My first rat build...'41 Chevy truck

Oops some of the pics are out of order but, you get the idea. Thanks MercuryMac, I'm super excited its finally here and I'm able to work on it. Still on the hunt for Y block parts and I'm sure I'll find everything I need before its ready for the motor to go in. Thanks for ready through my ramblings lol.

Here's a pic of the vin tag, hope you can read it and thanks in advance.

Untitled by ratrodfanbobcat, on Flickr

Also I don't know if it shows very well in the pic but, this is on the drivers side door and says US Navy.


Untitled by ratrodfanbobcat, on Flickr

Just thought that was kinda cool, might have to paint her olive drab lol.

Very nice! love the old y blocks, had a bunch of them 45 to 50 years ago.

If you can't find Y-block stuff local or E-bay, try LMC, MAC, Dennis Carpenter or John Mummert. Check out Johns site anyhow, he has high performance stuff and a lot of important info you need to know about y-blocks- especially before you tear into one. They did things a little different than a 350 Chebby.

I like the A fenders too.

Sam_Fear said:

If you can't find Y-block stuff local or E-bay, try LMC, MAC, Dennis Carpenter or John Mummert. Check out Johns site anyhow, he has high performance stuff and a lot of important info you need to know about y-blocks- especially before you tear into one. They did things a little different than a 350 Chebby.

I like the A fenders too.

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I didn't think about lmc, I've been watching eBay and craigslist everyday and I also have John's site bookmarked. John's site is incredible, lots of good info there. I've only worked on a few sbc's in my life time lol, I spend my time on fords mainly.

There's a swap meet this weekend about 15 minutes from me and I plan to check it out. Hopefully find some stuff I need for cheap, but I doubt it lol.

JBailey said:

Untitled by ratrodfanbobcat, on Flickr

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The original GM serial number tag isn't the USN one you posted, and isn't under the wood on the firewall. It should be on the side of the cowl, where the rust spot is in the above picture. I suggest you get this sorted out before you go too far with it, I'm not sure if it can be registered/titled with the USN number tag you posted.

It appears that your truck had that tag added by the US Navy, but there should be a GM tag. Again, I don't know if the US Navy took the GM tags off, it looks like it fell off or was removed sometime while it was sitting, that's my guess.

I could only view the pics on my phone right now so I had a hard time seeing if your truck had signs of originally having chrome on it. The 41 and 46 trucks had chrome. The 42 and 45 trucks mostly had painted trim (headlight rings, grilles, handles, etc), because of the war. The 41 had the door lock in the handle, while the 42-46 trucks had the lock in the door skin. I see a little bit of chrome on your grille. From 43-44 there were almost no pickups built (none for civilian), and the ones built for the military had a lot of differences, like plastic interior handles, painted trim, etc, etc.

JBailey said:

Here's a pic of the vin tag, hope you can read it and thanks in advance.

Untitled by ratrodfanbobcat, on Flickr

Also I don't know if it shows very well in the pic but, this is on the drivers side door and says US Navy.


Untitled by ratrodfanbobcat, on Flickr

Just thought that was kinda cool, might have to paint her olive drag lol.

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I think you mean Olive drab. Olive drag brings another image to mind, Haha.

05snopro440 said:

I think you mean Olive drab. Olive drag brings another image to mind, Haha.

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Stupid smart phone and its auto correct lol. I will look it over again and see if I can find another tag. If not it should be on the bell housing, correct?

I'm on my phone as well, but I zoomed in on that pic and the tag is the rust spot lol. I'll check it out when I get home today to see if its readable.

cool history on the truck...!

JBailey said:

Stupid smart phone and its auto correct lol. I will look it over again and see if I can find another tag. If not it should be on the bell housing, correct?

I'm on my phone as well, but I zoomed in on that pic and the tag is the rust spot lol. I'll check it out when I get home today to see if its readable.

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No, there won't be anything on the bellhousing as far as I'm aware. You need that tag on the side of the firewall to be readable.

As far as I can tell, after some wet sanding and penetrant, it says 1BK01 3700.

JBailey said:

As far as I can tell, after some wet sanding and penetrant, it says 1BK01 3700.

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If that was the right tag, there should be several numbers on it. The actual serial number would be 10 digits I believe, with no letters.

According to this site, http://www.classictruckshop.com/id_chevy_3747.php , my truck is a '42.

1942

Code
Wheel Base

Rating Type
BK 115.00" 1/2 Commercial Truck
BL 125.25" 3/4 Commercial Truck -11 in. Brakes
BM 125.25" 3/4 Commercial Truck -14 in. Brakes
BN 134.50" 1 Commercial Truck
MR 134.50" 1 1/2 Utility Truck - Single Wheel Axle or Dual Wheel Axle
MS 160.00" 1 1/2 Utility Truck - Single Wheel Axle or Dual Wheel Axle
MT 195.00" School Bus Chassis
MU 109.00" COE - Utility Truck
MV 132.50" COE - Utility Truck
MW 158.00" COE - Utility Truck

Well after a lot of cutting, grinding and swearing, I finally got the front clip off.


Untitled by ratrodfanbobcat, on Flickr

Untitled by ratrodfanbobcat, on Flickr

Next up is yanking the motor and tranny. To my surprise the old stove bolt still turns over by hand, hopefully I can sell it to help fund this build.

Need some opinions from you guys on this,

Untitled by ratrodfanbobcat, on Flickr

I really like older style trucks, I have another set of fenders that would probably get used instead mainly cause they're a little wider and longer. I will also cut the hood down to match up with the grill properly.

Also, while trying to get the drums off the front to make this thing roll around so I can get it in the garage, I may have cracked my drum lol. But it rolls nicely now.

Untitled by ratrodfanbobcat, on Flickr

A couple more pics with the other fender mocked up, I know its to far forward but didn't feel like cutting on it just for mock up lol.


Untitled by ratrodfanbobcat, on Flickr

Untitled by ratrodfanbobcat, on Flickr

I'm not sure what the grill is from , I got it while scraping about 8 years ago and couldn't throw it away. I also bought a radiator the other day for $20 that fits the grill shell perfectly.

Let me know what you guys think good or bad.

The grille looks to be a 33 - 35 Chevy, the car and truck ones are similar, truck one maybe even later year. To make those earlier fenders look right, the axle needs to be pushed ahead or they'll look like they are crowding the cab, just my opinion.....

Weren't Navy trucks painted dark blue? [S
Looks like a cool project.

zzrodder said:

The grille looks to be a 33 - 35 Chevy, the car and truck ones are similar, truck one maybe even later year. To make those earlier fenders look right, the axle needs to be pushed ahead or they'll look like they are crowding the cab, just my opinion.....

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That's what I was looking for. I knew something would look off just couldn't place what it was. Thanks

Bamamav said:

Weren't Navy trucks painted dark blue? [S
Looks like a cool project.

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Only the staff vehicles were Navy blue, their regular vehicles were OD green or medium grey.

Thanks everyone for the comments so far. Its been very chilly and rainy this week so I haven't done anything yet. I want to get it shoved in the garage this weekend. More progress to come soon, I hope.

Not much of an update..

I haven't done much to the truck since I got it pushed inside, the motor started knocking in my daily driver so that put a damper on some plans lol. I had to go buy another vehicle for my wife to drive. I have been collecting some parts for the old rat though so I'll post some pics of what I picked up.

I decided my 9 inch was to wide for this project so I went to the neighbors and got a 10 bolt gm axle and some nice glass packs.

Untitled by ratrodfanbobcat, on Flickr

Untitled by ratrodfanbobcat, on Flickr

Then got a bunch of parts for the old Y block.


Chrome rocker covers

Untitled by ratrodfanbobcat, on Flickr

Gasket set, damper and timing chain.

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Vintage Hurst Indy shifter


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That's all that has come in so far. Hopefully my new air cleaner will show up today, if it does I'll get some pics up.

I was talking to a buddy from another forum last night and worked a trade for some taillights, headlights and other bits that I'll get pics up of a little later. I'm also bidding on a 3 deuce intake, but will probably loose out on it lol. Thanks for checking in and reading through my ramblings lol.