70's era '50Chevy pu street rod

[demonhunterfan]

Well fellers, I's trying to be at peace with all yinz's, by taking a wee break from all my scratching (Walker, my cat is takin' care of that now ;D) and I's gonna do me best to build one outa the box.........well, a couple boxes .

Spent some time the other day lookin at my stash, and decided to build somethin with Cragars. My second ex has a '40 Ford sedan street rod I built many, many years ago with Cragars & big & littles, but I aint about to go back and get it! So, I decided on the Cragars, & then finally decided on this here '50 Bowtie pu I scored at the flea market a whiles back. I hopes to make it up like some of the rods I used to see when I was working at the Amoco gassem up station from 1969-73.


$10 fer the '50 & it were sealed. Some crazy lady said she goes thru her brother's stash of models ever now & again, and if'n she sees he has more than one of a kind, she takes one of 'em to sell at the flea market -- I done prayed fer her .......so anyhow, plans are to use most the parts from the '50, but utilize the engine, and runny gear from the 'hot trucks' '57 stepside also pictured here.


Cragars are outa a '37 Chevy I got slated for something else.


Started the build up of the big chunky Chevy engine outa the '57, and aint gonna do it up much-- at least I aint plannin' on it. Just saw on me Fotki that I could get this here pic on a Tshirt.....hmmm


Here be the frame up on the wheels & tires. Had to use the old timey biasplies up front coz the severely dropped front axle outa the '57 was just 'bout sittin on the bench with the lower profiled tires


As much as I don't like it at times, I am allowing myself to be led by The Spirit......... originally I was just gonna start gluing them leafy springs from the '57 to the '50 frame, stick the wheels & meats on, and then slap the sheet metal down on top--- but I am learning to be patient, and practise self control-- at times ;D I cut thin strips of masky tape for to use to tape the springs in approximately the right area for now. Once I get the body parts assembled a bit, I'll start movin' them to & fro.


I's hoping we gets a good stance on this. Hoping for a slight rake on it. Aint sure, but depending on where them slicks wind up, might even open up the rear fenders........we shall see.

[/img]http://images49.fotki.com/v1509/photos/6/1349716/7578293/severelydroppedfrontaxle-vi.jpg
Here you can see just how close that front axle is to the ground--even with the taller tires.


Started fitting and gluing parts to the cab, and smoothied out the hood. Gonna have to put some heat to the hood and bend the sides in just a bit-- it's a little too wide at the back


Gonna be interesting putting windows in this here thing. Also gotta do a little surfing to see if'n all these fender fillers & cab back fillers are prototypical, or if'n I gotta puttys 'em up, or what.


This is as far as I've gotten--- fenders will go on next day or so. Also gotta see if'n there were chains on the inside of the 'gate on these. Pretty sure me Grandad had a new '62 Stepside and I seem to remember chains on it. Always bums me out when I sees a really cool pickem up model with all kinds of cool details--EXCEPT for the painted over molded on chains on the tailgate--aarrggh!

I do gotta say, building outa the box is..........well, fer me......almost boring..... ;D ;D ;D, but I's keepin' me eye on the prize.

Later & God bless

[sdrodder]

WOWSER JOHN ;D


Thats looking well mighty fine. I am loving the stance and i know about the front axel too. It sits on the ground with the low profile tires . Yours is looking pretty sweet. I am liking the stance. If i were building it i wouldnt use the slicks but i may change my mind and its your build too. As for tailgate chains. These did come with them. My 58 has them hanging round on the tailgate. I would make sure though. I cant wait to see yours done. I know i have about 3 of them on the shelf waiting for me.

What your plans for the color?


Thanks and God Bless
Florian

[Fletch]

John, FYI Brother, there is no such thing as out of the box. Perhaps 10-12 boxes I might agree with but even out of 2, you're a better man then I. ;D ;D

[Kit Karson]

Woa, if someone sold off my duplicate kits at the flea market there'd be more than prayin' goin' on!

Dave's way right on this call... the difference between men and boys and there toys is determined by their definition of "Box Stock"! I have to say 10 to 12 is a modest number. I very rarely get away with less than 20 something!!

I really like what you are starting with, but I'm partial to the '50 5ive Window. Had a 1:1 one, once or was it twice. It had the stock 216 with the granny gears and a top speed of 56 mph. A buddy of mine torched his '68 Vette for the insurance money and I bought the remains for $800. Lifted the sheet metal off the "Box" stock '50 frame and, after I chipped off the melted plastic, mounted the PU box & body to the Vette running gear. Now I could do 103 mph and have the ticket to prove it! Then Oregon changed the highway speed limit to 55.

I'd think about using the slicks again, unless you're building a drag racer. If you can get your hands on the set of cheater slicks in the new Polar Lights GTO kit, then you'd have a real street rod in the making!

Either way, it looks like you're having a "half" ton of fun!! KK

[demonhunterfan]

John, FYI Brother, there is no such thing as out of the box. Perhaps 10-12 boxes I might agree with but even out of 2, you're a better man then I.

Well, I gots parts outa 3 boxes so far Dave, so.......it's an official OOBies ;D

I really like what you are starting with, but I'm partial to the '50 5ive Window. Had a 1:1 one, once or was it twice. It had the stock 216 with the granny gears and a top speed of 56 mph. A buddy of mine torched his '68 Vette for the insurance money and I bought the remains for $800. Lifted the sheet metal off the "Box" stock '50 frame and, after I chipped off the melted plastic, mounted the PU box & body to the Vette running gear. Now I could do 103 mph and have the ticket to prove it! Then Oregon changed the highway speed limit to 55.

Oh wow, Wes! That sounds so cool! I borrowed my Dad's '54 Ford 3/4 pu for awhile. It too, had the granny gear. Drove it from Pittsburgh area to Lake Erie on my first honeymooney. At that time they had a minimum speed limit on Interstate 79--- 45mph. I had it floored the whole way just to go the minimum speed limit! ;D ;D I could light up them huge rear tires if'n I jumped on it and cranked the huge steering wheel at the same time. Didn't check in the rear view one time at a stop sign and sprayed gravel all over a local cop cruiser right smack behind me ;D ;D ;D He was so suprised I would actually do something like that, I think he didn't quite know what to do--- so he just gave me a verbal warning. Big shock for both of us! ;D ;D ;D

Nice chattin' with you bros, but I gots pix to post......

Got them big fat fenders attached to the bed and did a mock up. I gots to get the rear end down a bit


I think I know what to do to drop it down some. This rear end assembly outa the '57 doesn't line up with the rails of the '50 frame, so I'm gonna hafta jerk them springs around a bit-- mount 'em solid to the axle where the mounties are and make brackets or something-- no scratchbuilding tho


Got the frame down on the bed mounts good (not glued) and lined up the spring & axle assembly and pushed it down, slid a slick on, and me likes! Now I's acting in faith here, coz it's all upside down, or downside up (wonder why nobody ever says that?) anyhows, I think I'll be opening up the fender opening a bit so there's a more uniform gap around the cheaters, and we'll see how it turns out up front. I glued the front tip of the leaf springs to the frame and slid the springs down beside the frame rails in the back. Probly glue some kinda bracket looking thing back there. That's the good part 'bout them big bubbly fenders ;D ;D-- they'll hide some of that.

Later and God bless

[84vanagon]

Hi John.

That Chebby is a neat kit. I have 3 started
ones around here somewhere.

The 3 pieces at the back of the cab do
need to be filled. AMT had to do the toolling
like that otherwise the cab wouldn't have
come out of the mold.

Bless ya!
Don.

[demonhunterfan]

Thanks fer the info Don! I kinda figured that was the case, about the body parts being able to come outa the mold, etc, but some 1:1s do have similar issues. Still gonna do me some surfin' coz dats another part of the hobby I enjoys. Hoping to find me some pics of the tailgate and the chains (I's assuming ). When I did my '51 Rat-liner, I found pics from a guy who was restoring one and got to see exactly where the trim mounting holes were......hmmm, ya think God had anyting to do with dat? ;D ;D ;D

Thanks also fer the info on the drifters-- interesting.

Later and God bless

[demonhunterfan]

oh my.... trials & tribulations! Jesus knew about dialup. If you guys only knew how much work it is for me at times just to post up some pics......... ah well, I's finally heres, so:

Since last time, when I acted in faith, glueing the assembled rear end to the '50 frame positioning them cheaters in the big bubbly fenders, I then had to set it all aside in my cat proof storage area. Got it out this morning and turned it right side up and mocked it up.


First off, it's looking a lot better underneath


And this is the resulting stance-- much more what I'm after


Here's a computer rendering of them rear fenders opened up a bit to accomadate them cheaters. After looking at it, I may just use the same size tires all around, tucking the rears up into the fenders. Just don't look right, especially with that big honker of a front end on this thing.


Weird thing about this is how it looks from different angles-- like this here shot. Looks like the bed is tilted up. Hopefuellie when everting is glued together it will level out some, but again, might just be the angle of the photo


Part of this mornings mock up was to put the interior tub in and the firewall/inner fender unit to get the cab setting on the frame stock like, so's I could see how it was gonna look ove that dropped front axle.


Found me a fencepost to prop up dat big old heavy hood so's we could see how that big engine outa the '57 stepside fits in there


Well, whatta ya know! PTL! it fits! and could probably fit a couple of them in there! ;D ;D ;D The headers are right up against the inner fenders, so gonna be one hot compartment

Later and God bless

[sdrodder]

You know what is funny? A couple years ago i started a 50 chevy truck. I chopped the top off making it a roadster. I had a 55 chevy v8(like the one you have) and i wanted to put it in the truck. I somehow had to chop the firewall and ended up messing it up.


I now know why HE made me mess up. I now i have a ol skool way to build that kit. I am Glad HE did what HE did.


Glad yours is going great. Cant wait to see it done.


Thanks and God Bless
Florian

[demonhunterfan]

Well, fellers, I decided to lose the slicks-- bye bye, later-- and I've finally got the stance pretty close to where I want it to be.


Went looking thru my stash looking for a set of tires, found a nice set, just can't remember which kit they came out of. Did a little fiddling with the front end set up, re-setting the position of the leafy springs, similar to what I did at the rear, and got the front end down a bit more. Someone over on MCM pointed out that the frame might be a bit bent, and I agree, as well as a bit warped. I's gonna set it on something flat and see if'n I can't straighten it up some. I also figure when I get the bed and cab secured to the frame it's all going to 'sit' a little lower than it is in the above pics......but we shall see. I's just goin' in faith here. I have gotten back to the point of trying to build this as a 'driveway' build, just tricking up a mostly stock truck best I can on the limited budget I got, saving up for a set of Cragars, and some pretty paint-- I'm thinkin' something darkish, but not wild.


Glued the springs to the severely dropped front axle, clamped 'em up, and boxed all the parts to store it away from me cat til next session.

Later and God bless

[demonhunterfan]

Had a coupple pretty good sessions at the bench wit the Chebby last couple days. Put some heats to the frame & bent it just a wee bits, coz it was a bit bent/warped causing the bed to tilty up in the back-- couple guys over on MCM suggested that, so I done give it a try, and looked ok to proceed onto the front axle mounting and then them Cragars



I could see right off that the Cragars and the wheel backs weren't gonna fit in them skinny tires, so I started sanding

and kept sanding

and kept on sanding, until.......

Oh Great! I done sanded 2/5ths of the Cragar hub away. I gotta apologize to Cragar, the best custom wheel of all time, IMHO. I know they would never let a blemished wheel slip out the doors.
So anyhow, now I gotta change my story a bit, to it's still a driveway build, but I scored this set of used Cragars fer cheap, and since I can't get nobody to weld the bad Cragar up fer me, I can always run it with just 3 lugs, right? Right? ;D ;D ;D

Here's where she's sittin' now.....

my favorite shot so far, btw

I'm thinkin' strongly of a maroon paint color. My boss at the Amoco station I worked at from '69-'73 had a '68 Charger that was that deep, dark, black cherry-ish lookin' maroon, so I'll be trying to get that color on it. We shall see.

Later and God bless

[Kit Karson]

John, your hauler is coming along nicely! I'm likin' the color idea a bunch, too!! Keep us posted!!! KK

[84vanagon]

Jun 1, 2009 9:52:30 GMT -8 demonhunterfan said:

Here's where she's sittin' now.....

my favorite shot so far, btw

I'm thinkin' strongly of a maroon paint color. My boss at the Amoco station I worked at from '69-'73 had a '68 Charger that was that deep, dark, black cherry-ish lookin' maroon, so I'll be trying to get that color on it. We shall see.

Later and God bless

I've been following your Chebby, and
Granny on the board, but tend to get caught
up in other sections, if you know what I mean!

I'm glad you decided to to loose the slicks. The street
tires look much better! There is nothing better under
those fenders than a set of Cragars. I had two friends
that had a 49 (the usual dk. green) and a red 53 with
small blocks and S/S's. Made me want to throw rocks
at my Maverick, but I had A/C! ;D

Those look like the wheels out of the 37 Chevy. I thought
I had at least one of them in my stash to send you the
Cragars out of. Zero 37's, I must be slipping. IIRC the 65
Chevelle wagon and ElCamino both have very nice Cragars
if you have either of them in your stash.

God Bless.
Don.

[demonhunterfan]

There is nothing better under
those fenders than a set of Cragars. I had two friends
that had a 49 (the usual dk. green) and a red 53 with
small blocks and S/S's. Made me want to throw rocks
at my Maverick, but I had A/C!

;D ;D ;D Tha's a good one Don! Hot temps and AC can make anyone do strange things! ;D ;D I agrees about the Cragars. When I started working at the Amoco station, a coworker had a rootbeer brown '57 Chevy with black vinyl interior outa a Chevelle I think, but it had Cragars on it, and boy was it sweet. Couple years later, when he, Rudy, had the engine rebuilt-- didn't put antifreeze in it coz he didn't have the bucks, cracked the block-- I coulda had it for $400! yes, that's 4 HUNDRED bucks, but that was in 1972 and I was working 80 hours a week just to make $200.

You must got some fine eyeballs, Don, coz yeah, them Cragars are outa the '37 Chevy coupe kit. I gots another set in the '40 Ford turtlyback kit-- aint sure where they gonna wind up yet

Throw rocks at a Maverick!.........don't tell me things like that-- my imagination just goes plum crazy painting up a mental picture of that! ;D ;D

Later, and God bless

[sdrodder]

man john. That chebby trucky is looking greaty ahahaha. I love the stance and yes it looks better with the regular street tires. I am glad HE made you go that way. Cant wait too see

Thanks and God Bless
Florian