'50 chevy truckster

i have shown this pic several times and was collecting parts for awhile. i got tired of looking at it, so i started on it today.

I am looking forward to tagging along on your build. Looks like a fun one.

this is the beginning.


this is the frame, but i am not sure if i will use it. i would have to remove and add so many brackets, it might be just as easy to build a new one.

and this is the front axle. it is a chevy truck with 5 lug wheels. i am not sure if i will use it either. i might just make a tube axle instead out of the axle ends. it also looks bent.

this is what i have done today. i narrowed the cab 14 inches and cut the roof off.

i am also going to use the roof from it to build a '40 willys pickup cab out of a vw bug body, but that will be another build.

Pretty cool so far. Are you going to section it too?

Is that a Chevy van front axle? No pickups ever had 5 hole but I think you can used car hubs on one.
different deal but I saw this one for sale a few years back.

willowbilly, yea i think your right about the axle. must be a van. also, you can put the car brakes on the pickup too. been there, done that.
gastrick, i welded the cab back together again today. man that was alot of work for one old fart. i am not sure if i want to go through the work of sectioning it too. i will see how i feel about it later. the problem is, i want it to have opening doors and there isn't very many places these cabs have that are flat. obviuosly, if i cut it in the middle of the body, when i try to weld it back it will not line up. probably have to cut it in half again and widen it.

the cowl didn't line up .


this is how i fixed it.

tomorrow i am going to start dismantling the frame. get down to the bare rails.

Man that's a lot of work stitching that cab back together. Good solution to the cowl issue.

the frame

well i got stuck on the cab because i need the upper door hinges so i can be sure the cab is square before i cut out the floor, so i started on the frame. due to the ussual, no money, i figured i'd use the stock frame. it took me two days grinding off all the rivets. then i was down to the rails. man, these things have alot of holes in them. anyway, the rails have a hump in the engine area i didn't like so i cut a wedge in it and straightened them out.
i forgot to take a pic of the front, but you can see it in this pic.

this is the wedge i put in it.

this pic is how straight it is now.

this is it finished.

i am going to start making the pick up box next.

some more frame work,

i cut up the frame and got down to just the flat rails,

then i cut the back off to make the kickup,


i didn't like the front piece, so...


now i just have to wait until after the first, so i can spend some money and buy the rect tubing to finish the kickup and the crossmembers. i also cut the sheet metal to size to start making the pickup box, but ran out of radial saw blades to finish it. i cut out the size i need from some steel doors i got from a school and it's too thick for my shear, so it will have to wait too.

Just two more days until the first flatheadgary and you'll be back in business. So far so good.

yea, that's what everybody heard on each floor of a ten story building as the guy who jumped kept saying, so far so good!

well, the first has come and gone!

hi guys! well as i spent more money on other stuff, i didn't get the tubing i needed to finish the frame, but i did start on the pickup box. i would imagine most of you know how to build a box, but for those who want to know, this is how i do it.
these are the pieces i cut out of the steel doors.

i measured a half inch up for the bends on three sides of the end parts. i cut a notch for clearance and mitered the long ends. then bent it.



this is what i got.

the long sides are just measured down 3 inches from the top and 3 inches from the bottom and then bent. the top is bent at 25 degrees and the bottom is 90 degrees. then i just put it together with clecos.


i had these hat sections from inside the steel doors and will put then under the box for cross braces.


when i get some more money, i am going to buy some 1.5 x 1.5 square tube and weld it from the top to the bottom on the ends to create the stiffeners like most boxes have. i will also weld 1.5 round tube to the underside of the top bend to create the rail. for those of you with sharp eyes, yes i had to splice the end pieces together as i didn't have a run long enough as one piece. i will weld all the joints when i get the rest of the tubing. stay tuned!

Hey Gary. Just found you thread here. I like what your doin'. Can't wait for the next post.

Ron

NIce work Flatheadgary. Do you and the Bantam get out to the strip very often?

hi youngster! nice to see you here too.
bobw, yea, i drive it in the anra series at backersfield evey other month or so. i run against 10 and 11 second altereds and dragsters. they try to catch me, but i have been in the finals more than any of the other 12 entrants in my class. the bantam isn't all that fast, 15.27 & 90 mph, but it is fun and everybody seems to like it.