My brother and I are finally starting on the 34 that we inherited from our grandfather. We've pulled the front fenders, hood and radiator shell / grill, and I noticed that the frame is doubled in the front (well at least to the cab, as I haven't gotten my fat butt under the rest of the truck to look at it). I haven't read anything about a gloved (doubled frame) anywhere. Can I still box this frame, and have decent strength ? We're pulling the 394 Olds and 50s Cad 3 speed, and going to install a donated Vortec based 383 SBC and a turbo 350 tranny. We're torn about pulling the Olds, but we want to be able to drive this thing several hundred miles away from home and not worry about being able to find parts for the drivetrain if we break down. Also, my Aunt found a paper that Grandad had written down the history of his 34. BTW, that's a Chevy bed !!
Sounds to me like your Grandfather already boxed the front of the chassis ... so the Olds would not twist the frame.
Id leave the 394. Aussiesteve is right if you build right the olds will be reliable. I run a 1954 chrysler 331 and leave town all the time with no worries. The olds is unique.
Yep, the x-member fits inside the rail and doubles it up front and rear . Box in front of and behind the x-member (rear kick-up) and should be great . They liked to rust where the x-member meets the rails in the rear( Collected mud ) but seeing you're in Texas it's probably pretty solid . That's a really neat truck . Do what you want , but if you use the Olds engine ,it'll make the truck !
pretty cool old truck and family history makes it all the more cool id keep the olds mill an cad transmission ,
I have to add my view on the choice of engines and transmissions. If you add some agent orange to this truck, it just won't be your grandfather's any longer. It becomes just an old truck you street rodded, it just happened to be driven by your grandfather a long time ago. Early engines are as reliable as later ones - period!
I believe aussiesteve and metal man are correct about it being the X member, as I drove 30 miles to the shop yesterday to build an engine stand for one of my donated SBCs. I was just surprised that it ran all the way to the end of the frame horns. So....should I weld the two frame flanges together before boxing the frame, or is there another preferred method? Here's pics of what I'm talking about. This is the front of the RH frame rail. You can just see the front cross member and its rivet to the right side of the pic. This is the top of the frame at the LH front of the cab (you can see the unused cab mount in the pic). I ran my hand inside the frame at this point and slid it backwards, and the inner piece Y'd out to make up the x member.
This is great hot rod history, your gpaw had it goin on. People on here would die for this truck just the way it is ( inc. me ). The unused cab mount is most likely due to moving it back for the olds motor. Looks like the chop is just right. Restore your bit of history as built by gramps, thats what we're all mocking on here because these thing are very hard to find. Congrats on your great barn find in your backyard.
Why would you want to take your grandpa's truck apart and put a cookie cutter setup in it? Go to any car show and watch the lineup of SBC powered cars. They are really boring...... It's yours to do whatever but I think you may be happier with the Olds in it. If I was your grandpa I'd probably come back and kick your ass. No offense, just my .02.
Cool truck, do your Grandpa proud and rebuild the 394/Cad 3spd. I built my truck with a 350/350 combo...6 Strombergs, early valve covers, generator, etc...but its still a SBC. 394's were a modern enough motor where you shouldnt have to worry about it on a long trip! As for the doubled frame, I thought it was just the X-member too, until I saw your pics. I wonder if the truck frames were different than the passenger car frames in this respect??
Honestly, grandad had intentions of pulling the Olds and replacing it with a SBC. I agree the Olds is cool, but have you guys priced (or tried to find) any parts for these motors? My local machine shop guy can get anything for old motors, but he kinda chuckled when I mentioned parts for the 394, and said good luck. Did I mention that the 383 SBC was free, with the only stipulation being that I let the guy that gave me the motor have a ride in the pickup when it's done? That and the fact that my brother has zero extra money to put into this project, and I don't think that it would be fair for me to pay for everything by myself. I know it's nostalgia, but would there be anything wrong with installing the 383 and turbo 350 just to get the thing on the road, and build the 394 as money allows? Everything that was done to the pickup over the years was done on a very slim budget, just like most guys did it back in the day. So I see nothing wrong with trying to get it on the road for a minimum amount of cash. To me, this would be "traditional rodding" at it's best. I know grandad would approve, because he was a poor rodder, and had 5 mouths to feed on a single income from being a parts man at the GMC / Pontiac / Buick dealership for 30 years.
Neat truck, looking forward to seeing you around town. While it would be cool to keep the Olds motor, hot rodding is all about using what you have. Hopefully someday as funds allow you can go back with the set up your grandad had. If you need a hand (or strong back & weak mind) I am in Canyon also.
Thanks for the offer HG Wells. The truck is currently in our shop in Hereford. Drop me a line sometime, if you'd like to come over and have a look at the pickup.
BTW, I noticed the dragster on your avatar. Somewhere in with my grandparents stuff, is some 8mm home movies of some races at Amarillo Dragway from the 60s, back when grandad and his car club raced a 32 (I think) roadster. I need to try and get this stuff from my aunts, and get it converted to DVD.
x2 x2 You're local machine shop obviously takes the path of least resistance. The parts are out there and not so bad. Yeah a little more than a SBC, but not to bad. I'd say you have a cool ride with a bit of history and and family history at that. I think it's a disservice to change it. Take your time and do it with the Olds and you'll have no problems as far as reliability and a much cooler ride in the long run. I regularly drive my Nailhead equipped car half way across the country with no worries. If something breaks that I can't get within a day at a local parts house then it was gonna strand me anyway. Same applies to a SBC. The normal iginition, cooling, fuel stuff is plentiful but much more than that and you're stuck anyway.
Most everyone is bagging on him for not using the Olds (myself included), but his initial question was about the "doubled" frame rails...can anyone answer that one?? Ive had '34 frames that were doubled where the X member ties into the frame, but never one where the "doubling" extends all the way to the front frame horns like his does! I can totally understand your budget situation regarding using the SBC, but just so you know, you are up against a bit of center crossmember surgery if you want to run an automatic behind it, a 4/5 speed is smaller and an easier install. Im glad you are at least entertaining the idea of rebuilding the Olds and reinstalling it later. Parts for these motors arent that difficult to find, its a lot easier than it was 15 years ago! Just post here about where to look, youll be surprised at the info you will get.
Early 33 (and maybe Canadian?) frames had no inner frame rail at the horns. Most all 33-34's I've seen do have the inner rail. As far as the Olds vs SBC goes: If this were my truck that my Grandfather had owned, I would rather it sit for another 10 years while I saved $$ and gathered parts for the Olds than to stick a SBC in it just so I could drive it now. And this is not because I dislike SBC's. I'm actually sticking one in a '33 I'm building right now. In your case, the truck has so much character the way it's sitting now, it would be a shame to change it.
The written history of the truck is arguably the best part of this find because it illustrates the timeline of the truck. Most, if not all, other "survivors" and "barn finds" are lucky to have some snap shots of documentation in little books or through the parts that are tossed in the back. From that history, it's evident that his grandfather was continually upgrading and working with the truck to make it what he wanted. Normally, I am in agreement with the HAMB purists who say that a traditional hot rod is as period correct as possible, but in this case I can see where the more modern "upgraded" engine could be appropriate to the timeline on the truck. This wasn't a hot rod that was built once and can be restored to certain specifications. The 383 is dancing the line of becoming street rodderish, but I think his grandfather would approve of the intention. The last paragraph of the letter has him rethinking the IFS and collecting parts to install a 4" dropped axle and '56 ford brakes. This is a hot rod and is constantly being improved.
If you are saying all frames were doubled up to the frame horns, Ive had 3 that werent that way...one of which is in my garage as we speak!
Thanks Corn Fed, Ive probably had early '33 (or possibly Canadian) frames. I knew there had to be a logical explanation!
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