Hot Rods '35 Pickup Build Thread - Alaska in August '18!

Looking good! Definitely harsh in the D, but we get ‘er done. I’ll be cruising through autorama too, hopefully catch up with some of this crowd.


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For sure Bantam. I should be getting it back this week, so I’ll have final numbers soon. As a teaser, the front axle, wishbone, rear radius rods, and torque tube ran me under $300 for all of it. I did do a fair bit of cleaning myself first though.


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Oh, took most of the trans apart too, and found this:



Now, anyone know how the cluster gear shaft comes out?


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Question for anyone who might know: I've got what I believe to be an early '35 driveshaft with a 10 spline female end for the rear pinion to slide in. My current/stock gear set is 4.11, with the 10 spline pinion gear. I'd like a set of 3.54 or 3.78 gears as the truck is going to see a lot of highway miles, but 10 spline sets of these seem to be real hard to come by! Other options you might know of?

 

Did a little work this weekend, mostly cleaning things up, garage included, but I did get my axle brackets finish welded and ready for powder coating. I’ve also been spending some time zinc plating hardware, but that’s not exciting to show.



Also got the rest of the trans apart and ready for paint. Internals look really good.



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Small parts cleaning last night. This is the clutch assembly in the Columbia 2 speed.




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Bantam, just got my frame done today. The final price of getting it sandblasted and powder coated was $250. Hope that helps your local ballpark. Tell 'em if they're too pricey you'll ship it to Detroit!

 

Wow.......that powder coat pricing really makes painting obsolete. Thanks so much for feedback!

 

Parts!



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I added tires to the front, and got the spring mostly hung along with perch bolts and most of the other front end parts. I’m sitting here waiting on parts to show up before I can do much more on the frame, and I’m sending the last bits for powder this week. She’s moving along steady.




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Got a bunch of parts in last week. Now I have a transmission assembled and attached to an engine, and all that put on a frame! Tidying up the rear brake assemblies to minimize tripping over parts, and then I have brake and fuel lines to run.




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Whelp, we’ve got a spot to keep out of the wind now.




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I haven’t been slacking, just doing a lot of little things. Got the Columbia hooked up via a vacuum switch and some tubing, ran brake lines, rebuild the column drop, new radiator hoses, that sort of thing. Now I’m on to floor boards! Then the cab will come back off for body work before final mounting.

Oh, and a teaser photo of what the seat will look like.




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Started laying out the floor last night. Should have it all in tonight no problem.




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So I had to repair my old bead roller before I could finish the floor pan. Not my best work, but it’s cast, so I’m using that as my excuse. I still have to make an access door for the master cylinder, but otherwise she fits nicely.



Then I had to rebuild the 94 I had as the accelerator pump wasn’t squirting, but now she runs really well. Pulled her out of the garage under her own power even!



Had a couple buddies help me pull the cab back off after that so I can start in on the dents. Cleaned the garage, and got it all back inside. This is where she stands now.




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Nice work..coming right along!

 

Nice tooling...even nicer work. Floors are important, they sit directly on the foundation!
Powder coating was a great idea. So is the not-so-common Columbia overdrive!

 

Thanks 40; she's gonna have to be driving by August, so hopefully it keeps moving!

Thanks Mike! Stay tuned for the planishing hammer build next - for help with all those dents!

 

Little deviation on next steps. Decided for the sake of time to leave the bodywork til after the truck comes back from Alaska, so she’ll be ugly but reliable and solid. The seat is going to be comfy though!




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Slight change in direction again. Decided to use parts from my other cab to patch this one when I pulled the windshield out and ran into more rust than expected. In the interest of time (it’s supposed to drive to Alaska in 3 months!) I cut the roof off rather than weld a bunch of individual patch panels. Much welding to follow, but much less fabrication.



Oh, and while I had the white roof off, I repaired the one bad spot on the header panel.



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Looking good! I'm having the same problem finding a good 35-36 cab. Will likely end up making one out of two like you did.

 

They're getting older and harder to find... I'll likely be offloading some of the remnants as I finish this one up. I'll let you know what's still good when I'm done cutting!

 

Maybe you should look to the big truck cabs for 35-36 Fords. I see them often for $1000 to $2000 for the whole truck. You can use the cab, hood and radiator shell which are the same.

 

For sure look into this @RMR&C ! My better cab is a big truck cab from North Dakota. Doesn't help the birds nesting up in the header panel, but you can't have everything.

 

Yes, I have one big truck cab.......it's less rusty but much more beat up. Most lived a hard life.

 

Thanks for sharing. Cool goal.

 

Such a hard life. I tried to show some of the dents in mine, but it's so much worse in person. There's even a slice in the top above the rear window from... something...

 

I got most of the metal work on the cab buttoned up this weekend. The cowl vent seal channel is proving difficult, but I should have that wrapped up soon hopefully... anyway, here’s where she sits.



I also got the bottom back portion fixed up, but didn’t get pics. I’ll have to get some before I bring it in for media blasting. It’s all downhill from here!


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Alright gents, we’ve got paint! And a sponsor! Cab is coming along nicely, even if it’s not cherry. With my deadline looming (we leave August 16th) I’m leaving a lot of the body work to be completed later in favor of getting it sealed and assembled now.

Here’s how she looked last night.


And our coffee sponsor, Detroit Bold.



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Updates: she runs! And she’s shiny... ish. Had a buddy come over yesterday and help with running some electric and whatnot, and we got her running and put together some more.

Had some brake problems, so I put in a couple residual pressure valves, and when that didn’t fix it, I swapped the master cylinder. Also installed a fan (electric for now because manual wouldn’t fit) and made a shroud.

Cut up the big truck fuel tank for a battery box and some under seat storage, still some work to do there.



Oh, and does anyone know where to get some 35 odometer numbers? I haven’t been able to track them down...




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