This post is overdue. I loaded all the pieces to the '34 into the back of the pickup and headed out to Illinois mid-December. Best reason to go was to hang out with Matt and laugh alot, but a great second reason was that he loves everything hot rod and convinced me to bring all the parts along so we could get some more work done on my pickup. I wish I had a picture of everything loaded in the truck for the trip out. EVERYTHING was in there...frame, cab, bed, suspension, unmounted wheels, tires...even the grille shell. Just no engine or trans. Definitely got some looks along the way and comments at the toll booths. We had mocked up the frame earlier, but didn't quite get it up on wheels due to me not having all the parts we needed. Matt and his dad and brother worked a connection so we could mount the tires, which was too nice. So the first night it was up on wheels: Didn't get anything blasted before I took it out. Sorry, Matt Then we set the cab and bed on and started laying out for cab and bed chop. The blue tape worked as a great guide and was nice for doing a quick photochop ahead of time to determine how much we wanted to cut:
"I wish I had a picture of everything loaded in the truck for the trip out. EVERYTHING was in there...frame, cab, bed, suspension, unmounted wheels, tires...even the grille shell. Just no engine or trans. Definitely got some looks along the way and comments at the toll booths." Is it just me that wishes you had pictures of *anything*...or are the photos just missing? Or are there photos that I'm not seeing?
So, no putting it off any longer! Having decided on 4", it was time to do some cutting. The blue tape edge works as a great guide in combination with a 4 1/2" cutoff wheel. Nice and controlled... That one pic's my reaction to the roadster pickup idea...errrrr...I don't dig Third pic is with the top dropped down and the rear tacked up. Starting to look half-decent.
Here's Matt (34cpe5w) tackin' on the pillars. He came up with a cool way to blend the tops that worked out really well. A subtle touch that cleans it up compared to stock, too. The other shots are just once it's all tacked. Sorry if they're a bit hazy. We had the dust bowl going on in the garage and it was tough to get a good angle. Once that was done we got the doors cut but ended up not welding the tops back on since the frames were a bit tweaked and beat on...working on getting some new hinges, too.
And we didn't quite get to the box, either...oh well. Got ALOT done in 2 days. And then the only real frustration of the weekend was when U-Haul felt it would take me 4 days to get from IL to MD so they wanted $500+ for a trailer rental. Matt's brainstorm turned into a brainhurricane as we started talking it over and we came up with a simple little setup we like to call the "Tollbuster". Couple of sticks of box tubing and about 45 minutes of fabrication later I was set for the trip home without a single worry. Only thing I would change is a couple of small wedges underneath the skid at the back of the bed to take a little more load off the tailgate. Did great, though! Thanks to Amanda and Brian for helping load the '34 into the back of the truck (parked in the ditch) in the middle of the snowstorm. I gotta be one of the luckier guys out there to have such ridiculously good friends... Thanks again, Matt...I owe ya
Thanks for the positive feedback on the chop, guys. Appreciate it. Haha...I know it looks strange, but just to calm everyone before people start saying it's unsafe. It is perfectly safe, was tied down extremely well, and I actually ran some quick engineering calcs on it. Plus, above all, I wouldn't dare jump on the interstate where everyone depends on everyone else's judgment to stay safe if I thought for even a second that it was questionable.
Enjoying the thread, man. Getting me inspired to get started chopping my '33. What's the drivetrain in your '34 going to be?
Hey thanks alot! Chop that thing down, man! For the '34 I have planned a 292 with a T-5. It has a bronco rear in it already. Intake for the Y-block is on the way as we speak!
Nice chop, that's a bit of a drive to get it too. You had a little more overhang than I did on my recent trip back from Mo.
haha nice work I love the rig setup Ive done some stuff like that before but man never yet been able to say I had a truck in the bed of my truck. Man now thats a good lookin bed Cant wait to see more pics of this build. Nice smooth chop nothing to radical. I like it alot. -Jon
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