Newbie with big dreams

[Geno]

Hi,
I am new to the forum and have enjoyed what the site has to offer. My sons have asked me if we could build a rat rod pick up, I thought it would be a great father - son project, but there is one problem , I know nothing about putting a pick up together. All of us are handy and aren't afraid to try, but this will be interesting.

The first thing we did was sit down and look at pictures of other members projects and decided that we want to build it out of a 1935 Ford because we liked the body styling. I have been looking around the past 2 weeks and I mostly came up with internationals 40's and one 39 ,eight to be exact. We went out yesterday to check on one I spotted last weekend in a tree row covered in snow and guess what we found, a 1935 Ford . Talked to the owner and he said he gave it away over 10 years ago and they have'nt come to get it. He thinks over 10 years is long enough to wait and I should check back in a couple days to see what he wants to do. He also sent me over to his sons place to find the twin to this truck, sure enough another 35. I am in the process of obtaining these trucks-keep your fingers crossed.

I should have mentioned that these trucks are 1.5 ton trucks, so they don't have any boxes. So here comes the questions: Can we use the frame? What donar vehicle should we be looking for to use on the front and rear axles, tranny , etc. What year pickup boxes will fit on these trucks?

Lots of stuff for my first post but I will greatly appreciate any help we can get on this project.

Thanks Alot
Gene

 

[Bonehead]

Hi Gene, welcome to the site. Great find on the old trucks. I guess you are in farm country. A 35 Ford is a great truck. You can use the frames, or build a new one.
As far as boxes go, almost any of the old truck have similar boxes, it is the fenders that change. I like a Ford 9 inch for a rear axle, but most any rear axle will work. They come up at different widths, so you just need to measure for what you want.

 

[Willowbilly3]

Wow, 2 35s, nice score!! You have also found one of the most user friendly forums on the internet. Welcome aboard. Everyone here is very helpful and you can get a lot of good ideas and help. Any stepside bed up into the 50s or even 60s would probably work fine and you could get some fiberglass 35 fenders to make it look right. Good original fenders for those mid 30s beds are pretty hard to come by. Also the 1.5 ton front fenders have larger wheel openings than pickups and you might want to change those too. Or just go fenderless. The big truck frame could be used and would be plenty strong.

 

[Thunder1]

Welcome and Wow, Geno!! Very cool to score two trucks through the same source and just when you started looking too.

Thats a rare occurance. Good to have you here.

Thunder

 

[42chevy]

Welcome! Great score. Take your time and do not be afraid of asking questions. If you approach it the way you have so far you definately will have a pickup and have a lot of fun with your sons. Welcome, and if noone has said so yet, we love pictures.

 

[Davidhud29]

Hello and welcome. Father and son project sounds great. Be patient with the build, yourself and your kids. Be realistic with your goals and realize it may take longer than expected. Enjoy the journey. If you get frustrated or stop having fun, take a break. Just don't give up and sell it. You and your kids will be glad you stuck it out. [cl Hope you have a fun and successful build. Look forward to pic.s and updates.[P