Projects New shop means new shop truck - Zephyr Speed Shop '36 Ford

So a couple months ago I had a rough day at work, and moved my timeline and plans to start my own shop this coming summer up about 11 months. And so began Zephyr Speed Shop. At this point I have the website up and rolling, and am working with an old hot rodder and race car builder to put together a 4x2 chassis, and clean up and chop up a '36 Ford truck cab.

The truck will be a parts hauler and marketing piece to get the shop out there this summer. Everything on it will be sourced from shop suppliers and distributors, and all fabricated parts will be prototypes for shop-built items. So, while it will be traditionally influenced, it's definitely not a "traditional" build...

Current build plan includes:
- 7″ front chop, 6″ rear, or thereabouts.
- Modified rockers.
- Scratch-built bed.
- 6-7″ front channel, 4″ rear.
- Scratch-built 4×2″ chassis with 6″ front kickup with sweep, 12″ rear kickup.
- While we’d love to run the flatty, this will be a driver, and simply don’t have the budget to rebuild the flatty at this time. So, early SBC it is.
- Turbo 400 tranny – again, driver. And we intend to do some in-town towing with it.
- GM 10-bolt rear.
- 4-wheel discs.
- Zephyr front and rear hairpins.
- 4″ So-Cal forged I-beam front axle, Zephyr drilled.
- So-Cal de-arched front spring, bagged rear.

I sold my daily driver/autocross/track car - a 2004 Subaru STi to help fund the company and this project, and kicked it off by picking up a '36 cab with hammered roof, '35 cab with solid roof but no rear window section and rusty, and a rear window section to fix the '35 - the 35 was bought as a roof donor for the 36, but turned out to be solid enough to keep for a future project. The '36 roof is super rough, so not quite sure if we'll be able to save it or not.


Anyway, some pics of work up til this point. I'm not one to get pics of every step and every bit of work, but trying to get a little better...

* My apologies for the crappy phone pics. Need to remember to grab the camera.


Went down to Chico to pick up a complete '36 truck. Came home with this:




Started tear down. Body will be worked on at the house, chassis at the shop - at least until it's time to marry them. The '36 is actually surprisingly complete, with little rust.
















Chassis as it sits right now:
















Cut the top off to make it a bit easier to metal work.




And, the concept mockup.




Comments are welcome. It's my first hot rod build, but not my first restoration/customization. So, my methods and styling may not be traditional or what you're used to seeing. So, comments, suggestions, opinions, naysayers, yaysayers, etc., welcome.

 

Just sort of draw the hidden line of the chassis on your concept and tell just how the fuck that's going to work?

 

Interesting concept. Subscribed.

 

Kinda wondering about the way you cut up the front crossmember, seems like it would have been easier and better structurally to cut the ends and fab new radiator pads. Besides the two welds in a high stress area, the spring seat area looks to be too narrow for the usual U-bolt spacing.

 

Not sure I'm following your question, but when the rails were mocked up with the body the kick-up sits just behind the cab, with the front kick-in just inside the cowl. I will sweep the rails up just rear of the kick-in to follow the line of the rocker, and down a couple inches forward of the cowl. Rear lower edge of the cab is rotten, so will be fabbed to accommodate the new frame position. Firewall will also be modified to accommodate the new engine, and frame rail position. The rails fit with stock subrails, so should continue to fit once they're repositioned.

I considered reshaping the outer edges, but with the intended height of the car this made more sense - a sharper curve on the crossmember means less likelyhood of bottoming out the spring on the frame rail - at least in theory. If I was using a stock spring I wouldn't be too worried about it, but placing an SBC in it with a de-arched So-Cal spring had me thinking I might be a little light in the spring rate department. I'm using a So-Cal plate-and-bolt spring mount which should adapt a bit better to this crossmember than ubolts. The crossmember will also be fishplated to reinforce the welds.



We'll find out soon enough on both. Everything's tack welded and will be until it's blown apart, so if this doesn't work the fix is just a weld away.

 

I like the color and concept but I would have to raise the cab a foot or so to call it a shop truck.

 

I'm with you unless he's 2'6" tall

 

Maybe if ok if a driver was about 3' tall

 

Haha,
4'9" tall would probably be more realistic.
Maybe

 

lol 5'9. And at 7" chop, it's only an inch over most 35-36s that I've come across. Main reason to drop it a hair more was to make it flow a bit better with leaned-back a-pillars (instead of adding material to roof).

It's not too much lower to the ground than most of my other drivers over the years. Ride height will probably be around 6" rocker-to-ground, 3" or so when aired out.


This is a quick, rough representation of the intended shape of the chassis.

 

Maybe, that's not the chassis on the ground outside in those pics .

 

It is, I noted in my original wall of text that the front sweep is coming. Front should be swept up this weekend. Front sweep to follow profile of front of cab, around 6" up. Front rails will also be pie sectioned from cowl to front crossmember, bobbed at crossmember.

 

Better not take that truck to Home Depot, the speed bumps around here would have you high centered pretty quickly
I have to assume that is the "parked and aired out" picture and not ride height.

 

That drawing is nowhere near the chassis on the ground.

 

My bad I missed that about the sweep, but I saw the pics. Lol

 

I think, if I'm looking at it right, the frame on the ground in the pics is missing the 2 rear rails at the time of the photo. The 2x6 tube running across at the rear is a temporary brace.

Had a truck like that, with a similarly built frame. Box was useless, which sucked. I suspect it won't be great for a shop truck. Low is cool but too low just isn't practical for daily driving let alone hauling anything. Not tryin to bust ur balls, but I drove a truck like that for 3 years. It was "cool" but not always "fun" if you know what I mean. Raise it a bit, you'll be happier, it will be more useful to you and still be cool. I know you said the mock up pic is aired out but even 6" ride height will piss you off every time you drive it. From a guy that knows.

 

It's higher in the aired-out mockup than some of my previous static drivers, but I'm getting old.

It's a hell of a lot closer than a 20' stick of 4x2!

I like shiny things too, no worries

Yes, yes, and yes. The shop I'm working at is full of current projects. Until I'm able to secure my own location I'm on borrowed time and borrowed space. Left the bed support rails off as they're not needed yet - should be a roller with full rails in a couple weeks though.

It's role as a shop truck won't include too much hauling. Just show/booth supplies and whatnot so I don't have to take multiple vehicles around.

 

I hope you keep updating the thread. I like this style of build if done well. Little too much cab rake for me. Your only bagging the rear? Looks like leg room could be an issue. The more rake in the cab, the more you'll have to move the seat forward. Not sure about your cab, but my stude is about the same size. No way I could rake the cab like that and still fit. I'd mock it up with seats before I went too far.

 

Everyone has a different vision at the start and man oh man its the coolest shit ever !!!! Then it's the reality of it that takes the fun out if it.

These fender less trucks are absolutely beautiful when done right. And simply God awful if pulled together wrong.

Here's a thought for you-
instead of following the cowl bead to the bottom of the frame- take a look at lowering the cowl bead and raising the front of the truck. In effect bringing the body line and back of cab more towards level and plumb while moving the bead so it stays at the bottom of the frame like you have it. The next thing you'll run into , well eventually you'll run into it is the radiator sticking over the cowl by at least a foot or a radiator that's about 10" tall. That's going to cause you trouble or a butt ugly truck.

I think this guy pulled of a great 35-38 style truck that actually works as good as it looks. My opinion

 

I'll watch, I like these trucks.

 

He's right about the radiator. This is a pic of the one I threw together, literally, out if parts I had in the shop. 48 F1 cab, 50 box shortened, 34 truck grill, 292 Y Block with a 6x2 dragstar intake. The grill and she'll were always too high in relation to the cowl. Radiators, custom ones, are expensive. Like this truck or not, I had a blast in this truck but the rad/shell height always bugged me. So did the ground clearance. It was going to get painted but a guy with a pocketful of $$$ had to have it. He got it.

 

I like these builds. Its all in the proportions. Building one myself, The only thing I dislike a lot is the bed rails when they are to low and grille behind the axle.
Looks good ,keep posting.
Subscribed

 

Actually the way that evolves is the front axle goes forward so the grille can come down a few inches and a somewhat normal or adequate size radiator can be used. The crossmember moves out from under the radiator to the end of the frame horns. This gives room for the radiator and moves the spring perch to the very front. Design fuck up if you ask me

 

Looks familiar...

 

Subscribed.....




.

 

Exactly, I hate when the front end gets stretched out. That's why my radiator and shell were higher than the cowl. The plan was to get another radiator and fix it but we never got around to it. Like I said, I had fun with it but I'd never do another. I've got a Model A pickup now. I wouldn't do another tube frame. A stock frame just looks better IMO.

 

Yep - the only decent profile shot of a 35-37 truck I could find. Since all I had to work with on my project was a cab, couldn't take a pic of it and do anything with it. The red truck just happened to be one of the few profile shots that I could work with.

My intentions are much closer in line with the attached truck though - just hard to see details in the dark pictures.

6" chop seems to be the go-to on these for proper cab proportions. I'm not sure how much the cab will be raked - it will kick up in the rear a bit, how much will be up to seating position, comfort and rocker profile.

 

It had a good look, can't blame a guy with cash for wanting it. The grill could have come down a couple inches, but still a lot better than most grill transplants. Good looking truck.

I'm no stranger to low cars - not at all concerned about ride height. Intending for everything to be tucked up above the frame rails, so if I drag it'll just be rocker or frame.

Proportions are everything - we all know they make or break build. I'm hoping I nail it. I'll keep tweaking until I get it right, at least in my eyes. The bed in my concept drawing was a super quick job - my intentions are to have the top rails just above the tires. But, since the bed will be scratch built, it will be made to fit and look as good as possible.

Grill will be out front, no doubt there. I can't remember offhand, but wheelbase is currently intended to be around 120" - stretched to the rear to work with the bed and look like a truck.

Planning on running a 2-4" chopped '32 grill trimmed and profiled. I like the clean, simple look and the side profile is dead on in my opinion.

 

The Ashcroft truck has been very inspirational - one of three that have gotten me to where I'm at with plans. The one thing I'm not a fan of with it is the bed area - just too much metal there in my opinion. You could do without the roll pan and side pieces that flow with it.

Great idea regarding the cab/rocker bead - and one that I've been considering. Since I will be modifying the cowl and firewall to work with being hoodless, I have planned to work the lower edge a bit as well.

 

Once you were done photochopping that additional bed height out, the resulting look is a segmented and visually un-balanced vehicle. The lack of linear continuity from stem to stern of your concept vs. the ashcroft or the original Rudy truck is very apparent. there are 2 main body lines you should look at in order to find balance and harmony of flow. Think of body lines going from where you cut them, but still continuing to the horizon. a horizontal line never touches the ground as is it were and how do the lines intersect...where do they intersect visually or do they ever intersect.

1st is the belt line at the door/ window sill which starts at the top of the radiator, continuing that line will bring the cab and the bed together, where you choose to allow them to intersect will either accentuate the visual height of the cab or make it look lower, or, like you have achieved...stuck out there with no rhyme or reason. 2nd, find a way to flow the lower belt line at the bottom of the cab, that line will carry the eye from the front to the back and bring presence of the vehicle in relation the ground. Sitting on the ground is not a style. Use the existing body curvature and work with it. The introduction of non-complimentary curvature is going to be the bane of your work...squares and circles...

Finally, black wheels and negative space, those wheels break up the apparent visual mass (you can see how much flat vertical surface area is behind the wheels). But by allowing the top of the tire to intersect the bed line you just cut the bed into three parts and allow for now connectivity, just truncated visual butchery.

Good luck and have fun.