37 Ford

kb426 · December 14, 2005, 07:48:17 PM

I bought a 37 Ford pickup cab and frame today. It's real rusty. It's going to need a windshield frame. The rest of the cab I can find or make patch panels for. This will be a drawn out project to keep me occupied. I am happy when busy.

I'm thinking of a late model Ranger 4 cyl. and 5 speed. Anybody have any thoughts or ideas for a good driver?

35WINDOW · December 15, 2005, 06:38:32 PM

To keep it's value, how about a late model injected 5.0?

Craig

kb426 · December 16, 2005, 07:14:09 PM

I've done the 5.0 on my last project. Nothing wrong with it, just thinking of something a little different. I like the Olds quad four but the conversion parts are more than I want to spend on this deal. I thought about the aluminum head 3.8 v6 until I started hearing about cyl. head trouble. Anyone else have any thoughts?

phat46 · December 16, 2005, 08:19:50 PM

Quote from: "kb426"I bought a 37 Ford pickup cab and frame today. It's real rusty. It's going to need a windshield frame. The rest of the cab I can find or make patch panels for. This will be a drawn out project to keep me occupied. I am happy when busy. I'm thinking of a late model Ranger 4 cyl. and 5 speed. Anybody have any thoughts or ideas for a good driver?

I like the idea, so much in fact that i have a Ranger 2.3 and a five speed in the shop waiting for the next project. How about being really different; say a track style nose and no bed, or a real short one? Lake style header sticking out the side.... You should be able to keep it light enough to be a lot of fun... you are gonna chop it aren't you?

kb426 · December 16, 2005, 08:35:55 PM

Short bed is in the plan because this is going to be my daily work truck. No chop, pipes, I don't know yet. I'm goind to have a straight front axle, probably dropped 4", thoughts about vega versus unisteer?

parklane · December 16, 2005, 09:47:46 PM

Always put a ford in a ford, dodge in a ...........BUT if you want something a little different, go with a 215 cuin. all aluminum olds/buick. Seems to me that Frank ( enjenjo ) has one up for grabs. That should pull the truck along fairly well, and shouldn't be all that thirsty.

John

enjenjo · December 16, 2005, 10:23:37 PM

QuoteSeems to me that Frank ( enjenjo ) has one up for grabs.

gone.

What's this nonsense Ford in a Ford, Dodge in a Dodge? What if it's an Essex? What do I put in that? Or a Hudson? or a thousand other makes. What do I use if I have a Ford frame, a Dodge cab, and a Chevy grille? Where would we be if no one had ever put a 303 Olds into a 32 Ford? Or a Caddy into a 35 Chevy?

Not even the manufacturers believe this. How about the Dodge and Plymouths with VW engines? Gtos with Ford three speed transmissions? Fords with GM/Saginaw steering boxes? AMC with a Pontiac engine, Mopar trans, or a Buick engine with a GM trans?

There is nothing magic about where the parts came from, just how they work together when you are done.

When I started building this stuff, I used what I had, so if it could be made to fit together I used it. Most of the time I still do.

phat46 · December 17, 2005, 09:11:23 AM

What's this nonsense Ford in a Ford, Dodge in a Dodge? What if it's an Essex?

Yeah, but you're weird....you'd put an Essex in a hudson if you could...look what you did with that nice old lady's Marlin..

GPster · December 17, 2005, 09:50:38 AM

A couple of thoughts. With the back of the motor against the firewall the front axel may appear too close to the doors when you dont have fenders there to say that's where the wheels are supposed to be. I think for un-fendered looks the axel has to be more foreward so that the wheels are in-front or in-line with the radiator. The twin I beam design doesn't look too cool un-fendered because if you don't get the springs just right it might appear that you have too much or too little camber and the wheels will have a funny tilt. Because of the brakes and ball joints instead of kingpins maybe you could use the spindles with brakes and the axel ends and manufacture a dropped axel center and lengthen the radius rods using the same back mounts and extending foreward to the new axel location. There would still be a lot of insidentals (Track bar , springs and steering) but I think the look would be more appealing. Most leaf spring rear suspensions have rear shackles that are far behind the back of the rear tires. If you make the wheelbase short enough to get the tires near the back of the cab then you find the bed to be more behind the tires than between the front of the tires and the cab. Maybe you could just use the front part of the springs ( cut them behind the "U" bolts on the axel) and air bag it. The spring fronts could be trailing arms and the bags could be adjusted for weight and height as needed. And I like Rangers, I've had three. For the lookThese are all things that I figured on for the look of my un-fendered '51 Chevy truck cab on a '53 Chevy car chassis with the stock motor. My method of attack was different but my desired results were for these reasons. GPster

parklane · December 17, 2005, 04:21:21 PM

Quote from: "enjenjo"
QuoteSeems to me that Frank ( enjenjo ) has one up for grabs.

gone.

What's this nonsense Ford in a Ford, Dodge in a Dodge? What if it's an Essex? What do I put in that? Or a Hudson? or a thousand other makes. What do I use if I have a Ford frame, a Dodge cab, and a Chevy grille? Where would we be if no one had ever put a 303 Olds into a 32 Ford? Or a Caddy into a 35 Chevy?

Not even the manufacturers believe this. How about the Dodge and Plymouths with VW engines? Gtos with Ford three speed transmissions? Fords with GM/Saginaw steering boxes? AMC with a Pontiac engine, Mopar trans, or a Buick engine with a GM trans?

There is nothing magic about where the parts came from, just how they work together when you are done.

When I started building this stuff, I used what I had, so if it could be made to fit together I used it. Most of the time I still do.

Now Frank!! don't hold back - tell me how you really feel

What winds me up is seeing a sbc in everything, Nothing against them, but they're just like hemeroids, every other * has one. Be a little adventuresome, try using a 303 olds, 343 AMC, 4.6 Linc , anything but a sbc.

John

enjenjo · December 17, 2005, 06:37:52 PM

I must confess, I have only had one car of my own I put a SBC in, that didn't have one in it before. l"d typically use a Buick, or an Olds. If it was a chevy engine it's usually a big Block, even a 409 one time. Now on customer cars, I have installed a lot of SBCs, more than I can count. I have owned even more than I installed.

Having said that, I dtill think the Small Block Chevy is probably the best engine ever built. Even though the new engine parts , for the most part, won't directly interchange with the old stuff, you can still make it fit with a minimum of work. It's been built for over 50 years with only evolutionary changes, and has powered more race cars, at a lower cost, than anything in the world. It's hard to refute a record like that.

GPster · December 17, 2005, 06:58:27 PM

Quote from: "parklane"anything but a sbc.

Everybody has a different perspective on that reality. Look at a '49 to '53 Ford. Try and put a Ford OHV V8 in it years ago or anything else. Use a Frod 239, 272, 292 or 312 and you needed special mounts and a T bird oil pan and pump. Use an Olds and you were looking to buy a dropped steering link and a kit to put the starter on the other side. For a lot of the big inch engines you were looking for a flywheel and other standard shift parts because they all come with automatic transmissions stock. SBCs came with a rear sump pan, mount bosses on the front of the block and starter on the drivers side to leave more room for the steering gear. I think in the early days a lot more projects got finished got finished because there was less problems to cure to completion. Try to sell that brand in the brand project. The only people that want it are people that are the same breed. Any newbe is going to look for something that he can change a motor in and not have to re-design the swap or the entire car. It is good to have your opinions but they still have value weither there someone else's opinion or not. GPster

parklane · December 18, 2005, 09:26:39 AM

Ya, I know that a SBC will fit most applications easier than most other brands, and that a newbie will go for the easiest way out, but as stated before, simlpest ain't everything. What about the WOW factor??

the "hey I never thought of that", or the "what the h*** is that"?? Of course all these things cost $$$, but, as I always say "I've never seen a brinks truck following a hearse at a funeral" LIVE A LITTLE WHILE YOU"RE HERE.

John

kb426 · December 18, 2005, 10:21:35 AM

If I had plenty of funds, it would be an Offy. When I go to California, there are 2 vehicles that I never forget. The first is a yellow track roadster that I think Louie Senter owns. The second is a model a pickup. red, highboy, has the indy logo on it. The reason that I remember them is the sound. The clatter of an Offy is unique. Just for the record, the only chevy powered rod I have had was a 38 chevy coupe. I wasn't the builder. 301, 4 speed, blue and white tuck and roll, chrome window garnish moldings, 55 chevy rear with 4.10 posi. Typical 60's rod. Everything else has been different.

enjenjo · December 18, 2005, 11:29:13 AM

I don't know how much I would worry about the 3.8 heads, some of the best cars I have owned were the ones that were "supposed" to be junk.

I have often thought the Mitsi 3.0 V6 was a neat looking motor. Coupled to a rear drive trans, it would look like a baby Hemi, and the intake is begging for Weber carbs.