Projects I'm being framed!....Laying out a 34 chassis at the Candy Factory.

hahaha!

Well, soon enough the cab and bed will look less like a wall. At least, I haven't seen any walls painted Washington Blue.

 

Glad I'm not alone on that one!

 

by the way, if you decide not to use the cowl and firewall, i'll buy it off you

no seriously, the artwork on that is SWWWEEEEEETT!

 

It's be kinda tough to build that truck without the cowl or firewall...
But how much are you offering??


I can't wait to see those scribbles sanded off of there and a smooth coat of off white or cream on there.

 

yeah, that was no von dutch that did the striping, but the pinup on the side is quite nice. cowls are so overrated anyway, you don't need one

 

Where's the update!?

 

Yeash. I was still in Kingston when I sent you those pictures. I'll update tomorrow because I want to sleep now.

*Suspense*

 

I was over at Candy's yesterday. Had to drop a few parts off and pick a few things up.

When I walked in, I was really pleased with how things are looking. The motor is in its final position, but looks fairly small with just the block.



There seems to be a lot of room in the engine compartment, but it's a bit deceiving. (Note where the crank pulley sits in relation to the front crossmember). Once the heads, valve covers, intake, carbs and scoops go on, there won't be nearly as much room. It should fill up the space nicely.



The Candy-Man fabbed up some slick mounts and blended them into the rails. I'm happy with how everything looks up front. Real good.



Here's where we spent the majority of our time and discussion...
The way things are designed from the factory for the Olds and Hydro, the engine mounts at the front, and the engine/hydro mount at the bellhousing. The problem with fabbing a transmission mount that pics up at the tailshaft, is there is then a great deal of unslung weight at the bellhousing.
I wanted to use the stock transmission mounts, as well as the stock transmission mount crossmember. I thought it would work out fairly well, and allow for a removable transmission mount should I ever need to drop the hydro.
We bolted on the mounts, and sliced up the crossmember to make it fit between the rails. With it in place, we discussed how the remaining parts were going to fit...

This picture shows how little space there is, once the Hydro is in place. To the mix, we have to add the transmission mount, 40 Ford pedals (thankfully the brake pedal only), X member, steering column and the kickdown linkage that connects the Hydro to the carbs. There's a lot going on in a very small area.



I have full confidence that Neil will be able to cram it all in and make it fit.

 

How much did it hurt to cut that firewall?

That's a lot of motor and trans!
Did you say that it weights in at 800+ lbs?

 

It didn't hurt me at all. I wasn't the one getting cut.
Serious though, I wasn't there when it got cut. But I did talk with Neil about how much more will be getting cut...

I think all in with accessories and fluids, the motor comes out on the high side between 600 and 700 lbs. With the fluids, the Hydro is approximately another 200 lbs. At least, that's what I've been told.

 

I received a PM enquiring about motor placement, heigth in the frame, etc.

Here are the pic's to show why we placed the motor where we did, mainly due to the original mechancial fan.... These pic's were taken before the motor mounts were installed, however; the motor is in the same position. Thx...

 

The first picture is the transmission crossmember trimmed and bolted up after I left on Sunday. We whacked the ends off to get it to fit between the rails so that we could get an idea of how everything else would fit.



Since then, Neil has cleaned up the ends of the transmission mount that we cut off, and cut out some mounting plates. The mounting plates will have nuts welded to the back of them, and will be recessed into the frame. The transmission mount flanges that we cut off will be welded back on. The result will be a removable transmission mount that looks like it is supposed to be there.

 

lookin good! see you got that pinstriping off the firewall, looks pretty nice too, i don't think it's traditional but you could checkerboard the firewall. just thinkin out loud over here, anyway, good luck and get it done!

 

Great plan for the trans mounting plates.
I'll be doing something simulator...

Oh and you really should checkerboard that firewall.....

 

Just a bit of progress.

Transmission mounting plates are in, the mount ends are back on, the engine/trans are sitting on their own now.





And just because.

 

Good milestone!
Kind of another optical illusion going on there.

 

I demand more updates!

 

Good looking mount set up.

Perhaps a third helping???

Pies are baking down this way...

 

The cab really blends into the wall in those last few pictures, eh?

I like pie!

 

Actually, I was meaning the angled pan on the trans, and where the vents in the bell housing are.
looks like it is turned cc about 45 degrees.

 

Oh, gotcha. I thought you were relating back to some earlier posts from the guys.

Around 1954 (I think that was the first year) Oldsmobile hydros became slant-pan hydros. Essentially, they rotated the transmission 15-20 degrees, dropping the left side down. The idea was to put the linkage lower down on the transmission in order to reduce the size of the transmission hump. The hydro's also got a new wedge shaped lower pan to maintain clearance, hence the 'slant-pan' moniker.

It looks deceiving, like the transmission was bolted up wrong, but I assure you that it is factory spec.

 

Cool, Thanks for explaining that,
I love learning stuff!
I like seeing updates on this build.

 

Looks good so far. I like the plan.

David

 

lookin good!

 

haha I've had to explain that one once or twice before.

Hopefully there will be more updates in the not too distant future

Thanks guys!

 

I like the driveline choice! Nice work!

 

The Candy-Man has been making a bit of progress on the frame. Lots of life and other commitments and responsibilities taking up time.

Now that the engine and transmission are in and all squared away, it's time to join everything else together. I really wanted a 40 style X member. With the big hydro, 40 brake pedal, steering column and transmission mount, I was placing a tall order and space is definitely at a premium. A tight fit is an understatement...





Neil has the X member in and mocked up for positioning. A centre crossmember will be fabricated and will fit just aft of the transmission... most likely encompassing the tailshaft (does that make sense?). That will tie everything together for stability.



You can see here how tight things are between the rails. The 40 Ford brake pedal still has to be shoehorned in along with the steering column.
Flowmeister, from this angle, you can see how rotating the hydro down allowed for a smaller transmission hump in the stock Olds bodies. It also serves to give us valuable space in smaller Ford bodies.



The lightening holes will get flared once finished...

 

It's lookin' nice!

 

Looking real good guys. I know exactly what you're talking about things getting tight with the X-member, frame rails, and pedals. I had to put my master behind my seat and the pivot for the pedal above the floor.

Thanks for the explanation on the slant pan. I've heard the term before but I've never actually seen why.