77 chevybilt rat rod

[Olson181]

Years ago I had this idea for a 1:1 truck I wanted to build. A 70s-80's Chevy Rat Rod. at the time I drew up a sketch and its sat in my sketch book for years. Having a family and being in the army, the funds, time and work space weren't available. Recently, after a 10 year absence from models, I decided to build my rod... as a model. The idea was simple. A chopped and lowered chevy truck from that era that still maintained some of the styling and features you see in the older hotrods and rat rods. so I introduce the ChevyBilt rat.

Edited July 14, 2015 by Olson181

[Olson181]

mocked up how it should look with the exception of the front will sit lower after I fabricate the suicide FS. I apologize for not taking pictures up to this point.

I'm using parts from multiple vehicles.

'77 GMC- Cab, front differential and transfer case(did i mention its a 4wd?) and floor pan/firewall

'65 Chevy stepside- Bed, interior

'55 Chevy- emblems and odds and ends

Peterbilt 359- rear suspension and axle, tires and wheels, air tank for the suspension, fuel tank, smoke stacks(will be cut shorter) and grill(cut down to size), possibly more

1967 Plymouth GTX- 427 Hemi Engine




My first step was to cut off the front clip, rebuild the fire wall, fill in the gaps and chop the roof. Im still in the fitting and sanding stages so its still looking rough.







Then I built the frame and chopped the springs and hangers off the Peterbilt frame and attached them.





Next I took the stepside bed from the '65, cut the wheel well off and took about an inch out of the middle to make the length right for looks and so the rear tires would be centered

Edited July 15, 2015 by Olson181

[John Clutch]

Awesome ! Im looking forward to the progress !

[bobthehobbyguy]

Great start.

[72 Charger]

Nice work So far . I look forward to more

[cobraman]

That's going to be one beefy ride.

[Olson181]

Next thing I did was cut out the seat door panels so I can put the door panels from the 65 in. The seat I kept because I'm going to uphulster it with an "awesome" 70's looking blanket I baught at goodwill.

Also got my seat upholstered.

[Olson181]

I used bondo body filler for the cab/firewall. I realized my bondo skills aren't the greatest so if anyone has any tips, tricks or an easier product to work with I'd love to hear about it. Then I sprayed on some primer and did some sanding(much more needed)

Next, I cut down the petebilt radiator housing to the size I needed and resized a parts box radiator with electric fans to fit.

I got my motor mounts in and engine fitted with the transfer case from the '77 and used the transmission crossmember/skid plate from the 77s frame. I also got my bed fitted and put a cover on it, later on I will be putting aged wood on the bed cover.

And this, now that I've got the suspension all worked out will be the final stance of the truck. The spacing behind the cab will look better with the smoke stacks in place

I got some more work done on the frame, body mounts added, sanded up some corners and rough edges, ajusted the tranny crossmember(I measured wrong the first time), and added a mounting point for the airbag suspension in the rear



Sprayed some misc. parts flat black which is the main color for the truck.

also painted some pieces with testors fiery orange which is my accent color. I'm stripping the heads, they look "goopy". Also lots of suspension parts will be orange along with the fuel tank, differential covers, some interior accents, engine accents, etc... I may do an orange pinstripe also but I'm not sure

A few other things I didnt get pictures of, built spring perches for the front axel, ajusted the front spring mount, reworked the smoke stacks, a few others, I just cant rememer everything.
I need to make a trip to home depot this week and pick up a few different sizes of solder so I can do the headers and exhaust.

if anyone has any suguestions Im all ears.

[Olson181]

OK, sorry about the multiple posts, as it turns out this forum only allows a number of photos per post

[bisc63]

Very creative! Will be watching your progress on this one with interest.

[Brizio]

Love the idea! Looks good too!

[Olson181]

A very productive weekend despite having to work on Saturday. 

Started with the cab. More sanding and bondoing and sanding 

I then started on my front brakes. Had some cool looking roters from a farrari kit that that never plan on building(I don't like sports cars) so I drilled out the vent holes then painted them. Also cut the down and reemed out the backs of the front wheels so they would fit in, which also made it so my front axel would fit the wheels better. 

Some more sanding and bondo on the grill then painted it. Also took a bow tie from the 55 Chevy and painted it.

 

 

 

I painted the frame, axels and other misc parts painted black and fiery orange. Taped the axels and did the diff covers in the orange.

 

 

Then I finally got my engine together waiting for a a detail masters distributor which is in the mail. 

 

Just a quick mock up to see how everything is looking

 

Thanks for looking

[John Clutch]

Looks awesome. The stance is perfect, with the chassis rake.

[Olson181]

Thanks for all the positive feedback guys. Hope to keep plugging away this week. If the distributer and solder comes in this week I hope to get my engine and exhaust done this weekend. Then the breaks, interior, paint, air lines, glass.... Etc, etc... Then maybe I can start on my next project that I've been collecting parts for... It's gonna be II cool(hint hint)

[Olson181]

this weekend was relatively productive. Got a lot done on the engine, distributed, wires, and fuel lines. 

 

 

I also got my doors cut out and started building my center support for the front window. I did a lot of bondoing too but didn't get pictures of that. now I need to do a lot more sanding. But oh well, I guess that's what I get for changing my plan part way through a build. 

 

 

I boxed in my doors(also bonded those) and cut out the door panels from the 65 they still need to be cleaned up and attached. 

Thanks for looking!

[crazyrichard]

cool build !!!

[Olson181]

olson181 Newbie Nov 12, 2015 at 12:16am

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Ok.... So I'm finally back at this beast... After moving some stuff around I opened the box I had stuffed everything into and I apparently had an "oopsie" so I'm now having to fix some cracks in the body, and it was almost ready for the final paint... Oh well.

I also made some custom headers, I didn't have any spares that looked good and would clear the frame rales.






I remade the bed cover and drilled out holes for the smoke stakes and drilled out the grill shroud so the drive shaft would clear



And just for fun I mocked everything up









More coming soon! Thanks for looking