon"
"Franklin Air Speed"

or with the last two words merged
into one:

"Franklin Airwagon"
"Franklin Aerowagon"
"Franklin Airspeed"
---------------------
Mart3406
================

 

Sweet!

 

Looks great, as do the hood trims!

Brian

 

You know, the Gilmore Musem here has the Franklin Museum in it's own separate building. That truck would look great there...

Brian

 

Looks great.

 

Air Wagon- I love it!

 

Great looking truck. The long hood really makes it work!

 

Very nice, it's turning out great.

 

+2, along with the swooping fenders, that is some real style.

 

Only on this website can you find something so interesting! PLEASE go on.

 

It might look good in the parking lot when we drive it there on a cross-country tour. Hopefully, it is not going to be a static display, but a driver.

Thanks for all the encouragement.

 

That is one slick looking truck. Real style.
r

 

Seeing your truck is gonna' drive some
Franklin people crazy, scratching their
heads wondering and trying to figure
out exactly what it is. You could have a
whole bunch of fun, when. as someone
surely will - anally points out that your
truck - or even worse, some particular
part on it, even "isn't original" eek, by
really messing with their head and
telling 'em that your truck is actually
"completely original" and that it's
"absolutely correct"....because it's "a
one of only one ever built, experimental,
'factory prototype'" that "almost, but
never actually made it into production"!!!!
And with your workmanship and attention
to detail, and the almost seamless and
beautifully subtle blending of the Reo cab
with the Franklin chassis, front sheet metal
and trim - and given the fact the Franklin
had also built it's Olympic model using
Reo bodies at about the same time too,
could make the "one-off, factory prototype"
story sound almost believable!<evil grin!=""> ('EVIL
GRIN!')

Mart3406
===============</evil>

 

Yeah, but it's too much fun to tell the story of how we put it together.

One of Dad's mantras is "Make it look factory". Everybody likes to put their own creative touch on things, but when you make it look as if it rolled out of the factory, then you've created something timeless. In other words, it is less likely to be impacted by passing fads our own poor taste.

There is a chance that it could show up with Franklin Sales and Service script on it as if it had been a dealer service truck. That fun is yet to come.

 

The next few posts should prove to be fun, because there are more opportunities for you to weigh with opinions on style details.
<O</O
There is still plenty of work to do, but now we know basically what it is going to look like.
<O</O
What do you think? Does the bed look a little long?

<O</OIt is. The ’37-’38 Speed Wagon bed is 4 inches longer than the ’34-36 bed. The ’34-’36 trucks had a 70-inch bed, which already had quite a bit of rear overhang. Dad considered sectioning this bed, but has opted against doing so. The tailgate on this bed slopes in toward the top, so it is only 2 inches longer along the top. Dad’s not planning on painting this truck. He is done building shiny cars. He could disguise his sectioning , but the work entailed in cutting up a good original bed just doesn’t seem worth the reward of two less inches. Now, he will have to fix the side panels so you can no longer see the bolt pattern for the ’37 fenders. Another rationalization for leaving the longer bed is that the Franklin hood is well over 4 inches longer than the REO hood, so this truck is adding proportions to both ends. Perhaps that maintains balance? Opinions are welcome on a short bed vs. leave it as is. Pretty sure this is how it is staying. You can add to our confidence that this is the right move and you won’t offend anyone by suggesting otherwise.







<O</O

 

I reckon the front to rear balance looks fine. Losing 2" off the tail is one heck of a lot of work for something that probably would make little or no difference in appearance.
BTW Great effort by your team. RodL

 

I like the proportions. I'm wondering how you'll tie the rear fenders to the bed. I'm also wondering if the 80-year-old wire wheels are going to be ok but I bet you've thought of that.

The one suggestion would be to add more/bigger tail lights to the back of the bed or rear bumper. Make them removable if you want, but those tiny, stylish stock lights are not enough these days. Unless you are directly behind you can only see one of them.

 

I think the proportions are fine and easily pass for factory look. As long as you don't put orange motorcycle turn signals on it it's going to look great.

 

Leave the bed long, it looks perfect with the long hood. Give it a rear bumper that goes with the style of the front and mount some appropriate vintage taillights under the tail gate like the green truck and it should be fine. I know you say he's through with building "shiny cars", but it really needs to be all the same color with some sort of logo on the doors. I'm not a fan of fake patina, but it needs to look like a survivor and not a bunch of parts from different vehicles put together.

 

Yeah, Dad has been concerened about that. The doors for instance concered him. He kinda wanted to use the doors from the Shaniko truck, so the surface rust would match. I encouraged him to use the best parts he had and worry about the surface finish later. I've looked at it so long, the green and orange and yellow and black and gray and white all meld like a lot of old trucks I've seen beat around. He definitely has to take care of the primered are that shows the outline of the '37 truck fenders. I'm confident he'll figure out how to tie it all together.

As proof, I offer this photo of the late '31 Model A he built. This truck was built entirely from pieces. He took just as much care to match the look on each individual panel as some guys take to strip and paint sheetmetal. If you look really close in this photo, you might be able to see where he disguised the new sheetmetal on the bottom of the cab, doors, and cowl. It actually shows up more in the photo than it does on the street. BTW, It's the tightest, quietest, fastest Model A we've ever run.

 

Barn Find, I'd like to know more about making hood ornaments out of babbit. I am also working on a project that never was, but could have been.

 

He's done silicon bronze casting for quite a while. That is a lot of work. The babbit is just a lot easier to work with, beucase the melting point is so much lower. He sorta discovered the method by accident. I don't know how durable it is, or if you can plate over it? He uses the same little electric crucible he bought to poor Model A crankshaft bearings and just used left over bearing material. He made a wooden mock-up of the part. I'lll have to ask if he used the same sand for the mold as the bronze casting. I think so.

 

There was a tech week thread on pewter casting too. Pewter comes out shiny after polishing.

 

Great job and a very entertaining build thread. Looks great. I think the proportions are right on. Long hood, long bed. The only thing making it look a little off are the white doors. Shiney can be nice but I totally support your dad's love of aged metal. I used to do a lot of patina work at our metal fabrication shop. Not always to make thing fake-old. It just looks neat. Lots of gun blued steel and bronze mostly. Our chemicals came from Birchwood-Casey. Sometimes our job would be to match some existing work. We would jump through a lot of hoops to make things pass as old. Here's a trick that might work on the doors. Paint them the color (or two) the cab used to be Give them a light mist with the sand blaster. Just enough to pit them a bit. Squirt or wipe warmed up gun bluing on them and vary the darkness with a grey Scothbrite pad by hand (a gloved hand). Wash it down with water to stop the action. You could then let it go a little rusty or not- vinegar would speed it along. When you get it looking right give it a "wipe on, wipe off" with 50/50 Penetrol-Denatured Alchohol for a little added matte depth and some amount of sealing.