I've been around the HAMB for a little while, & have had several different ideas & half-assed starts on my '46 Stude M5 pick-up truck project. Everything from a steel wheeled, wide whites & hot rod- raked cruiser to a nose high straight axled would-be gasser. But nothing ever panned out as far as actually getting motivated to build the damned truck. After posting about going the gasser route w/ it back in '06, Chili Phil made a comment to me that really stuck in my head... "A '46 Stude deserves a better fate than to become a poser gasser." Thank you, Chili Phil- I think you were absolutely correct. So, I finally figured out what the fate of the truck was gonna be a few months back, & have been getting at least a little something done to it on a regular basis..... '69 F350 rolling chassis, shortened to 120" wheelbase Ford 300 six cylinder, 5 speed Stretching the bed 10" or so Big-truck fenders (2" wider & have larger openings for the tires) Paint will be flat brown I'm gonna try to keep it pretty simple- no power windows, fancy paint, tilt GM column, or high $$$$ tech stuff. The 300 I have for it has EFI, but other than that, I'm gonna try to stick w/ the "old work truck" feel & look. I guess now it kinda falls into the "shop truck" genre. Not sure if it "belongs" on the HAMB anymore, but I figured I'd post up some info & see what some of you guys & ladies think.
That Chili Phil is an endless stream of philosophical outpourings. I really like that Studebaker a lot. I think you went the right direction. And support vehicles are very much a part of hot rodding, I dare you to find drag or salt event coverage without a rig in it.
Build it. Who cares what other people think! From the picture it looks as if you have a good platform to start from. At least you aren't trying to find odd ball body parts and garnish moldings. Good Luck!
With a Holmes or WeldBilt boom and bulkhead, an electric winch and a sling, you'd have a vintage tow truck. It's sweet as-is though.. Jan
Thanks for the positive input. I've got a "build thread" going over on the Studebaker section of a board that I moderate. Theres a bunch of the in-progress pics posted up there, if anybody's interested: http://www.oldhippie.com/forums/index.php/topic,6206.0.html And this thread has some shots of the looooong 300-6 in place: http://www.oldhippie.com/forums/index.php/topic,7328.0.html
Well, I have an F600 winch truck, so I really don't need a little one-ton wrecker. I do think it would look killer hauling a vintage racer on a trailer, though.
Yep, but this project idea went away about 2 yrs back. Its currently once again in limbo & back on its stock chassis.