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Cabbage Hauler - WD-21 Build Thread


Jomani

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We got a break from the rain today. I was able to get the rear end under the frame and lifted into place. The new spring perches arrived earlier in the week - just sitting on the axel tubes until I can figure out the proper angle.

 

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Put the drums on and slid the axels in.

 

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Edited by Jomani
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I couldn’t resist throwing the wheels on.

 

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The Dana 60 is a little wider than I wanted - it would be nice to take 2” out of each side but not worth the extra work and cost. Overall, I am pretty happy with the look.

 

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The sun was shining today so I decided to drop the engine and transmission in. The plan is to set it far enough forward and to the right to avoid cutting into the firewall while at the same time clearing the steering.

 

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I knew I would have to open up the cross member to clear the transmission.

 

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It Will be tight, but I think it will work. I will need to get a smaller starter and will need to fabricate an exhaust. I will also have to push the radiator forward and install a pusher fan. All worth the work to save the firewall.

 

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I got the the passenger side motor mount fabricated. 

 

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I don’t know what you mean? Fabricating a setback firewall and floor is totally easy you don’t need three weeks, four packs of poster board, and a whole 4’x8’ sheet of steel or anything ;) 

 

Good decision on the engine location. That thing is gonna haul so much cabbage and you won’t even need to wash it before eating it!

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9 hours ago, Radarsonwheels said:

I don’t know what you mean? Fabricating a setback firewall and floor is totally easy you don’t need three weeks, four packs of poster board, and a whole 4’x8’ sheet of steel or anything ;) 

 

 

Pushing the envelope is what makes all of this fun.  You will have a nice ride when you get it finished.

 

When I put a V6 in my 56 Willys I wanted to get the weight as far back as possible so I opted to cut into the firewall - nothing as drastic as your build but a lot of work nonetheless. On this one, I want to do as little structural fabricating as possible just in case I (or someone else) decide to go back to original drivetrain.  I figure one small modification to a cross member won’t be a deal breaker.

 

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Thanks Jomani

 

I always wanted to do an engine setback even though I’ve read that the engine setback has a minimal effect on front to rear weight distribution unless it’s getting into mid-engine territory. On the other hand with a lot of power and the light rear end of a pickup every bit helps and my heavy wood bed will give some ‘bag of sand in the trunk’ effect. I’m sure with all the weight of your tires and your wide wide contact patch a burnout will be a greater challenge for you than a dead hook. Neither of us are building race cars though! ;) 

 

 I think a lot of race classes are limited to lining up the first sparkplug with the front wheel centerline- mine is more like #3 plug lined up so it’s a pretty mild setback but I was limited depth wise by wanting to keep my cowl intact and height wise by my deep oil pan and deciding to keep my dakota motor crossmember. 

 

Your trans x-member notch is not a deal breaker at all- that would be easy to put back to stock. Are you going to box it in? Probably doesn’t need more strength since it still has the top corners on it.

 

I can’t see giving up double the horsepower and less valvetrain maintainance to go back to stock. Plus with that dual axle & v8 you can haul safes up mountains in modern traffic! Those motor mounts look stout and the junkyards are still full of 318s and 360s if you ever hurt this motor and wanted to be back on the road in a weekend. Flatheads are super cool though...

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My plan is to cut down the original piece that I removed from the cross member and weld it back in along with a filler piece making an oblong opening. I just need to get final engine placement and driveline angle finalized first.

 

Young Ed-

Yours came out nice - probably a better option than the route I took.

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My 50 truck was built for racing. Engine placement is but many many things to consider when pulling things together. 

Its a balancing problem that goes beyond location of any part. 

When building my frame, it was the original frame, boxed with 10g 12g and 14g to allow flexing in the right manner.

A four wheel scale is needed to tell you where your center of gravity is. This also includes a process on the scale which includes the need of having the vehicle near completion.

The location or relocation of the engine has a profound effect on every aspect of the driving experience. This includes daily driving.   

Trucks from the 50's were designed to handle extra weight in the back and roads that were underdeveloped.

In other words, trucks from the 50's have frames that were designed to flex. This expedited cracks in key points on truck frames.

So in my opinion.....most truck motors are to far forward in the stock design. This  happened to make up for expected weight in the cargo bay.

But for a daily driver, I've always felt vintage trucks should be balanced for safety etc.

I always recommend reading up on road racing, drag racing when it comes to frame building....its a good read and relevant to driving safely. 

 

48D   

 

       

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On 3/2/2019 at 2:09 PM, 48Dodger said:

My 50 truck was built for racing. Engine placement is but many many things to consider when pulling things together. 

Its a balancing problem that goes beyond location of any part. 

When building my frame, it was the original frame, boxed with 10g 12g and 14g to allow flexing in the right manner.

A four wheel scale is needed to tell you where your center of gravity is. This also includes a process on the scale which includes the need of having the vehicle near completion.

The location or relocation of the engine has a profound effect on every aspect of the driving experience. This includes daily driving.   

Trucks from the 50's were designed to handle extra weight in the back and roads that were underdeveloped.

In other words, trucks from the 50's have frames that were designed to flex. This expedited cracks in key points on truck frames.

So in my opinion.....most truck motors are to far forward in the stock design. This  happened to make up for expected weight in the cargo bay.

But for a daily driver, I've always felt vintage trucks should be balanced for safety etc.

I always recommend reading up on road racing, drag racing when it comes to frame building....its a good read and relevant to driving safely. 

 

48D   

 

       

 

Thanks for the advice. It is always good to hear from someone with real world experience.  I kicked around the idea of boxing the frame and talked to a couple of local hot rod builders. In the end both recommended against it. The 360 doesn’t put out much in the way of torque and the truck will only see moderate cruising speeds - mostly in-town driving.

 

As far as balance goes, it will be interesting to see how it comes out in the end. The placement of the gas tank and the fact that I am no lightweight should help balance moving the engine to the right some. From what I have been able to gather, the one ton front suspension is a little stouter than the half ton. I am hoping the forward placement of the engine will offer a better ride ( at least in the front). I still expect it to ride like a lumber wagon.

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It ended up raining all weekend so I couldn’t get much done on the truck. I decided to play around with some fenders for the rear. Since I am not exactly sure what will go on the back of the truck yet, I decided to fab up some simple fenders until I make up my mind. I had ordered a couple of trailer fenders to play around with. Couldn’t find anything wide enough so I decided to split one and make my own.

 

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The rain held off long enough today to get back on locating the engine and fabbing  up some motor mounts. I picked up a smaller starter from a 94 Dakota to see if it would help with the steering clearance. Turns out that it didn’t help. I decided to push the engine back far enough so the exhaust port for cylinder #7 is behind the steering shaft. This will force me to cut into the firewall - in the end I think it will be better than pushing the engine too far to the right. I ended up moving the engine 1 5/8” to the right as opposed to 3” if I stayed out of the firewall.

 

Front motor mounts finished. I should be able to get the trans mount finished tomorrow.

 

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Edited by Jomani
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If my calculations are correct, I should only need about an inch to get sufficient firewall clearance. The nice thing is that I can leave the original radiator placement.

 

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Had another productive sunny day today. I got the engine angle set - 3 degrees on the top of the intake to make up for the rake of the truck. If all goes as planned, the carburetor will sit level. 

 

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The pinion angle ended up at 6.3 degrees.

 

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The driveshaft angle is less than I was hoping for. With a load on the rear, it could very well end up running straight. If that happens, I may have to lift the engine a little.

 

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Edited by Jomani
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I also got the cross member stitched back together and the trans mount fabricated. The new engine placement put the trans mount right at the cross member. I decided to use the cross member - I will reinforce it after I pull the engine back out.

 

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Custom spring hanger bolts arrived from SD Truck Springs so I was able to get the rear springs finished up. Spring perches welded in place and overload springs installed.

 

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I played around with paint on the dual wheels. Decided to go with a two tone to match the truck. Not sure if I am crazy about the paint scheme on the wheels - might try an orange pinstripe where the green and white meet - same color as the front stainless trim.

 

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The more I thought about the wheels, the more I knew they needed something. With a couple of hours of daylight left, I pulled out the orange paint I used on the trim and found an old pinstriping brush that I picked up many years ago. I have never tried pinstriping - another first on this build.

 

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I think I am happy with that.  Good thing my wife didn’t catch me using the dining room table.

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I got the tires mounted back on the rims - using the motor home tires for now. Old tires with great tread and no signs of cracking. Set the fender on that I had been playing with. Since the rear fenders are temporary until I can figure out what will go on the back, I think I am going with a couple of pieces of square tuning across the top of the frame.

 

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Edited by Jomani
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I was having trouble visualizing the rear fenders without the rest of the body. I decided to bite the bullet and drop the cab back on the frame. With the engine and trans in their final resting place, I needed to see how much firewall trimming needed to happen anyway.

 

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I dropped the old radiator in (the one that came from the Power Wagon) to check fan clearance. Clearance is perfect - bottom outlet tube turns up and hits the fan. I will have to remember that when I look for an aluminum radiator. Everything else fits nicely. As much as I didn’t want to cut into the firewall, I am glad I did. Transmission clears by over a half inch so the floor can stay flat.

 

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