The Stovebolt Site Forums Project Journals Archived Journals 1940 Chev 1/2 ton “Franken/Restomod”

Hello all;

I haven't posted here much, but I have used the site a few times in the past year since joining. In February I bought a 1946 Chev 1/2 ton truck with the intent of modifying it. Modern suspension, 350 V8 - all the usual fun stuff! Even though I bought the truck not running, I figured I would get it running and drive it for the summer while I finalized plans and sourced parts for the build. Well, funny enough I fell in love with putzing around town in it. So much so that I began to feel guilty about planning to tear apart a running/driving all original 6 volt 1/2 ton truck. How many are left now, can I really tear it apart??
I began hunting for another truck, missing out on 1 great deal on a basket case being dumped for 1/2 it's value. I then got a hold of a 1939 1.5 ton truck at an auction. I can now have the best of both worlds, leaving the survivor whole and modify the rough truck.
I consider myself very fortunate as my wife works in the retail store that is an offshoot of a restoration shop. The owner very generously allows the employees to work on personal projects. That means I have access to a complete restoration shop where I can not only work, but get advice on what step to take next.
I started in on the '39 build by stripping down a 1946 1/2 chassis that I bought from a body-person at the shop. She had swapped the body to a S-10 chassis and was not going to use it, so for 200.00 it was mine. I stripped it down to the rails and rear suspension and sandblasted it. I left the rear suspension on it so that it was somewhat portable. While I do have access to the shop I need to move it in and out of a bay when I am working on it so as to not plug the bay up continuously.
Once word spread around the shop that I had started my build and was looking for a 350SBC for it, I lucked into 1980's Diplomat motorhome engine and transmission. The motorhome was rough due to water damage, but only had 70,000 original KMs on it. That converts to 43,500 miles for you Southern neighbors. I pulled the engine and confirmed it was a 4-bolt main and also found zero sludge in the oil pan and the oil gallery up top. I looked at the cylinder walls and there is still some faint cross-hatch visible! The engine is currently on a stand while I clean and paint it and ready it for install- Coming soon!
I decided on the rims/tires combo, which is a set of steel 10x16 (rear) and 8x16 (front) rims and will have them powder coated tractor Red. I bought some Michelin P265/75-R16(rear) P235/75-R16 (front) tires which I initially thought would fit. Turns out, the sizes mentioned on the website are not the mounted dimensions so I need to install some tubs in the box to make room for the rear tires. I could choose a smaller tire, but these are going ot look so cool that I am willing to spend the time to modify the box so they can fit.
In September I removed the body from the 1.5 ton and it dropped right onto the factory mounts of the '46. A few weeks later we installed a new Mustang II front suspension. I was really excited as the build was progressing nice with regular milestones to keep the momentum going. Since then, things have slowed a little. I have gotten bogged down a bit on the truck box. To start I had no box to speak of as the 1.5 ton had a flat deck and the 1/2 ton was the chassis only. I scrounged up some box sides and rails and then purchased new 47-54 fenders and front/rear panels. I spent a few days modifying the fender mounting positions as the box sides were originally from a long box. Long story short, I finally realized the hours I had spent and the hours I would need to spend were a huge waste of time. I purchased new box sides and started to move forward again. I left for work with the box 90% done so I can get on to the rear suspension when I return.
I purchased a Ford 9inch differential from the same lady that I got the '46 chassis from. The next task will be to narrow it and install the 4 link rear suspension. the pictures look a little goofy as the truck has way too much of a rake as it is still sitting on the original rear end. I am very excited to see it sitting on the new suspension and I want a look at the tires in the fender wells!

See the attachment for pictures.

More to come soon!

Well here it is 3 months later and a ton of work has been done, I have broken the 250 hour mark on the build...
Most of the big welding work has been completed, though some things have only been tacked in place. the rear 4-link suspension is in and I really like the stance of the truck now, low and mean looking! The entire frame will be gone over once all the fitting has been completed. The whole frame will then be sandblasted again and painted. The engine and transmission have been mounted, a small block Chev 350 and a 400R transmission. I changed the transmission as I was originally going with the turbo 350 I got with the engine, but when deciding on the rear diff gear ratio, I went a little lower and can use the 400R OD to get me to a nice cruising speed. This way I get the best of both worlds, if I want a little smoke from the tires I have the torque, but I can also cruise for days and get decent mileage.
The cab now has fresh controls; a tilt steering column, brake pedal assembly, gas pedal and E-brake. That was a milestone for sure when the steering was connected up and actually works. Prior to that, when the truck needed to be moved, you had to grab the front wheel and push/pull to steer the wheels. After repairing the firewall I mounted the master cylinder and brake booster. The brake pedal assembly mounting was a little tricky, but only because of the awkward body position required to work up under the dash.
The front bumper is next to be mounted, I need to fabricate some new brackets and then drill and bolt it to the frame. There is a picture of it sitting in place and I think it is going to look awesome! I lucked into a brand new set of old stock 5" fog lamps I will mount to the bumper as well. I also got an aluminium visor from my father-in-law and that will look cool too.
I had 16 x 8 rims on the front, but had clearance issues with the steering so I needed to reduce them to the 16 x 7 and a regular offset. I went with a Michelin LT truck tire and a set of white wall side inserts as they are much cheaper than a set of white wall tires. I wanted a really wide white wall and only had 1 option for the tire size I had and it was a very expensive tire.

Up next: Fabricate a gas tank, choose a radiator and mount it, fabricate a seat frame for the BMW bucket seats and sort out seat belts.

I am starting to feel the pressure of having this competed for spring, I am not sure I will make it but will keep pushing to try!

It is our 22nd wedding anniversary this month, I will be sure to take the wife out and say thank-you and show some appreciation for all the time she is letting me spend on this project!

I am looking for ideas on a box cover. I don't like the fibreglas style as it needs to be removed, nor am I a fan the fabric with snap covers. I really like the roll-top cover, but don't want to lose the box space to the drum. any thoughts, suggestions??
I have added a couple of pictures to the photo montage.

You are doing good work with some nice condition trucks. Keep updating. All interesting.

Just having a look thru your Photo Album. You are doing some pretty nice work, and I like your choices for motor, trans, and rear end.
I have a couple of questions
1. I think you may have a 1940 Cab there. As far as I know, even tho the '39 & '40 are almost identical, the " 40's were the only year to have the parking lights on the front fenders ? Are those the original fenders ? Certainly
possible they could have been swapped out along the way.

2. You mentioned BMW seats ? That was one of the big issues when I was building my truck - the cab is so small, difficult to find seats that work. Could tell me which model / year the Bimmer seats are from ? Are you
planning on mounting on existing seat riser or redoing ?

Thanks for sharing

Regards seats in general, in my '37 GMC, I used mid '50's school bus bucket seats, very comfortable, adjustable. In my '47.1 truck, I used S-10 bench seat, fits just right.

Ed

Nice build! Keep us updated on the finished product.

The seats I bought off a local Buy/Sell site and were already free from the car, I think it was a 3-series but am not positive on the year or model. It would have to be at least 10 years old as they have no air bags in them, not much help I know...
I can tell you that they are manual, leather but have several different adjustments. The coolest feature, and the reason I bought them is the height adjustment. As the seat is raised up, it also moves forward which will be very nice for when my wife drives the truck. I am 5'8" while she is 5', so having an adjustable seat will make her much more comfortable and safer when driving.
I will be fabricating a new seat mount as I want the space under the seats for electronics ( stereo amp, speakers, etc ) I will be making a new fuel tank that will be mounted under the box and behind the rear suspension.
I will post pictures of the seats and the gas tank once completed.

In regards to the truck year, I am not positive if those are the original fenders, but I believe they are. I could not find a VIN decoder for Canadian truck which is as good as what I could find for the US built trucks. From what I could find, I decoded it to 1939. I bought the truck at auction so I have no source for learning it's history, etc.

More soon!

Hello Folks;

Another update...
Feeling a little out of steam, there is always a lot going on around the household and as focused as I have been on the truck, I feel like I am missing out in other areas.
Progress has slowed a little which I suppose is adding to my frustrations. The last day I worked on it, was a 1 step forward, 2 steps back kind of day. Oh well, a friend of mine once asked me how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Which is good advice, I am not sure it was here or another website on building, but some good advice I heard was to set smaller goals. Rather than set a lofty and vague goal of finishing the truck, set a smaller goals for things that can be completed in a day or week... The sense of accomplishment completing these small goals fuels you onward for the next step, and the next, and the next....one bite at a time.

Since my last update, I have completed: front and rear bumpers mounted, Installed the hitch, which is now the rear frame support and started the bed wood install. I have started the fuel tank, the pieces are all formed up and stitched together. I have selected a gauge package, ordered a radiator and have chosen to move the battery to the engine bay.

The front bumper install went well, I mocked it up in position and then stated to fab the brackets. I used 2" x 1/4" mild steel and a press to make the bends. I am going to have a filler panel covering the brackets so I did not bother to arc the brackets as it was faster. I still like the way it turned out and they are very strong...I can stand on them and they don't flex. Completing the front brackets gave me the confidence to jump right into the rear bumper brackets too and got those done also. Before I could do the rear brackets, I got the hitch tacked into position which helped me to locate the height of the rear bumper. The hitch install was a little time consuming getting the angles and fitted up, but all turned out well I think. I will also have a filled panel for the rear bumper too, so again the brackets were made same as the front.

Welding in the hitch allowed me to remove the rear frame support, which is where the fuel tank will go. The basic dimensions will be 24" wide x 26" long and 8" deep. The volume will be about 85L or 22 Gallons which will give me a good range between fill ups. I could have gone a little wider, but needed to allow some room for the exhaust to pass through to the rear bumper. Pictures will follow once it is in place.
I have selected the gauges, I am going with the Vintage 5 gauge set from Classic Instruments. The dual speedo and tach in the 3-3/8" gauge was the deciding factor as the Autometer set did not have the dual gauge. I will include the drawing made for me and if anyone wants a copy, PM me and I can email it to you.

I ordered a radiator, and am very excited for it to arrive. I was researching modern rads that I could modify to fit and then found the one I ordered which is a Aluminium 3 core rad with the transmission cooler and designed to fit my truck so it will fill the space better than anything I was going to fab up. A little more expensive, but worth it in the time saving for not having to modify something to fit.

The last thing to update on is the box bed. I had pretty much decided I was going to use composite wood and had reinforced the bed with that intent. I am also intending on using the truck to haul my motorcycle, so I wanted the bed reinforced for that purpose as well. Anyways, when I really looked into the composite wood, I learned that the coefficient of expansion for the material is quite high so the gaps would need to be pretty big to allow for that. The finish and colour was also factors in the decision, but I looked into hardwoods and decided on a natural wood rather than a composite. I chose IPA ( pronounced EEPA ) which is a Brazilian Ironwood. Good lord the stuff is solid, very dense and heavy. In the picture the white painted strips will be brushed stainless to closely match the tie-down rails.

Well that is enough for now, my hands are sore from typing.
Later folks,
Steve

Wow! Keep up the good work.

’39 Chev Truck Restomod update — March 28, 2019
This week I did not get too much done on the truck, so not much of an update. I completed the battery tray fabrication and install. The tailgate got installed and box sides welded into place. I also fabricated the battery disconnect and installed it.
Battery tray — I wasn’t sure where I wanted the battery to be located on the truck. I had thought about using a cooler in the truck box, or in the cab behind the seats, but finally settled on the engine bay. Mostly for ease of installation, servicing and wiring. I forgot to take a picture of it, but it’s mounted on the passenger side firewall. I started with a used tray from the wreckers, removing the stock brackets and adding my own. It turned out good, but I need to add a support from the firewall at the top of the battery to the hold down bolt for a little more stability. I also need to relocate the VIN tags as well. I will place them above the battery along that seam at the top of the firewall.
Tail gate install — The body is a 1.5T and came with a flat deck. I have installed it onto a 1946 1/2ton chassis so I bought a reproduction box. Overall the box quality is good, the biggest problem I have run into is the holes for the rear cross support are all out. Once the box had been installed and squared and with the tail gate in position and gaps evened, etc. The rear cross member support-bedside mounting holes was out about ½ a hole. Rather than re-drill all the holes, I opted to just weld up the bottom 2 holes and keep the top hole for the tailgate hinge bracket. I also added a weld down the seam for some extra strength.
Battery disconnect — For some added security I wanted to be able to disable the engine. I have moved the fuel tank from the cab to behind the rear wheel ( well it soon will be anyways᠁) I had considered welding up the hole in the cab where the filler neck came through, however I decided not to. I think it will keep the truck looking a little more “stock”. I have hidden the disconnect switch in the old filler neck, and I think it is a pretty cool addition.
Anyways, I am back at work so the truck will have to wait again. The break gives me time to plan up what I am working on next. That will be getting the fuel tank mounted and if the gauges arrive I can get the sending unit bolt pattern and complete the tank. After the fuel tank is complete, I will be moving on to the running board extensions and front and rear fender mods.

See the attachment for some pictures.
Steve

Steve,
It’s looking great! I really like the idea of the tie down strips running the length of the bed. I wish I had thought of something like that.

What a great job . Thanks for sharing the detail with us . This does help with my motivation to continue with my '37 build.

Your lovely truck definitely has a '40 front clip , the details are ; the top grill bar (chevrolet script) is deeper than '39 and goes right back to the edge of the nose cowl. The nose cowl is different also to allow for the top bar restyle . Then the grill has one less horizontal bar than '39 . The short headlights with sealed beams (first year for those). Park lights on the guards.

Here in NZ the '39 has round gauges , the '40 has the strip style , but that may just be a colonial thing .

The '46 is a gem and will look SO good out on the road .

Hello;

Thank-you FOX for the encouraging words. I am sure it is a cliche', but if I had known how much work it was going to be...

Thanks Dusty, for the extra info on trying to determine the year. I think you are right, it is a '40. I searched up what I could on VIN decoding info, as the vehicle is Canadian the info from back then is a little spotty. From what I did find, I figured it to be a '39. Thanks, it will be good to have it registered correctly.

’40 Chev Truck Restomod update — April 12, 2019
Not too much to report for this week’s tour home, mostly I got the winter tires changed over to the summer’s on the daily drivers. That, and we got a room painted in the house! Super exciting, I know᠁ Our oldest is serving in the Canadian military ( Armored ) and will be home for Easter, so Momma wanted to paint his bedroom before he arrives!
I did however get some good work done on the truck. I added a top support to the battery tray as it was a little too wobbly for my liking. Not that the tray was weak, it had more to do with the flex in the firewall. By adding the top support I think I accomplished 2 things; the first is that I was not happy with the plastic clip that held down the battery, it seemed out of place. And the second was to stiffen up the whole thing by adding in an addition point of contact.
I know I have mentioned the fuel tank before and thought I was mostly done with it. After spending 2 more days working on it I am on the fence whether a prebuilt one would have been a better choice. This was cheaper, and I got a custom tank that fits the truck perfectly in the space I want it to be, but darn what a load of work! Thinking about it now though, it just occurred to me that the fab work I was doing was mainly for the mounting bracket, which I would have had to do for a store bought tank as well᠁
Lastly, I got the Lokar shifter mounted. Nothing too difficult there but it was one of those things that were on the to-do list so I can check that off.
A cool tool that I have learned about recently that you may or may not have heard about is a rivet-nut. This is a handy alternative to fighting with small nuts or welding a nut to the backside of whatever you are trying to bolt to. It works pretty much the same as a standard rivet, except that the rivet-nut rivets itself to the metal rather than holding 2 pieces of metal together. Maybe it is just me, but I had never heard of them before and thought it worth mentioning. They work especially well with sheet metal and you can even add a support backer same as with a standard rivet.
If you are interested in more info, go to google images and search: “rivet nut”
Sorry, no pictures this time.
Anyways, that is all for now.
Later,
Steve

’40 Chev Truck Restomod update — May 9, 2019
Hello again all, and thank-you all for your continued interest.
I hope everyone had a good Easter; ours was nice as our oldest son was home, it was nice to be all together again.
I started this project keeping a journal of what I accomplished each day and the hours spent as well. I have been letting that slide for a while now to the point now where I am having trouble remembering just what I did this last go round!
As the cab and fenders were from a 1.5T and the frame is a ½ ton I had to do some work to the front cross member as it is forward of the radiator support about 1”. Since none of the holes lined up and the rad support was not supported properly, I cut out a section of the cross member about 6” long and 1” wide, then welded in a 2” wider support. That allowed the front clip to be levelled so the hood gaps are correct and everything is bolted secure.
The front fenders needed to be shortened so they would fit the ½ Ton running board height. Once the fenders were where they needed to be, I could mount the running boards and determine where to cut the fenders. I liked the way they turned out. They are only stitched right now and will require some hammer and dolly work, but they came together really smoothly. Once off the truck, I can complete the welds and grind for body working.
I also worked on prepping a few misc. parts and pieces for paint work. I have an opportunity at the shop in that I can have some parts ready to paint which can be mixed in with other parts being painted the same colour.
Anyways, that is all for now.
Later,
Steve

May 24 Update
Not much to report, I completed a few filler panels for the box sides which will tie the box into the running boards when completed. I have been unsuccessful locating a good set of used running boards to cannibalize, so Dean, my "GURU" played a bit with the pull-max and was able to recreate the beads in the original running boards. The next step will be to section the boards and "add" in the additional portions to tie the board into the rear fender and up to the box. The board will be curved to match the cab corner and will finish the look nicely!
Please see the attached word doc for a couple of pictures.

Later,
Steve.

Hello again;

Thank-you for your continued interest in this “little” project!
I am not a writer by trade so I struggle with how wordy to be when writing these. The focus for the work completed was the running boards and rear fenders.
The running boards are original to the truck and are solid, but definitely showing their age. They had some dings and dents along the outer edges, minor considering their age, but i spent about 2 hours per running board to remove them. The mounting brackets welded to the underside were in tough shape, so those were removed and new ones fabricated and temporary installed. They are not on permanently, as I will need to locate the bolt holes and weld the bolts in prior to permanently welding them on.
The truck had a flat deck on it when I bought it, so the box you see on it is a reproduction, as are the fenders. The fenders are for a 1947-53 truck so I have removed the styling detail lip on the front of each fender to make them look a little more stock, and maybe confuse some of the purists I will meet once it is on the road. To remove the lip I had to cut and section the fender, then stitch it together. Depending on how the running board extension turns out I may need to remove some additional material so they are only stitched for now. Once everything is fitted up and confirmed as complete I will finish welding them and then try out some hammer and dolly work to smooth them out.

I have attached a few pictures of the progress, I took a few more than usual and I marked 1 up to show what the running board will look like once extended.

Coming up next will be completing the running boards᠁

Until next time, Steve.

Ha Ha! I figured out how to edit the title so the main thread on the project journal page shows 1940 rather than '39.

For anyone wondering, I bought the truck at auction, sold to me as a '39.
Some helpful folks pointed out the grill and fender lights which identified it as a 1940.
Since then I have attempted to change the thread title to 1940 several times and just figured it out now.

Small wins!
Steve

June 20, 2019
Hello everyone, thank-you again for checking with the build and following along.
This week’s adventure was a lesson in patience and cumulative error. What is cumulative error you ask? Well, let me tell you᠁
Going through trade school I recall the topic being discussed, however I never really had a “real world” situation that illustrated the concept quite like this. What I was working on were the running board extensions, I needed to recreate the ribs formed into the step of the running board. The machine was available to me, called a pullmax, however a set of dies was not. They did have a single side die which they commonly use to “joggle” the piece to create an offset. The choice was to make a set of dies or use the joggle die, I chose to use the existing die as this was a one off project and I thought it would take less time to work the single die rather than create a multiple rib die. To get the rib spacing I started out on the 1st try using a Vernier and measuring very precisely thinking that once I figured out the spacing for the 1st rib the rest would be the same spacing as the 1st and it would just be a matter of measuring and adjusting the fence for each rib. I forgot to take into consideration the distance from one side of the die to the other and the spacing wound up being off on the land area so I was out of alignment almost immediately. I got 2 ribs in before I noticed the error and started over.
Okay lesson learned, so for the 2nd try I would check the work piece to the corresponding original more often to verify that I am staying true to the originals. What I was doing was placing the work piece up to the original and comparing the rib I was working on to the original. I NEEDED to be aligning the first rib of each part and checking that all the spacing’s were true as I progressed, as trusting my finely honed measuring skills, the error continued to accumulate with each added rib. By the time I got to the 5th of 7 ribs I was out of position by almost a full rib.
Alrighty-then! Third times the charm! I put down the Vernier and went strictly visual. It was more time consuming, as I was making constant trips back and forth from the machine to the truck to check the latest run, but in the end it proved to be the successful method. Looking at the original running boards I think the ribs are actually tapered as they run to the rear of each board. Very tough to re-create, but satisfying once it was done.
That exercise took me 2 days to get done, almost 15 hours. The consolation prize is that I think the panels from try #2 will work really great as insert panels on the doors. See the last picture in the photo montage, the interior door panels have a detail area on them which I am thinking of using the ribbed portion on. This will add an interesting visual detail to the interior and tie the exterior and interior together.
Thanks again for checking in,
Steve

I'm impressed with your work mate, I'm doing a similar job. I have a '40 model which was restored in '83. and fitted with a tray (flat top). I always wanted a pickup, so 18 months ago, I bought a repro bed from the US and have been working on it part time since.
I have it painted & sitting on the chassis now, ready to line up & drill the holes for the mounting bolts. I also then have to make running board extensions, but am looking at getting a pair off another truck, then cutting & shutting them. I'll be interested in how yours finish up.
One problem I encountered was, as my truck has an Australian built cab, when the bed was sat on the chassis, there was a large gap between the front panel & the rear of the cab. I had to drill new holes in the rails, 60mm further forward. I assume that the Aussie Holden built cab is not as deep as the US Fisher one.
I'll keep on checking your progress, and will get a picture of mine up in due course.

Hello everyone;

I have not been working on the truck much this past little while as I did some calculations and figured out that if I kept up at the pace I was going I might have it done just in time to put it away for winter.
So I am going to slow the pace and enjoy what is left of the summer, though so far it has been really wet. August should be nice though, and we are itching to get out and do some camping.
I also just returned from a 9 day, 6000km motorcycle ride North which was good to get away on a guys trip.

I thank you all for following along and I hope that I have not discouraged anyone from checking in on the progress.
Scouts honor that I will be back at it hard in October, at the latest!

I do intend on working on the 1940 so there will be little updates, and I also have the running 1946 to putter around with too.
I just refurbished the gauge cluster so I will attach a picture of how that turned out. Visually it turned out great, however the speedo is acting up so if anyone has some advice...
I will do a search of the forum here for some hints, but I am thinking that I may need to send it out to a pro.

Enjoy,
Steve

I really like the approach you are taking on your 40. We did one several years ago that mostly just sets in the garage as a conversation piece. I think if one spends the time and money it should be DRIVEN.

[img]https://i.postimg.cc/VJHzxwvr/Stude-Justin-s-40-Cougar-Cat-004.jpg[/img]

coilover, that sure looks like a nice build.
I completely agree that it should be driven, and to that end I am building it to be a daily driver, possibly even a touring vehicle.
I am struggling with myself at times as I can feel my tendency to want to make it perfect. That can wind up being afraid to drive the truck due to the amount of money spent...
I don't want a garage princess for sure, the struggle is real!

Steve

Hello again;
August was super busy, however I was able to meet a fellow Bolter, Fox which was very cool. Fox is also working on a couple of projects which he has journals for as well. If you are checking my journal out, you have probably already seen his, if not please do as it is a good read! My neighbor, and also fellow Bolter; Doyle met up with Fox for the Grove Cruise August 18 and showed our 3 trucks together at the show and shine. They were very popular; Doyle with his dump box raised and Fox with his dually really drew in the people. I have attended many show & shines before, but this was my first experience actually showing a vehicle so I was glad to be in such excellent company! Thanks, guys.
I was able to get some work done on the truck, stitching the running board extensions together. I had previously written about my fun replicating the ribbed portion, so this last round of work was about fabricating the remaining pieces and getting them all stitched together. I still need to fabricate, well get shown how to fabricate, the last transition piece by the back of the cab. I also want to make up a support piece for the underside of the extensions. It is pretty strong now, even just stitched together, but I don't want to be afraid of the extension getting damaged if someone should actually step on it!
I learned how to use a stretcher, for getting the back edge of the extensions to match the curve of the rear fender. Cutting in and stitching the pieces together was fairly straight forward, if not a little nerve wracking. Knowing how much work went into the ribbed portion, I was very nervous about ruining it and having to start all over. I clamped and cut, then stitched the pieces together a little at a time working my way around the extension while it was in place on the truck. Once the extension was solidly in, I removed it from the truck and took it to a bench to complete the install.
I am really happy with how the extensions have turned out so far, stock looking but with a custom flair. The main difference would be on stock running boards, the transition from the box side to the running board is actually curved the opposite direction, however I like this much better.

More to come,
Steve

Hello again;
Thank-you for checking in/following along.
I worked a little on the running boards this round. I still have that transition piece to fabricate, but I did get the mounts welded into place so the running boards are set where they need to be. The front “top hat” supports were already welded into place so I used rivet-nuts for those, however the rear supports were still loose, so I welded flange nuts to those before welding them into place. I did not take any more pictures of the running boards, I will when they are complete, complete.
I didn’t have much time and did not want to start the transition pieces if I couldn’t finish so I knocked another job off the list, which was to mount the radiator. I bought an new aluminium, 3 core radiator which was for a ’39 Chev ( at the time that is what I thought I had ). I am not sure whether it was because my truck is a 1.5 ton and the rad is for a ½ ton, or if the mounts changed in 1940 but the stock mounting brackets won’t work. I carefully cut them off and then fabricated some new brackets using the left-overs from the plate purchased for the fuel tank. I slotted the holes to allow for adjustment/fitting on assembly. I am a beginner at Aluminium TIG welding, so I am having the mounts welded on by the pro. That will get done sometime while I am away for work, so I will have some more pictures of the rad in place once that is completed.
I am getting really close to completing the fabrication portion of the build. I have to decide on seats and then make a frame to suit. I would like to incorporate speakers and maybe some storage into the frames as well. I would like to hide the radio as well, but have not decided where it should go. I am thinking in the glove box, under the seat or perhaps under the dash. I have seen some really nice in dash mounts hidden behind a stock panel, too bad my truck has a plain dash without a panel. I do have a heater which I could potentially repurpose, it would need to look right and still be accessible though while travelling᠁
Later,
Steve

Some really nice work on the running boards, I like the tight fit around the cab .

Looking sharp fella! I seem to be having a hard time these days getting mugh done on my projects. On the bright side, winter is coming and that outdoor, summer, honey do list will get shortened up quickly! Keep up the good work, Steve. Very impressive.

Thank-you TUTS 59, I looked through your build and I like the work you are doing too.
I appreciated you being so candid with your personal story, you have weathered some tough times .
I am glad to hear you are enjoying life again, I hope you can keep the momentum on your build going.
I am finding that kind comments from the folks here on the forum are the little "pokes" to keep me moving the project forward.

please keep posting, it is fun to check in on your progress.
Steve

Fox,
Thank-you, I consider it high praise from another builder who does such nice work!
Don't stress about the build and let it work itself out. You are in a very busy stage of your life, young children and all... last thing you need is added stress of completing the build. I read somewhere one fellow was writing about putting pressure on himself to complete the build and it changed the nature of the work. Rather than enjoying it, finding it relaxing or fun, he began to feel like it was a 2nd job. If that happens, well there are LOTS of unfinished project for sale on the web....
Steve

Hello again all;

If you recall from my last update, I left the radiator to have the new mounting brackets welded on. They were done, so I installed the radiator. I also installed the overflow container, a nice polished aluminium unit to match the rad.

For the running boards I got 1 piece of the final transition portion made up. 16 ga sheet metal that I bent a 3/4" flange on and then used the "shrinker" to form the curve to match the back of the cab. I will get the last piece made up, which will match the curve on the running board where the vertical portion under the cab transitions into the step part of the board.

I was excited to work on an "American pickers" type find that I scored which was a cover from a JD plow/seeder. I trimmed the edges to square things up, welded a mounting bracket on the back, cleaned it up and cleared it. I think it will look great in the "man cave" ...if I ever get one. For now it will go up on the wall with the tractor grills I made. See the attached pictures. I made the grills a few years ago, one is a Farmall and the other is a Minneapolis Moline. They are lit with some LED's which are controlled with a remote.

Bloody cool.

Hello again;

Thanks for checking in and following along. I totally forgot to take some pictures of the progress this last round. I tacked in the final pieces for the running boards and then spent a few hours welding out the bigger sections. This was in preparation to remove the boards to cut and weld in the final pieces. I wanted to strengthen the boards as much as possible so nothing moves when I remove them from the truck. The work benches were in use with paying customer work, that and there was some interesting shop "drama" going on. Though I was not involved, I figured making myself scarce until the dust settled was a prudent course of action lest I be caught out as collateral damage!

On another note, a neighbor was junking a Roto-tiller, so I scooped that and with the help of my son we were able to get it running. I am not sure what we will do with it, as I do not need a tiller...
I was mostly just curious to see how much work it would need to get running. Turns out a good carb clean and some fresh gas was all that was needed.

More to come soon!

Hello Again;

This week was a very rewarding week as I was able to complete the running board extensions. Yes, I remembered to take pictures, you will find the usual pictorial update attached.
To complete the extensions I needed to cut in the cab transitions and then complete the weld out of the entire running board. I have not been keeping track of my hours this past few months but I am estimating that the extension work took me about 80 hours total to complete. A big investment of time for sure, but they are now "one of a kind", steel and strong as well so I will not have to be afraid of actually using them. They will be finished gloss black same as the fenders and I am thinking of using spray on truck box liner to make a step pad rather than purchasing the common aluminium style. My reasoning is that; 1. I will not have to drill holes for the pads and 2. The liner will adhere/seal to the board and not allow water/crud to migrate under and start corrosion.

Anyways, I am feeling very proud of myself at the moment. That project was making me feel WAY out of my depth and comfort zone, so to have it completed is a big relief and sense of accomplishment.

I also got the 1946 truck laid up for the winter, sad for sure, but I needed to get it done before the snow flies so I could get it into storage dry.
I changed the oil and greased the 1000 or so locations!
I still need to pull the battery and I am thinking of placing it on jack stands to get the weight off the suspension and get the tires off the ground too. Thoughts???

Thanks for following along,
Steve

Good morning Everyone;

As always, thank-you for checking in and following along.

I was a good citizen and got my annual flu shot, I felt like crap for the next 2 days and then I promptly got sick. The dreaded "Man Cold", I know, I know, pretty serious but I am pulling through and getting better! Thanks for your concern.

Anyways, I got the front splash aprons 90% complete on this round of work. Starting with a cardboard template I quickly found out how much difference there is side to side. Pulling the bumper out here and pushing the fender in there...
Those adjustments helped, but I still needed to make a separate template for each side rather than one I could flip over depending on the side being worked on. I couldn't see the differences with the naked eye and measuring at key points it was within 1/16" but when you laid the template in there it just didn't fit the same.
Once I had the cardboard templates made I copied them on to construction paper and them outlined them with some 1/2" wide tape. Once those were cut out, I then traced that outline on some 18 ga sheet steel and proceeded to cut that out. Some sanding was required to smooth the edges so that no imperfections were transferred to the piece when the edges were rolled over. Once I had the blanks made, I guesstimated where I wanted the raised edge to be, using some clear plastic sheet taped over the blank I traced, cut and then transferred that shape to plywood. The plywood edges needed to be sanded smooth as it would be the guide used when running the piece through the Pull-max and would transfer any imperfections to the raised edge. The 1/2" tape was to allow extra material for the edges which were rolled over last, again using the Pull-max. There is a pivoting shoe and adjustable depth which rolled the edge over 90 deg in 4 or 5 passes through. It turned out pretty good, except for the outer edges as that radius was about 2" and was too tight a curve for the steel to form smoothly. To get it right after I needed to make some zip cuts in the edges and hammer the edges smooth, etc.

It took me about 4 hours to make the templates and what-not, but only took about 1 hour to form the raised lip and roll the edges over. The remaining time was spent on hammer and dolly work, trimming and fitting the pieces as needed to final shape. Welding, grinding and sanding as needed. Total time to get to where I am is about 25 hours. I still need to build the hold down tabs and determine where the fog lamps should be placed. Adding some extra support where they are mounted will need to be done as well. Probably another 3 or so hours is needed.

I am very pleased at how it turned out, once painted and the vintage fog lamps are installed it will really come together.

I did take some pictures, they are attached as usual.
That is all for now,
Steve

Class is in session............................................................................................................

Wow Steve. It looks killer! Nice work. I’m just finally getting back to work on my C10. Funny how 2 little guppies will do that! 😃😎

Hello all;

Another productive week, this time I focused on the rear splash apron. I did learn a lesson though, and that would be to stick with something through to the end. I have been following the advice of my "Guru" and have been jumping around from job to job. It has not been an issue yet, until now. Building the rear splash apron made me realize that the passenger side rear fender had not been installed correctly. This realization caused a few scary moments as it potentially meant that the running boards would be differing lengths and a host of other potential issues.
After measuring and comparing the side to side measurements, we sorted out that I got lucky and the running boards were within 1/16" of each other. The fender was approx 7/16" further to the rear on the passenger side as compared to the drivers side. I was able to fix the issue by cutting the fender section previously made and pulling the fender forward into position. This was good because the DS ( driver side ) was straighter vertically than the PS ( passenger side ). By pulling the fender forward it straightened the fender the same as the DS.
Building the rear splash apron was very similar to the front. Make a cardboard template, transfer it to the sheet metal and cut it out. The rear apron doesn't have the rolled edges like the front apron, but needed a step to drop it down from the bed to the bumper height. The end covers were made to strengthen the apron and add some support to the rear fender, they also hide the visible portion of the frame and bumper brackets as well.

I am still struggling with some motivational issues, thank-you for the kind words as it does help to keep my but in the shop and working. I am still hopeful that I can have the truck on the road for the spring, barring any unforeseen issues... ( insert project hex here )

On a side note, I got the Christmas lights up on Sunday. First time ever I did it in a T-shirt! I seem to prefer to do it in -20C weather when climbing up on the roof is a REAL challenge.

As usual I have attached pictures.

Until next time,
Steve

**EDIT**
I forgot to add in my hours, they totaled 23 for the week.

I am absolutely in awe of your skills. Some beautiful work.

Nah, I can't take the credit. I do follow directions really well though!!!

Notice I don't have any pictures of my welds?? LOL

Steve

Hello all;

As always, thank-you for checking in and following along.

This week was another short week, as I did not spend too much time in the shop. Mostly due to the time of year, prepping for the holiday season, but also a few things that needed doing around the house.

The time I did spend in the shop was spent completing some of the items started but not finished. I needed to complete the install of the mounting clips on the rear splash apron, so that got completed, I do still need to drill a couple holes in the fenders where the apron attaches to it. To drill the holes I need to remove the fender, so I will wait until the fender comes off and then I can drill the holes and finish the welding of the cut sections.

The front splash apron needed the mounting clips made and attached as well, so I got that completed. I was very excited to get the fog lamp mounting holes drilled, they are incorporated into the mounting clips to add re-enforcement to the apron. I played around with the height and placement of the lights and settled on just outside of the bumperettes and back towards the fender. I really love the lights and think they bring the whole "look" of the front end together. For anyone interested they are a reproduction light made by "United Pacific" I had searched for a set of vintage lights, but found mostly singles available. The few sets I did find were horribly expensive and not in the best of shape, and since I am building a resto-mod I went with the reproductions.

Another small item I got done was the rear fender support struts, those didn't take much time at all. I used 1/4" rod and 1/8" flat steel to fab them up, and as no one will see them I did not spend too much time to fancy them up.

Time spent was:
2 hours to complete the rear apron
5 hours to complete the front apron and lights
3 hours to complete the rear fender supports
10 hours total

I have attached a couple pics of the front end as it is now. The finish will be powder coated black, with the lights and the bumper mount bolts in shiny chrome. The grill is stainless, so it will be polished as will the headlight bezels.

I am looking for anyone who may have used a aftermarket hood hinge kit on their truck. There are 2 kits I am looking at, one is from Hagan and the other is from Rootlieb. I will need to modify the 4-piece hood to a 3-piece, but am told that the accessibility to the engine is much nicer. Another benefit would be that the hood can be entirely removed for either access or visibility. Please let me know if you have experience or information.

Here is a link to the Hagan auto site for the hinge kit:
https://www.haganauto.com/product_p/hdh3336.htm

Thanks,
Steve

Greetings All and Merry Christmas!

This week was spent using my brain rather than my hands. Not much got done!!!
Continuing my comments from my last update, my guru Dean, was encouraging me to consider purchasing/installing an after-market hood hinge kit.
This would involve adding a lot of hours to the build and cost, with the main benefit being to protect the paint from chips and scratches when opening and closing the hood.
The Hagan kit retails here in Canada for a little over 1000.00 and since there is not a vehicle specific kit available, the install would require modifications to the truck and the hinge kit.
The kit is designed for a 3 piece hood so since mine is a 4-piece, the center hood hinge would need to be removed, then a spacer and supports welded in. A lip would also need to be added to the bottom edge of the hood on both sides to allow the upper hinge frame to be mounted. The side covers would be fixed in place, so they would need to be modified in order to be mounted to the lower hinge support as well.

I have decided to leave it stock, as I intend on driving the heck out of the truck, I am expecting road damage anyways so why would I be worried about the paint? I was going to get the 3M clear protection installed on the front of the fenders, so I might as well get the back of the headlight buckets and along the fender by the engine bay protected too. Another thing is that I am concerned about access to the engine, the existing rad support rods are up pretty high and meet almost in the center of the rad. The lower portion of the hinge would be fixed in place and would replace the existing support. The problem is that it would be right where you are trying to reach through when performing any engine tasks. You would be continuously forced to reach over or under the support and I think that would be very frustrating.

Dean was also suggesting that bear claw door latches be installed as well. They are an important safety upgrade, so I will go ahead and install them. I will work on them starting in January, so you can look forward to updates on that progress.

All the best to you and your loved ones, take care of each other and have a great holiday season.
I will be back with more updates in the new year, see you in 2020!
Steve