The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Speedway Motors Chassis

Evening everyone, does anyone have any thoughts on the chassis that Speedway Motors has for the AD trucks? https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Speedway-1947-54-Chevy-Half-Ton-Pickup-Truck-Chassis-Kit,139514.html My frame rails are in pretty good shape but I'd like to modernize the ride on my '51. I know it's "cheaper" to find a potential S10 as a donor vehicle for IFS, etc but I don't have the skills to weld those sections together and fabricate potential parts.

Any guidance is appreciated.

Thanks,
Rob

Rob I'd give this a lot of thought and consideration. There appears to be no body mounts, the front end doesn't come with it (and it is designed to use a front suspension/steering system from a Ford economy car), the rear end...well it is unclear what is there and what isn't. Looks like a lot of work and a lot more $$ to be spent before anybody takes a ride.

"Modernize the ride"- - - - - -what, exactly is your goal once the project is done? If you want a modern passenger car ride, it's going to involve a lot less hassle and expense to just buy the car. Making a truck ride like a car is sort of like making a silk purse from a sow's ear- - - - -it actually can be done, but it makes the pig look funny, and it doesn't hear very well afterwards.
LOL!
Jerry

You really need to pick a direction you are taking and stick to it. You started out wanting to keep it “mostly” stock, then went to some safety upgrades and now to a full blown street rod V8 and special chassis. We would really like to help you out and really are trying but we don’t know where you’re headed.
If you’re going the streetrod route we have a special forum (HiPo) for that and by using that forum almost exclusively for your questions you will get less pushback for hacking up your stock truck. We have several folks on here that have made a very good living for many years cranking out show worthy cars/trucks from their shops. They love to help.

Martin,

I'm trying to prep myself in case I find some issues with the frame once I get the cab off. It seems pretty solid when I hit it with a rubber mallet but I'm still a bit fearful since the cab area had some rust areas (kick panels and driver's side foot well). One thing that I do want is better braking and reliability at highway speeds. I'll be going into the mountains of Colorado from time to time so good brakes (not vacuum driven) and a reliable engine are requirements. I'm okay with the leaf springs in the front and rear, as long as I can get disk brakes installed, at least in the front.

Thanks,
Rob

Jerry,

For mountain driving, my needs are reliable brakes (preferably disk) and enough power to go up and down hills. Some people around here drive like id**ts and have no problem cutting in front of you and then hitting their brakes. I'm okay with leaf springs in the front and rear, as long as I can have at least disk brakes in the front.

I don't want a car like ride and I don't want a car that drags the ground.

Thanks,
Rob

Rob.
When I started out I had a clear picture in mind. It didn't take long to change direction. Then change many times. It's pretty well done now pretty much like the first idea. I would start by taking things apart and evaluating what needs to be repaired or replaced. When I went looking for parts I saw all kinds of different ideas on which way to go. Got a lot of ideas and abvice. You will likely see rat rods,hot rods,restorations and everything in between. I get some flak for the path I took but it's my truck and my money.
Jim

Drum brakes (installed correctly and maintained correctly) will stop you just fine. You do however need to realize the AD trucks were not built during a time when pickups ever drove 80+ mph...as people today have decided all pickups must be driven. As long as you respect the truck and the design of it, you'll be fine. Take your time, enjoy the drive and arrive alive. Your body may have rust, and that's normal. It can be fixed and fixed in such a way that it won't happen again. Very few of these which spent their lives outdoors don't have some body rust. Even here where we don't use salt on the roads you get rust over time...and these trucks are old now. Your frame will be fine I imagine. It would take a lot to rust it to the point of any concern. As for power for hills, you have plenty if the 235 is in good condition. If you're talking about steep mountains, you'll need to use 2nd gear, but guess what? A brand new Toyota with a V8 will also be downshifting. As for an S10, you need to only look at the 4 wheel drive models. The others are too narrow by about 2 inches or maybe a bit more to mate with and AD frame & body. If you want an S10, my sincere advice would be to get out there and look for a good one. But those are old now and you'll need to find one that was babied (meaning it will cost $$$) or it probably will have been run to absolute crap, the engine will be leaking (these had a problem with rear main seals), the transmission will need rebuilding (remember it will probably have 150,000+ miles now), it will need new idler arms and front end parts (I've been to this party many times when I owned one), the fuel injection will need repair (the spider will be shot and that's some work plus cost to replace...and you only get one chance to plug it in correctly or say bye-bye to a $300 part), the A/C will need service and the upholstery/interior? Forget it...it will need to be redone and most of it is plastic. If it was owned by a smoker or somebody who hauled their dog around all the time, it is going to smell rank in there and you may never get that smell out of it. The time to buy one of those was 20 years ago.

But the A/D is a great pickup and fortunately can be rebuilt/restored, saved and driven all over the place happily.

Here is a partial checklist I'd use for an A/D truck that's going to be a driver:
new leaf springs/shackles/shocks/u-bolts
new steering components and rebuild the steering box or at least remove, clean, inspect and adjust
new brakes...everything including lines, wheel bearings, etc...check or replace it all
engine...go through it or at least check compression, timing, ignition components...I'd replace with HEI and find a Carter carburetor made for the year of your engine. Say bye-bye to Mr. Rochester. If you rebuild the engine, find somebody who understands how to do it correctly...to the GM specs. Check the water pump. If unsure, buy a new one. Parts stores in small villages will not carry these. Fan belts...get new ones. Personally I would take off the fan (your pump will last longer and run quieter) and use an electric fan with shroud and thermostat. Old Air Products makes an excellent one. Get a new aluminum radiator...you don't want this going bad on a trip and an old one can do that with no warning.
alternator...I'd get one
horn...find a dual note horn if you can from a car made in the 60s...you can hear these from a long distance
12 volt system. Convert yours to this. You'll need a voltage dropper for a couple of things (fuel gauge, heater motor, dash lights unless you replace them)
emergency brakes...check all components including cables...you will need this to be in top shape every time you park in hilly country. Keep them adjusted.
windshield wipers...go electric. Good reasons why vacuum wipers were replaced with electric.
windshield and other glass...replace it and do it correctly. Gotta have good vision.
seat adjustment track...take it apart, clean it well, lubricate it. This will also stop phantom rattles.
door locks/striker plates...the 1951 (I owned one years ago) had an occasional tendency for the doors to open themselves going around corners...or at least mine did. I found a set of NOS locks and strikers and put an end to that nonsense. At any rate, good luck.

For the past 15+ years, I've been making some pretty nice pocket change by doing pre-purchase inspections of antique and collectible vehicles for potential buyers. I've done two of these inspections in the past week. One was on an original, unrestored 1955 Pontiac Safari- - - -the Pontiac version of the Chevy Nomad 2-door station wagon. The car was all original, and other than a bunch of chrome being removed by a previous owner in preparation for doing body work, nothing had beem done to restore it. The Safari is far more scarce than the Chevy version, but inflation hasn't hit that particular vehicle yet- - - -mostly because it's butt-ugly, I believe! This specimen had major ptoblems- - - -lots of body rust, some of which had been "repaired" long ago by simply slapping Bondo over the rust and repainting. Now the paint, and the body filler underneath is lifting. Ther are a few holes rusted in the floorboard, the original leather upholstery is worn, dried out, and has a few small holes in places. The carpet is vurtually nonexistent. The frame is showing some noticeable rust damage, so the car must have lived in a pretty hostile salt environment for a while. The car is "restorable", but just barely. It runs, the dual range Hydramatic transmission shifts well, and there aren't any serious steering or suspension problems. All the chrome is badly pitted. The brakes suck! A collector with deep pockets and a willingness to do an off-frame restoration could make this car a nice one, but the cost would be huge.

The other vehicle was a 1982 Corvette with less than 10K original miles. There is a little surface rust underneath on the frame and exhaust, but that's from long-term storage, not salt. The current owner has even got the original paper window label listing the price and options, all the original owner's manuals, and the original purchaser's paperwork and title issued by the selling dealer. He's the second owner of the car, and keeps it in climate-controlled storage. Both cars are being considered by a buyer in Australia who keeps me busy running all over the southeast inspecting potential purchases for him. He owns a classic and muscle car business there, and he's bought at least half of the 40-something vehicles I've inspected for him. BTW- - - -the current owner of the Corvette isn't quite breaking even on the deal. Buying and selling antique vehicles for profit is just about a thing of the past!
Jerry

My 3/4 ton has stock drum brakes with nothing more than a dual master installed. It will easily lock all 4 wheels up at 65-70mph. So yea drum brakes work fine unless mabey you ride them for miles down a mountain without engine braking. Now heres the kicker on mine...... just because the brakes can lock up at 60,70,probably 80mph dosent mean the truck will stop. Mine just locks up and keeps on truckin. People make fun of ABS but it is so effective sometimes it’s ridiculous. I had a panic stop one day in my truck that definitely opened my eyes to the fact that as confident as I am in the brakes actually made me overconfident that it would actually stop. Luckily i did more steering than braking because 4 locked tires were not doin much for me at that moment in time. Now if I had 600lbs in the bed Im pretty sure I would have been much better off stoping distance wise. Just something to think about.

Have you looked into some softer tires? 40 or so years ago I bought a truck which had some fairly new Atlas tires on it and at any speed over 50 they'd do the same thing. It was nice that the tread didn't wear very fast on them, but they would absolutely scare you to death if you had to stop at 65. You almost couldn't do it on a dry road and forget it on a wet road. I went to a tire dealer who changed them for some others (Goodyear) and it made a world of difference.

Mines got new soft tires. Actually has cooper snows on it. The problem is mostly with the truck not weighing enough and not having any type of abs. Only a panic stop would be a issue with wheel lock. If you moderate the pedal it wont lock up but when you see a car stop short or someone pulls out right in front of you and you smash that pedal they are locking.