1931 Chevy 4door into pickup.

Rat Rods Rule

Help Support Rat Rods Rule:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
So I got the radiator mounted. Wasn't too difficult amazingly enough. I used a bit of leftover 1" square tubing and some angle iron. I'll put some rubber gasket material between the radiator and the frame work before I call it done. Next I need to pick up about 24' of 1-1/4" schedule 40 pipe and bend it to make the coolant lines that go from the radiator to the engine. It isn't the prettiest install I've ever done but it'll work, I think. I kinda wish that it would fit in front so I'd have more bed space but it'll make it even cooler.





Not much clearance between the cab and the upper water hose.






I'll have to figure something out for the passenger side. I'm thinking mount an overflow there or something to that effect.
 
Didn't do anything to the car today. Was really tired after work and fell asleep on the sofa then went out and ran some errands(have I ever mentioned how much I hate bills?), followed by getting lunch, and going to bed. Woke up around 4 or so, so I plopped in a movie and vegged out for a while. Finally woke up enough to go out to the shop and clean things up. I had been putting it off for far too long. Lots of grinding dust, scrap pieces, and tools laying out all over the place and it had been bugging me but I've just gotten in the zone of building so it wasn't picked up right away. So after about 3 hours the shop is somewhat cleaned up. It was raining so the stuff that needs to go outside is still in the shop but I can do that tomorrow. Also gonna order a whole mess of stuff for the 31 tomorrow. At this rate, if I keep at it, I should be able to drive it by spring. It won't necessarily be finished but it should be drive able and that makes me optimistic.
 
Haven't posted much up lately. Then again, I haven't done too much. Fractured a tooth last week so I've been trying to heal from that and it's taking a lot of my energy. But I finished up my expansion tank, pressure tested it, fixed a few leaks, and got her mounted. Oil cooler, fittings, and braided line came in on Friday so got that stuff put together and mounted so now it's waiting to order more parts but registration is due on the tow rig so more parts will wait until next month. I'll post up some pictures in the morning after work.
 
As promised earlier, here are some pictures of what I've been up to. First is the expansion tank for the cooling system. Still need to run a few hoses but its mounted and I'm happy with it. When I get around to building the bed, I'll box off the area around the tank and radiator so the bed is still somewhat useful. Next set of pictures shows the oil cooler up front and the lines going to it. I was able to utilize some of the 1/2" bolts that go through the frame to keep the oil lines in place. I think it looks pretty good.













 






Here's the oil cooler I used. It's a try-cool, stack plate oil cooler. Uses 1/2npt ports so it'll flow more than enough oil through it. Way better than the original Mercedes oil cooler.




And the grill shell mounted up again. I still need to put something behind it to give it the illusion that there's a radiator there but it houses the cooler pretty well.






And I finally got around to washing the blue off of the tires. Boy do those wide whites pop against the rust.
 
I haven't been around lately and progress is slow. I hate when I have more ambition than I do money for parts but I think all of us have been in this boat at one time or another. Anyhow, pulled her out of the garage for a show on Friday evening and boy did she love the attention. Not to boast any but there were a few times when I'd come back to the cars to grab something and couldn't get through the crowd. I've never seen that sort of reaction to a car before. Anyhow I was hoping that I could use 1-1/2" sch40 pipe for my coolant pipes to the back but it's a bit too large for the hoses and necking it down, though an option, would look tacky so I'll have to order another die set for my bender. A buddy gave me an electric fan so I'll be making a shroud for that here in the next day or so followed by waiting for the first so I can order the die set and more parts. I don't have any progress pics, or pics from the local show as it's starting to get dark fast around these parts. But here's some pre-show pics of the car outside for the first time since I set the cab back down on the frame.



Really gotta get my bed cut down and placed on the rear to give it more of a finished look but I've got one last crossmember to weld on that will also hold a hitch before I determine the final dimensions.



And I've decided to not put anything behind the grill as it looks pretty good as she is.

 
Looks great outside.[cl:cool:
I like the idea of leaving the grill the way that it is. People may think that it's "air cooled.:[S [ddd :D
I think that with many of us lack of money does more to slow a build then anything. Judging from the builds on this site it sure isn't lack of ideas.:D:cool:[cl
[P [P
Torchie
 
Got the fan from my buddy and had just enough 18ga left over to build a shroud. Test fit everything 2 or 3 times until I was happy with it.









And all bolted in place.






One of the mounting tabs is missing but 3 out of 4 ain't bad and it seams to be holding tight. I'll just have to check the mounting every now and again.
 
No major updates lately. Been busy with some side projects and getting ready for winter. Still need to clear out the other stall for the 33 but that's about the only thing I have left to do before winter really sets in. Anyhow, went down to get some more steel yesterday and even though I only go every few months, they still know me by name. Today I added on the last 4" of frame to the rear, crossmember, and added the hitch. I'll take some pictures tomorrow. Also, I think I came to a final decision on battery and fuse block placement but I'll have to do a bit of work to where the compressors mount to make it all fit properly. Might even have to drop the tank down an inch or so but no worries. Anyhow, until next time, later y'all.
 
As promised, here are a few pictures of the progress. The new crossmember is welded and bolted into place and the old tube crossmember is cut to allow for the install of the battery box. I'll have to drop the air tank down between 2-1/2 and 3 inches but that's really no big deal as I have plenty of ground clearance and all the air lines are more than long enough. I don't want to have to weld the bottom and sides together so I'll take the metal to work tonight and bend it on the brake and weld the box in tomorrow. Anyhow, here the pics are.







Rough idea of where the battery will sit.


And how much too tall it is.
 
It is close to winter here too...38* in the morning and 71* in the afternoon...[cl
 

Similar threads

M
New guy with a scratch built cab
Replies
10
Views
650
26Troadster
26Troadster
G
My 49 Plymouth coupe build
2
Replies
39
Views
4K
smallfoot
smallfoot
zzrodder
Hercules
33 34 35
Replies
695
Views
59K
smallfoot
smallfoot
G
The Goldcar Story
Replies
8
Views
1K
bob w
bob w
lazarat
Did a hot rod and a chopper disguise a murder?
Replies
2
Views
1K
lazarat
lazarat

Latest posts

Back
Top