48 Fordrolet Truck Build Thread....
 

Ok guys and girls I'm going to keep a running thread of the progress on my new ride as it is built for you to see.

It's a 48 Ford F-1 pickup that I bought for $300 back in December. So far I pulled it all apart, sold the hood and fenders for $200 and my orignal frame for $250 plus the guys original with some holes in it (scrap value will be good on it). I also have the original 3 speed toploader and solid front axle setup to sell off once I clean them up.

Got the truck without a bed and rust free ones are hard to come by. I was going to just build my own but I stumbled upon one on Craigslist from a 48 Chevy. I took some measurements and the dimensions are about right for what I want so I bought it for another $300.

I also found a 5 speed NV3500 trans with a fresh rebuild out of a late 90's truck for $200 and a GM truck crate 350 motor with 10,000 miles on it for $400.

I'm also working with Pete & Jakes who own Superbell on sponsorship for all of the new suspension and brakes front and rear. More details to come on that.

Plan is to chop the truck, build a custom z'd frame, keg gas tank in the bed, ride height about 4" off the ground, '32 Ford front suspension, no hood or fenders, flat black paint, RPM logo's on the doors.

Here's a few pics of it how I got it for those that didn't see last time.

http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/r...Pickup/024.jpg
http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/r...Pickup/028.jpg
http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/r...Pickup/027.jpg
http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/r...Pickup/037.jpg

Last weekend two of my buddies came by and we started the chop on the cab. The plan was to take 5" out of the height. I marked out all of my cut lines with masking tape as you can see in the pictures.

Before cutting I decided to remove the entire rear window frame. If I did it with the chop it would have been about 3" after and while it's cool it's not functional...plus the rounded ends would have matched up very off. Plan is to chop the window down to about 6" and then weld the frame back in.

After cutting the back window out we hacked off the tops of the doors to get them out of the way. Then the roof top. We used a sawzall for the thick parts on the posts and a cutoff wheel on the rest for nice clean cuts.

Once the roof was off we removed the 5" sections that I'm taking out....if you ever do this be sure to remove 5 vertical inches on the slanted posts...I've read of guys screwing this up and taking a straight measurement instead.

Because of the taper on the roof of the truck as it drops down we had to quarter the roof panel. We welded each corner on with a few good tack welds and then started using some flat stock to make sure all 4 pieces were close to in line again. Then we began our filler strips for the center gaps. I bought a roof cut out of another truck for cheap which is great for in the window channel area....now I don't have to fab all that.

After cutting down the doors we have to cut the top pieces in half as well because of the taper...I'm using a section of the verticle cut as my filler piece in the middle now.

http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/r...reetRod005.jpg
http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/r...p/100_1225.jpg
http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/r...p/100_1228.jpg
http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/r...p/100_1232.jpg
http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/r...p/100_1233.jpg
http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/r...p/100_1238.jpg
http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/r...p/100_1240.jpg
http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/r...p/100_1237.jpg

Those are all the pictures I have for now.....I worked on the cab all day again today but didn't stop to snap any shots.

I finished tacking in all of the filler strips for the roof. Getting the height correct on the driver front quarter piece was a little difficult but it's pretty close. It's definitely going to take some good shaping when I fill the seams to make the front to back transition look right.

I also finished tacking both doors together. I did the front and rear portions and then made my filler pieces for the gap in the middle.

If I get time on monday I plan to chop the rear window and get that all tacked back into place. Then maybe next weekend I can finish all my welds on the cab...probably take a good 2 days to weld it all solid and grind all the welds down.

After that I plan to take a good look at the front and rear cab corners and decide if I want to patch what's there or just replace them with full patch panels. I also have a few small holes to patch elsewhere on the cab.

Then it's off to be blasted to remove all the paint, bondo, and RUST. A good shot of epoxy primer and the bodywork can begin. Stay tuned.......

That thing is going to be so cool when its finished!

that truck looks great

looks awesome

i can't believe that thing is salvageable! gunna be a sick truckkkkk

Lookin good! Have you thought about maybe building up a flathead for it? A chevy 350 is waaaayyy too common if you're looking for it to stand out.

Very cool!

I could have had the original 8BA flathead but honestly I want reliability and power and something I'm familiar with working on....so 350 it is.

Looks like you guys are off to a great start Paul - keep it up and keep us up to date with the pics!!!!

Excellent project! It's going to look great without the hood and fenders.

I sure hope so haha. I've come to a sponsorship agreement with Pete & Jake's and will be running their complete front end including brakes, a vega steering setup, clutch/brake pedal setup with master cylinders. I'll also be running their rear suspension setup with Aldean coilovers.

Anyone have an empty keg in good condition??? Need one to make my gas tank out of.

actually, i do have a keg. i don't know if its EMPTY empty but pretty close. pm me if you are serious and its yours!

Are you going with a rat rod theme?

I know there's at least one company that makes kits to turn kegs into gas tanks to mount in the bed of a pickup. If you can't find one with a quick search, ask over at olskoolrodz.com, they'll know.

It's going to be more street rod than rat rod. Everything will be "finished" but the color scheme is very much rat rod. It won't look like I raided the local scrap pile and used whatever I could find.

And yeah Steve....Speedway has the filler tops and rollover tubes to convert the kegs into tanks. Just need to find some hold downs as well.

Please tell me your going to keep the dash stock I love those gauges/cluster so old school and correct looking in that car.

Should be stock or close to it.

Yeah, maybe some vintage SW's to match the others in there (from what it looks like).

Cool man I hate when people build a hot rod or rat rod and then put modern interior/gauges in it they just clash.

Yeah even if I go with new gauges I'll get some vintage lookign ones. I'm also considering customizing the dash with a different old cluster from like a Plymouth or Olds....but we'll see.

I should have some more pics of the cab progress this weekend.

There's a company that sells all custom fabbed stuff for keg tanks and such including mounts for the bed. I'll see if I can find it again and I'll post a link.

Ok couple more progress pics on the cab. I got the filler strips tacked in and the back window chopped 2". Back window is almost welded in solid now and half of the front to back filler strip.

I'm a little concerned about the lining up of the roof quarters....it's definitely far from perfect. How far off are you guys normally? As of now it looks like I may have spots that require a quarter inch of bondo or more. I'm highly considering cutting the tack welds on the front where they meet and adjusting them some more.

Last pic is the 350 crate motor I picked up that supposedly has 10,000 miles on it. Going to clean it up and paint it when I get some time.

http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/r...ckup/028-1.jpg
http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/r...ckup/030-1.jpg
http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/r...ckup/032-1.jpg
http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/r...Pickup/042.jpg

That is one dusty engine you got there. :lol:


Looking good though.