well, i know theres some guys on here that are into the old stuff, so i figured i would make a build thread. down the road i want to open up my own hotrod shop as a side gig(so i can actually retire from my everyday job haha), so this project is to see what i can really do.
the truck is a 1947 ford 1.5ton stakebed. it was a highway dept. truck for andover PA. the truck went through carsile car auction in 76, and was last registered in 1981 in springville NY. the guy i bought it from bought the truck in '97, had stripped the truck down, blasted it, epoxied the frame primed the cab and then it sat. he had too many projects and not enough time, so i picked this gem up for 800 bucks. it is very solid, has the 8ba 239 flathead v8, and ~26k original miles.
my plans are to chop it and make it a fenderless hotrod, using a '32 duece front grillshell grafted into homemade front sheetmetal and sectioned hood. will use a 20’s tailgate to build a custom shorty bed. it will use a home made 2x4 rect. tubing frame with a modified model a front suspension and 4 link rear. will have a very low stance. drivetrain will be the flathead v8, mated with a manual transmission. wired as a gm 12v setup and use a under dash cowl steering setup. thats about all the details i can give right now, youll have to wait and see for the rest.
now some photos to get you up to speed for where i am at.
the day i brought it home:
got the cab off and onto a roller in the garage:
began marking for the chop and braced cab:
then i started cutting:
set the cab on and decided i needed to 1/4 it because i didnt want to screw up the body lines by slanting the windshield or stretching.
roof cut into 1/4’s:
i then started lining everything up:
and started stitching it together one tac at a time:
back completely welded up. the chop is 4" and the rear is sectioned 2", so the window was only shortened 2"
i also got the passanger side door done:
driver side door is mocked up and ready to be pie cut and stitched together:
i added bracing to the underside of the roof to keep the lines correct, and also to give myself something to mount a headliner to. this still needs alot of work still:
filler panels welded in, just needs to be finished stitched up:
a step bacl:
flathead in the garage, waiting to start building the frame so i can do engine placement mockup. then it will be stripped down to be redone.
model a front, will be splitting the wishbones and using a drop leaf, may have to drop the axle if its not low enough. not sure if i will use hyd shocks or friction shocks yet.
'26-'31 tailgate:
