My '39 Chevy Pickup Project

[cking894]

I got my gauges installed in the dash yesterday. I think they look pretty good.

We also got the truck off the jack stands and drove it out of the shop. My rear suspension was to soft and let it sit to close to the ground. We had to move the coil overs so they stand more up right. By doing that it stiffened the suspension and we were able to get the ride height just right. Unfortunately we didn't get done with that until 10:00 last night.

I feel pretty good about the who thing. It has taken us just under five months to build and I'm off to get it registered today. I'll post some of the videos we took later.

Keith

 

[Reign]

truck looks awesome. love the shifter knob.

 

[39chev]

Man I have been waiting to see this thing run since I first looked at your build. I didnt know how much longer I could wait. [cl

 

[CORPO]

congrats man..! it looks great, have u messed around with your adjustable rear set up.. im pretty interested in how that works out

 

[cking894]

Here's a video of my first test drive. We had to replace the master cylinder after this drive. The new one that I installed was defective. It drove great and was a lot quieter than I expected. Now I'm going to have to go out and drive the *@()! out of it to work out all the bugs. There is still a lot to do to it before it finished.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/five_wide_club/4353067302/

Keith

 

[truckster]

Finished?!?!?!? What does finished mean?

Congratulations! Looks good, sounds good...Must be good. Love the way it sits. Got real attitude. Love the running board box.[cl[cl[cl[cl

 

[rat-n-tat]

that car is beautifil! love the dash and the stance on the car! great work[cl

 

[chipper]

very nice ya done good !!![cl[cl

 

[BUSTEDKNUCKLE]

Nice job..... Truck looks great. I cant believe you got that much done in such a short time, I have been working on mine for about a year and I am still 3 months away from driving.

 

[cking894]

Thanks for the good words. I had a concept in my mind before I started this build but I picked up a lot of good ideas and tips from a bunch of people on here. I have studied Bonehead's build for some time and took a number of his suggestions. In particular doing a five inch chop. I had been considering a four inch chop until I read his post. There are a lot of great builders on here with a log of good ideas. I have really appreciated what other people have shared on here that helped me. I hope my post has and will help some of you.

I have a lot of work to do still and will keep posting as I go.

Keith

 

[bob w]

I sure enjoyed the ride in your hot rod. And it looks great too.

 

[earthman]

I like the bezels around the gauges. Are those from boats?

 

[Thunder1]

Really sweet build! The gauge bezels are a great touch too.

Thunder

 

[cking894]

We made the bezels out of candle stick holders. I found the center one at our local Good Will store and paid $3.00 for it. The outside two I found at a swap meet and paid $4.00 for them. We put them on the lathe and cut them off so that the gauge just fit in. I cut and bent the brackets on the gauges to hold the gauges and bezels in. It is amazing how the bezels make the gauges look old.

Keith

 

[cking894]

We made the bezels out of candle stick holders. I found the center one at our local Good Will store and paid $3.00 for it. The outside two I found at a swap meet and paid $4.00 for them. We put them on the lathe and cut them off so that the gauge just fit in. I cut and bent the brackets on the gauges to hold the gauges and bezels in. It is amazing how the bezels make the gauges look old. It's funny how I look at odd items in a different way now. I'm looking at them and trying to figure out a way to modify and use them.

Keith

 

[cking894]

I added my ammo can storage to the back of the pickup this week. I only got two of them in but plan on having two more on the other side. I plan on welding in three of them and having someway to release the forth one so that I can use it as a tool box and take it out to use it.

Corpo to answer your question about the rear suspension. We have had a few problems with how we initially set it up. The coil-overs were angled out too much at first which made them too soft. We ended up lengthening the arms and moving the bottom of the coil-overs so they would be more up right. This helped out a bunch it stiffened the rear suspension which raised the ride height up to where we had planned it to be.

Unfortunately we ended up with another problem. We had welded in a support to keep the chain binder from moving from side to side. As I was pulling into Norman's driveway there was enough force placed on the support to twist it and allow one of the coil-overs to flip over top dead center. We made a couple more modifications in that we raised the pivot points up a couple inches and moved the bottom attachment for the coil-overs on the rearend so that the coil-overs stand straight up. If you look at the picture you can see that we added two supports to the chain binder. We used two throw out bearings for it to ride against. The supports are 1/2" steel plate this time. I think they should hold. I'll keep you posted on how it all works out.

Keith

 

[junkmagnet]

I just got the second pair of taillights in the mail. Here they are installed.

We also got the windshield installed along with the wiper.

Keith

WHAT DID THE RUNNINGBOARDS COME OFF OF, THEY LOOK AWESOME!!![cl

 

[Bonehead]

I really like the originality of the build. Great work.

 

[cking894]

The running boards are 1940 Ford pickup. The pickup running boards have the beads rolled in them the cars don't.

Keith

 

[cking894]

Here are some videos from our adventures today. I've been fixing small things and driving a little further each trip.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/five_wide_club/4386735632/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/five_wide_club/4386845114/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/five_wide_club/4386821152/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/five_wide_club/4386768048/

Keith