RRBIED Build - 39 Chevy One Ton

Just posted my new member thread and decided to start a build thread.

Where I am so far (if you don't read my new member post)
'39 Chevy one ton picked up from a random guys backyard. (-$750)
'89 350 sbc, 4 bolt main, currently dismantled, awaiting chem dip. (free!)

What I'm workin on right now... Need some expert advice on!

Got $300 and an '82 Chevy Camaro Z28 off a trade.
Has a 350 sbc (was fuel injected, but currently carb'd) with auto trans (still haven't identified exactly which one yet). Long and skinny is that the trans has a bad torque converter, and POSSIBLY a bad crankshaft.

Now where I need the expert advice.

I have a line on a '66 GMC flat bed dually for $650 cash. Swapped 350 with 4 speed auto. It apparently runs and drives fine. Same guy I bought my '39 from owns it.

Should I continue to try and sell the Camaro (which has been hell btw) with the plan to buy the '66 dually? Or should I use what the Camaro has and put that in the '39? The idea of the dually would be awesome, but I'm open to anything realistically.

Really lookin forward to ya'lls help!

If it was me, the small amount of cash you have in all of this I would buy the 66 GMC use the 350 and 4 speed in my build along with the dually rear end. Then I would strip everything off the Camaro that I could... disc brakes, master cylinder, steering and the motor and trans that you could rebuild in the future and scrap the body. that's just me.

Looks like a cool project,what ever you do.

[P [P [P

Looks like you're in a good starting spot. I agree with sawzall. Get the duelly, scavenge parts of the camaro and either sell stuff you don't need on ebay or reuse it in your build and scrap or give away the body.

Awesome help so far. Thanks everyone. I'm gonna see what I can come up with and post soon.

I'm gonna play the other side of this card. I'm no "expert", but I do have quite a bit of real world build experience under my belt. Here's my $.02 - Forget about the dually. If you've never driven an old granny gear dually truck, I can tell you it's not pleasant and especially not fun. It's the last thing I would want a hot rod driving experience to mirror, that's for sure.

You said keep it realistic, so here it is - I would keep your $300, pull the engine/transmission and rear end out of the Camaro and part the rest for a few more bucks. Scrap whatever is left for another few bucks. Take that money and rebuild the SBC & transmission you already have. Use the 10 bolt rear from the Camaro. That driveline will be FAR more reliable and hot rod friendly than a old grain truck. Not to mention you will be much happier when sourcing and pricing parts. You are green to all this, so K.I.S.S. definitely applies. Easier the better if you ever want to see that thing on the road.

BTW - Thank you for your service. Army Vet here...

I would have to agree with Blue Eyed Devil on the drivetrain issues...I think you would be more pleased with the outcome if you plan on driving and maintaining it...

I can see both sides. However, if the 350 and 4 speed auto in the duelly truck are good to start with, then that seems like a decent price for them alone. Check to see which trans it is. If it's a 700r4 which it may not be being in a duelly, that's probably as good or possibly much better than whatever is in the Camaro. There is certainly no way you will have the Camaro trans rebuilt at a shop for less than 650 unless you can do it yourself. I'm not sure if you really meant that the crankshaft was possibly bad in the Camaro but if it is, then that's a motor rebuilt too. The kicker is that that duelly truck has an auto which means it's not an old granny gear trans which I fully agree would suck in a hot rod. If you are parting out the camaro anyway, you can still use the 10 bolt rear out of it and end up with a pretty decent drivetrain between the 2 without having to rebuild anything...if I'm reading things right from your original post.

Here's My 2Cents

If it were mine.
Nice body and that camaro has a ton of parts you can use. strip all you can put to use and sell the rest. the body looks pretty straight has to be worth something [S
Keep us posted.

And this is why I'm stuck.. Haha. I have a buddy who is semi mechanical savvy, and my boss is the same way. I have been arguing the fact of using the Camaro as a donor seeing it as that I already own it, and it does have a decent bit I can use. I'm leaning that way. The idea of the dually peaks my interest. However, being my first build ever I'd like to get it up and going, and later on make changes to perfect it.

My train of thought was that the Camaro rear end isn't that bad, and to have a rebuilt 350 and trans means to me better reliability / peace of mind. At least that's what I think. I'm not lookin to burn tires at every chance or put down massive hp. I just want something respectable in the community, loud, and ratty.

I'm gonna talk it over with my buddy tonight. See what he says.

Again, THANK YOU to everyone. I'm pretty impressed with the input I'm already receiving.

Sell Camaro if you do not want it.

I would keep the camaro,fix it and then drive it.[dr
I have a love for the 3rd generation and hate to see good body get scrapped.
I am looking for one right now,but rust got most of them here on coast.
They are hard to find.I would sell it and buy other stuff instead of scrapping a piece of history.

RRBIED said:

My train of thought was that the Camaro rear end isn't that bad, and to have a rebuilt 350 and trans means to me better reliability / peace of mind. At least that's what I think.

Click to expand...

I think your train of thought is right on the money IMO... [cl

X2 on the train of thought

Only limited by your imagination and pocket book. Got lots of choices for sure, I like the dually idea as well.[P

Well. It's decided. Camaro is coming apart. I'll try and sell the body and whatever else I don't need. Next week some time I'll start taking stuff apart.

Resurrection!

Well I've been offline for a long ass time. That's my bad.

A TON has happened since my last post. Here's a quick run down:
Went from 2 vehicles to 5 attempting to source parts and pieces.
Finally back down to 2.
I got a running 95 S10, reg cab reg bed, for a handful of hundreds. 4cyl 5 spd.
I stripped that thing down to the frame (first time doing that and it was fun..) and sold a bunch of stuff. Ended up makin my money back which was cool. It now sits as a bare rolling chassis.

The cursed camaro I talked about earlier is FINALLY gone. I pulled the motor and trans, sold like 2 things off of it, and gave the rest away for a big air compressor. Hated every moment of that! Pulling motors alone isn't fun. And my driveway is real pretty covered in fluid. Yes, it was my first time. Haha.

The 39 cab and bed came off the old frame. I traded that to a local man for a 40's or so bed that is in really nice shape and matches the cab color. Pretty pumped about it.

Traded some stuff for a freshly rebuilt NV3500 to go behind the 350. The camaro 200c is crap I'm sure. And the S10 T5 is off a 4cyl so that wouldn't work.

So, right now my garage is overflowing with parts. Tomorrow the 5.7 motor mounts for the S10 should arrive and thus will begin mounting, planning, moving, mocking, etc etc. I'll get some pictures up soon.

Thanks to everyone who is reading and following along!

Good to see ya posting again but, you know the unofficial rules around here, lots of pics or it didn't happen[ddd

+1! Glad to hear you haven't quit the project but just didn't post for awhile!

We're tuned in....now about them pix....