Projects 50's Northeast coast built, channeled Chev RPU with early Olds Rocket

Well, I told my self I can't ever get any more hotrod project cars at my age..... but I did say "unless it's a local New England 50s channeled, Olds powered, and a spring-ahead front end"...

My son carried this home yesterday afternoon on the back of his 8-1/2 foot flatbed.

I have some of it's history, and it was said I will be getting photographic slides from back in the day, showing it as it was finished.

Got it from the son of original builder, but through his friend that handled the sale. "10-15 years ago", he said he was helping the son fix the car by stripping the cowl and door paint, and finding a 365 Cad motor for it. But there was some problem about working on it where it has lain since the 60s, so they quit the project. They never knew what motor trans or rear it had, as the car was taken apart before they were born. The motor, trans, radiator,pedals, gear chuck, rear axles and rear wheels were stolen many decades ago.

Today, I put in a spare J2 motor to see how it might have looked. Something is wrong by me using a stock 54 Olds rear bellhousing crossmember, into the original holes that were there. It made the back of the engine way too high, and I had to shim the front mount a lot, to level the carbs. I now think he must have Z'ed the crossmember to lower it. I had one like that from a Rocket powered 37 Chev coupe.

I could tell it was an early Olds Rocket powered, by the front engine mount pocket in the front crossmember, and a big clue was it has a 49/50 olds rear axle housing and trailing arms. I know that housing and arms date back to 1940, but I am guessing a parts car gave up the 303/4sp hydramatic, and rear? I know it was hydramatic because it only has one master cylinder pattern on the firewall.

54 Buick taillights, original rear bed shortened to 4 feet, 12" kick at the rear, almost level with the tailgate The cab is bolted to the frame, but the builder moulded the firewall/frame area with strips of sheetmetal curved to fit, to get a smooth look.

Colors; the cab and bed were the bright white, with dark metallic copper on chassis, headlights, firewall, front spring and steering wheel. Headlights are shallow bucket Guide 903 with tags still there.

It came with the 670-15 WW out front, and the wheels were that dark copper. This size was popular for the fronts back then, around here.

Front end looks to be spring-ahead 37-41 beam, dropped real nice and drilled. Brakes and spindles look like 42-48. Bones are 37 up 2-1/4" yokes, but with homemade hairpins. The rear hairpin mounting bungs are backwards, to make the tie rod end come in from behind the frame brackets. This was somewhat common in my area it seems; you get more turning radius that way.

The crazy part is it is cross-steer... with unknown ford car box and stock Ford box mounting plate bolted to the boxed rail. I don't know if the inner steering shaft was spliced, as it is a fine tapered spline for that unknown steering wheel. Homemade super long pitman arm, but the right spindle arm was lengthened to get the ratio correct. It steers pretty good considering rotting for decades near the ocean in an open building.

Many things were chromed, all the front end and tie rods, except the spindles and spring. Roll bar, entire complete dash, windshield frame, stantions, and lower piece under the glass were chromed as well as the steering column. The salt air ruined it all. Antenna mounted on right rear cab quarter.

I was hesitant to put this up, as I am not sure many viewers would "get it", but it really is what type of stuff that was done around the Northeast back then. ...........so...what do you think? .... besides it's rough

 

I think its a great find . Good luck with it.

 

Frank I get it as many of us do. Was dying to see pics after you told me about it.What a great thing to find an old hot rod built in the day. A survivor that I'm sure will be resurected to it's glory back in the day. Good luck with it and Congrats !!!! Looking forward to see it come back to life. I have first hand knowledge of your many talents. Thanks again for your help with my project............

 

I forgot to mention those long slots on the top bed rails. I thought they were for "belly burners" tail pipes that came up over the tire, then back down, and out.

The seller said he thought they were for glass packs, with the slots cut so the fat part could fit above the tires. I am pretty sure he is correct, as I noticed the notches cut on the upper back panel, right where a muffler outlet would be.

First 2 pics show the front motor mount shims, and a 324/371 mount laying there, that is too wide for the notched area. I later found an old mushy 303 mount that does fit in the notch. Then the bellhousing crossmember that is too high, and needs Z'ing in the center.

Other pic shows what the master cyl mount pattern looks like; I don't have a clue what it was.

And, does anyone know what radiator mount pattern that is on the L bracket at the frame front? It does not fit a 32 Ford, it is for a wider rad. I am thinking it was the chev radiator?

 

I like it. A great piece of history from the northeast.

 

THAT's Bitchin!

 

Whats not to get?
Love it!

 

Well Frank I get it! Looks like a great survivor and I know you can make it look right. That J2 looks awesome in there.What a find.

 

You Mass guys will be grinning to hear it was built in Beantown.

 

That thing is pretty bad-ass, im pretty sure there are a few more guys than you think that get it

Im betting the glass packs were chrome plated! very cool.

JEFF

 

oh and the steering box looks like a 37-48 ford unit, i think they are all basically the same.

 

I believe the two holes above the highlighted part are also holes for mounting a hanging pedal unit. I'd imagine the pedal unit itself might have supported a booster, although they probably wouldn't have run one on this car.

 

Booster bolt pattern is usually a square pattern centered around the middle hole.

the hole is for a 1955 (and many other years) gm master cylinder.

and if you look at the firewall closely you can see the stain from the shape of the top of the master cylinder flange.

 

Yes, I can see it, now that I know the shape of the top edge.

Also, the 2 holes near those 4 mounting holes; maybe that has something to do with the pedal mount? I will look for some tri-5 pedal mounts, or firewalls, for those extra holes.

That would be good if the tri-5 pedal was used, as I do have some Olds clutch bellcranks that would work with a chev clutch pedal vetical rod type pedal.

 

It could be but the pedals usually have studs in them that stick thru the firewall and the master just mounts to them and sandwitches to the firewall, but some one could have drilled some extra holes or somethin.

jeff

 

I can't figure out the steering wheel mounting. The wheel was repainted the same dark copper, but it simply won't go onto the inner shaft enough, to even get one thread showing for the nut. The back of the wheel is not hitting on any part of the tube.

Also a pic of the wheel for ID?

The steering column bell is made from an antique car trumpet horn, and looking inside it, I can see the recess where the rock screen was inside the horn. It was welded to the Ford column and plated.


I can't fit in the car with that dished wheel, and I tried a 42-48 Chev wheel which is mostly flat, and it still is not easy to get in. I was told that the owner was/is a "big guy"..something like 6'-2" or 6'-4" and 240 lbs

Dash gauges, I forgot to measure the holes. 2 different sizes. There is a plate bracket missing that held the column bracket to the dash.

E-brake pic for ID? it looks foreign, but not VW


and...the muffler slots; I was wrong when I first thought they were for tail pipes. Pic shows a glasspack like the seller thought, and he is correct, because the back edges of the tail gate jambs have been notched out in the exact spot that was needed. I did try putting the muffler into the slot by going over the tire, but the tire is too close, so I slid it in from the front. Then I could see why he had to slot the bedrails.

Last thing; I was just looking if I could raise the body up 2" for footroom, as the channel at the firewall area is 2" hanging below the frame. But, I then looked under the rear cab and see that the channel is level with the bottom of the rail, right at the very back of the cab. So, it is a angled channel....4" in about 8 feet? I can't raise the front, and keep the rear of the cab in the same spot because the rear tail of the bed will drop 2", and then the Z'd frame would show up top.

Too busy to work on it anyways, and I think it's best to change almost nothing. It is what it is.

 

Survivors kick ass!

 

Nice Find!!!

Looks like the right guy found it!!!

Not too many people that just happen to have a J2 sitting around their garage looking for a home!!

Bob

 

Frank;that steering wheel looks like it may be from a 56 Ford.That was the 1st year they used a dished steering wheel and the notches on the spokes look like where the horn ring fits.Just my opinion.

 

Hi Ray, Thanks for the wheel ID. Here is a pic from carnut.com, a 56 Ford dash. It is a match.


I wonder if those gauges on the 56 Ford fit any of the holes on this dash? And, there is a Philco tube radio with the car, I think Ford used that brand? I will get a pic of it. It does not have the remote dash unit, just the underdash box with a fancy cast speaker grille.

 

Wicked cool find Frank, congrats. I'm sure there's a lot of Mass. hot rodders pretty bummed they didn't find it !!!

 

All the good stuff is Mass stuff

When I was 20, I bought my first and only 50's built rod, a full fender roadster, and it was built in the Springfield, Mass area. It also was a non-Ford, so this also being a non-Ford rod, makes me pretty darn happy.


Ok, since Ray ID'd the steering wheel, I took my glasses this time....and was hand filing the splines to see why it won't fit on good. Duh, half way around, I see a "master spline" that has to be clocked to the wheel splines. Man, It fits good now . So, that means the builder had to splice the splined part of the 56 Ford steering shaft, onto the early Ford steering box, but why did he leave it so freaking long?

I'm not going to change anything after some thought. I will use the 303 that is in a beater 40 here, and a 54 Hydramatic I was given. The guy that gave it to me last fall, showed up yesterday with the 54 driveshaft and trans yoke attached, to see if I wanted it. I said sure, come look at what I am doing out back

One other thing I spotted; he used red see-through large dia fuel line to run the cloth headlight wires into the headlights. They are bleached out, but still red color if you pull it out of the bucket.

I will have to shorten the steering column so I can get into the car, but I will try to keep the rest of the build as it once was, including colors

 

It looks like the "Right Guy" stepped up for this one....

 

Another awesome find!!!

 

Straightening out the channel would certainly help square things up visually, as well.
Could the bed not then simply be raised a couple of inches?

 

Hi Chris, the guy in post 23 found it for me ...and he doesn't even live anywhere near here..

Ok, the cat's out of the bag; I had a few spare minutes today to test that theory. I need to pull the cab at some point anyways, so I cut those smoother strips at the lower firewall, unbolted the front of the cab, and pulled the lower edge of the front quarter up level with the bottom of the framerail.

I left the back of cab where it was, as it was level with the bottom of the frame.

Then I raised the front of the bed to get it all in line again. That made the bed sit higher, right into the beltline on the cab. Looks much better with the bed higher.

Now I see why he did the angle channel; the car has no rake to the front, and fools the eyes, thinking it is "nose up" a bit. But it is level. The front spring is not reverse eye and it has a 2nd longest leaf added, which makes too much arch. Pulling that leaf might bring it down perfect.

The other reason for the angle channel, was to hide the side frame plates that hold the trans crossmember in. That extra channel at the front hides those plates. I may leave it that way, not sure.

A 82 yr old friend stopped by today who is a strictly orig/stock car restorer and kinda well off. He has never shown any interest in my other hotrod projects at all. Well, one car of dozens he has restored, was a chev cabriolet about the same age, and he did all his own wood. So, he actually wanted to keep looking at this old beat rod. Then he was checking out how all the welding and fab was done, and he was really getting into it. He was a manager at Hamilton Aircraft, so he has been around fab work. He thought the work was really good for a young builder.

 

Well, at least we know that you've got a transmission that will fit that bell housing.

 

...and a sharp eye can see that the 51-up bell has already been drilled for the 1/2 shift rail on a 37 Buick trans

 

Here are the changes. I think it looks much better.

-lowered the front of motor to stock 303 engine mount location, and lowered the rear of engine to where I think he had it. Air cleaners line up with cowl top now.

-lowered the front spring arch with a spring spreader, to where it should ride with reversed eyes.

-raised the front of cowl 2" and raised front of bed 2". (removed the angle channel)

-mock up headers to show where the pipes will run, to the mock up bullet muffler tied to the bed rail.

-lowered the adjustable roll bar 2"


I gained a lot of pedal and footroom with these changes.



Now, the hard part will be getting a radiator to sit in the right spot with sping-ahead front end. A friend should have some 29/30/31 Chev radiators to try.

 

Very Cool!!!! I dig it..