Chopped & Channeled '37 Pickup: UPDATE 2/17/18

[Dennis]

After seeing Bryce's recently completed fenderless '37 truck it got me to thinking about what I could come up with along the same lines? Sat down with a bunch of parts and started messing around without really intending to start another project but the thing evolved on me and here we are...

The frame is the front 2/3 of a Revell '32 with the rear portion of the '37 truck frame grafted to it just before the rear kick-up. Front suspension will be out of the Revell '32 5-window with it's optional hairpin radius rods but with old drum brakes and probably lever shocks. Rear axle is straight from the '37 truck with the driveline removed in favor of a regular driveshaft. The engine block/heads/valve covers are the Dodge Hemi from AMT's '29 Roadster with the oil pan/front cover/belt drive and intake from the Hemi in the '32 5-window. The 4-barrel carbs ar from a couple of AMT '34 Coupes. I'll be using the 5-window kit air cleaners, a parts box generator and some over-the-frame open headers. I also added a tail housing to the transmission to make it reach the center cross member.

Hosted on Fotki

Hosted on Fotki

I split the rear radius rods and added some front mounts to them so that they now attach to the original mounts on the frame. Still need to figure out some shocks and may possibly make a panhard bar.

Hosted on Fotki

Using the optional '38 truck grill from the current re-issue of the the '37 truck, I built a shell for it by first glueing the lower fender filler/hood sides/hood top together then cutting them off to the desired shape.

Hosted on Fotki

And a rolling mockup. The back of the cab is channeled to the bottom of the frame. The bed was also channeled and shortened to 2" even. Lengths of styrene were added to the insides of the bed sides to sit on the frame and support the bed floor which is the kit floor trimmed to fit. The wheels and tires are all from the Monogram 'Lil Coffin show rod.

Hosted on Fotki

Hosted on Fotki

At the end of the month a former TRaK member and incredibly tallented builder, Jon Ferren (went by RockinRodneyRat) is comming out here to Southern California from his home state of Florida on business and he's bringing an extra '37 truck roof with him. He'll be out to my shop and home for visit and the plan is to sit down together, have a few adult beverages and chop this sucker! In the meantime I'll keep up the work on the chassis and such.

Stay tuned!

[kustom]

Looks great!

[froghawk]

Love it. Looking forward to the chop.

[Ranchwagon]

Excellent, and I'd like to see how the chop is done, too

[Duane]

lookin sick already Dennis !!!!!...i like it !!!!
Jon's a former member

[lo51merc]

Yeah, lookin' forward to future episodes of this show. It's great so far. Say Hi to Jon for us. Thanks, Gary

[Duane]

ya gonna put fenders on it
Willys PU...and front cycle perhaps ?

[Dennis]

On Wednsday, January 23rd, my model building pal Jon Ferren (formerly known around here as Rockin Rodney Rat) showed up as planned and we got the saw out on the '37 Truck cab. Well, I should say Jon did all of the cuttin' and splicing while I looked on and offered opinion. We originally planned to lengthen the roof by using a second roof that he brought with him but changed direction in the middle of the chop and decided to lay back the A-posts instead. I leaned towards this method so I could see it done since I have never done this before. He also cut the back window out and chopped it seperate. In the end, the chop ended up at 3/16" and the rear window at 1/16".

Hosted on Fotki

Hosted on Fotki

Hosted on Fotki

Hosted on Fotki

Hosted on Fotki

Hosted on Fotki

Hosted on Fotki

Hosted on Fotki

[Dennis]

After the chop was taken care of, we sat looking at the mockup and talked about the project. Jon said what I had already been thinking, that he thought the cab would look better with a straight bottom rather than the stock curve. He suggested adding material to the bottom then re-building the bead line with half round material. He also suggested adding material to the bottom of the bed sides to bring them down even with the bottom of the cab.

Today, I spend some time cleaning up the chop seems and re-scribing door lines. I shaved the drip rails above the doors and will build new ones from plastic strip.

After considering the cab, instead of adding material and making the cab look taller I instead removed materail and cut the bottom off straight. The cab then had to be channeled more to get it back down even with the bottom of the frame. Once this was done I added strips to the bottom of the bed to bring it down even with the cab. I also added the rear cross bar under the tailgate. Lastly, I trimmed the grill shell to drop down lower and match back up with the cab. I need to get the proper size half round and restor the bead along the bottom of the cab.

[Joker]

Awesome tag team work.
The trim work on the bottom of the cab looks good too.

[Bernard Kron]

Wonderful progress on this. Isn't it great how a few hours of interaction can redirect things so productively? The new relationship between the ground line and the bodywork is soooo successful!

[acegarageguy]

Another 'real-deal' build by a guy who obviously knows how ya' do it in 1:1. Great profile !

[RodBurNeR]

bitchin'!

[Nyberg]

I love it

[stingray]

Friggin' A Awesome chop! Thanks for posting that! I have a '37 planned I can see how to chop it now! I am wondering how to slam the damn thing now! Great work!