The Rain Gauge- My 1934 Ford Pick-up Build

This is my story of a very long (7 years and not done yet) build of a 1934 Ford Pick-up that has been nicknamed the "Rain Gauge" by a former daughter-in-law because it has taken so long.
I wanted to thank many of you for the help on the hamb board, some from direct questions and others by reading posts- it is a great place for help.
This may be my last build but I've had a lot of fun not only from my sons but now from some of my grandchildren- it has been great.
The build started out as two 34 cabs and some American Stamping rails, I wanted to build a pick-up that was practical so I've widened it 8 inches (cab and frame), lengthend the frame 12 inches and lengthened the cab 8 inches. Original running gear came from a 69 ford country squire (429) but it was one of the few problems I had with buying anything on e-bay- I simply trusted someone and while it wasn't a great financial loss it certainly set me back time wise. Attached are pictures of what I started with and the finished truck before tearing it down for painting, as I have time I'll fill in the details (I have always admired people like Grits who can do this while building, I seem to be a lot slower that he is!).
Thanks for looking!

 

That's one wiiiiiiide truck.

 

Nice work! Good to see a '30's era truck with some fenders and running boards on it for a change.

 

damn i like it , rock on

 

Thanks, I hope to start pictures of the build this week-end, as I said before I'm not the fastest at posting but I will try to get caught up in the next couple of weeks.

 

Continued-
I purchased rails from American Stamping rails and built a jig using I-Beams. I cut the rails at the point the firewall meets the frame and added 12 inches to it, then built the inner bracing from tubing, building the frame 8 inches wider than stock. All welds are stick welds.
I then found a Heidt's IFS at a swap meet, cut it in the center, added an 8 inch piece to it and welded into the frame.
I then built bars, shock mounts, and pan hard bar mounts and intalled the rear-end. The original motor I used for mock-up was a 429 from the 69 wagon but as I mentioned earlier the wagon was a "bad" buy on e-bay- I was told I could drive it to Chicago so I trusted the guy and paid for it without looking at it and had my son pick it up for me. The block was cracked and unuseable! Obviously my mistake but it was the only rip-off I experienced using e-bay so I am a satisfied e-bay user.
Hope you enjoy, more later.

 

Looking real kool.

 

The Frame build cont'd.

Originally I planned to paint the frame the same color as the body so attached are pictures of the etch primered frame. As often happens in my projects, new ways of doing things came up when someone suggested I powder coat the frame. My immediate reaction was that would be too expensive (this is a "budget" build) but after checking wik local powder coaters I d found it would be cheaper than painting so all the frame prep and etching was tossed out, the frame was sand blasted then powder coated by Burleson Powder Coating. They did a great job matching the paint color for the rest of the truck and I've quickly learned that powder coating is a great way to go, so dar in the reassembly I have not had any scratch etc. problems and would highly recommend it to anyone.
The 429 has been replaced with a 460 from and 84 Ford pick-up, was rebuilt but mostly stock.
The Rack and Pinion is from Unisteer, I had to have a wider rack to accomodate the wider frame and they were great to work with, helped with the final dimensions and after driving several hundred miles before tear down there didin't appear to be any bump steer problems.
More Later-
Thanks for looking!

 

The Body
The bottom 8-12 inches of the blue body had been cut off and the second body had been hit in the rear and the rear window panel had been cut out but between the two bodies I had enough good sheetmetal to make a cab. The first job was using the door posts and front cowl section from the second body and welding them into the blue body to get the correct height. Once that was done I rebuilt the door frames and reskinned the lower half using skins from Howell sheet metal. Then:
Pic. 1: I built a skeleton frame using 1 1/2"pipe and welded the body to the frame so that I would have good support when I cut the body to widen and lengthen it.
Pic. 2: Skeleton frame cont'd.
Pic. 3 & 4: The blue cab had been chopped appox. 4 inches but was brazed together so I removed the brazing and welded.
Pic 5: The cab ready for widening and lengthening.

Thanks for looking, more later!

 

Body Widening

Once the skeleton was built and the body welded to the skeleton the rear window and the cowl vent were cut out, the body and skeletal frame were cut in half, 8" wide pieces of tube were welded back onto the skeletal frame to widen the body, then the rear window and cowl vent were welded back in and filler pieces were added to the body and welded in.
Pic. #1- my "helpers" (sons) cutting the body.

More later, thanks for looking.

 

Body Cont'd.

Pic. # 1- The body and skelton frame were cut, seperated and 8" pieces of tubing welded to lengthen the body.
Pic. #2- Body gap filled, roof put back on.
Pic #3- Roof gap filled.
Pic #4- Dash widened.
Pic. #5- Firewall welded in place
Pic. #6- Floor frame completed and starting to weld floor in place

More later, thanks for looking.

 

looks like a peterbuilt now
why did you widen it again?
now your 8"away from your lady
lol
tk

 

It probably sounds stupid but I simply couldn't fit in the cab comfortably and because I really like the looks of the pick-up and wanted a daily driver I decided the best way to enjoy it was to widen it- besides at my age the wife wants to stay away from me as far as possible, probable would have really liked it if I widened it 3 feet!!

 

Looks coooooooooooooooool I like it....Big Bad John

 

Thanks, are you close to Madison- used to live north of there many years ago!

 

Really a nice build you have there. You went through a lot of different processes to get it where you are now and its really awesome. I can't believe you bought a 429 and it had a cracked block. I have has at least 150 429 motors and never saw a bad block or any thing worn out. The bottom line is you got the 460 and it also looks killer. Thanks for posting and sharing your ideas and pictures.

 

Thanks for the comments, I have enjoyed building this truck but am REALLY looking forward to finishing it!
Regarding the 429, as I said in the beginning I really got taken on that buy but I have to accept responsibility because I didn't go down and look at it. On the other hand I have dealt with a lot of people on e-bay and at swap meets for this project and taken their word for something and not had any problems, actually made several new friends in the process. I still think this is the greatest hobby!
More later.

 

I'll give ya this much,,it's defiantly different from the run of the mill 32-34 Ford truck,,actually it's pretty cool.

One thing that jumps out as not being quiet right visually is the rather thin headlight bar,,,the truck has a beefy look along with the heavier looking bumper,,

A new headlight bar made from the same material as the front bumper in my opinion would look better,but we all know what opinions are like.

BTW,,don't beat yourself up to bad for the 7 year project,,,I have been working on the wagon that long also. HRP

 

Thanks for the comments, I do appreciate your thoughts on the headlight bar- I hadn't thought much about it when I widened it but I will definetely look at it again when I reassemble. You've got a great looking wagon and obviously done a lot of work yourself, I like it!

 

Misc. Changes

I wanted to do most of the work myself but there were 2 things I felt I had to have done by someone else. The first was the radiator and I made a drawing and had Superior Radiator make the new radiator, they did a great job- fit was perfect and it cools the 460 very well. The second thing I didn't want to do was the painting- the last paint jobs I did were enamel or lacquers and I think I'm king of the paint runs! I laughed at one of the posts in which someone else had the same experience and the advice was to keep adding paint and make it run off the cab- I couldn't afford that much paint! While this was my plan it didn't work, I'll explain another time.

Pic. #1: The grill shell was widened 6 1/2 inches by cutting on either side of the crown and filling in new pieces, the grill was then made from 5/16 inch brake line and chromed by a local Fort Worth plater.

Pic. #2: I had located a set of fenders from a Jewitt that I really liked but I simply couldn't get them to look right (for me anyway) and had a chance to swap them for fiberglass fenders (fronts were Wescott's, I think the rears were from speedway) so I did it and am happy- the fenders were very well made and required very little additional work other than the usual cutting to fit.

Pic. # 3: My sophisticated mock-up of a pick-up bed, probably looks goofy but it really helped me get the look I wanted. I had gotten a pick-up bed from a 50's ford when I bought the blue cab and was going to use it when I got an offer for it I couldn't refuse- I didn't now these were valuable and had almost started cutting it up. With the new found wealth I was able to get Pro's Pick to make up the panels and gate and I weded together and installed. They really do a good job.

Pic. # 4: Gauges and air installed

Pic. #5: Seats are from my wife's old 93 Buick Regal, no particular reason for using ohter than they were free and I liked them.


Thanks again for looking, more later.

 

Wow, I'm from the DFW area and we really got pounded with rain yesterday- I haven't heard of any fatalities but sure a lot of damage. The creek behind our shop went over the banks and some idiots decided to try and run a jet ski thru the creek. Flipped over and lost it, I felt sorry for the sheriffs who had to come out in the rain to look for them. Fortunately the jet skiers were ok.

Misc. Cont'd.

Pic. # 1 Bed Panels have been welded up and installed, fit was good.

Pic. # 2 I'm using a 15 gallon gas tank, really would like to have hidden a tank but couldn't find any better place. Battery is mounted in the rear of the bed, haven't had any problems starting.

Pic. # 3 Hood and side panels were fabricated from 18 gauge sheet metal, I was able to find a used hinge and release arm at a swap meet.

Thanks for looking, more later and I hope everyone else in the DFW area survived ok.

 

Looks like it's coming along nicely!

 

Cool!! I just wished I had the skills to lengthen and widen the one I have. I know I would fit better in it.

Really fantastic metal working. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

 

Thanks for looking, one of the reasons I posted this build was to let as many as possible know that if I could do this they certainly could so I really wish you'd give it a try, I'd be glad to help anyway I can. I think this is one of the great things about this hobby, most are willing to help-advise anyway they can.

 

Nice truck! With the widened and
lengthened 'cab, frame and everything
else', it's definitely not your average,
run of the mill, rodded '34 Ford pick-up,
that's for sure! It must have been an
incredible amount of work (not to
mention taking a whole lot of courage
to start cutting too!) but it's obviously
paid off nicely. Nice to see a 429/460
Ford V8 in a rod too. Those are one of
the most overlooked, yet readily-available,
big V8s going and a nice change from the
ubiquitous 'belly-button' small block
Chevy! Even in 'near stock' form, I'll bet
that 'torque-monster' 460 pulls that truck
around like a grizzly bear on 'roids!

Mart3406
==========================

 

Thanks for the comments, I really have had fun with this build and don't really think of it as a lot of work but obviously after 7 years I'm not the fastest either! My "friends" have referred to the 460 as a "stump puller", I do know it has a lot of torque!

 

That is mone cool truck! I know what you mean by no space. I can't wait to see it when your done. Looks great!

 

Thanks and it looks like you've got a good start too. I'm always curious so how long have you been working on yours?

 

Painting!

I am the first to admit I hate painting, last time I did it was when lacquers and enamels were popular and I was "King of the Run"!
Therefore I was determined to find someone else to do the painting and found a someone who wanted to swap my installing an electrical system in a 53 chev. pick-up for the paint work which was perfect for me.
Unfortunately the painter has developed a serious health problem and rather than try to find another painter my son convinced me "we" could finish this- you all know how "we" works when it is your son! Thanks to articles on the board about painting and talking with the original painter "we" tackled the project and I must say with all the new paints, topcoats, and guns it isn't anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be. I certainly don't claim it to be a "show car" paint job but I'm not embarrassed by it and still haven't found any runs!
The color is a Toyota red that my 3 year-old granddaughter picked out, I liked it.
Thanks again for looking, I do hope to finish this by Christmas (this year)!

 

Looks great from here!