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

In reply to maschinenbau :

Yeah I've had nothing but bad experiences with that style bender, which is why I was so impressed to see such a nice result out of it- I guess 5deg bends are actually the ideal scenario for it.

"after the chop"

In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :

Crazy. Standard Cab LB Dodge D200- 131"

Following, this is already super cool!

Some weeknight progress on this corner. I think I'm ready for a frame before continuing with the floor, tunnel, and firewall so I can see where all the parts end up. Might start disassembling the truck tomorrow and through the weekend.

Enjoying your progress so far!  Are you going to put the unmodified frame under it, tie the body to it, then chop up the front frame rails to fit?  Or..?

In reply to Kendall Frederick :

Hoping to find out tonight! Any GRM'ers in the Atlanta area are welcome over for some cab and bed removal. I know for sure that the truck frame is too wide near the firewall of the '34 body, so there will be some frame slicing and splicing. 

Man I wish I was closer that sounds like a good time.

In reply to maschinenbau :

If it wasn't a 7.5 hour drive, I'd be there.  Hope y'all have a good time tonight during the teardown!

maschinenbau said:

In reply to Kendall Frederick :

Hoping to find out tonight! Any GRM'ers in the Atlanta area are welcome over for some cab and bed removal. I know for sure that the truck frame is too wide near the firewall of the '34 body, so there will be some frame slicing and splicing. 

I also wish I were closer, I'd enjoy helping you out.  If nothing else, it'd be nice to get a break from fiberglass cars... LOL.

Awesome work so far. I'm sure that will continue.

I need to finally buy a shrinker and stretcher. 

Got in on the fun tonight. The little red (express?) Colorado is now bedless, fenderless, bumperless and free of coolant. It also has lots of dirt where Midwest cars have rust.
I left this evening while Travis scratched his head about what else needs to be disconnected in order to lift the cab off the frame.
Hotlanta definitely was, but it was still a good time. 

In reply to OHSCrifle :

Thanks for the help! OHSCrifle was also the last person to drive this truck in its 263k mile history. Next time that engine starts it will be in a 90yo vehicle.

First recoup happened within hours of listing the part-out ad. Door weatherstripping, dash vents, headlight switch, and the gross vinyl floor went for $80. You never know what people want until you part out a car. Getting interest in the bed and cab too, both of which are off now!

Rolled the frame outside and gave it a good scrub while inspecting it. Literally no rust, it's unbelievable. I love Georgia. Just that good red clay caked up everywhere. Lots of gears turning in my head.

Like I thought, the drivetrain will have to move rearward by a foot or so. A regular cab 4x4 driveshaft solves this, plus some cutting and welding of the cross members. The gas tank might be okay where it is. And overall I like the curvature of the frame, how it kicks up over the front and rear axles smoothly. I can definitely work with this, especially without any rust. Next I'll roll it under the coupe body and see how the widths match up. 

That's the problem with using a modern frame on a hotrod. The engine placement. If you don't correct it, the car has a massive overbite. Andy Gump.

That motor sure looks tall, but I think several inches of that are the air box.  It'll be interesting to see if you can get it down some when you move it rearward.  Looks like there's a lot of space under the pan currently..

That escalated quickly!

Just so you know, you're causing trouble here. I've had to contact Copart about my suspended account. Apparently not logging on for 5 years does that. This is the only manual trans Colorado within 1000 miles of me:

In reply to rdcyclist :

Low mileage, nice!

Today is going very well

The setback needs to be more like 18", which is problematic from a driveshaft perspective. I may need another junkyard solution. Luckily it looks like very generic U-joint sizing on both ends. Off to Rockauto for some truck shaft research. Needs to be around 42" or less total length This 2wd one is 60", 4x4 is 48", maybe something else is shorter.

Isn't c4 vette about that length?

In reply to Dusterbd13 :

I thought those were really short like 27" for some reason. Excursion/Super Duty front driveshafts are right around 40" 

The frame rails tapering in (near the front of the body) appears pretty close to the width of the '34.

Am I seeing it correctly?

RacetruckRon said:

In reply to Dusterbd13 :

I thought those were really short like 27" for some reason. Excursion/Super Duty front driveshafts are right around 40" 

U-joint to u-joint, they are 26-13/16" for a manual and about 27-1/2" for an automatic.  The rear section of an extended cab 2WD 2nd gen S10 driveshaft is 38-3/8" u-joint to u-joint, but once you add a yoke it'll probably be too long.

Wouldn't it be easier to get the drives haft shortened and balanced? Moving an engine/transmission to fit a driveshaft seems backwards. 

In reply to Appleseed :

I think it's all about money. Shortening and balancing a driveshaft runs a coupla hundred bucks or so. Getting an off the shelf solution is twenny to fiddy bucks...