'34 Ford Pickup Lo-Boy Hot Rod - Update 9-6

This project is inspired by a CPB on the TRaK board (Traditional Rods & Kustoms in Scale - http://trakinscale.proboards.com/ ) centered around the AMT/Lindberg '34 Ford Pickup. But this project has zero genuine parts from that venerable kit, so we'll see if it's accepted. If it's not I will totally understand!

The basic body is one of Ed Fluck's super-fine resin chopped AMT '34 Pickups, saving me beaucoup work and yielding a better result that I'd probably come up with. The pickup bed is from the Revell '29 Ford RPU kit, massively shortened. The chassis is a severely modified Monogram '37 Ford pickup frame which is sort of naturally z'd. It has been shortened, narrowed and the front crossmember replaced. The motor will be a Nailhead. I was considering using the one from the new Revell A-Roadster, but it comes with a massive modern automatic tranny which would require serious work to convert to a more compact manual like a LaSalle, so I'll probably build one up from some Tommy Ivo or Tony Nancy short blocks and maybe just use the new Revell 6-carb manifold and lakes-style headers.

The most ambitious thing will be attempting  the style of front suspension where the spring is behind the radiator but the beam axle sits in front of it, like on the Jimmy Shine pickup. I have no idea if I can pull it off. I have a couple of options, including possibly doing 1/4 elliptic springs.

Here's where I'm at so far.

Thanx for lookin',
B.

Another winner in the making Bernard........keen to see what you do with this one.

Thanks!



I made a good deal of progress in what is as pure a parts bin project as I’ve ever done. There will be virtually no trace of a basic kit in this build when it’s completed.

For starters I decided that the pickup bed sat too high in relation to the rear tires and needed to be channeled lower over the frame. To do this I cut out the floor, glued some styrene angle strip in place higher up into the bed sides, and then fashioned a new floor from diamond plate styrene sheet stock, which I finished in Testors Metalizer Aluminum Plate.



The wheels are wide-5’s from an AMT ’36 Ford Coupe kit, finished in Duplicolor Dark Toreador Red. The front tires are AMT Firestones and the rears are 8” dirk trackers courtesy of Replicas & Miniatures Co. of Maryland



The chassis is finished in gloss black. Both the front and rear suspensions have been fabricated and the rear suspension installed. The front suspension is still in pieces and I’ll show it in my next update once I’m sure everything works. The rear suspension is adapted from a Revell ’32 Ford kit, with the various parts trimmed and relocated to fit the modified Monogram ’37 Ford truck frame.



The interior will be largely scratch built. The upholstered door panels and rear of the cab are made from styrene corrugated sheet to simulate tuck and roll and finished in Duplicolor Dark Toreador Red. The dashboard, seats and steering wheel are yet to be determined.



The motor is a Buick Nailhead cobbled together from various sources. The block and heads are from a Revell Tommy Ivo showboat kit. The stock style valve covers are from a Revell Tony Nancy Double Dragster kit. The transmission, oil pan and accessory drive are repops of the parts from the now very rare Revell Parts Pak Nailhead. They are available as a kit from Replicas & Miniatures Co. of Maryland but they aren’t listed in the catalog – you have to ask for them. The generator, pulleys and fan belt, as well as the carbur6etors, air cleaners and intake manifold are from the AMT ‘39/’40 Ford Fordor kit.



So you see, this really is a parts bin special. Besides finishing up the interior, I still need to get the front suspension sorted out, the bodywork painted (probably in some shade of silver), the by-now-standard-procedure-for-me custom decals designed and made, and final assembly. All this fabrication work is throwing up its challenges but things are coming together surprisingly quickly. Fingers crossed that this project continues to flow smoothly…

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

hey b if you've ever used aluminum wire you can make spring's for the front end or straite pins from the spring to the axle was a thought i made coils from cheap aluminum wire the other was a idea i picked up with the pin's haven't tried that one yet

forgot to ask where did you locate the tire's with that tread pattern or did you make them?

The grumpy 0ne wrote:forgot to ask where did you locate the tire's with that tread pattern or did you make them?

The dirt track rear tyres are from Replicas & Miniatures Co. of Maryland.

I took a break from chassis and mechanical work and started on the paint and graphics. I wanted to do a door logo featuring a classic hot rod. Nothing is more classic than the Bob McGee Deuce roadster. I found a nice shot on the web. and then processed it, first to b&w, then to a line drawing and finally with a black fill-in. All this in Photoshop. Here's the step-by-step.



Then I designed a simple but strong logo that would show up well in scale. I came up with two variations. I haven't decided which combo to use, the simple solid red or the "ball, and whether to go with "Hot Rods" or "Rod Shop". I'll probably print test decals to see what works best. Here's a photo mockup of each "applied" in Photoshop to the painted body shell. Paint is Duplicolor Silver with a Duplicolor Dark Toreador Red Metallic band.




Thanx for lookin',
B.

I got quite a good deal done, the most important thing being constructing the front suspension and getting the stance dialed in. The front axle and radius rod are from a Revellogram ’37 Ford Pickup/Delivery Van, the same kits which provided the chassis. The split radius rod were shortened and drilled aft of where they hook over the front axle so they could be pinned to the ends of the front spring which was attached to the flattened front crossmember. The front spring itself is from a Revell ’29 Ford RPU kit. The decals were finalized and printed, then installed and the bodywork clear coated. The motor has been installed in the chassis and a driveshaft from a Revell ’32 Ford kit cut and installed. With suspension completed and the motor installed it was possible to mock up the car on its wheels with the body in its final position to check the stance. Surprisingly everything lined up as I’d hoped it would.

Next up is chopping the stock grill before painting and installing it, finishing the interior, including building some seats, perhaps making a fuel tank to go in the pickup bed, and then lights, glass and all the little details that go into final assembly.

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

Very cool

Thanks Al.

Well, with one small procedure I’ve completely changed the character of this build. I thought I’d try applying Kosutte Ginsan metalizing powder to the Duplicolor Silver paint color. The change was immediate and dramatic, creating a strong and obvious bare metal look. There was no possibility of applying it selectively, nor of undoing it once it’s laid on. So I jumped in all the way, and one effect was that the red body strip completely disappeared. So the result is a tougher, more aggressive bare-metal look, one which I believe works better with the funky wide-5 wheels and dirt track tires. Other work I got done includes chopping the ’34 Ford truck grill, fabricating a radiator from a cut down Revell Deuce piece, and making a gas tank from Revell Deuce parts. With the sun visor now glued in place the car is starting to look more like the finished product.

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

Love that bare metal effect Bernard. It looks just right.
Very cool build indeed.

Nice stuff Bern

Thanks guys!

I’m ready for final assembly. I got a lot done, including re-doing the fuel tank so it looked a little less like a recycled ’32 Ford tank (which is what it is…), fabricated a muffler system because nothing in my stash would fit the cut down chassis, fabricated stanchions for the Revell Deuce headlights and mounted them, painted and finished the grill and painted and installed some seats from my parts box, as well as installing a dashboard and steering wheel from a Revell 3-Window Deuce. I cut glass and glued it into place, too. Now, other than selecting and installing some taillights and making a license plate, it’s ready for gluing together. With luck it should be done in the next few days.

Here’s some pics where it stands now. The assembled car is a mockup so the alignment of the body and bed aren’t precisely where they’ll be, but with everything still loose I was able to do a “cutaway” photo.

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

I got 'er done. I'll post a full rundown and final pics in Completed Models later today. Thanks to all who followed along. In the meantime here's an Old Skool Little Pages b&w teaser:

Full write-up and tons 'o pics in the Showroom here: https://ozautobuilders.forumotion.com/t9143-34-ford-pickup-bare-metal-bobber#116780