Truck body question for you body shop guys

old · Mar 30, 2011

Well some of you know I am slowly building an engine for my son who is in the navy for his 1951 Chev. Well years ago when I did an engine switch in a Nova I pulled the front clip off. Now the question is. How hard would it be to take this 1951 Chev pick up truck and make it so the hood looked correct by to open up the hood the fenders and hood and all flipped forward so you would have open access to the engine and tires etc?? Thanks for any in site. As to how hard this might be. I know for all that is going to be done any how most of the body has to come off

Anonymous-0 · Mar 31, 2011

You didn't ask for opinions, but I'm a real generous guy and'll give you mine for free.......

Would be a much nicer truck if you just fixed it back as close as possible to it's orininal self without the bells and whistles. Be worth more if he decides he wants to sell it also.

There ya go, no charge.

Dave

BCnT · Mar 31, 2011

hey old...you still looking for engine parts for that truck? my buddy in Hallettsville,Tx said he mite could help if you're not in a big rush...he's got more NOS parts tha you can swing a dead cat at...he just got so far behind categorizing he has to hunt for stuff...i been doing biz with him for about 30 years and will vouch for him anytime.
attaching a link to his ebay store and if you email me i'll give you his cell #
http://stores.ebay.com/robertsautoparts

bobs old iron · Mar 31, 2011

it sounds like you want to make it a tilt front-end. can be done, $$$$$$$$$$$. or find a fiber-glass tilt front end, looks clean if done right. if you never done it, know your answers before you ask the questions, lots of modifications needed. power under the hood is cool, original outside is eye catching when you're passing them.

Chris(WA) · Mar 31, 2011

Getting that much steel to balance and pivot would be a real trick. Most tip up front clips I have seen were fibreglass replica's.
It would look cool though...

Errin OH · Mar 31, 2011

Doing it with the existing steel psrts is going to be a real chore. Cutting welding and all. These folks have a fiberglass kit that can be installed in place of the factory front end. Scroll down to see the kit.
usbody

glennster · Mar 31, 2011

rich, i dont see any real problems making a steel tilt. your radiator support-cooling module will need to be stationary, use 2 strut rods to tie the top of the cooling module to the top of the firewall. pin the hood to the fenders, and make 2 hinges to mount the front lower portion of the front end to the frame rail ends. if you look at a tilt front on a medium duty truck or semi tractor, you will get an idea how it all goes together. the weight difference between the steel front end vs a glass front isnt that much, so it shouldnt be a concern there. with your fabricating abilities, i dont see a problem, and it will be a cool project.

Anonymous-0 · Mar 31, 2011

Maybe you should ask on a truck forum? Some of the crotchety old members here will jump on you for putting silly OT questions on a tractor only site.

Goose · Mar 31, 2011

I agree, Dave.

Sometimes "Cool" comes with an unexpected surprise value-wise down the road. Somewhere down the line when he wants to get rid of the truck, his target market will be narrowed considerably.

But, if the interim enjoyment is worth the price..........

fixerupper · Mar 31, 2011

Go for it, Rich. I like the idea. The hood on a semi is no lightweight but helper springs make tilting a breeze. You should be able to make it work. Jim

hd6gtom · Mar 31, 2011

Many years age we did that with a NOVA. Lots of sweat later it was done. From then on it took 2 people the open the hood. You have to have 1 person on each side to grab the bottom of eash fender, pull out on them far enough to get them to clear the doors. Not a good idea for a nova.
Suggest you invest in a fiberglass tilt front end, keep the origional parts, paint them to match the rest of the truck. If you would sell the pickup, the origional front end could be reinstalled

Leroy · Mar 31, 2011

With you Dave

GordoSD · Mar 31, 2011

Yeah, but it will cost you minimum of 2500 dollars. Money you will not see a dime of when you sell the truck.
Aren't you building a straight six? Why would you want someone to see that?

Gordo

Rick Kr · Mar 31, 2011

One other note if you are doing this that I didnt see mentioned below.

A lot of tilt front ends I have seen at the racetrack, they leave the lower rear part of the fender attached to the body. That way you do not have to bow the fenders out as you swing the front end open.

To answer your question of how hard it would be? Probably not a job for a novice, yet I have seen plenty of tilt front ends. I say its your truck, customize it how you want. All of your labor is for you, 'cause you typically won't make the truck worth a lot more money if you sell it.

Rick

Mike (WA) · Mar 31, 2011

Tricks like that don't do anything for value unless the whole truck is customized, and you're looking at 50 grand or so (for the whole package) to get something that doesn't look cheesy.

Look closely at the relationship between the fenders and the front cowl- its almost impossible to use the front clip "as is", because when the fenders swing up, they won't clear the cowl. If cowl is vertical on the sides, the fenders will scrape the paint on the cowl as you open and close it. If you look at most tilt front ends, they have to cut through the fenders on a forward angle (think of the back slash on your computer keyboard), so the clip has something to mate to without rubbing anywhere.

Here's another vote for forgetting about it.

old · Mar 31, 2011

What don't you know a straight 6 will out run any V-8 in the 1/4 mile that is why back in the 60 they changed thing on the drag strips so the 6 and 8 cylinder ran in different classes the guy with the V-8 got tired of looking like fools on the track.

Richard H. · Mar 31, 2011

This is mine , a 55 1st, easy to work on. You can do it with the fiberglass front.. but the clip cost more than your truck.

old · Mar 31, 2011

I do have an old 10 wheeler to go by that has the flip hood. Its an old Binder with a 2 stick and a big extra big block gas V-8. Never thought about looking at it till you said something

old · Mar 31, 2011

Have most every thing other then the Cam shaft and that will be new and a semi performance cam. Had thought about what is called an RV cam but been told they make gas hogs and not much performance to boot so going to look more at a street rod cam instead. Cost seems to be pretty much the same. I should be assembling the block part soon other then the cam I'll be getting the crank back the first of next month. Then I need to take in the head and hope they do not have to shave it or the compression might be a tad to much

old · Mar 31, 2011

Dave the problem is with going to the modern engine the WHOLE drive line has to be taken out from the engine back to the rear end so the only part that would be close to stock is the body. This is just an idea I am playing with so not sure what will happen. Plus with all the other stuff may run out of time to do so unless I find help which is not likely to happen

glennster · Mar 31, 2011

rich, also , if you need to get around the rear of the fenders hitting the cowl when you flip the hood, when you make your hinge , set up up kind of like a shackle set up on a rear leaf spring. to tilt the front, you lift the front up so the shackle hinge will pivot up and then drop back forward, moving the front end forward and clearing the cowl area. kind of hard to explain, but once you see it, you have an oh duh moment !!!

bc · Mar 31, 2011

I think you would lose room at the front around the tires as it pivots towards the tire unless you cut some of that out as well. Then it won't look right. I'm not sure the front bumper wouldn't hit the tire. Good luck. Might be easier to have the fenders mounted with some type of quick attachments such as pins and cotter keys.

Fred Martin · Mar 31, 2011

Old, I was looking at a front end on a 55 chevy the other day and after it was loosened (somehow) in the back...it slid forward a couple inches and the tilt was easy then. Just a thought. ohfred

old · Mar 31, 2011

Guess when I get to the point of removing the old 216 engine which by the way is a new/rebuilt engine I will have to look it over real good. I know a good bit of the body has to come off just to do the engine/transmission/rear end switch so time I guess will tell

Fred Martin · Mar 31, 2011

I had a 49 chevy half ton that I took the old 216 out and put in a later model 235. The 216 ran okay but, I wanted something to do...you know how that is. That led to the transmission and eliminating that closed driveshaft plus the whole rear end and then changing all the light bulbs. The 235 was a newly rebuilt engine and the mechanic had a good reputation and I couldn't live without it. Good luck on your project. ohfred

old · Mar 31, 2011

Thanks. This engine I am building is a 292 bored 60 over high compression pistons crank turned 20. Pistons where ordered before they would bore so it is a blue print type engine so far. Going with a performance cam not an RV cam. Told the boy I might need to ad wheelie bars when it is done LOL

Fred Martin · Apr 1, 2011

I remember back around 1960 at the Raven Rock Drag Strip near Portsmouth, Ohio they run those old 6 bangers...the serious guys had them bored to 301 and thats about the time they found the 4 speed transmissions...and there was nothing that sounded any better than when they run them with it. In fact, it gave me a little bit of 6 banger fever too. They had a lot more torque than the 265/283 V-8's. The V-8's better have some work done on them if they were gonna run those 301's. ohfred

old · Apr 1, 2011

Ya back in the 60s a guy could get some pretty fancy stuff for those 6 cylinders. Extended intakes that took a 4 barrel carb. Cams that would make them sit an rattle a guys teeth out at an idle but boy did they smoke those tires down the track and they sure did suck those V-8s in the blew them back out the tail pipes. That is why they changed the rules so the 6 and 8 cylinder cars ran in different classes and from the point on the 6 cylinder went down hill

Fred Martin · Apr 3, 2011

There ain't no bigger smile than to rip someone in a six...in fact, they're doing it today with the four cylinder rigs. I read about a young school teacher out in California that was making those guys screamin mad with his little four. I think he had a turbo on it and didn't have a fourth of the money in it that they had in their chromed up V-8's. And the story I read was that he borrowed a carburetor to do it. In fact, I think it was on the front of Hot Rod magazine a couple of years ago. ohfred

old · Apr 3, 2011

Ya the boys idea is to leave this old truck looking like it does right now as far as the body of the truck. Faded paint and patches of off color etc but have this build 292 under the hood with at least a truck 4 speed if not a twin stick so he has the best of both worlds. Over drive for the long haul or the other gears in the aux tranny to do as he wants or needs. If I do set it up as a twin stick he will have a low gear so low it will climb a tree and any gear in between with a 4 in front of another 4 giving it 16 forward speeds and 3 back wards

Truck body question for you body shop guys

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