Magnum
Well-known member
Hi... I'm MAG... I crossed the mid century mark a couple years ago... been building custom stuff most of my life, but finally got solid into vintage cars & trucks a couple years ago... my wife & I live on her families "Century Farm"... I manage a small food ingredient manufacturing plant in a town close by... used to compete with dirt track stock cars ( a long time ago ) then got into Jeeps, & built a pretty awesome CJ-5 ( back before you could aftermarket everything ) & competed in just about any type of competition I could... next transitioned to ATV's & built some really "monster" customs ( I was the national stock class mud racing champ in 2005 )... I've been driving trucks mostly for transportation for the last 15-20 years... can't even remember the last car I bought... uhhhh... OK, bought a CRX Honda back in 84... otherwise have had trucks... until I bought my 1st collector car 2 years ago... I bought a 1938 Nash Lafayette suicide door trunk back sedan, a barn find original with 36,000 miles...
... a couple months ago, I started my 1st build project... a 1946 Studebaker M-5 pasture queen... pretty solid body, but the truck belonged to my FIL, who had many cars & trucks, & always restored to original... the motor was hopelessly stuck on this truck when he bought it, & after trying for 6 months, all the old tricks, she went to the pasture, where it sat for the last 20-25 years... until I dragged it up to the driveway...
my goal is an early 60's traditional hot rod roadster build... so I 1st chopped the top off... er... & the doors down to the box level, to be sure how the lines would look, then stripped the truck down to the bare frame ( where I'm at right now ) the cab with have a 6" section removed from the fire wall, through the old top door hinges, to bring everything back into perspective... I've started welding on the frame a bit... added my 1st new piece a front cross member, which will hold the front spring perches ( keeping the original I beam axle, but am putting the springs under axle ala Jeep style ) next step is right now I'm fabbing my front axle frame bumps, so I can lower the front & still keep some ride quality... I'm looking for about 5-6" at the front roll pan, & about a stock ride height for the rear... running steelies all around, with 37 Studebaker dog dishes... front wheels are 15 X 6" , rears are 15 X 10" & will be wearing a set of 325-50-15 Goodyear DOT drag radials... a triangulated 4 link will hold the 55 Thunderbird flanged Dana 44 in place... since the original lil 6 was forever stuck, a 1958 Silver Hawk donated Studie 289 & 3 speed overdrive, will provide the motivation... the truck will have a pretty big rake to the stance, so the frame & cab floor will be wedged to flat, to make driving more comfortable...
a couple pics... one of my Nash last year... this year I'm running steel smoothies with 37 Lafayette scrip dog dishes... one during disassembly, & one a photoshop of my build goal...
... a couple months ago, I started my 1st build project... a 1946 Studebaker M-5 pasture queen... pretty solid body, but the truck belonged to my FIL, who had many cars & trucks, & always restored to original... the motor was hopelessly stuck on this truck when he bought it, & after trying for 6 months, all the old tricks, she went to the pasture, where it sat for the last 20-25 years... until I dragged it up to the driveway...
my goal is an early 60's traditional hot rod roadster build... so I 1st chopped the top off... er... & the doors down to the box level, to be sure how the lines would look, then stripped the truck down to the bare frame ( where I'm at right now ) the cab with have a 6" section removed from the fire wall, through the old top door hinges, to bring everything back into perspective... I've started welding on the frame a bit... added my 1st new piece a front cross member, which will hold the front spring perches ( keeping the original I beam axle, but am putting the springs under axle ala Jeep style ) next step is right now I'm fabbing my front axle frame bumps, so I can lower the front & still keep some ride quality... I'm looking for about 5-6" at the front roll pan, & about a stock ride height for the rear... running steelies all around, with 37 Studebaker dog dishes... front wheels are 15 X 6" , rears are 15 X 10" & will be wearing a set of 325-50-15 Goodyear DOT drag radials... a triangulated 4 link will hold the 55 Thunderbird flanged Dana 44 in place... since the original lil 6 was forever stuck, a 1958 Silver Hawk donated Studie 289 & 3 speed overdrive, will provide the motivation... the truck will have a pretty big rake to the stance, so the frame & cab floor will be wedged to flat, to make driving more comfortable...
a couple pics... one of my Nash last year... this year I'm running steel smoothies with 37 Lafayette scrip dog dishes... one during disassembly, & one a photoshop of my build goal...
