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Steve's 36'
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My (under
construction) project is a 1936 Ford highboy stakebed pick up.
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I’ve wanted a
streetrod for 40 years, but being a low dollar kind of
guy, they have only gone further out of my reach as
the years go on. I wanted one with modern suspension
and brakes, but all of the kit stuff is really pricey.
It had to be fenderless and of course 6 cyl powered.
The parts needed to be common stuff in case it breaks
down 40 miles from nowhere. I’m a "swapmeet
junky" so a truck was logical. Most of all it had
to be tough, because after waiting 40 years, this
puppy is going to be DRIVEN. Did I say most of all,
tough? Face it, reality hurts, most of all it had to
be cheap, tough came in a close second. |
I had just about given up on the
dream when I hit upon a possible solution, a mini
truck frame. I started hitting all of the boneyards,
measuring every conceivable make and model of mini
and mid size pickup. They all had a couple of things
in common. They were too wide, or too complicated
looking, but they were all just plain too ugly
(remember, no fenders).
Then I ran onto a 1984 Mazda B2000
frame. Here is a narrow, fully boxed 2" X
5" unit with 6 crossmembers, 5 of which are
tubular. Disc brakes, double A arms and coil springs
up front, with parallel leafs out back. It is
possible to clean up about 75% of it’s ugliness
and at $100 it was exactly what I needed for the
Ford 300 six in the garage.
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The search was on for the body
and luckily that didn’t take long as I found a
fairly nice 36 Ford PU cab just a few miles from
home. More boneyards, swapmeets, and word of mouth
turned up an 8" Ford rear, C4 tranny, some
old Fenton aluminum slots (love um), tilt column,
and a 35 pickup grille shell. Swapmeet this,
boneyard that, the occasional new part and this
thing started coming together.
I have to say one thing for
kits, at least you start off with parts that
sort-of fit each other. This has been a real
challenge, but one that I have thoroughly enjoyed
every minute of. It’s still a work in progress,
evolving a little every week.
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300
Ford Six
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In the photos you
can see my mockup of the flatbed that will give me
plenty of space for my swapmeet treasures. You
will also see my buddy (and fellow Inliner) Si
Simons fondling my carburetors. His wife knows
about his "little problem" but says she
loves him anyway. I still have to lengthen the
frame 5 inches to get the proportions right but
you can get an idea of what it is gonna look like.
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Interior?
Won't be! |
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This truck will never be a spit shined Sunday
Driver, but that is not what I want. A little
primer, some flames, and I think it will do me and
the wife just fine. I know that there will be some
purists out there that don’t like it, so I’m
gonna make them a deal. If they don’t like it,
they don’t have to drive it. I know for a fact
that not many guys out there are going to have as
much fun as we are for so little money, and that
makes it even better.
Steve "LOBUCK" Wyatt #2311
Royse City, Texas
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Getting
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There!
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