Obviously, its got a ways to go....the bucket and wheel holding the tires are not part of the build plan...but you can get a general idea. The front axle is '48 Ford...still at the blacksmith shop seperating the 'bones from the axle... The local Chevy parts counter guy came by last week and told me he had a 6-deuce set up he was willing to part with, so there ya go...and finally located another cab, so I can complete the chop on this thing over the next couple weeks. Steering is sprint-car style....shortened a 1953 Plymouth Cranbrook column, and am using the Plymouth box. More pics as progress dictates.
Neat idea... Remember Killer's truck he was doing for a while? Thinking out loud here - have ya thought about narrowing the body 6 or 7 inches why you have the top off? Might give it a real racy look...
That's going to look cool when it's all ****oned up. I guess you're getting another cab to widen the roof,,,,have you considered narrowing the cab instead? Just an idea.... Hey! I didn't see Ryan's post, honest. It went up while I was two finger typing!
Thanks... Yeah, I keep changing my mind about narrowing the body...the frame is still just tacked together because I haven't committed one way or the other....although it IS tacked to accomodate a narrowed body, so obviously I am biased The plus side of narrowing the body is just that...it'd look killer, and 6 inches is just about right...the down side is that I LOVE the '50 dash, and so I'd have to lose the glove box door (which is integrated, style-wise, into the ribbed central speaker/ash tray grille)... My guess is that I'll end up narrowing it...it would add that extra "WTF is THAT!?" factor, and thats a good thing.
I don't know about shrinking the cab. Bill is a pretty big guy. Not big like me (ie. fat) big like Junior Seau is big. I think that he is going to have a heck of a time fitting in that cab the way it is! Besides, I like it like that. It looks like a something an old hotwheel designer would have come up with...
Yeah...the other thing is that because I mounted the engine so high...the transmission is entirely inside the cab...makes a nice cup holder, but it does limit interior space Ah, well...I still have a part or two to fab before I have to commit to whether or not to narrow it... ...but yeah. If you and I get in the thing (I am offering to chauffeur you to Circle Bar Night next November)...we're gonna have to get a running start just to squeeze in
It can't be THAT narrow. Have you tried to get into a Model A pickup? I second (or third, or is that fourth) narrowing the cab to match the top. alchemy
Well...that thing is bad ***...I LOVE it.... But mine is gonna have a bit more fit and finish to it. For instance, I have created a "flattened" firewall, created the grille shell to accomodate the visual m*** of the cab, I'm fabricating the frame to be specific to this vehicle... So, yeah....its KINDA like the one you posted, but (forgive me), I am going to make it all "fit"
I'm on with the narrow cab thing also. Unless you're real wide you shouldn't be hurting yourself. You might have to fab seats, or snag a set from a fiero or something. But that wouldn't hurt much. Nice truck.
that thing is cool. Somebody on here was working on a ford version but the chevy has that old beltline (right term?) that runs around the cab at the bottom of the windows that makes it look more right with the older grill. Narrowing is the way to go, and I know motors always look small when they are undressed, but I think this thing needs a really big motor or else it may look small sitting in front of that big firewall cool project, i'm jealeous, i think I may have to copy you or the spacetruck for my next one. . .
I narrowed the cab,finished off the grill, and laid the windshield back so you wouldn't have to lengthen the roof.
You just may be onto something there, chief. Thanks! Courtney, you may have to ride in the bed....but it ain't THAT far to the Hard Rock from North Hall.
I agree...an undressed engine does "look small"....and that firewall IS big...it's still untrimmed, so it does get a BIT smaller... ...but like I mentioned earlier, the tacked-together frame is consistent with a narrowed body, so the consensus seems to match my default configuration... Relative to the large space, as yet unfilled by 6 carbs and whatnot....here's a pic of the exhaust I am going to run. This setup is on a Dodge coupe that my buddy Bob in WA state owns, and I call it "Lexus headers"....you know, as in the collector outlet is at about the same elevation as a Lexus' drivers window...
It's too cold in Vegas in November to be riding my drunk *** around in the bed of a pee-cup! If worse comes to worse I could just sit on your lap! LOL
Dolla, did you trim the cab back a few inches from the firewall to eliminate most of the recess for the hood hinge and springs? are you planning the run a short style bed like a RPU as well? this thing is sweet. keep us posted
Yeah....the firewall is trimmed back such that it follows the edge of the hood ledge across the top of the cowl, and then straight down the sides, thereby eliminating the entire firewall, spring coves, and leaving only about 2 inches of the rearmost fender mounting flange, which will be eliminated with a couple patch panels.
Not the best photo, but here's the steering box... 1953 Plymouth, shortened 31"...1/2 of the steering box mount is visible against the firewall...there will be a corresponding mount on the other frame rail, with tubing bridging the two, at the top and behind the dash.
In an effort to look "fuel altered" like, and equally to look fairly ridiculous (although, relative to center of gravity, the crankshaft centerline is nearly at the same elevation as the axle centerlines), I went with a girder-style motor mount. Yes, its solid. Yes, it'll vibrate the truck like crazy. I can't wait
Stolenmojo...in answer to your bed question... Yeah....the bed is going to be 4 ft long, and narrowed about 8 inches. This thing is gonna be fenderless, so the flat bedsides will be profiled (along the lower edge) to follow the profile of these rails...so that the outside face of the bedside is flush with the outside face of the frame rails. Bad pic, but those are crosses....on both vertical frame rail sides. The good news is that the strength of a box section is mostly in the radius of the edge transitions, and the suspension mounting points are all forward of the cutout portion of the rails...
if you narrow the cab you can take thesection out of the dash on the driver side by taking out the speedo hole. that way you can keep the glove box and the speaker cover. then it will just extend to the left a little more. just thinking out loud here.
Yeah....I was just sittin in it, thinking the same thing... A one-holer dash would work, and save the center/glove box grilles
So how much did you take out of the top, front and rear....? interested to see how it comes together......
[ QUOTE ] I don't know about shrinking the cab. Bill is a pretty big guy. Not big like me (ie. fat) big like Junior Seau is big. I think that he is going to have a heck of a time fitting in that cab the way it is! [/ QUOTE ] i was thinking the same thing Court, but it sure would look killer narrowed. Mike B.
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