Hi,
First off, a great thank you to all the folks who have shared their information with others on this site.
I am almost done figuring out the project truck. The following what I understand from looking up posts and researching. My goal is to create a truck that drives well as a daily driver. Lighter loads, capability to tow a heaver trailer. Highway speeds are not needed, but I do need to cruse at 50mph/80kph.
AS I understand things:
To get engine revs down at speed I need to change rear gears or install an overdrive trans. There are two gears available for the '36: bad and worse. New gears will make me change the rear end complete. If I want to retain the rear end, I need a later ('40 or so) pumpkin which has an open drive line. I can then have a driveshaft built to suit.
Now with overdrive (or taller gears), the engine HP becomes an issue.Plenty of candidates for a swap in the 235/261 or even 230/250/292 family.
Having fixed the gearing and power, brakes are certain to be a problem. The disk kits available are set up for different wheels. If I want to retain the stock wheels, adapters are needed for the center. Wheels are hub centric so some lathe work can fix.
If the wheels also are to be changed, going with late model wheels and brakes becomes easier.
- I would like to hear about errors in my thinking before I invest.
- There doesn't seem to be much of this truck that isn't to be changed.
- If someone does this to a '36 truck are they creating a "white elephant".
- Given the truck is stock now, is it better to let a restorer get hold of it given that I am likely to change so much of it.
Look forward to your comments!
-Tom
