34 Church Truck

[CabDriver]

On 1/3/2021 at 10:15 AM, AmericanMuscleFan said:

The big deal... yet another device to add to my arsenal... I will have to expand my workspace... It's a great job by the way!

I just ordered a lathe last week if it’s any consolation...the dehydrator was MUCH cheaper ??. Thanks buddy!

I feel like I’ve been messing with little bits of this thing all week and didn’t really have anything much to show for it, so here’s an update to prove I wasn’t asleep over here ?...

Polished out the frame, added a fuel line and did an India Ink wash on some of the chrome bits to bring some detail out:

I just ordered one of those circuit board holders that people are using to help with assembly - whichever way I’m going to assemble this frame there will be SOMETHING top or bottom that has Alclad on it, so being able to suspend it will be helpful whilst I get everything in place for good.

Wired up the engine with a MAD distributor - need to get those plug leads sagging a little more but spent some time trying to get the routing neat for once:

I hadn’t figured out what to use for brakes on the front OR rear yet - I think I settled on the nice drum backing plates from the old Monogram 32 Ford but I didn’t have any spares that weren’t earmarked for a future project so I’ve got a little RTV rubber mold setting up as we speak:

Had the idea of mixing up some black embossing powder with gold, white and red flecks in it to add a little visual interest to the carpet in the interior:

Pro tip: it doesn’t look good, don’t try it ?

Stripped it off and laid down a nice neutral gray instead:

It’s still drying in this pic, hence the dark spots, but it set up ok after a few hours...

And finally, inspected the clear on everything I painted last weekend and wasn’t 100% happy with a couple of little bits on the fenders, so buffed them down, reshot them with another coat of enamel and they’re just on a timeout in the dehydrator until they learn not to have imperfections next time:

More soon - hopefully something more interesting  ?

[Dennis Lacy]

Man, this truck is really coming together! I really like the colors you’ve chose. The chassis and engine look great and that red paint looks like you could dip a finger in it. 

[Spottedlaurel]

Only just seen this one, it's been a pleasure to read from start to where you're at now. Look forward to seeing the contnuing progress!

[slusher]

Some fine work your doing on this build. I am really enjoying it...

[Claude Thibodeau]

HI Jim!

Nice progress.

Lately, I tried something unexpected to get the carpet texture you achieved here. At the dollar store, I found real cheap heavy flaked nail polish. Hoping it could be airbrushed, I bought the tri-pack (gold-red-blue), but upon opening the bottles, I realized WHY it was at a discount: it was a gooey, jelly consistance. Now way to thin and airbrush it: it looked like sand in a tablespoon of water! 

Then, I tried brushing it as-is on a plastic scrap... Bingo: heavy grained, compact finish, that dried in 5 minutes. Top it with acrylic colour of your choice, and perfect instant carpet. 

Who said a little experiment can't pay off?

CT 

[stitchdup]

1 hour ago, Claude Thibodeau said:

HI Jim!

Nice progress.

Lately, I tried something unexpected to get the carpet texture you achieved here. At the dollar store, I found real cheap heavy flaked nail polish. Hoping it could be airbrushed, I bought the tri-pack (gold-red-blue), but upon opening the bottles, I realized WHY it was at a discount: it was a gooey, jelly consistance. Now way to thin and airbrush it: it looked like sand in a tablespoon of water! 

Then, I tried brushing it as-is on a plastic scrap... Bingo: heavy grained, compact finish, that dried in 5 minutes. Top it with acrylic colour of your choice, and perfect instant carpet. 

Who said a little experiment can't pay off?

CT 

Tamiya thinners work with nail polish, its just thick acrylic paint at the end of the day

[Claude Thibodeau]

31 minutes ago, stitchdup said:

Tamiya thinners work with nail polish, its just thick acrylic paint at the end of the day

Hi Les!

I know, I do it frequently. With this cheap nail stuff, the "resin" was so bad that to thin it enough for airbrush use, the "flakes" were just not in suspension anymore. But to simulate carpet finish, great result.

CT 

[CabDriver]

Thank you everyone, I appreciate all the nice comments!  I need to experiment with that technique @Claude Thibodeau - thanks for sharing!

Got somewhat distracted this week when this arrived:

Made a few useful parts for this build whilst I’m learning some lathe-ing basics - seeing as the pulley faces are mostly hidden on this engine I figured I’d get my feet wet with a simple set of those:

I used some satin sign vinyl for the belts, and machined that little alternator (generator?) hiding on the side of the block there:

 

Quick mock-up of engine in frame to make sure it fits how I wanted:

Got to figure out some fasteners for the engine mounts - I’ve got some little silver spacers on the stock frame mounts to raise the engine a touch to make sure there’s still plenty of clearance underneath when the lowered front axle’s in place.

And, whilst I wait patiently for the weekend so I can do a bunch of polishing and start assembling major components to each other so I can do some fun detailing work, a quick mock-up to see how this thing is coming together:

I think I like it!  More soon, soon as I’ve done more!

[NOBLNG]

It’s coming together REALLY nicely Jim!

[slusher]

Nice touch on the pulleys, Jim.  Going too be a beautiful truck..

[Claude Thibodeau]

Hi Jim!

Very nice, bravo! I like your idea of sign vinyl for the belts. I have some here, and I will try it. Thanks!

CT

[AmericanMuscleFan]

17 hours ago, CabDriver said:

Got somewhat distracted this week when this arrived:

There are less pleasant distractions, aren't there... ?

[Steve H]

Jim! Can’t wait to see this truck on its way to “church”. Very nice first spin on the lathe sir. I need to check out the sign vinyl, thanks for always sharing. 
Cheers, Steve

[CabDriver]

Thanks fellas!  

On 1/15/2021 at 4:05 PM, AmericanMuscleFan said:

There are less pleasant distractions, aren't there... ?

Absolutely!  I’m kinda embarrassed to show my early efforts at machining, but excited enough that I am anyway...

Getting set to do something real assembly on this thing shortly - got the fenders polished out today (I remember now why I like fenderless cars ??) and used some 2-part epoxy to get the frame attached to the fenders ready for front and rear suspension and so on:

I’m using those toothpicks to keep the frame in place, in case you’re curious...

Meanwhile, spent some time on the lathe again making a few little doodads and gewgaws...in this case a radiator cap, electric fan motor and overflow bottle to add a little interest to the Revell 29 radiator I’m going to use on this build:

Need to polish them up and get them nice and smooth still - I can’t figure out if my lathe is running too fast, too slow or I’m not quite using it right to get nice smooth finished parts, but a little clean-up and they’ll be ok

And finally, wanted to add some subtle discoloration to the headers so I borrowed my wife’s watercolors (she’s a professional artist so she has a bunch of useful supplies for me to borrow) and added a little blue and yellow to add some visual interest to them.  Nothing too major though:

More soon!  Thanks for looking and for all the nice comments! 

[slusher]

Real nice attention to detail Jim!

[charlie8575]

I like this.

Charlie Larkin

[CabDriver]

Thanks fellas!  Made some decent progress this weekend! 

Got the front and rear ends on:

Got the engine in:

And once the bed was on suddenly it’s starting to look like a thing!

Painted the radiator and added my aluminum bits that I made during the week:

Looks cool in there!

Still need to get the hoses on there but that won’t take too much finagling hopefully...

Polished out the cab - needs another round tomorrow and some little touch ups but it’s fairly smooth:

And made some kinda art-deco weird-vintage looking headlamps - they’re just sitting in the mounting holes here but that’s roughly what I’m thinking for them:

They’ll look better when they’re not so boss-eyed, hopefully ?

Not a bad day’s progress!  More soon!

[AmericanMuscleFan]

On 1/16/2021 at 11:25 PM, CabDriver said:

Need to polish them up and get them nice and smooth still - I can’t figure out if my lathe is running too fast, too slow or I’m not quite using it right to get nice smooth finished parts, but a little clean-up and they’ll be ok

Great progress on the truck Jim, monsieur le Curé is eager to park it in the garage of the presbytery!

It's not unusual to see some tooling marks on a turned part but you can use 0000 steel wool, it will remove all thes marks.  Be very careful and watch your fingers if you decide to do the polishing directly on the lathe, I recommend adjusting to a slower speed and not getting too close to the chuck jaws... they bite...!

[CabDriver]

Great tip, thank you Francis!  I’ll give that a try - I think once I get better with working out how to use the cutting tools and experiment with the speed I’m running at that’ll give me some better results too.  Hopefully! ??

A little more on the truck - almost done with this one, in fact...I simplified the headlamps - I didn’t like them in the end, and then mounted the spare tire and made a strap with adjustment buckle:

Painted the firewall and mounted the brake master cylinder:

And then added door handles from the Revell 29 kit and painted and mounted the single rear taillight:

And I’m ALMOST done with this one - I want to add some subtle weathering to make it look like the thing actually gets driven, but nothing crazy - and once that’s done this one will about be wrapped up!

A little more soon, soon as I’ve done a little more!

[slusher]

I like the head lights. Beautiful truck, Jim...

[CabDriver]

Thanks buddy!  About done on this one now...dusted a little mud on the tires, added the grill support rods and put it on the shelf!  Thanks for following along everyone!

[AmericanMuscleFan]

WOW, that's beautiful Jim!   Only 2 months to deliver this construction caliber gives me pause for thought on my working methods.  I can only marvel at what you have been able to do in such a short time my friend, Monsieur le Curé is very happy!!! ?

[Bullybeef]

Glad to see this one finished, so many unfulfilled builds on here that’s it’s great to see them into completion. 
being a novice ole fella builder I really appreciate the level that some of these builds get to.

it has me motivated to get working on my 32 pickup conversion.

[butter]

I like the way you detailed the motor. The gold valve covers are so 1960's.  Nice build.

[alan barton]

Congrats Jim, that looks really neat and is a very original  treatment of a 34 Pickup.  I love the finish on this one!

. Ironically, your premise for this truck, something nice to go to church in, was exactly the inspiration for the great Aussie ute.  Back in 1932, a farmer wrote to Ford in Geelong and asked if they could come up with a vehicle that he could take the wife to church in on Sunday and haul pigs on Monday. The 1934 Ford Coupe Utility was the result and was a staple in Australian passenger car ranges for the next 80 years or so.  Sadly, we no longer have an Australian motor manufacturing industry so those days are gone.  Every importer of European and Asian vehicles to Australia keeps calling their light trucks "utes" but they are not - they are pickups.  A ute has passenger car styling and with just one exception, has the cargo compartment ( bed, box, tray) incorporated into the sides of the cab.

Cheers

Alan