Thanks for the motivation on the '34, guys.

Been driving the '34 around Richmond, VA the last couple weeks. Yeah, yeah, I know it needs that drop axle in the worst kind of way; and the motor needs those better heads (they're on the way). But I'm driving it, nonetheless. It's hot as the dickens here in the summer, it's loud, it cracks and crackles and carries on, rides like a buckboard, and absolutely no creature comforts. But it's a blast.

The other driver reaction wasn't what I expected, not entirely. Minivan moms don't pay it any attention and tennagers are too busy texting. The old guys give thumbs up, children laugh and point, but most folks just try and get out of the way with a scowl. People stop me and ask what it is. They have no clue- absolutely no idea- what it is. And when I tell them '34 Ford they don't know what to make of it.

Driving around in these old cars changes a man. The '61 is one experience- and it's a good one. But these pre-war vehicles are everything you guys said it would be. And double so on the flathead experience.

Don Orosco assures me that 21-studs are the sweetest (and most underappreciated). He might be right. I have a set of his heads on order. Add them and the drop axle, and I'm done.

But in the meanwhile, thank you thank you HAMBers and especially Ryan for giving me the big motivation to buy the truck and make it roadworthy. Tons of fun and a whole lot better than just thinking about it and talking about it.

 

Pete, looks cool ,by the way I just happen to have a dropped axle ........

 

Nice truck, looks just right. I even like stock heads and stock axles.

Another funny thing I have noticed while putting the miles on my flathead powered '30 tudor on '32 frame - there is a certain contingent of late model drivers who decide right away that they have GOT to pass the old jalopy in front of them. Doesn't matter how fast I am going, and I don't think they are trying to show that they are faster then me. They must think I am going to interfere with their day somehow. Does not seem to be gender specific.

Will

 

cool truck.... I'm jealous!

 

Reading this just got me motivated to get my 33 on the road even more. Ive been busting my ass on it and kind of getting lazy as of latly.

 

cool truck and it sounds like your having a blast, good for you...

 

wow....that is just perfection!!!!!!!!!!

 

It doesn't get any better than that. Keep it up!

 

I get that too. I will be going 65 mph they pass me then slow down or they ride my bumper like I am some slow car. It drives me crazy. Your truck is great I would put a hood on and then you don't have to change the heads. I would love to have your truck. Darrell

 

Will, yes, I've had that experience. WTF is that all about???

But mainly what I notice is that people are oblivious. Don't know, don't care, don't want to know. Too busy on their cell phone, too busy yelling at their kids, too distracted, or just gazing off into space. They don't look at an old jalopy going down the road, but don't pay attention to anything else either. Off in their own world. Like zombies. A little troubling when you consider that in an old car- a little like a motorcycle- we're at their mercy. Pays to be a defensive driver, that's for sure.

 

Your truck is awesome just like it is. I wouldn't change a thing. It would look great parked next to my 34 Coupe.

 

Kool looking truck phartman. I like it. Finish it or leave it as is. It's yours & you only have to please yourself. I hear ya about the idiots out there tailgating & having to pass you also. When I had the sub with a trailer brake controller I would just hit that a couple of times but keep my foot on the gas. It gets their attention too. They really get er going when I'm in the vette or 32 roadster they just gotta pass ya. I don't care I'm like the village idiot & just smile & give em a toot.

 

Dave, we gotta schedule a roadtrip down to Jack's. Already PM'ed him and put my name on it. Just gotta go and let Mr. Fuller lay his experienced hands on that front end...errrr, uhhh, I mean the truck's not mine.

 

Thats awesome. Drive the wheels off of it.

 

Man... I love that little truck! So tasteful and not over done. Just the right amount of patina as well.

Good job...

 

It's looking great, Pete. I had both of the above experiences with my '34 PU too.

 

Thats a sweet truck for sure. Your a lucky man.

 

that's a very tidy truck, sadly tailgating will always be an issue with people wanting a better look.

 

Original color was blue. Somebody somewhere oversprayed the blue cab and bed with enamel Bedford green. Fenders are original lauquer black.

The truck lived in a barn in Eastern Oregon for many years with a blown motor. In the late '80s, the owner took the motor to a shop in Idaho to have it rebuilt. They found the block was cracked, and wisely substituted the '36 LB block, which has insert bearings (the earlier flatties did not). Egge pistons, TRW bearings, adjustable lifters, Stromberg 48 carb, all good stuff. All the receipts from way on back were there.

The truck was sold on Ebay around six years ago and bought by a retired circle track racer out of Charlotte. He drove it until last summer when I bought it. His health is such that he had to sell everything.

I showed up at his house about a year ago, intending to buy one of his Model As, but fell in love with this little truck instead. Had to be interviewed by him and his wife before they'd agree to sell it. She told me, "I'm gonna cry like a baby when you drive away. I love this pickup." Nice folks.

Here's a pic of the truck as I bought it. Untouched, really, for many years:









Machine shop called yesterday. I have a set of heads ready with the correct combustion chambers. Can't wait to get them on.

 

Looks great Pete! Can't wait to see it at the Jalopyrama! You are bringing it, aren't you??

 

Will--It seems to me that people are in their own little world too--ipods, laptops, texting, etc. They can have it---I'll stay in ours.

 

I am convinced peoples reaction is partly based on the image you present. IE My channeled 32, fenderless, hoodless generally evokes indifference or some type of aggression or fear. my 30 A mordoor even though distinctly not stock because of paint scheme is hooded full fendered and seems less menacing because it evokes all types of old buddy converstions. even had a couple who told me they were in their late 80's come over to the car to tell me they had bought a new one when they lived in chicago! my point put the hood on it and notice the different reactions! keep us posted.

 

Yessir, we're coming to Jalopyrama! Have it scheduled in the VA HAMBers' social group as "Pete's Pie Run #3 Drive to Jalopyrama."

 

Put the hood back on you say? Hell no! I plan on loading the truck down with skulls and spiderwebs and replace the front with a rusted POS tractor grille, and give everybody the finger as I drive around. That'll fix 'em!

 

Im partial to just the hood top with fender-ed cars. Leaving the sides open fo just enough glance at the engine, but keeping the smooth lines flowing.

 

Pete, I love the truck ! I have a set of Don's 21 stud Meyers heads and they are beautiful, you won't be disappointed if you put them on.

Jim

 

Jim, I need to get them first. Expect delivery mid-August. Don's been very frustrated here on this set of castings by unacceptable porostiy of the machined aluminum. I exchanged emails with him a couple days ago, and he and the foundry think they've solved the problem. He's a real stickler for quality, and he is determined to make sure that every set of heads are everything that you and others have raved about. I'm happy to wait. Don's just a terrific guy all around.

In the meanwhile, my machinist called and told me the cast iron gennie Ford replacement heads (for the original alloy heads) are ready for installation. They'll give me a compression ratio of a notch over 6:1. Don's will give me a notch over 8:1. The mismatched ones on the truck now are probably not even 5:1.

The little truck's about to get an energy boost here shortly, and a great big one when Don's heads arrive.

 

The original heads I ran on this motor were aluminum, but I pulled them because so much sediment and corrosion was building in the water passages. Got the alloy heads "shaked and baked" by the machine shop. Here's what they look like after a "cleanup" pass:



Nice shallow chambers and 8:1 compression (which makes the 21 stud very lively). However, these heads were subject to lots of problems. I'm gonna pass putting them back on the motor, and keep them on the shelf. I have a set of the Orosco Eddie Meyer repops on order and I'll wait for them (they have the same compression ratio). The Eddie Meyers will be the final version of what stays on the motor.

But meanwhile, need to work up a set of the cast irons for flattop pistons. A set of dometop chambers is on the truck now, and they don't work worth a hoot. The mismatch in dome heads and flat pistons probably isn't even giving me a compression ratio of 5:1. Here is what a bone stock Henry Ford gennie flattop set looks like:



The machine shop cc'd them to 86, which gives a final compression ratio with the way my motor is set up of 6:1. The alloy heads that came off the motor had a compression ratio of 8:1 and were cc'd at 52. So I found a good, solid second set of iron heads to play around with, and had them shaved .050" and they cc'd at 70, giving me a compression ratio of 6.85:1. They look like this:



So these 70 cc, cast iron shaved heads will go on the motor next week and wake it back up again.

A couple things about the 21 stud. First, there were approximately 15 different configurations of the cylinder head chamber when you figure in all the gennie heads and non-Ford replacements that were offered. Replacement heads were being offered by aftermarket manufacturers after WWII even though early 1937 was the last year of manufacture for this head configuration. That tells me that plenty of these motors were still in use and that the demand was there because cooling problems were cracking heads regularly. It is very common to find mismatched heads, by the way, on operating motors. Thriftiness demanded that if you only needed to replace one side, that's all you did.

Given that many configurations, it is difficult to find matching sets. Be careful. Awfully easy to not pay attention and get two different head chamber designs.

Second, the Ford heads all seem to share a common characteristic: the sparkplug hole is offset to the exhaust valve. The non-Ford repops I've seen do not share this design (I have one being cc'd, I'll post a pic when I get it back). But third, even the Ford designs differ in subtle ways that aren't immediately obvious. Look carefully at the chamber design on the last two heads above. Neither of these iron heads have the machined groove around the sparkplug hole to direct the flame travel, as does the alloy Ford head. And look at other differences between even the two cast iron chambers: one is concave around the plug hole, the other convex.

The 70 cc heads will go on this week and will tide me over until the Eddie Meyers heads are delivered. At 6.85:1, ought to be a little more feisty than the stockers.

 

More truck pics....

The cab interior was just cleaned up and pretty much left alone. There were numerous holes cut in the dash. They were filled, and then the dash painted matte black for a little contrast. Simple Classic Instrument gauges were mounted in the original location. Since the oil pressure and voltage gauges are in the firewall so you can see 'em when working on the motor, I used warning lights on the dash.



The access panel in the floor at the driver's feet is one of those nice stainless steel panels from Rockland Antiques. They advertise in Rod & Custom. Nice people and nice parts. They were the only ones I could find selling the panel door. Gives me enough access to check the battery and hook up jumper cables if needed.




I didn't want to clutter up the dash or interior with the switches. They are mounted on a recessed panel to the left of the steering column, out of sight. That is the headlight switch, the heater switch and the starter button. The toggle switch to the left of those three is the cowl light switch. Big button there to the left on the doorjamb is the choke cable.



Access to the brake fluid reservoir is neatly behind the driver seat cushion, behind the seat pedistal.

 

Pete, I just noticed this thread. Your truck is outstanding. I know you're pleased. Hope to get to see it one of these days. - Tom