For the past 6 months or so, the Singlefinger Speed Shop crew has been building a new shop truck to use for chasin' parts & going to swap meets. For most of these last few months, the guys have been buggin' me to do a build thread, but there hasn't been much time. So in order to get them off my back, here goes... The scope of the project was simple, we had to do it on the cheap (surprise). I told them that any parts that weren't dedicated to a build were fair game for the project. So, a little digging around the shop & tool shed, the guys extracted a few things to start a project with: 1957 Chevy 235 engine (pulled for a V8 conversion) Saginaw 4-spd trans & shifter '39 Ford front suspension, steering column, & rr axle a couple of gas tank options boxes of small bits that are always needed A good beginning, but we still needed a truck to work with. We decided that we had to find something that you wouldn't see at every rod meet we went to. That's when we came across this old cab on Ebay. We scored a 1949 White Motor Corp cab (mfg'd in Cleveland, OH) that came pretty complete with it's original hood, grille, dash, headlights, etc. After a road trip to/from WI with CaptainScarlet, we got to take a long hard look at what we had just dragged home. The more we snooped around the cab, the more we liked what we saw. Time was fairly kind & left us a lot to work with in this old girl! I really liked the flat floor because it promised an easier time mounting the cab to almost any frame we wanted to use. For me, the worst part of this build was going to be replacing the dry-rotted wood in the body & the doors, which was turning to powder every time we touched it. After a some head scratching, DustyOldBodyman penciled up with a rendering to get our motley crew motivated. Then it was time to spend weekends scouring swap meets, junk yards, Flea-bay, & confiscating more stuff that has been laying around the shop for way too long...
This motley crew will motivate - pics go a long way... There will be another pick soon - now that Larry has this post this member of the motley crew needs to put pencil to paper.. We changed only slightly from the drawing of original inspiration. I will reflect these changes in the next picture...
Haven't seen one of those old Whites like that in a long time. Always thought they were cool looking trucks, like the grill on them. Henrietta the '38 Ford pickup and Ozelle the '55 Ford are both impressed and send friendly horn honks.
Thought about it but we don't need something that heavy duty. We are going to make it a super duty half tonne
Having all these parts for a truck we were in need of a chassis. Late nights cruising through Craigs List turned up a few but nothing seemed quite right. Then we found a 1939 Chevy frame. Perfect, nice swept profile up and over the axles, right price. After a day or two thinking about it, great lets get it. Went back to Craigs list and it had disappeared. Ahhhhg!!!! After a bit of digging and a couple of phone calls we found it again. One day trip later and we had a chassis. We immediately clamped it onto the frame jig and started mocking up where things could fit.
One of the reasons we wanted an old Chevy frame was our choice of powerplant, the 57 Stovebolt. All of those old Chevys ran them so we thought it would make our job easier. The initial measurements showed that later 6-holer wanted to sit a bit forward of where the original did, but it was close enough to get started. Using 6"x8" heavy tube pieces, we welded the frame about 10"-12" up off the frame jig to allow us to set the suspension in place later. Our frame jig is actually a surplus FoMoCo body-truck from a local plant that we use in lieu of a surface plate. It's easy to store & gets moved out of the shop when we don't need it. Using this jig is a heck of a lot easier to keep stuff square & level than using jackstands under the frame, like we did "in the old days". We knew it would be a balancing act getting the cab, frt suspension & engine to fit properly to each other & allow for clearance to the wishbone. Bob's sketch showed split-bones, but being the lazy kinda guy that I am, I really didn't want the added work. Just to make sure that we had the aesthetic balance right, CaptainScarlet & I brought in the artsy-fartsy guys (Tfee & Dustyoldbodyman) to help set the front axle position. After a few beers, a lot of measurements, & much arguing, we clamped everything in place to start making mounts.
We thought so too! We were lucky enough to score a 2nd one from a bone-yard in Northern MI. It's a later one & made for a truck with the heavy front bumper, so when we finally set the height of the front end, we won't have to dick with sectioning the original one we got. (no, it's not for sale)
The original White Super Power was a six with a split manifold that sounded like distant thunder, but under the seat. They would pull like gangbusters. Your choice of a chev six will make the sound correct for what the eye is seeing. You will make many geezers smile as you drive past. Be cool and put a five speed in it. I love your build.
With the chassis engine and cab under way we now needed a box. We looked on ebay and Craigs List for weeks. Nothing. All the spare pick up boxes had been taken and shortened Eventually one appeared on Craigs List. A 1952 Ford box and tailgate. Right price. One day trip later box, tailgate and new crossmembers were in garage. Looking through Craigs List again that night found 1948 Ford Cab. Looked at the add out of curiosity and the last few words said "and a box". Another road trip the next day to the same town three streets away from the first box snagged us this. Sold off the fenders and the other box and tailgate that we didn't need and started to mock up the cab and bed onto the chassis.
Trial & Error Even though we're mostly Engi-nerds & work with body drawings all day long, we decided to align everything the old fashioned way. Trial & Error. This is the way that a lot of us rodders fit things together at home in our garage, but it rarely gets talked about. These steps often get rushed in the excitement of a new project, which is where issues come from later on in the build. Right or wrong, I wanted to share how we approached the initial alignment of all these "bits & bobs" around the shop. When we shoved the 39 Ford front end in place, we 1st centered the axle to the rails, then we centered the rear ball on the front K-member. We knew that we would probably be moving it forward & backward a few inches during this process. The final mounting spot wouldn't be set until the engine, trans, & front suspension were clamped in place. The location for this ball had to be based on a spot that would give us a stout mounting place for the socket. We clamped the ball in place with C-clamps & a 2x4. We would eventually choose the backside of the crossmember to fab up a receiver for the ball. We pulled the front spring pack apart & had the spring "eyes" reversed. Then we removed most of the leaves to simulate the ride height of the spring under load. This allowed us to set the front axle height with jackstands to ensure the wishbone is level with the ground when the truck is on wheels (like the factory). To doublecheck the proposed ride height, we mounted 6.00x16 tires up front & took measurements to compare centerline with the cab height. No front cross-member had been fabricated yet, so it was easy to play with the ride height of the suspension. Unlike the old White drivetrain, we centered the eng/trans between the frame rails. With it on jackstands, we shimmed-shoved-kicked stuff until there was proper clearances to the frame, the wishbone, & any other moving piece. We wanted to make sure that even at full axle travel, no part ever gets closer than 1" to each another. After double checking all the clearances, we were able to move the entire eng/trans down in the frame an extra 2" over where we originally thought it would be. The Grille Surround was filled with a $10 swap meet radiator out of an old Stude truck. It fit like a glove! We planned on hiding an electric pusher fan behind the grille to gain a little more room under the hood for the Stovebolt. Typically, OEMs keep 1-1/2" to 2" of clearance between the rad & the front of the engine, so we did too. This gave us our rough location for where to mount the Grille Surround to the front frame rails. Then we could start to work to the rearwith our trial fits. The engine height told us where the Hood height & Grill height were going to be. Once the hood was in place, we could work rearward & position the cab on the frame. The cool thing about the Chevy frame is the step-down portion lined up pretty well with the cab floor. We cut out the bottom corners of the firewall to let us move it around as we fit it to the Grille & Hood. The floor was unbolted & the trans tunnel was cut open for ease of access to the back of the engine, etc. Once we positioned all of the major components of the front half of the truck, we clamped everything in place. Now we could start laying out our mounting points & fabbing up brackets.
Great project! I can't wait to see how it looks when it's done. The mock up stage is one of the most fun parts of a build like that. It's looking good!
While we were mocking up the main parts I took some back to my shop and started to clean them up. We were lucky when the cab was rescued from the bone yard that the guy took as much with him as he could. We have the original Guide lamps and with cast mounts, and original foot pedals. Doing this on a budget means a little creativity. I had a bunch of rusty parts and no rust remover. But I did have some cheap white vinegar. So I soaked the grille badges and the foot pedals in the vinegar for a while and with a little bit of help a scouring pad I removed all the surface rust from them. The lamps too a little bit more help and needed paint stripper to remove three layers of paint.
Been searching through the web looking for old pictures of White trucks. Found some great sites, pictures and information. Thought I might share some with you all
The Jalopy Journal
