Greeting's All.... I guess this is big red's build thread,I'm going to try & get him on the road this summer....With in the next 30 days or less I'm going to keep it real simple,I just want to drive my truck this summer! I'm in Texas so summer is up till Oct. Nov. ! I have pretty much everything I need for the build,although I'm not 100 % sure which direction I'm going yet. I like the low look as it is currently mocked up,after seeing iwanaflattie's truck, I had to see how big red looked low. I really dig it! The alternative is big red with some old school American Racing Daisy style wheels I have, 10 inch out back,8 inch up front jacked up in the back alittle with a moderate rake up front,& a thump'in motor of course. I will post pics of this mock up soon. I've sent out some pics to my friends,they're all fired up too. Everyone's digg'in it. I'm the only one in a large circle of car guy's with a COE, we're not stuck in any particular style we all just really love OLD cars & trucks. I've really enjoyed reading everyone's build thread's,I got motivated & good ideas from ya'll,Thank's. There are some really talented guy's in this group, really awesome talent.! Any question's or comment's ? BCNYA....
Thank's for the comment's guy's. I was at the swap meet this week end. while talking with a young car club guy,a low rider,bomb car club I showed him a pic of Big Red,the comment i recieved from the young car club guy was, "WOW What is it?" Totally blew his mind I'm sure Ya'll that have your COE's on the road hear it all the time. This guy was truly suprized by the appearance of my truck. A couple of my car buds came by to see it friday,one comment was, "That'll be the sickest truck in town." The other said "That would be my daily driver" I'm thrilled to be the owner of such a unique truck. To iwanaflattie On the question of which frame did I go with, As you can see I dropped the 49 Chevy COE on the 27 ft.motor home ch***ie,so that's out, I pulled an 82 chevy 1/2 ton truck from out back, & today I bought a long bed S10, I'd like to see how it look's, so it'll be either the S10 or the 1/2 ton chevy. I've seen the 3/4 ton & 1/2 frame used,they look great, iwanaflattie's truck has one & look's so Sweeeeet! Has anyone heard of an S10 frame under a COE ? Pro's, Con's of the S10 ? I know they make 1/2 ton 50's Chevy & Ford truck's look great did 1 already. Just wondering about the COE's. I'll finish pulling the S10 apart tomorrow & give it a test fit, will post the result's soon, so hang in there,give me a day or 2. any help on the info is greatly appreciated. Thank's again....BCNYA
I think your truck is going to look great. I get the "what the heck is that?" and "I never saw anything like that" all the time. Mostly I get " that thing is bad azz". You will get a lot of attention. I would think the s-10 frame might be a little narrow but I do not know how wide your truck is. I know the rear ends are the weak link once you add some power to them. My brother has a s-10 with a v8 and has blown up many a rear ends. The good thing is they are cheap and pleantiful.
Hey man. I dont know about the s10 swap but if you read the thread below there is some stuff about the s10 swap: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=594662
Hey all..... Hey buggy I read your truck's thread,awsome truck! Beautifull ! You may be right on the S10 being to narrow for my 47 Ford, If it dont work on the Ford I have a 52 Chevy COE I'll try it on, seem's the chevy's take a more narrow set up. If no I'll use it on a regular 1/2 50 Chevy truck,so we'll see. Hey Flattie,Thanks for the lead on the thread,I read it. Lota good info & comment's.... Thank's Guy's...................
Great project. Love the look of the mock Up. I tought to that 1 year wil be anof to build the truck but it took me 3 years 16hours a week. Hope you get it don. Its lots of fun and attention when you drive it
Hey All.... Sorry about the delay in post's & pic's, the wrecker broke down, I HAD to fix it myself, plus just misc stuff that popped up needing my attention,you know how it go's........ But Finally got Big Red in the shop & on the lift. The pic is me & my buddy Bryan,a real talented builder,working with me on it. We did a test fit with the ch***is,I went with a 84 chevy 1/2 ton long bed. Trimmed off the front frame horn's,sliced into the frame where the cab mount's come down look's like a V, this cab has 2 set's of rear mount's & the front's.It really match's up well with the chevy frame. I moved the rear leaf spring's under the axle,it dropped it about 6 - 8 inches. I'll channel the bed down alittle more to match the cab's line's I'll have to take out about 37 inche's between the cab & bed. That'll make it a wheel base of about 100 in. I'll bring my camera to the shop tomorrow & take some pic's of the work so far, I'm gettin there ! BCNYA
Hey all, I was finally able to get some pics of Big Reds frame as Bryan & I shortened it. The result of the shortening of the frame is a 96 inch wheel base. I'm using a late 40's INTL bed There's still some welding that needs to be done but it is basically as it will be. Yes I did clean & spray it with a fresh coat of HGB. BTW ,the daisy wheel's I spoke about earlier are in the back end of my yellow Astre, they were to big to fit in the rear fenders of the bed so hence no mock up pics. I'm totally satisfied with the results so far with the 84 chevy lwb frame, I'll be using the same on my next 2 Chevy COE project's. A few of the guy's have stopped in to see how it was going, everyone is really diggin the result's so far, these Chevy frame's really work great. I'll have the motor & ****** in some time this week,reset the cab & bed then adjust everything accordingly. Bryan's really falling for this old 47 Ford COE,we're going to hunt him one down next ! BCNYA........
AHHHHHH A nice clean ch***is to work with. I made the mistake of painting mine with rustoleum flat black,I cant keep the desert dust off it,it makes it look real dirty. So did you cut a section out of the middle of the frame? BTW your workin way too fast...hahaha jk. great job
Hey Seth, & All.... I cut out the middle of the frame where it kick's up just before the bed. I wasn't sure what I'd have to work with after the initial cut but it joined up perfectly, I couldn't have asked for a better ch***y. Yeah I made sure the frame was totally cleaned,I'll lift it up on the A frame & finish painting the rest of it I sprayed it in the hot Texas heat, 100 out that day.as you see it turned out nice! It's taking me longer than expected but I decided to do more to it,making it a nicer truck 1st time around. I'm pretty excited about the truck,My kids & the wife are all fired up too. I cant wait to pull into the drag strip pulling my Vega.It's going to be a trip. It's hard to believe the're both the same wheel base.... Big Red is rocking along ! BCNYA....
Hey All.... A little up date on my COE.... My buddy Bryan & I put the motor & ****** in it & the cab is back on the ch***y, this time for good I believe, unless I see something else I need to do or change,but look's good for now I put a 400 sbc & a Turbo 350 in it. I'll have some pics again soon,the next pics will be of how it'll look when driving. I still need to cut a drive shaft & do some odds & end's to finish it up. I'm going with the original patina for now,paint a shop logo on the door's & age it to match the patina. The truck is coming along nicely.I'm looking forward to driving it ! BCNYA !
Ha, this is cool. First time I saw this one. I been wanting to hear how the steering came together? At the pace he was going at last post, he probably is having to much fun on the boulevard to stop for an update...
Very nice. I'm getting ready to start on my 47 also, really interested on the steering with your ch***is.
The Jalopy Journal
