1940 Chevy pickup build

Nice! Not sure if it's going this year, the but the Ford Club normally has a big swap meet at the Saanich Fair Grounds every August; might be a good place to score some parts.

 

I was hoping the Vintage Car club swap meet @ the fair grounds would have started back up …unfortunately they cancelled again this year.

 

Shitty - I haven't talked to my buddies in the V8 club, so I wasn't sure.

 

Today was engine/trans removal day





Got some plans off stovebolt .com for an engine stand... turned out pretty well and works a treat

 

Been working on the front of the truck...got the frame and the leaf springs cleaned up, took the springs apart and removed a leaf from each side. Dropped the beam and painted it while I was at it



Front rims got some paint



Had the rims mounted on the new coopers




Spindles went back together



Rolling chassis once again... next up is trying to shoehorn the BBC into it. Steering box is a bit of a concern and I'm itching to see what that puzzle is going to look like

 

Spent the morning getting the engine test fit into the truck and then made some adjustments to the firewall. Happily the steering box and engine have no interference issues that I can see...might need fender well headers of some type but I'd rather deal with that than attempting to redesign the steering




Fuel pump needed to come out to get past the frame rail

 

Progress is slowing as the project moves into small tedious jobs that seem to take forever


Got the engine and the mounts mocked up, along with getting the steering reconnected

 

Original rear got pulled today, cleaned up the leaf springs, mocked up the 8.2 and removed two of the old crossmembers...not a lot of progress but some

 

Time for some overdue updates


Took the engine mounts to a local fab shop for final welding....



Front fender got primed...it's now in paint but I didn't snap any pics





Engine's finally sitting on bolted mounts... truck dropped roughly 1.5inches with the engines weight on the chassis





Trans placement looks like it won't cause too many fitment issues




Final cross member fitment will be 3" up from the bottom of the frame rail....the tail shaft angle sits 2.75 degrees downward

 

Took the rear to a local 4x4 shop to have the R/P and diff installed. I've had them set up gears before and never had an issue.



Limited options when it comes to diffs for the 8.2 so I ended up with the Yukon unit



Axles and brakes on



Followed by the diff cover.... moved the shocks to behind the rear as opposed to in front





Rims got some paint love


Tires mounted and finally it's a roller again



Rear shock pics are still in mock up...cross member will be sitting lower in the frame rail

 

Damn... really coming along!

 

Took the month of July off to work on the truck... hoping to get the body in paint before summer ends

got the rear shocks fully mounted @ a 10degree angle but man they look really straight up in photos



Spent some time putting the dash back together



New chrome bezel, polished up the stainless trim and the ignition switch

 

windshield wipers work ???

 

^ no Idea...but 1940 vacuum operated wiper motors probably never met the definition of "working"

 

So the last beetle that got put together was painted arktis... original color to the car and one year only color... debating painting the firewall arktis, bright white or sticking to all black...

 

Downhill, in neutral? They will work like a champ. Otherwise... there may be challenges.

 

I like the colour, but it seems kind of... docile for the truck you're building. I'd want something with a little more punch.

 

Originally I thought of the traditional hot rod/ drag racer bright white for the firewall… then convinced myself that white was a bit harsh.

I’ve got fenderwell headers on order and I’m thinking they’ll get painted white. In the end I might just stick with black for the firewall… decisions, decisions

 

Suggest all the underhood sheet metal be in '60's GM satin black. Contrast with the exterior gloss but tip the hat to your GM vehicle & late model driveline.

Did you box the frame? I cant imagine it liking all the torque very well, not to mention those old springs.

If you plan on running it on the open road, you might want to explore a Gear Vendors OD unit and maybe prepare the frame to receive that at a future date.....