82 year old rusty frame

Off to a good start - keep posting up pics for us all to see.
Cheers.

 

The frame (bear in mind it is rails only) does not look like a deuce frame. The 32 frame has a distinct curve to the side rails, in plan view. I can't see that at all in the pics.

Are you sure it's not a 33/34 frame?

If a 32 where is the k-member?
If a 33/34 where is the x-member?

Does it have a genuine ford frame number stamped with the factory typeface stamps?

Mart.

 

Alright Mart, here goes since the boys don't let you sneak anything buy them. This could get long so feel free to abort at your leisure. I am a stay at home dad with twin babies so money is tight. My wife is supportive of my passions yet will never relate or understand the length we all go for these projects as specially where money is concerned.
The frame came with the mocked up roller I purchased mostly for the cab and bed. The juice brakes, two Merc 15s, and 32 side steer were a bonus. Some how I messed up the deal and didn't get the original steel 32 pickup grill, augh! Anyhoo, I new that I would cut up for stance anyway so I started telling or fooling myself the pros of not distroying a factory frame which I did not have and you know how solid gold this stuff is getting. I just can't sneak 500 and up single purchases pass the Mrs. So lets fab a frame. Another bonus of this "bastard frame" is its clearly 30s old and I really dig old stuff, call me strange, I want to recreate a moment in time with this build so I can escape the dailygrind.
To the best of my knowledge it is a... Plymouth cj6 circa 1930 frame... There you go fellas the cats out of the bag.(insert your boos here. )
I again tell myself its all just steel anyway who can give me poop when it's not some newfangled kit and has some history, it's made in USA, it's from Detroit, and they(the ones who's opinions i admire)won't know anyhow when it's finished. Plus it's mine, it's paid for, and who would stop a guy from cuttin up a pile that might never see the asphalt or dirt ever again. I'm not the the 2by3 kinda guy but I use it from time to time but not here.
Initially I felt I only needed to alter the appearance of the front third of frame this soon got out of hand. First , these frames were not transverse leaf spring designs so i had to ditch the crossmember. I wanted a ford part but you cant get much cheaper than a speedway or socal lowered stamping. I'm still thinking about putting a real model A one in there or flattening a 32 original, i wish they just fell out of the sky sometimes. next there was no front frame horns as far as I was concerned to speak of so I set about reshaping them to be 32 style. Got some frame horn boxing plates to act as a template not having a buddy with a ford to copy. Honestly now that I think back I was afraid to ask here for fear of ridicule. I sliced out the side material of the front frame horns leaving the top and bottom portions of the frames C channel. I cut longer versions of the boxing plates out of steel that was the frames thickness to allow for the spreader bars mounting surface. I tacked these pieces into the rails after studying as much 32 front images as I could to get the downward sweep correct then bent and pinched the stock frame portions together. It looked like this...
I had to add material to lengthen the top and bottom as it is shorter than ford and I had cut off the cast spring hanger mounts that Chrysler had riveted on, this is where I started saving the rivets which I will use later.
There was more cutting of these horns on the inside to mimic Ford when you'll look at the front of the truck. I new in advance this area will be under scrutiny for my insistence to run a PinesWinterFront grill.
Then I sliced the sides of the the frame back to area of a reveal about where I'll put my radius rod mounts. This is so I can give it a long taper like a 32.
I pinched this stuff back together to get this effect...
Also I had to shave meat off the inside for a ford is a thinner channel than this turd. Then I kicked it up in the front to get it lower( which was brought on by the shallow drop of my front axle which I discuss in another post) and its pinched to get more snug with the grill shell
I'll give you all a breather than I'll come back with the rears long list and whatever I left out of the fronts.


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Well, sweep up the cat and give her to the kids to play with.
I admire the effort and desire BIG TIME!!!!!!!!!
Thats hot roddin right there, in my book.
Naysayers dont need to look.

 

Yup. Use what you got. That's Hot Rodding.

It's always best to say right up front what you are using, it saves all the "early 32 frames had no reveals" type pointless debate.

Keep up the good work.

Mart.

 

I was not out to be super deceptive it just spiraled that way. I don't regret now learning about the possible existence of preproduction reveal less frames on trucks. I may use this knowledge to spin a storyline on this build or in the future. There is another flaw to this frames ability to be a fraud, it runs mostly straight to the front crossmember from the rear section that drops in front of the rear axle, model A style. The rear frame horns are at 32 ford width until this point for I placed them there in the process of the kickup mods I made which I'll get to in another post. Thanks for support, Wyatt


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I think we could learn from your ideas...like that old heavy black paint that has been rubbed and waxed soooo many times....wear marks where someone' touched it for years...it's the look I try to get on my Triumphs.
Using the old parts and combining them to make a good car- it's the hot rod way.
Keep us updated please.

 

I love it. Of course not all 32 Fords can run original frames. There simply aren't enough left and your Mopar frame is prewar and has history. That's good enough for most of us here. Once that's under your truck no one will notice.
Keep your eyes open for original Model-A front crossmembers. They're out there for $50. Also 41-48 Ford frames are out there. Ask around. A lot of those cars still being parted out and to most people the frames are junk. I pay $300 from a professional dismantler in Minn so should be even cheaper private.
Ed

 

You've got 2 little ones and a single income and you're building a Deuce out of old parts. That's living the dream. Not everyone is a retired guy with a lifetime worth of parts that they got back in the days when they were cheap (ish). I'm currently building a '35 out of cast off garbage because I'm in a similar situation. As a side note, I think that Ed Iskenderian's T was on an Essex frame. You can't get any more traditional than that!

 

Thanks lewk and others for the positive reinforcement. Something I haven't talked about is the embracing a hard challenge on this build. I think all will agree once I tell the entire list of work I've planed for this pickup. I want to do this one all alone in my garage with as little help as possible in the form of labor. I already threw up a white flag when I gave up the majority of the sandblasting work, but that was to appease my wife and neighbors. I won't be machining my engine block or balancing the bottom end myself gonna save that for the pros.(I do my own port work and building though).I wanted to challenge my self "ship in the bottle" style so when complete I can savor maximum flavor and sense of pride. You can say I took the hard road for I want to know that I touched every half inch of this thing hopefully bringing it back from the dead. I also hope it will have a timeless appeal so it with live on long after I'm gone. Wyatt


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Any one have a stray one of these bug'rs laying around? I only found one when I cracked open my front brakes. I will be ordering the pie crusts as soon as I bump up to alliance status, you see the Coker discounts for members?,cool I think.
So I'll finish the wheels and brakes to continue the chassis modifications. I just have ran across any could use some help, thanks.


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I will look, if I do have an odd amount of them you can have one for postage.

 

One will fit in a free USPS small flat rate box. About $6.

 

Thanks Big D, I appreciate it. If you have any luck I can send you some greenbacks. I just wanna keep movin on this thing and haven't ran across any. Wyatt


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I dont have one just like what you pictured, its perfectly round on the outside and dont have the flat edges. I do believe the spindle bolt patter is the same though.

 

No self respecting southern hill truck would be caught without a wooden bumper, well maybe none at all. I made this one out of an Oak tree that got struck down by lighting like Robert Redford in The Natural, "wonder boy... Oh what a bat it is..."


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Some wiseacre at Auburn stole my color combo! In the 30s...
Still gonna use it anyway.


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I've been welding on my frame a little. It ain't much but it has to be done. There must've been a hundred holes on this thing not counting the rusted parts. But I'm confident it will be plenty strong when I'm finished. Besides the holes I have to finish the reinforcement plates I made to go over my pie cuts and removed sections of frame on the inside of the channel then I can begin to box and then on to a X-member. I also can't decide how rearward of the axle center line I want to set the rear crossmember.
I'm going to use these old leaf spring cast mounts to secure my radius rods just add fake rivets.


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I like to see the use of old metal,, I've been collecting for years for my final project. I somehow used or sold some of the better stuff as time went on. I have wanted a 32-34 pickup for a long time, and they got out of my price range. So now I am going to build a '28 Graham. The cowl resembles a '32 Ford except for the cowl vent being a little larger. I may just say it was the prototype cowl in late '31 for the '32.
Keep the pics coming along with progress reports,, and when I get my nerve up I'll start a thread on my build.
You're looking good on your progress.

 

Does this count as old metal?
Does this count as a good use of old metal?

Maybe if I finish.


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That's what I'm talking about,,

 

Hot rod jewelry box:



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So for those who've shone interest in my project, as in the phrase "Daddy runs shine..." I spoke about the changes I made to the front half of the frame to get it more ford like. Now here a short list of the rear's changes.
First I removed the giant rear most piece that doubled as a gas tank mount and crossmember. I plan to reuse the gas tank in this location but with much more compact mounting brackets. No actually I kicked up the rear first to get the rails to run parallel with the main frame section it looked like this.

Then took out the tank piece and pinched rear to make it ford width and to stop running out at angles from the centerline. The rear horns are now parallel from the spreader bar to in the drop down area in front of the axle.
Then I took 6" out of the rails to get the 104" wheelbase I was after. This was brought on by a few factors. First was having the axle centerline derectly below the bed support bracket on the top rail. Again my bed doesn't have a semicircle bead line like 32-34s. Second I wanted the tire close to the cab for weight transfer to get some sort of traction on bias plys. Thirdly taking in grill/radiator location, hood and cab length the frame was too long. So hack,slice,cut,grind and weld.

As a side note you guys can see a couple of things here I am ashamed of brought on by my tight financial constraints and feeling behind on this build since about day two.
I wouldn't normally do these mods to the frame without blasting it first but at the time my air compressor was dead and I just wanted to work on this thing whenever the babies were napping as I became a stay at home dad last Summer. Also I wasn't finish welding it, I would just get something strong enough for it not to get out of whack. And I sure as hell don't have the luxury of a frame table. I worked in a body shop and built race chassis for years so I'm not worried about getting it straight and square but I wish I had one.
Anyhoo, then I made a spreader bar with bumper brackets,I also made, welded to it that mounts to the old Plymouth leaf spring hanger mounts.
New problem was that the bumper now would be pointing out at the bottom from me kickin up the frame. I liked the droop of the rear horns but I had to pie cut it to make the bumper mount at 90 degrees to the frame rails and bed. I'm still not happy about the look of this and want to shape it more. Sometimes on this build I get in a hurry then kick myself later knowing I can do better work than that.
Like the patch plate in the the rear right horn that's not in straight that I have to grind down a bunch. I won't settle for unimpressive finish when I'm done its just I make it hard on myself sometimes not taking my time. I just want to see progress on one hand and on the other I want it to be perfect. It's a constant battle and I haven't finished anything on this truck yet as far as I'm concerned. Another thing is I keep buying some of the cheapest parts that have flaws that I have to fix like the rear 32 crossmember I got for like maybe 72 bucks I think. I flattened it which I'm happy with but it's hacked on the ends so I have to clean it up and make it capable of having a factory ish install, I don't like them welded to boxing plates, and I haven't even finished cleaning up the welds from flattening. I think I will leave it out until I do the x-member and I'm sure it's all square, oh and don't forget the c notch and mounts for my Armstrong lever shocks and upper control arms.
I'm running split 36 rear radius rods that seem pretty short, they again were cheap. I'm making them floating with poly bushings on the axle end and ford ball joints on the frame end. This will be a triangulated four link setup to hold the 8.8 that was in my mustang. I know this isn't traditional and I don't like it either but it's based on money mostly and it already having a 3:55 gear and is rebuilt plus being able to handle the power of my engine mostly. All of the driveline was from my previous mentioned black nightmare. I intend to hide most of the axle by mounting the 32 leafs low and blocking as much of it as possible,another reason for using the Plymouth tank location. Plus lots of black paint and maybe some dirt.
I am trying to get a good price on banjo hubs to act as adapters with a dummy axle end,nut and cotter pin cause I'm not running hubcaps. I'm making the upper arms with ball joints on the end that mounts to the top axle case and poly bushings at the frame that will be adjustable for pinion angle and all tucked out of the way. I want it to be hard to tell this isn't a traditional set up. But it's very important that it hauls major ass and maybe a jar or two of shine.


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You just got to love the HAMB!
I have acquired three different parts through three different members in not much more than three days. Thanks big deuce for the front brake grease catch thingamajig, Thanks corndog for the 32ish truck steering box, and Thank You Erik B for the US Royals rear tires! The tires are extra exciting because now I'll have a little uniqueness in my wheels and tires. I was going to run the standard Deluxe Campion blkwll combo, perfect but almost boring. The US Royals are 7.60 15 with tread that resembles a daul purpose semi tire, witch looks a little more dirt than street. Tad-ugh! time for some dirt track fronts from Coker. This combo of 500-16 on 4.5 forty Fords with 7.60-15 on 5.5 smooth fifty Mercs should suit my southern/bootlegger/hill folk truck vibe just fine. Of course I'll have to reverse the rears' white walls and maybe cover them with some Appalachian Dirt.
Now I just have to sell my 40 steer box to recoup some funds.


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Why on earth do the worst welds of my life show up on the thing that matters most?!
I even have to grind out a few and do over! This never happens to me. The penetration has been fine most of the time. I'm afraid it's just the flux core wire I've never used. I am argon-less cause of funding problems.
Initially I wasn't to concerned on the frame for it will be ground down and smoothed for painting but it getting ridiculous. I will be getting to some welding that really matters soon. Every weld on the frame has been done front and back for strength. On the insides I wasn't going to knock down since they would be hidden by boxing. Don't get me started on the thirty something tips laid to waste, again a first for me, is it the flux core? Why'd I let that Tig welder go? The Hobart mig welder I'm using was a present from the Mrs. to get me goin again. Oh what to do?


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Nice project and it's yours so why not use another frame.
I like your Honda, is that a XR75 or XR80 ?

Hennie

 

In my opinion,, the flux core mig weld is the nastiest weld in the world. Tig likes clean metal,, flux core likes extremely clean metal. I have tried several brands of flux core and never saw much difference. I went back to tig as soon as I could. When I had a hot bacon frying sound to the weld, the welds looked terrible and porous. As I turned down the heat the porousity seemed to go away but the penetration went with it. Could not find the sweet spot,, I know your frustration.

 

Shine...About 'croaked' when I went thru your frame mods, (and what you started with)
Guys around here shook their heads when I was marking off my '24 Dodge Bros frame rails...
One pair was finished by my son Rich, it's under a 'glass '27 Hiboy. (the 'doubters' ask: "Why'd you hammer the 'ripple' out of the '32 rails?"
Rich answers: "Nothin' else ta do"...

I took note of your front 'I' beam axle...was it an F-1 pickup? Nice job, what did you do for the perch bores?
I 'shaped' an F-1 front axle, removing the gross parts of the pads. I then welded a pair of '1/2 rounds' of 1.25" O.D. seamless tube (from steamfitters in San Jose) inside the web of the 'I' beam, 36" apart.
Bored holes thru the centers, vertically. Ground the surfaces flat, for the wishbones, dropped the hangers thru. (Whew! That Henry Vanadium steel is HARD! Dodge Bros. ran the Ford foundry in the old days, look for DB stamped in '20s and '30s Ford axles!)

 

It's a 78 xr75 punched to 105! I race it once a year at RedBud's grass race where us old farts ride the minibikes of our youth. And yes it's a traditional build.


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