1933 - 34 Ford Hot Rod

1934 FORD TRUCK. THIS TRUCK HAS BEEN IN THE PADUCAH KY AREA MOST ALL ITS LIFE. ORIGINALLY BUILT IN 1949 RAN AN OLDS WITH OLDS DASH AND WAS GREEN IN COLOR. HAVE BEEN TOLD BY MANY OLDER GENTLEMEN THAT THIS WAS THE FIRST STREET ROD IN PADUCAH. CHANGED HANDS MANY TIMES OVER THE YEARS AND ENDED UP WITH A 327 2X4 ENGINE AND 4 SPEED WITH FLAT DASH AND GAUGES AND THE ORIGINAL OLDS REAR. I BOUGHT THE TRUCK IN 2006 FOUND IN BUILDING IN PADUCAH THE WAY IT WAS LEFT. GOT IT RUNNING WITH THE OLD DRIVETRAIN AND TOOK IT TO HOT ROD REUNION IN BOWLING GREEN. AFTER BG BROUGHT BACK AND REDID THE WHOLE TRUCK. IT NOW HAS THE ORGINAL 327 WITH .040 FORDGED PISTONS,EAGLE RODS,BALANCED ASSEMBLY. RUNNING THE OLD ELDELBROCK INTAKE WITH NEW CARBS AND DIST AND A WATERPUMP RISER. HAS OLD HEDDMAN HEDDERS WITH CUTOUTS AND NOS DOUGLASS MUFFLERS. HAS ANSEN SCATTER SHEILD AND ZOOM CLUTCH WITH HYD THROW OUT BEARING. R/B MUNCIE 21 WITH SOME TYPE OF SPECIAL SYNCROS AND HURST SHIFTER. I CHANGED THE REAR TO A 10 BOLT CHEVY II FACTORY POSI WITH NEW 4:10 GEARS. REAR IS MOUNTED ON COMP ENG SPRINGS. FRONT IS MODEL A AXLE WITH 56 FORD TRUCK BRAKES. ALL NEW BRAKE COMPONENTS(LINES,SHOES,HARDWARE,AND BEARINGS) 39 FORD SPINDLES. REAL HALIBRAND WHEELS WITH FIRESTONE TIRES. FIRE WALL IS MAGNESIUM AND ALL INTERIOR IS ALUMINUM.COUPLE OF GAUGES DO NOT WORK. THE TACK DOESN'T WORK IT HAS CABLE DRIVE. I HAD ANOTHER ENGINE WITH HILBORN INJECTION AND A TACH DRIVE MAG THAT I RAN BEFORE SO TACK WILL NOT WORK. ALSO THIS TRUCK HAS ELECTRIC PUMP STILL LEFT FROM THE HILBORN INJECTION AND THE GOOD FILTER WITH 5/8 FUEL LINE. THE TOP OF CAB IS SCRATCHED AND VERY SMALL DENT IN TOP FROM GARAGE DOOR SITUATION AS SEEN IN PICTURES. NEW RADIATOR AND I DO HAVE THE HOOD TOP NEVER INSTALLED AND ALREADY PAINTED. HOT ROD BLACK IS THE COLOR CAN'T REMEMBER BRAND.

I build hotrods and motorcycles for a living, and I built this one for myself, and took every step to ensure that each aspect of it was well designed and built properly in order to give it, what I believe, is a great 60’s show-car look. I couldn’t possibly add up how many hours I have put into creating this truck, but I can tell you that it’s A LOT! You would be hard pressed to find a more extensively built early hotrod pickup. Nearly every piece was hand built from scratch.

I finished building this truck about a year and a half ago, and for the past year it has been my only car, so when I refer to it as a “daily driver”, I mean it as in “I drive it every day because I don’t have the option of another car” – this truck runs and drives GREAT and has a soft ride. You can go 80mph down the freeway with one finger on the wheel. It is very reliable.
This truck has a clear title and is registered as a 1934 Ford truck.

Every part on this car is either chromed, powder-coated, or professionally painted. Everything else that was old has been completely rebuilt, using new high-quality racing parts. Nothing on this car needs work or attention. GET IN AND GO!

This truck has been in magazines and has won awards. It is currently on the cover, and is featured in, Gasoline Magazine. I am posting two Youtube videos of the truck. The first one was from a while ago and you’ll notice the tall spoked rear wheels and different exhaust headers. That video is just to show how much fun this truck is. It also solidifies the fact that this thing is pretty bullet-proof and is meant to be driven. The second video is how the car looks now, with slicks and elliptical headers – all washed and waxed and pretty.

Details and specifications:



First, the two things on this truck that you’ll never see on any other hotrod are the front axle, and the frame. 
For the axle, I started with two stock 1936 Ford front axles and, using a jig, hand built it to wrap around the grill. It is boxed in the rear, and under the boxing, it is reinforced again with another layer of 3/8” plate steel. It looks good, serves as a bumper (that I’ll hopefully never use), allows for me to run my car at its current height, and it also keeps the proper wheelbase and proportions without having my front end way out in space. 
And for the frame, I hand built it from 0.125” wall steel. The holes punched in it are both round and elliptical as seen in the photos. The frame not only swoops and curves up, but also inward - if you look closely.

Body: 
When I came up with the idea for building this car, I searched for months for a body worthy of starting with. I finally found a matching cab, bed, and grill that were all original and un-cut 1934 Henry Ford steel. I chopped the roof of the cab six inches. I also welded in 1936 Ford lower cowl panels so that, what is normally a “boxy” cab, would have curves to match the frame. I also built a fully integral roll-cage in the cab for safety. The bed was shortened 12 inches. The inside of the bed is epoxy painted gloss black, and the wood is all solid oak planks stained with a marine grade polyurethane. 
When I disassembled my truck for paint, the grill, cab, and bed were all media blasted down to bare steel. I then took it to my friend Miguel Torres, from the Lifters Car Club in San Diego, to do all of the bodywork and paint. He and his team of skilled metal workers worked for over two months with a torch and a hammer and dolly to get all of the sheet metal completely straight before even beginning to do the bodywork and prepping for paint. After priming and blocking everything, the truck was painted with Dupont – out of state paint – not the low-grade, water based California EPA paint. It is a metallic Merlot that looks better in person than in the photos.


Chassis: 
I already mentioned the frame, which is totally chromed, and also the integral roll-cage in the cab. Also already mentioned is the front axle. On the custom front axle is a set of 1940 Ford juice brakes . This truck has lever shocks front and back. The rear-end is a Dana 40 that was fully rebuilt with custom axles from Dutchman Axle Co. The rear suspension has beefy tube trailing arms mounted on 1 1/2” heims with a 1940 Ford front spring for the suspension.

Engine and transmission: 
The motor is a 401 cubic inch Nailhead from a 1964 Buick Electra. I have receipts for my motor which was  COMPLETELY rebuilt. It was bored out 0.060” over with a larger cam and upgraded rockers. It also now has an Offenhauser dual-quad intake and custom built headers. When this motor was stock it was rated at 325 horsepower with 445 foot pounds of torque. I haven’t Dyno-tested my truck with the new motor, but I can guarantee that it has more power than any vehicle this light should have. It also has a new high-torque starter to help with all that compression. The transmission is a Muncie 4-speed with a Hurst shifter out of a 1969 Camaro.


Interior:
The interior is white tuck and roll with piping that matches the color of the car. The transmission cover and other floor panels have been powder-coated black. The steering wheel is from a 1960’s race boat.

 

Wheels and tires:
When I first built this car, I used 21” Model A wheels front and back. In the video I posted with the burnout, you can see them. I reinforced the rear wheels with 3/8 steel spokes so that they wouldn’t fold on me. I recently changed the rears to a set of 15” spoked Cragar’s with brand new (I mounted them yesterday) Radir cheater slicks. I changed to the slicks to help with my traction issues (even though burnouts are more fun), and also to help with the “period correctness” of being a 1960’s show-car. The front tires are semi-new from Lester Tire Co. The wheels are all powder-coated.

Other Miscellaneous:
The gas tank is custom built and holds about 22 gallons, so you can take a long trip without needing a refill. The headers are not the typical cone style headers you see on most hotrods. Look closely, you’ll see that the cones are elliptical. I hand built them and also some baffles to go inside. This truck has a nice rumble but is quiet enough as to not be annoying. The baffles can easily be removed if you want to make your neighbors angry though!

This is a chop top '34 Ford Coupe (3 window). Built on a TCI chassis with an Outlaw body. The hood and louvered side panels are steel.


Specs:

Chassis: TCI Chassis, Mustang II independent front coil suspension. Rack and pinion steering, disc brakes, new tires. Rear axle is a Ford 8" with drum brakes, leaf springs, and new tires. Aluminum billet 5-spoke wheels that are well suited for the car and tire sizes give it a nice balanced stance with a slight rake. Wheel center caps are a 'knock off' style. Dual chrome tipped exhausts. 12 gallon fuel tank.



Engine: Chevy V8 with Holly carburetor. It's a 283 2-bolt block, 202 heads, nice aluminum valve covers and alternator. Aftermarket flex fan, chrome air cleaner and distributor cap. Dipstick is aftermarket with braided stainless housing and billet handle. Radiator overflow tank is chrome vertical column. Billet aluminum pulleys. Headers.



Transmission: Turbo 350 automatic. Shifts are firm and has appropriate torque converter (good street manners). Transmission cooler mounted under car in chassis. Shifter is a nice floor mount shifter with billet handle.



Interior: The interior was just redone and only has a couple of hundred miles on it. It was completely redone with leather seats, matching vinyl headliner, door panels, trim, etc. The carpet is a square weave Mercedes spec. All components new (pedals, shifter, brake handle, column cover). There is a battery shutoff switch under the passenger seat (great for longer storage periods or extra security). The seats fold forward or tilt back and slide on tracks. There is an access panel from behind the seats to the trunk. The space behind the seats is fairly large (no passenger capability there). The gauge cluster has a custom machined billet housing as does the stereo. VDO gauges (except tachometer that is a SunPro model separately mounted). The Odometer has a separate trip odometer with reset. Small LED indicators are on billet gauge cluster for turn signals. Electric windows are controlled by concealed switches under dash. Steering column is a Chevy tilt wheel style with a nice aluminum and wood aftermarket steering wheel. Glove box is an aluminum box behind a fiberglass door. Switch to open/close trunk is located inside behind driver and trunk and has electrical ram operation. Wiper and lights have under dash concealed billet controls



Trunk: The trunk is opened/closed via electrical switch behind driver seat. The trunk has same carpet as interior and houses the battery in a plastic container covered with a custom cover. Pass thru panel allows access to area behind seats from trunk.

Body: Car comes with an extra hood (fiberglass) that does not have the hinged side panel. This allows car to be run showing the full engine. This alternate hood is scratched and would need a little touch-up to be run, but is included with car
Bumpers are chrome
Headlights have integrated turn signal amber bulbs in housing
Taillights are 'teardrop' style
Billet aluminum fuel filler cap
Hood ornament is classic chrome greyhound
Prior owner applied several decals to car as follows:
Along belt-line of body there is a pinstripe decal of barbed wire
There are decals on glove box door and under hood and trunk lid.
Decals may prove difficult to remove without damaging paint.
Front fenders show scuffing where louvered hood side panels have slid along fender
Various other nicks and imperfections as seen in pictures.

1934 Chopped and Channeled Hot Rod Pickup. 305 Small Block Chevy with 2x2 Holley Carbs and TH350 transmission. Color is black with red leather interior along with custom aluminum interior side walls. Custom '32 Grill, aluminum radiator, salt flat style headers, front disc brakes, drilled axel, rear end is drum brakes coil over, aluminum gas tank, wood truck bed, 1935 ford headlights, Lokar shifter, Suicide Doors, new wide white walls wheels and tires

BODY:

STEEL Henry Ford Body!
Steel Grille
4" Chopped Top
4" Channel
Drilled Visor
Louvered Lower Bed Sides




THE ENGINE / DRIVETRAIN:

Fresh Rebuilt Small Block Chevy
Smooth Shifting 350 Automatic Trans
Shows 60-75 Oil PSI !
Offy Tri-Power Intake
All Carbs working and Set up Correctly!
Headers w/ Heat Wrap
Starts First Crank, Every Time!
Runs Very Cool
LOUD and VERY DEEP Still as you can hear in the video
Classic TONE / THUMP like NONE OTHER!!!
Sounds Almost like an Old Harley!
Never heard anything like this!





SUSPENSION:

GM 10 Bolt Rear
Buggy Spring and Hairpins
4" Drop SuperBell Axle
45-48 Ford Spindles
Hydraulic Drum Brakes



WHEELS / TIRES:

1935 16" Wire Wheels
NEW 4.50/4.75-16 FIRESTONE Front Tires
1932 18" Wires on Rear
w/ 6.00-18" Firestones




INTERIOR:

Nice Simple and Comfortable Bench seat w/ Black Upholestry
New Black Carpet
Vintage Door Knob for Shifter Knob
Moon Eyes Steering Wheel
Windshield Glass is mint ~ and Cranks Out!
Cowl Vent Works
Plexiglass Side and Rear Window

[size=32]
[/size]
[size=32]Body And Interior[/size]
·      Steve’s Auto Restoration New Steel Body
·      Louvered Hood Top, Stock Style Sides
·      Body and Frame painted 1965 Chevy Dark Cherry
·      Sid Chavers Bop Top, Chopped and Removable
·      Windshield Frame Chromed and laid back, Chopped 2.5”
·      Removable Wind Wings
·      Interior is a Bone Color in Ultra Soft Naugahide
·      Gauges and Tach are Stewart Warner Wings Series
·      Steering Column is Stainless Steel by Flaming River
·      Shifter is 1961 Chevy (Chicken Leg)
·      Heater
·      Custom Auto Sound 6 Disc CD Changer
·      Secret Audio Hideaway Stereo
 
[size=32]Drivetrain[/size]
 ·      Pete & Jakes Frame
·      Drilled Super Bell Axle, Chromed
·      Chromed Front Shocks
·      Stainless Steel Hairpin Radius Rods
·      Stainless Steel Ladder Bars & Sway Bars
·      9” Ford Rear with Coil Overs
·      New ZZ4. 355hp Crate Motor With Chrome Accessories
·      Sanderson Headers and Exhaust Ceramicoated
·      Mallory Dual Point Distributor
·      Tremic 5 Speed Transmission
·      Front Disc Brakes, Rear Drum
·      Rims, Chromed Reverse on Rear, Chromed on Front
·      BFG Silvertown Radial Wide Whites, 285/15 and 165/15
·      Bugs Are All Worked Out, Car Has 1430 Proven Miles

1933 Ford all steel full-fendered Roadster. Built nostalgic hot rod style with flathead engine, folding top, and rumble seat.

New frame rails with original 1933 Ford crossmembers. Front crossmember is NOS. Rear crossmember is modified: flattened for lowered stance. Super Bell I Beam dropped front axle with '39 spindles, tube shocks, juice brakes, reversed eyes spring. Original 1933-34 steering box with column drop and key.

1940 Ford 3.78 ratio rear axle with professionally shortened torque tube and driveshaft. Tube shocks and juice brakes. dual master brake cylinder, fully functional parking brake, original 1933-34 clutch/brake pedals. 6.00-16 used front tires and 7.50-16 new rear tires on 1935 Ford wire spoke wheels.

1950's 8BA Ford rebuilt engine with Offenhauser 2X2 intake, with (2) Stromberg 97 carbs (Only 1 hooked up presently), with 59AB cam, distributor, water pumps. Rebuilt 1933 Ford radiator and 12V generator. New battery and original style wiring harnesses. New 'Tanks' galvanized fuel tank.

New clutch and 1939 Ford transmission. Original 1933 Ford single exhaust and 59AB manifolds.

New steel body constructed with original 1934 Ford firewall and original style front 1/2 floor: steel with wooden floorboards. Rear 1/2 of floor is replacement style: follows frame contour. Louvered trunk lid constructed with heavy plastic sheet inside to shed rain water down.

Doors hung on original steel hinges, body is steel re-enforced: cowl, trunk, door, windshield, latch. Bear claw latches located lower and operated as original from 1933 Foard roadster stainless outside and chrome inside door handles. Countless hours fabbing contoured door jams and inner panels, hinge plates, and modified original 1933 Ford Coupe steel dash to produce a solid and authentic body.

Hand fabbed Engine-turned dash panel with new gauges and tach. Nostalgic blinkers, 1935 Ford banjo steering wheel and working horn button blows small horn under hood.


Original 1933 or '34 Ford: dash, firewall, hood, Grille, inner fenders, front fenders and braces, headlites and stands, cowl lites, tail lites and stands, bumpers and brackets, rear fenders. New repop correct covered running boards with original 1933 Ford braces underneath.

Original style 1933 Ford coupe seat with fresh cushions and firmly anchored seat belts. 3-bow folding top with front header attached to Duval style windshield with thumbscrews, top folds fully behind seat and below rear deck but is probably a 2-person operation.

Vehicle passed recent NSRA sanctioned safety visual inspection but the car is home built and has many running gear components over 80 years old. Frequent inspection and possible safety upgrades such as new front tires, disc brakes, Vega cross steering, electronic ignition, Red’s headers and dual exhaust, etc. are recommended for today’s traffic and family safety.

This '34 Ford was built by Mick Jenkins of So-Cal Speed Shop in 2006 and won the inaugural Gray Baskerville award at the Grand National Roadster Show in 2007. The car is styled after the look of late 60s rods, its build features all the best materials utilized by some of the best names in the industry. With 311 miles since completion, this roadster is show ready, road proven, and is sure to be a serious trophy contender at any rod event worldwide.


The car features a Deuce Customs (Australia) body over an original 34 frame, fully boxed, stretched 2 inches, with rear rails bobbed and recontoured to match the body. The fit and finish is excellent, this car rides down the road without a squeak or rattle and the doors close perfectly. Behind the wheel the quality is immediately evident, this is not your average rod. The body is painted in PPG single stage black, it's about a mile deep and was expertly applied, true show quality paint. Industry veteran Eric Vaughn was called upon to punch the louvers and legendary pinstriper Dennis Ricklefs finished the roadster in contrasting red and white lines. If you follow rodding culture you're probably starting to get the picture.


The car has an original '34 grill laid back 1.5" at the top. Rear bumper is a one-off in stainless steel. Rear end uses a Currie 9" Ford unit with a Detroit Locker 3rd member running 3.50 gears. TCI sway bar and Aldan 225lb coil overs. Rear brakes use beefy Ford Police Special drums (11 x 2.25).



Windshield was chopped 4". Gas cap is a Mooneyes flip up with a custom made flange.


Really perfect wheel tire combo using So-Cal cast-aluminum circle track style wheels wrapped in Firestone Deluxe Champions. From the wire tied knockoffs to the pie crust sidewalls, these to me complete the picture.


Custom vee'd Moon tank, nerf bars are one-offs as well. The brakes look like classic Buick drums but actually contain Wilwood discs hidden inside. More info at So-Cal Fake Brakes

The front end features a forged Magnum 4" drop I-beam axle, Vega cross steering, shocks by Pete and Jakes, a So-Cal panhard bar, hairpins and batwings. The entire exhaust was custom built for the car, the headers are ceramic coated inside. As you might imagine, it sounds wicked.

More pics of Dennis Ricklef's work. Trunk panel reveals a 20 gallon Rock Valley gas tank, hand fabricated from stainless steel.

Expert interior job by Ridler Award winner Gabe Lopez, beautifully done in leather and German square weave carpet.

The So-Cal knobs in the center of the dash control the lights, turn signals and Vintage Air heater. The '46 Ford starter button on the left is for the horn. Classic Mooneyes gauges and a So-Cal 3 spoke wheel wrapped in leather by Gabe Lopez.

Glide seat, Limeworks steering column. The wiring was installed by Foothill Fabrications in Corona CA.