Hi, I picked up a 42 Chevy truck cab, fenders, hood the whole front half. The body is in really good shape, not rusted away to nothing, fenders are rust free. Cab has no rust except a couple spots in the door. I’m planning this build in advance so I can have a good direction and not wait 10 years flip flopping back and forth between ideas. I want to get some general ideas on this build and see some other ways they have been done. Considering the very fact I have a complete front end in good shape leads me to want to run it with fenders, and I paid next to nothing for this whole thing. Running gear wise I want to run an early small block, 56 Chevy 265 that I’ve had lying around for some time with an aluminum powerglide and a more modern rear end. (Put a Chevy motor in a chev, a novel concept) I think I’d upgrade to a boxed frame due to the fact it’s more power than factory, not sure what to do for front suspension, I want it to look period correct, something that would have been built in the late 50s, not a rat rod, but I definitely plan to keep the patina it took nature years to perfect, but I don’t want a stock restoration, want it to have a hot rod look, but considering it’s a 42 which is the rarest year for any vehicle, I want the body to be stock, not chopping it
I want a boxed frame, it’s a batter idea over the 80 odd year old original frame and finding a rust free frame that old in Canada?
This is the 42 when I bought it, it was on a 63 Chevy frame that the previous owner bought to use that frame under a COE, I wanted the body, it is the front half,
A 265 and an aluminum glide together might be a challenge if the block isn't drilled for a block mounted starter. 265 had bolt to the bellhousing starters on both stick and automatic and the reason most 265 powered rods run a stick shift rather than a later automatic. Something to figure out early before you get to that Ah shit moment when that fancy little starter you bought won't work. I like those Deco trucks, My best friend in Texas had a 41 that he put a 396 and 4 speed in but we ran all over Central Texas in it with the stock six before that. Save this to your bookmarked pages as it is the link to the correct 42 Chevy truck info and answers a lot of questions that may pop up. https://www.gm.com/content/dam/comp...its/chevrolet-trucks/1942-Chevrolet-Truck.pdf
I believe they make a adapter plate for the trifives with the original 265s for a later transmission that would mount the starter correctly
Does anyone know where to locate the original serial number on these trucks? Also wondering if a 41-48 car windshield frame would fit because I know where a 46 4 door is being parted out
Numbers were stamped on the frame and a plate on the firewall. titles more than likely used the engine numbers Truck WS frames should work from 39-46 Chevy or gmc. Cars didn’t have WS frames during those years
Lets see how 41-46s were done back in the 50s and what would be some cool period correct touches to this one
Probably won’t be near the number of examples for trucks as cars build what you like What style? Custom Kustom Hot Rod Tail dragger Gasser Other
I think those are big truck fenders, just something to keep in mind when fitting it to a 1/2 ton frame. As far as trucks in the 50's as hot rods there's not going to be many examples, trucks were bought as trucks back then, something to earn the bread and butter with. Some states titled off the cowl i.d. plate while others titled off the engine's brass tag, I'd try and use the cowl plate.
Some of them can look good fenderless, however with mine I’m keeping the fenders, I have a good set of rust free half ton fenders with an excellent patina and good running boards and hood I’d be crazy not to use them
I had an art deco cab truck. I put an advanced design bed on it. It looked good. Had to trim the front edge of the rear fenders a scosh.
The AK and AD beds are the same width and height but I think the length is different, not sure on mounting points. You could probably look up bed wood kits for both and see if the bolts are in the same place or not.
The body number plate is on the passenger side of the cowl, as @swade41 showed. If your truck is Canadian (you seemed to mention that), the first number of the body serial number is the year. There was a guy in Calgary that at shows had a sign board that talked about how rare his full custom 1944 Chev pickup was. Yeah, it was a 1946.
Sorry, but the big bubbly AD fenders on a more streamlined design Art Deco truck look terrible. A lot of people do it because of the availability of AD fenders and scarcity of the earlier stuff, but they don't match the profile of the front at all. That's partially incorrect. The length and height are the same, but the width is different. Here's a good reference for measurements and information straight from GM archives. https://www.gm.com/heritage/archive/vehicle-information-kits
That's like your opinion man. I bought the truck for $1500 and the bed was $90. Looked pretty good to me.
As long as you find a bed with angled top rails you could make your own front panel and tailgate yo get the width you want. You could also buy 41-46 glass fenders to get you by until you can get steel ones. My truck is pretty altered, the only thing not altered is the cowl, but it still lends itself to the original deco style.
Hello, When we drove to the ocean shoreline on our weekly road trips, there were plenty of different places to go and enjoy. Who does not like a blue ocean, great looking waves and the general outdoor feeling that the world is out there and this is part of the whole place. It just happens to be in So Cal and perhaps, that is why we are still here since the 40s as families and together since college in 1966. Back when I was a young teen, this area was a small store area with a lot of surfboard manufacturers, designers and the roots of what most see in its final form, a completed shiny surfboard in a commercial shop display. In our old westside of Long Beach neighborhood, there was a shop in the industrial area where my friend was the primary finisher of several brands of surfboards. Those surfboard shapers would sent their “hand shaped” foam blanks to be finished, including fin placement, and fiberglass/resin compounds. Then the final sanding and gloss to be shipped back to the dealer’s shops in the shopping centers or old strip malls. This area of the coastal So Cal is well known in the surf world. The neighborhood of the "surf ghetto" in South Orange County has history that go way back to the early 60s. but, as the neighborhood grew, tons of manufacturing shops for all kinds of construction popped up. Afterall, it is a industrial zone, that once had an actual “junk yard” to scrounge around for old car parts. Now, that junk yard is an RV/trailer storage yard. Jnaki Within this complex of small industrial shops, lies one of the most unusual places. It is called Classy Chevy. These cars are usually seen outside on the main drag from the freeway to the ocean. It is a great way to advertise the business. (nice looking trucks as part of the business.) No, I do not work for Classy Chevy. I had several questions about Chevy trucks. The shop owner helped me identify some old Chevy parts, how they worked on the truck and gave me some ideas on old Chevy Trucks in the USA. This yellow/white 1942 Chevy pick up truck looks like a custom truck, but there are clues that it is a shop truck, carrying packages and boxes of parts to be shipped across the USA. It is a work truck for light weight parts and boxes. For the heavy stuff, the friend behind the 42 custom yellow truck, looks like it could carry a lot more, large and bulky car parts for delivery everywhere. The stake bed helps for larger items. A 38-42 Chevy stake bed truck? This whole area is the old industrial area of the city that goes back historically, many years... with Rainbow Sandals being the most popular industrial building known to most people. The Chevy trucks parked outside are always a draw to this industrial area. I recently talked to the owner about one of his Chevy trucks that I saw parked outside. He was very cordial, knowledgeable and was willing to answer any questions I had. He did not know me from anyone else… I was just an inquisitive customer. YRMV The website called: https://www.classychevusa.com/ is quite complete with several options for parts and also literature. For a local Chevy truck restoration company, they do have quite the following. A call to them or fill out the contact sheet will get your project questions answered. "Classy Chev USA is a subsidiary of RepGuy.net,Inc. We started our California corporation in the year 2000 to market, sell and manufacturer classic restoration parts for cars & trucks. We maintain a fully stocked warehouse in San Clemente, California, USA and ship worldwide to most destinations. We are distributors and represent many manufacturers of reproduction parts. All transactions are in US dollars." Welcome to Classy Chev USA We are a distributor of QUALITY reproduction parts for classic car trucks hot rods & customs. We keep a very deep inventory of about 1800 different SKU's allowing us to ship quickly and have a 99.9% order fill rate. We carry both new and used parts and buy in bulk and keep our overhead low. We can offer competitive prices and almost always ship in 24 hours or less! We inspect all parts before shipping assuring the quality of each and every order. We are car people, having owned and restored over 35 classic / hot rod vehicles in the last 40 years. We are knowledgeable about classic cars & trucks and truly enjoy this business. This is a family business and we care a lot about our customers and the level of service we provide. Your source for quality parts. Classic Chevy Cars & Trucks, Rat Rods, Hot Rods and Customs. We carry 1959 Cadillac tail lights, turn signal switches, old Chevy & GMC truck parts, hub caps and other sought after parts for your classic Chevrolet & Ford! Let us help you with all your Classic vehicle needs today! Brian We buy in bulk and keep our overhead low. We can offer competitive prices and almost always ship in 24 hours or less! We carry a large selection of USED 1934-1946 Chevy & GMC truck parts. Just email us your needs. https://www.classychevusa.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=results/category_id=358/mode=cat/cat358.htm
There are reproduction steel fenders available now, but they're not cost-effective. https://jlfabrication.com/products/...-lh-rh-rear-bed-fenders-driver-passenger-side
Does anyone know which exhaust manifolds would fit the best? I still want to run a manual steering rack I know on the v8 swapped 47-54s header clearance is often an issue
Asked about trad mods then asks about a rack? kinda confused. exhaust fitnent? any manifolds will fit at this stage of the build
I agree with Anthony, your thoughts seem a bit scattered. It's unclear what you're using for chassis and suspension, we have no idea where your engine will be mounted in the chassis, but you're asking about header clearance. Don't put the cart before the horse. Decide what you want the build to be and what parts you're using, then you'll be able to figure out header options. I use manifolds on all my stuff because I see no reason to mess with headers. Rams horns fit great on a lot of stuff.
Let’s get real...... You have no 1942 Chevy truck. You have what may be a ‘42 cab some front fenders that may be for a big truck. Running boards and a ‘63 chassis of some type. This is no where close to a complete vehicle. You are worried “batter” boxed frames when you have no chassis. You worried about an exhaust system when you have no vehicle to put it in. The way this is going..... You could buy 3 running and driving Art Decos before you get this contraption running. Likely you’ll loose interest. What about tagging and title? You have a few parts, that’s it. If you want an Art Deco truck, you need to start with a vehicle. You need to find a complete example. Does it have to be perfect? No. But it needs to be reasonably complete. Look for a complete or more complete truck that you can use your good parts on. Building from scratch is difficult. You need to start with something complete. The Art Deco in my opinion are the most beautiful pickups ever made. If want one, build one, but start with one.
Maybe consider the fact most people don’t have infinite cash, these are rare and this is more than just “a few parts” it’s my build my way what I want don’t be rude and keep your negative comments out of here
Absolutely, that's just my opinion. It's also my opinion that people go that way because it's cheap and easy. If replacement 41-46 fenders and beds were cheaper, you and everyone else using the AD stuff would use them. I paid about 1/5 of your total for a full body. They're out there, but I got lucky too. In the early 2000's it was common to put a 90's GM bed on the 47-54 AD trucks. It can look okay, but it doesn't look right. I can appreciate that the AD bed and fenders is a cheaper solution and that using what you can get cheap is the backbone of hot rodding, but it is a detraction from the looks of the truck. In the first 3 photos below, you can compare the side profile using the AD fenders (first photo) to the correct art deco fenders (second and third photos). The profile of the sweeping fenders that matches front to rear and the profile of the fronts of the fenders that matches is elegant to me, and from a 3/4 rear view is honestly my favourite view of my truck. That red and black truck in the second photo just looks darn good. Below are more photos for comparison. To me, the ones with AD fenders just lose some significant appeal. If you don't care, you do you.
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