I’ve decided to go with a bit of a unique (but nostalgic) approach with the engine for the 35.  I’m going to run a GMC 302ci inline 6.  I picked up a block that’s been hot-tanked and magnafluxed.  The date code shows that it was made on April 18th, 1952.  It looks really nice for a 59 year old block!  It’s a military block, which was likely used in a M135 deuce and a half.

I also picked up two complete 270ci GMC engines.  Both were filthy and one was seized up, but they provide the internals and parts that I need.  I pulled the crank out of the seized up engine as I plan to use it in the 302 after some heavy modification.  The 270 and the 302 use the same crank (both have a 4″ stroke).  The GMC’s have a huge piston, which weighs a lot.  I plan to have some custom rods made that are longer than the factory 7.0″ GMC rods so I can run some modern lightweight pistons.  This will require having the rod journals on the crank changed to a standard BBC size.  I also picked up a 248 crank, which I may use in one of the 270’s for something else down the road.  Lastly, I picked up a 302 head, as the intake ports are much larger then the standard 270 head.

Right now I’m in study mode as I save up the money to buy new rods.  I’m reading as much as I can about the GMC and Chevy inline 6 engines.  It’s hard to come by much modern info on the GMC aside from the inliners message board.  There is a lot more info available on the Chevy 6’s, so I’m studying those to see what can be applied to the GMC.

I’ve been on the hunt for parts since I’ve bought the 35.  This has been a lot of fun, and very different than getting parts for my Lightning.  With the Lightning, everything is brand new and available from a vendor.  You’re basically only limited by the cash you have to spend unless what you are looking for isn’t made.  With the 35, things have been much different.  It’s not so easy to find a 76 year old part that you need right when you need it.

Since I only bought a cab and some suspension parts initially, there is a lot of original sheetmetal that I am missing as well as whatever I choose to run for the rest of the drivetrain.  I’ve been scouring eBay, craigslist, the H.A.M.B, and the Early Ford V-8 Club classifieds and have turned up a lot of parts that I needed.  So far I’ve purchased the following parts through these places:

• 1935 Ford bedsides and rear bed panel
• 1935 Ford front and rear fenders
• 1935 Ford headlights and stands
• 1935 Ford pickup dash trim
• 1935 Ford pickup glovebox door
• 1935 Ford pickup wiper motor cover panels
• 1935 Ford pickup windshield regulator
• 1935 Ford wire spoke wheels
• 1936 Ford pickup radiator
• 1936 Ford pickup grill

I almost have a complete truck in terms of the sheetmetal!  I still need to find some running boards, a tailgate, and a hood if I decide to run one.  I went with the 1936 radiator and grill since they are deeper and have more cooling capacity.  I might need this with the engine I choose to run.

Since I’ve been learning more about the 35 Ford lately, I’ve found new communities to help in my research.  I have participated in the online Lightning community for quite some time, which has been very beneficial in learning.  I also give back to the community as well by helping others and sharing my projects to give others ideas.  This is very much like the open-source software community that I deal with at my day job, and it works very well.

For the 35, I’ve found that there are useful online communities, but there is also a lot of info that is available via offline clubs.  I suppose part of this is due to the age of the vehicle and therefore the age of some of the people with a lot of the old knowledge.  I’ve joined a few clubs around things I’m doing with the 35, and I’ve been very happy with the help and knowledge I’ve received in such a short time.  The clubs I’ve joined are the Early Ford V-8 Club of America and Inliners International.  I’ve already bought some old Ford parts that I’ve needed for the 35 from club members, which was a good experience.  I’ve also spoke with some of the members of Inliners International on the phone to talk about engine advice and have had others offer their help.  Both clubs newsletters arrived this week and are both very well put together and full of useful information.  I look forward to getting a lot more out of both of these clubs, and hopefully giving back as well.

I picked up another project vehicle a few weeks back (yes, I know another project is just what I need).  I guess you can call it part of a vehicle if you want to be more correct.  Anyway, on to the story.

A few weeks back I ran into a guy with an old car frame leaned up against the fence on the side of his garage.  I asked him what is was from and he said a 1/2 ton 1935 Ford Truck.  It appeared to be in pretty good shape with the only hacking being the center of the X-brace being cut out at some point in time.  I asked him if he had a title for it and he said yes.  He had parted out the rest of the truck over time and was only left with the frame.  He said to pass on the word about the frame to any old Ford guys I knew.

This frame got me thinking about how I would like an old Ford to be able to cruise around town and go to car shows like Billetproof and the March Meet in.  I’ve wanted a Model A Sedan for some time as it would be something I can load the family into, but I really have a thing for trucks too.  I started searching around online to see how easy it is to find a 35 cab for sale.  Low and behold I found a guy selling a cab about 3 hours north of me for cheap.  The cab had been chopped 2-1/2″ at some point and the chop was never finished.  It also had some rot down low in the cowl and a healthy amount of surface rust.  It’s safe to say it was pretty rough.  That said, it didn’t look horrible either, and it was priced well and located fairly close.  Here are some of the pics that I was sent:

I struck a deal with the seller and drove up early on a Saturday morning to pick it up.  The seller was an older gentleman who basically collects old truck parts and sells them.  He had a bunch of old truck cabs, drivetrain and suspension parts, and even some old VW’s!  I picked up the cab, a windowframe and hinges, some extra rockers from a different cab to repair the rot, and the back panel of another 35 cab to patch a hole in the complete cab.  I also picked up an entire front wishbone/axle/brake setup from a 1940 ford along with a 1940 banjo rear, torque-tube, and brakes.

We got it home safely and unloaded it into the garage.  It’s going to be a lot of work, but I don’t expect it to be perfect.  I figure anything I do is basically rescuing this cab given the shape that it is in.  I was initially thinking of running it fenderless, no hood, a shortened bed, and dumped down low.  I’m now thinking of trying to find fenders and having a body be stock aside from the chop and getting it nice and low.  I’m still going back and forth on it, so we’ll see which way I end up going.  I will say that there are some non-traditional things I have planned for it.

Up until now, I’ve mainly been collecting parts that I need.  I’ve picked up a decent pair of bedsides and the front bed panel, a set of Ford 1935 wire spoke wheels, some interior trim pieces that were missing, a windshield regulator, and a section of firewall to patch up some hacking that was done on the cab.  I’ve also located some doors that are in better shape than the ones I have that a guy in Redwood City has.  I plan to pick these up as I’ll need an extra set of the top pieces of doors anyway to lengthen for finishing the chop.  I’ve pulled off the drivers door so far, which was stuck due to the latch mechanism being rusted up.  I need to pull the passenger door off still as I plan to take the cab to Oakland to get sandblasted in the springtime.  Once it’s blasted, I can start in on fixing the chop and doing the bodywork.