'34 Chevy 5-Window Coupe - Turbo Atlas Inline Hot rod

I love hot rods, grew up around them, and really enjoyed building the Rice Rod (build thread). That one turned out nice, but… maybe too nice. I kinda robbed myself of the “rat rod” experience I was originally going for and it was never very fast, even though I did 90% of the work to turbocharge it without actually doing so.

So when a fellow GRM’er was cleaning out this hillbilly creation from a Florida backyard (link to that adventure), I couldn’t pass up the chance to build another hot rod out of the rotten shell that vaguely resembled a 1934 Chevy.

My ‘31 Ford started out almost this bad, right? $100 later it was sitting in my own backyard for almost 2 years. Of course I took my 90 year old Chevy home with my 50 year old Chevy

Since then I did a few other projects, including a detached shop built in the very spot that Chevy carcass had been sitting. I had to look at it and move it around while building my shop, and that really got the gears turning, and looking forward to working on it.

Goals? It will be a true all-Chevy rat rod (to start off, at least). It will be fast. It will be turbocharged. It will be cheap. Perhaps...even cheap enough to run the $2000 Challenge.

The plan: Fix up the body shell, chop the top, set it on a Colorado frame, and boost the Atlas inline motor.

maschinenbau said:

It will be fast. It will be turbocharged. It will be cheap.

First let’s take a look at that body. Oh, wow…

Bondo everywhere, even the uncured, still-gooey kind.

Galvanized panels just riveted in wherever needed

Some remaining structural wood pieces. Yes, structural…

Oh and a RV window as a sun roof. The execution was actually not bad, but…yeah. That probably has to go.

So far I’ve blown apart the body and removed all the structural wood. These were built more like carriages back in the 30’s, with an internal wooden frame that the metal body panels are nailed and screwed to. The A- and B- pillars are not attached directly to the outer skin, but are carriage-bolted to the wooden pillars. Ah so that’s why they’re called carriage bolts! The idea here is to remove all the wood and rust on the interior and weld in some metal structure for the body. I am literally un-nailing(!) the pillar panels from the body, cleaning them up, then welding them back in properly. Despite how stripped this body shell is, there is still plenty more to cut out…

Oh man I'm excited for this one.

Colorado frame offers some interesting options for future extracurricular modifications...

Reasons for the Colorado pickup donor:

Powertrain: GMT355 is the platform that underpins the 04-12 1st-gen Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon, and Hummer H3. It’s closely related to the GMT360 which is Trailblazer, Envoy, etc. And they all come with GM Atlas Vortec engines, in flavors ranging from 2.8L or 2.9L 4-cylinder to 3.5L or 3.7L 5-cylinder (Colorado, Canyon, H3 only) up to 4.2L 6-cylinder (Trailblazer, Envoy). These are becoming popular for swaps because they’re built strong like LS bottom ends but with light aluminum blocks and good flowing DOHC heads, and they’re just as cheap and abundant. They can be tuned with HPTuners just like any LS, even with turbo. And unique to the 4 and 5 cylinder, they can be had with a factory 5-speed manual, the venerable Aisin AR5. The 4.2L 6-cylinder has a unique crank bolt pattern, with no OEM flywheel/clutch option, so staying with the 4 or 5 cylinder has a unique Challenge budget advantage. 

Chassis: The Colorado isn’t just a powertrain donor for this project though. They are lightweight yet body-on-frame, which is a great combination for a hot rod. Especially the regular cab 4-cylinder which only has a 3,100 lb curb weight. The wheelbases are a pretty close match and the rear axle is the right width. Front is a very compact double wishbone (think Mustang II). I’m optimistic that this chassis will be a good foundation for a hot rod build. I’m going to use everything I can from the truck and recoup the rest, which has been my go-to Challenge budget strategy. 

So I bought a 2005 Chevy Colorado 2.8L 5-speed on Copart. It runs, it drives, it has a quarter million miles, but no weird noises or engine lights. I would have preferred the 5-cylinder because more is better plus inline-5 noises, but got impatient in my search for the unicorn 5-cylinder, 5-speed, regular cab, running driving truck under $1000…yeah it just doesn’t exist. I can always swap out the motor for the 5-cylinder, 4.2L 6-cylinder, or even an LS with an adapter. I think the benefits of starting with the correct sized Colorado chassis and factory manual trans hardware will outweigh a bigger motor, at least for now.

The interior smelled of Montegos and the bed was full of at least 185 butts, plus some debris from the wreck. 

Clutch tool behind the seat implies that job was done at some point.

Basest of base models doesn't even have the Oh E36 M3 handles.

No rust, but plenty of that red Georgia clay. Also shown is the 10-bolt 8.0" rear end and one of the front drag wheels.

If you squint, that looks like sports car suspension.

There she is, the venerable 2.8L LK5 4-cylinder. 175hp at 5,600 RPM. I bet we can spin it faster and with more atmospheres. 

This is going to be good!

This has great potential!  Looking forward to seeing where you go with it.  RWD or AWD Colorado (did they have an AWD Colorado?)

Edit: I posted that while you were posting the donor pics.  I love the 4 cylinder turbo idea!  That's a big 4 cylinder, and I assume if it has the same head architecture as the 4.2 it should flow pretty well.  {waves hands} 500 hp?

YES!!!!

Maschinenbau rides (fabricates?) again!!!!

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When I grow up I wanna be like Maschinenbau!!

I am off to get a tetanus shot after  just looking at the pics!

Pete

Oh this looks exciting!

I am excited.  This pleases me.

In

Excited to follow this awesomeness.  Can't wait to see more maschinenbau magic!

I think you made the right call on the Colorado over waiting for the unicorn of unicorns.  Cost, timing, specificity.  Pick 2.  I think you picked the right 2 in cheap and now.

Oh, I like this. 

Carry on. 

Following!

Moar!  Is it done yet?

Awesome!

Have you found Fabbot Fabrication yet? They make a ton of bolt on parts for that chassis. See my build for info on some of their parts. 

Look on 355 nation for full wiring schematics. It's what I used to pair down my stock engine  harness.

My truck had the 2.9 flavor and I actually really liked that engine paired with the AR5. This thing will be fun! 

This should be interesting 

So you say you're going to use as much Colorado as possible, and you specifically mentioned seeking out a regular cab donor- is the chassis staying the same overall length?  I assume there's going to be a Z in it somewhere, and the engine will move, maybe rear 3 or 4 link, etc?  Or perhaps that plan is waiting until there's a coupe body plopped on the chassis and you can just stare at it and mentally scoot things around.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:

Or perhaps that plan is waiting until there's a coupe body plopped on the chassis and you can just stare at it and mentally scoot things around.

Mostly this. The wheelbase shouldn't need to change, but the engine will have to move backwards fully behind axle centerline to achieve visually pleasing hot rod proportions. See original hillbilly creation above for what NOT to do. Frame will be trimmed down to the minimum for weight and aesthetics, plus moving the powertrain mounts back. A reg cab 4x4 driveshaft from the junkyard should buy me at least 12" of powertrain movement rearward for minimal cost. That still may not be enough, so there is a good chance the frontend has to stretch forward to achieve the look I want, which could mean a frame splice between motor mounts and front cross member. Or maybe I'll just toss all that and put a straight axle under it if found cheap enough. For the rear I'm okay with leafs plus maybe some homemade traction bars. And probably weld the diff. lol.

May not be in challenge budget, but a turbo, straight axle (or IFS) 4x4 gasser with a nose high stance would be dope.

terrible in AutoX, but dope.

In reply to maschinenbau :

The 5 cyl was only available for a few years with the manual trans because it couldn't handle the torque of the 5 cyl and GM tired of replacing them under warranty. In a light pkg it should be fine with a turbo'd 2.8. Factory final drive gearing is available from 3.42 to 4.56 in the wreckers.

Various things are occurring, excellent.