1940 Chevy pickup build

EPIC POST!

 

no doubt thats why i asked

its great when guys wont let old machines fade away

 

Always loved 40s era pick ups. Love to own one some day. Glad to see it being a bit more modernized to stay one the road like it should

 

Frame is only boxed where the motor mount plates are located...not a huge believer in the fully boxed frame. Actually had this discussion with my Dad, as he fully boxed his model A. I get the model A frame (somewhat) but I'm not convinced that the 1/2 ton truck frame is that much of a "wet noodle"... time will tell

I'd love to put a gear vendors OD behind the th400 but it's not in the budget at this point... I also have visions of running a tunnel ram on the truck...some day my budget might match my wish list

 

I understand!

Which is why I said...........

I have a feeling that they could provide you with mounting info that would let you do some things now, instead of tearing back into a couple things later. Like prep/fit an additional cross member. Or massage the floor pans if needed. Stuff like that.

 

The beauty of gear vendors is that you simply reuse the original trans crossmember and mount. The only modification required should be shortening the driveshaft and some wiring.

At least that's my understanding of how they install...no real world experience with one

 

1953 Corvette motor would have been perfect

No stress to the frame or driveline

 

So... turns out I'm the grand winner in the bondo lottery.

Much like the fenders, lots of dents and an abuse of bondo to shape and flatten out the surface...

 

Made some more progress with the metal work... having a heat wave the last couple of days sort of slows things down. My headers showed up yesterday... Patriot tri 5 fenderwell headers. Needed these to clear the steering box and the motor mounts but they are a little on the crazy side

 

Body work is easy.... when you get rid of the sheet metal

 

progress of sorts

 

More of the same...fill some holes and drill some holes







Was going to run two 2 5/8 gauges offset to the left in the overhead panel... but the curvature of the panel made it impossible for the gauges to appear optically "straight"



So moving the gauges into the middle of the panel

 

Got the first one done



And then there were 2




And because I'm a child at heart... couldn't resist seeing what the mounted headers look like










Result....awesome ridiculousness

 

Been a while since I've done any updates...so it's the good, the bad and the ugly update

Finally made a decision on what to do with the running boards... spray on bed liner makes them useable without worrying about scratches and rock chips.







Body got some paint which is the good















And then the bad and the ugly.... Rolled it partially outside to take a look in the sun light and didn't notice the tent door was hanging a little low... anyone interested in a project vehicle...

 

Ouch!

 

Is that just scuffs in the paint or is there actual metal damage?

 

No metal damage.... scuff marks and a couple of deep grooves that look like they go through the clear and into the black.

 

That's good... annoying AF, but at least it's just paint, and the roof.

 

Plan A is to tape the affected section off, sand it back and respray/ blend. If the blending fails then Plan B will be to sand the roof down to the beltline and redo the entire roof.

Puts a crimp in my plans to put the engine /trans back in this weekend...oh well

 

Mehhh… if it was easy, everyone would do it.