1950 build thread

[kulturekat]

Alright well after a few people asking for a build thread i decided to post one. i held off for a while just because i havent really been able to even do anything with the truck anyway. between moving and job change you know life. finally im up in the hometown and will be able to really get some work done. A little background i got the truck from a friend in the city it was used as a kansas farm truck its in great shape for the most part. its a 3/4 ton long bed. Thanks to billy i got a new donor frame with an s10 front clip on it already with the front cab mounts on it as well. the only thing ive been able to do so far is get the frame a little cleaner and drop the rear three inches.

originally i wanted to go pretty old school and go with a true straight 6 with three strombergs. i was able to track down a newer straight 6 from a 66 malibu for free. came with a manual trans and everything. well when i went to put it in it wouldnt work and found out the later the model the engine the longer it is so i had to nix that route so i was able to get me a good 305 from a camaro with a sertentine belt and everything. im going to make it a little old school with finnedvalve covers and strombergs on it. make it a newer engine with an old school feel. ill back it with a th400 auto trans.

i will have to make the long bed a shortbox but thats no big deal. ok well im sure youre sick of the rambling heres the pics.

[kulturekat]

a couple more

[scotts62]

Very cool man! Its coming along

[joe231]

Right on!!!
I'm in!!!

[kulturekat]

thanks guys by the way i found a crew cab square body up here in stillwater just sitting witha bunch of other trucks ill try and get a few pics for you.

[joe231]

Now your speaking my language

[kulturekat]

last year at goodguys and at the street rod nationals my fave truck was an extented cab ad and im in love with james hetfields extended cab ford after this truck i think im going to build one of my own

[joe231]

I'd love to build an AD COE crew cab car hauler

[jason65]

Good to see your build posted Kat. Great job. If you need help swaping the body over let me know. I think the back ground on you truck is funny. The 65 was also a Kansas farm truck.

[scotts62]

Those crews are cool!

What all do you lack before you put the cab on?

[kulturekat]

i wanted to paint the frame before i put it on. i have it all prepped ready to paint but the weather has stopped me each night thi week so hopefully first part of next week ill be ready.

thanks jason good to see ya come back i loved watchign your thread my truck is definatly going o be old school one of my bigest influences are the guys in the beatniks and dennis mcphail is probably my favorite and oddly enough hes from kansas hahahah

[bjcaldwe]

Your definitely getting more done than I am. Keep up the good progress.

[kulturekat]

only because i have more access to mine. sometimes i have to force myself to work on something. the other bad thing is i have so many other projects and i spend so much time working on other poeples stuff than i can on mine but the bright side is thats what funds my build haha.

[kulturekat]

when i got the frame i noticed that the rear leaf springs looked to be at an odd angle like they were forced and when i went to out the lower blocks in i think i conformed it. i thik ill have to take it all back off take the rear end off and grind the perches off and reweld them further over so it doesnt put the leaf springs in a bind.

the cab is in great shape nit much rust at all. the floors are excellent the only bad thing is in the firewall whoever had it before me ripped a huge section out of the firewall around the transmission so ill have to weld in a sectiont here but thats not a big deal because i was goign to have to put a transmission hump in anyway and im working on shaving the firewall anyway.

[kulturekat]

ok so i picked up a new to me engine its another 305 like i already have planned to put in but this one is in the 70s the one i already have is a 305 from the late 80s with the full serpentine belt setup.

my question is which would be a better one to focus on rebuilding the 70s model or the later 80s model one?

[Steve@OldSub.com]

Which motor needs the least machine work? It will be the cheapest to build.

Does the later motor have TBI? You'd need to decide if you want to use that before deciding to use that motor.

Which rear seal design does the later motor have?

Those are the first thoughts I'd have trying to choose which motor to build.

[kulturekat]

as far as machining they are both complete and in pretty good condition. so very little machining maybe just a valve job honestly.

the later model originally came with the tbi but i have already swapped out the intake and carb to have just the regular carb. as my plan for either one will eventually be the triple intake with the 3 strombergs.

as far as rear seal ill compare them both tomrrow which is the better rear seal set up to have?

[scotts62]

They should both have the two piece seals right?

[Steve@OldSub.com]

Rear seal design changed sometime after '85. I don't know all the implications but believe you have to have the correct flywheel or flex plate for your crank/seal design. This is not my area of expertise.

If everything else is the same I'd build the later motor personally.

[kulturekat]

Awesome thanks so much for the info. I plan on running an automatic th400 behind it with a big lokar shifter.

[kulturekat]

alright well made a little progress through the rain weve been getting off and on that makes it not easy to get anythign done. worked on the engine a little since i cant work on much else right now. hope to get some work done this weekend with my extra few days off work.


got the block primed and painted. not going to stay this exact color as itll have metalflake in it to match the body a little better.

all the internals look good to me.

[scotts62]

Cool!!

Is that the engine you got from Ray?

[packrat42]

Have any more updates??

[Chevy51]

Kulturecat, I was curious about what you did about what you did to the rearend setup. The rearend I put in was under the springs,and the friend of mine put the rearend back the way the original was setup. I am trying to get the rear of the truck to set lower,any suggestions? Thanks

[kulturekat]

chevy 51:
the way mine is set up is i out a plate down and put the rear end on top of the leaf springs this raises the axle up and the bed closer to it. mine is going even lower than i have it now so im going to have to notch the frame. this will give me even more inches but i plan on dragging it low.

im actually thinkign about getting rid of the whole thing if youre interested.