This hotrod pickup truck was built in a traditional fashion: by long-time friends, from parts that were available in our garages, and with our own labor. To maintain quality control we did ALL of the work in-house and didn't farm out any aspect of the build. We built this truck ourselves in a collaborative effort, in our own garage, from the concrete floor up.... and we had a blast doing it!
The 1947 Ford pickup truck cab and wheels/tires were donated by Anthony. Michael donated the 1929 Ford chassis and the Camaro rear axle that were taking up his wife’s parking space in the garage, Doug dragged the ’32 Ford radiator grille shell out of his man-cave, Mark lifted the ’55 Chevy truck bed off his forlorn yard-art chassis for the cause. In addition to brisket lunch fare, Jimmy gave up the Chevy small block 305 and TH350 trans that once powered his beloved low mile ’78 El Camino. Auggie donated lots of time, energy, fasteners, and anecdotal trivia to the cause. Steve brought his metal bending skills and his jolly humor to the table and Otto provided his long-time upholstery experience to the seats and rear bed cover. The other needed bits and pieces were either found in the corners of our garages, sourced from swap meets, or bought new from the speed shop down the street. Everyone pitched in to create “something out of nothing”.
The culmination of a year and a half of Saturdays and great fun is what you see here; a 1947 “truckrod." We hesitate to call it a rat rod…..because it has no rust or other goofy nastiness…..it’s just a nice clean truck/hotrod that is built solidly, fully sorted and ready to run. It has a clean title attesting it to be a 1947 Ford pickup - (although we call it the "Chevord.")
The 1929 Ford chassis was heavily modified…..it was sectioned/ back-halved, and fully boxed and reinforced to accept the demands of a V8. Triangulated 4-bar rear suspension solidly located the axle and provides a smooth ride. The front suspension features a dropped ’32 Ford style front axle and transverse leaf springs. This truck rod has the correct "stance." The front brakes are big 11” GM rotors and calipers to bring this truck to a halt. The 305 SBC motor was taken apart, inspected, and refreshed with a new camshaft, lifters, rockers, pushrods, water pump, new fuel pump and regulator, a new Holley 650 carb, headers and exhaust. The motor was then freshly painted in original Chevy orange and of course buttoned up with all new gaskets and seals. While it’s a mild build, it runs as smooth as a Swiss watch. It starts right up with no drama and accelerates smoothly with no smoke or unusual sounds. The trans and rear axle were taken apart, cleaned, refreshed and pressed into service. The new Lokar shifter selectes the gears with ease…and style. The new Champion aluminum radiator keeps the engine quiet, cool and comfortable.
The interior of the cab features hand-made aluminum door panels and vintage helicopter aluminum bomber style seats with the seat bottoms trimmed in black vinyl. Interior was fully treated with Dynamat for heat and noise suppression. Rubber matting for the interior's floors and rear wall, rubber / aluminum shift boot and a "coffee cup holder" between the seats made from a WWII era ammunition cartridge holder. The truck bed contains a huge cargo area in the rear behind the axle, and is also home to the battery and fuel tank - in the forward compartment for easy access.
The body is fairly smooth yet still features some dings and dents acquired from decades of use. We elected to leave those there in honor of those that used these parts on various trucks…..as they were meant to be used. The body panels were all taken down to bare metal, rust repairs made with welded patch panels, then sprayed with epoxy, primed and coated with “hot rod black” matte paint from Summit Racing.
Wheels are American Racing mags and dressed with BF Goodrich meat for some proper road manners. Additionally, all of the window glass is brand new and it has all new weather-stripping.
If you’re looking for a fun truck to bomb around in, to advertise your business with or to just have around to enjoy with friends, hang out at cruise nights, etc. all without breaking the bank, then this one should fit the bill. We have a ton of photos documenting the build in addition to the ones above.
No surprises here!
Asking $25,000.
Contact Anthony / Anthony@emotionmotorclassics.com / Westchester, NY