CorVuck... A 1934 Chevy Pickup

The original poster hasn't responded, but I get the feeling this project is already underway and the frame selection may have already been made...

No matter, he’s still got the coolest tow vehicle on the planet

So, now that I have a donor car. I need something to hold the drive train and suspension bits. Looking through the vast interwebs. I could not find anything that would work. So I started looking for a shop to build me a custom frame to hold it all together. I heard “never pay someone to learn on your project”  and kept that in my mind. So I kept looking, I called a few shops everyone’s quotes where around 10k+. Nevertheless, I made an appointment with someone. But day before the appointment sitting on the pooper (of course) I found this company in Oregon, Eckbert’s Rod and Custom (https://www.eckertsrodandcustom.com/). He builds cars using the C6 suspension, I was like perfect. so i called him and sent him deposit. Now, it came to the problem of how was I going to get it. He told me shipping was going to be around $1000. Now since I was currently unemployed, I had plenty of time. From me to his shop was about 1100 miles. So, I asked my mom if she would want to go on an all expenses paid trip. The plan wasn’t to do a dash there and back but to take the scenic route.

The plan was to enjoy the beauties of this earth and take a nice stroll through wherever.

Hooked up my trailer and off we went. After 15 days of camping (no hotels), 1200 dollars, 4 states, 3500ish miles, 5 National parks, random state parks, lakes, waterfalls, driving down most of the Pacific Coast Highway, miles of hikes, and plenty of back roads. My frame was home.

Now for some photos.

Day One at random lake we found.

Yosemite National park. Hiked from the Valley floor (4000 ft. elevation) to Glacier's Point (7200 ft. elevation) to Sentinel Dome (8100 ft. elevation) GPS said 16 miles

Just picked up my new frame.

Waterfall Overlook Trail at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park

Sequoia National Park

Yosemite National Park: Gaylor Lakes 

Bodie State Park: Ford truck

So, basically, you got 2 weeks of time with your mom, for $200.  I'd say that's well worth it.  

In reply to DreamsOfEli :

Can’t stand the overuse of the word “epic” but that trip sure fits in my opinion!

It is now time to start making this truck lighter and shorter.

Test fitting 

Almost a roller

Cool.

Please tell me you kept the survivor looking paint. Either way. AWESOME project. Looking forward to the next few posts and to follow along with your progress.

volvoclearinghouse said:

So, basically, you got 2 weeks of time with your mom, for $200.  I'd say that's well worth it.  

I would trade $200 for memories of this sort any day.

ebonyandivory said:

 

Can’t stand the overuse of the word “epic” but that trip sure fits in my opinion!

I appreciate the proper use of "epic"

Indy-Guy said:

Cool.

Please tell me you kept the survivor looking paint. Either way. AWESOME project. Looking forward to the next few posts and to follow along with your progress.

So far that is the plan but I do have to do welding to the body sheet metal. Some of the wooden support structure didn't fair to well over the 85 years of service. As you can see on the fender, there is a terrible patch job and there is another one on the other side to match.

Is the bit of original frame that I see out the back of the cab going to stay?

Pete

NOHOME said:

Is the bit of original frame that I see out the back of the cab going to stay?

Pete

Yeah, I don't want to deal with the wood breaking and having to realigned the body back together. I also used it to strengthen the frame since it is a "X" frame style.

Now that I have the Body shortened and sitting on the new frame. I need some suspension bits.  Understanding how the Corvette was assembled was interesting. trying not to break everything was hard too. I know they drop the body on the engine. So out the bottom seem best + I wanted to take it out with the sub-frame and suspension.

Progress was slow, since I have never done this before. I am always scared of breaking something and with theses Corvettes anything and everything is expensive.

Somewhat off topic....   but if you still have the car, I’d be interested in a part or two that you might not be using...   can you email me at my username at yarhoo if  interested???

back on topic, it looks awesome!!!

So, since the engine is out of the Corvette I was able to notice some more damage that occurred from the accident. Bell housing is cracked, the torque tube broke, and the slave cylinder got damage since things were not straight anymore.  Nevertheless I continued, lined up the sub-frame, bought some bolts and bolted it in. Taking the Rear out was pretty easy since I didn't have to worry about cracking the torque tube. Lining up all the splines on the rear of the engine was a pain with the rear diff still attached. I had to remove the rear diff the get the torque tube to line up with the engine. Then reattached the rear end  and like magic it became a rolling chassis. 

Is the new frame already setup for the same wheelbase as the vette? That's a score if it is, plug and play! This is going to be sweet when it's done!

bashr52 said:

Is the new frame already setup for the same wheelbase as the vette? That's a score if it is, plug and play! This is going to be sweet when it's done!

Yep, It was built that way. I'm trying to keep things simple.

With a rolling chassis rolling, it needs a body. Lining the body up was a pain. since I am running the fenders, it limits how low the body will be on the chassis. Plus, the Old frame was interfering with the new frame. Just more problems. I was using the original front portion of the frame to mount the front grill and radiator.

Eventually, I got the body to where I liked it.

I be cutting the tin down the middle and spreading it apart to cover the wheels. The interior of these trucks is pretty cramped anyways.  Flat glass lets you get away with stuff like that.

Pete

NOHOME said:

I be cutting the tin down the middle and spreading it apart to cover the wheels. The interior of these trucks is pretty cramped anyways.  Flat glass lets you get away with stuff like that.

 

Pete

I'm not cutting any body parts. The wheels are not that far off as it looks, when it goes to coil overs it will get lower/closer. Yes, it is very small on the inside for two seats and a roll cage. I am looking at it as a challenge and I hope it works out for me.

Going from a straight 6 to a V8 space is now at a premium.

I bought some QA1 Coil overs. I am trying to get it closer to ride height.  500 lb front 550 lb rear Right now It sits around 5 inches from the bottom of the frame.

I was planning on running the stock Z06 NPP exhaust but it was to low for my liking.  I went and thought about buying an aftermarket axle back but those suckers are  around $1200-1400. With those prices I decided I'll try and make my own.

For the bed, I bought and OLD trailer the had the 45 degrees top portion. I shorted the bed about 12 inches. then I cut the top potion with the front and rear supports out. Once I cut that out I welded on new metal to fill in the "Hole" that was left. So now the main section is flat.

Spent over 10 Hours stripping the body harness down.

Starter wouldn't kick. Maybe I took out a wire I needed...

I really like the exposed DRET tank. Kinda steampunkish, bolting improvements onto an older piece of technology.

Someone must make wood spoke wheels that will fit 305 - wide rubber....