Greg's '35 Hot Rod Truck

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This thread will cover my build and focus mostly on unique items that might help other builders. May of the other posts on this forum have helped me throughout the build with tips and ideas to make a truck that I am proud of. Thank you for all your great ideas!

First the build description:
• Factory Five ’35 Hot Rod Truck kit: Gen 2 Truck kit, Full fendered, Hood and engine side covers, Wilwood 12.88” front brakes, Koni Double Adjustable shocks, Electric power steering, 3 Link rear suspension, Ididit tilt steering column, Low Back Vintage Racing Seats (Kirkey), and Sound insulation kit.
• BluePrint Engine package: 400 cu in Small Block Chevy, with Holley Sniper EFI (518 hp, 528 lb-ft torque), and TCI Automatic Transmission – StreetFighter 700R4
• Rear Axle – Ford 8.8” from 2005 Mustang GT, with 3.31 to 1 gear ratio
• Rocket Racing Hypershot Wheels: 18 x 8” front with 5.0” backspacing (added 1” spacer for more inner fender clearance) and 18 x 11” rear with 7.0” backspacing
• Nitto NT555 G2 tires – 245/45 ZR18 front and 285/40 ZR18 rear
• Wipers – Specialty Power Windows WWK-21, with bent stainless steel arms and flex blades for curved glass
• Heater – Vintage Air Gen II with defrost
• Final Body and Paint by Ken’s Custom Auto Body in Yuba City, CA (color is 2013 BMW LeMans Blue)

Timeline:
• Factory Five Kit ordered 1/18/2020
• BluePrint Engine & Transmission ordered 1/18/2020
• BluePrint Engine & Transmission delivered 3/12/2020
• Factory Five Kit delivered 5/14/2020
• Go Cart of the Chassis 12/3/2020
• Delivered to Ken’s Custom Auto Body for final body work and paint 5/27/2021
• Body and Paint Complete 11/12/2021
• California Registration started 11/23/2021
• California Registration completed 1/24/2022

It has been a fun and rewarding journey!

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Front bumper to protect grill from curb damage. Includes structure that ties to front suspension bolts and to bottom of chassis. The under-chassis bumper structure provides a solid jack point under the front center of the vehicle.

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There were several gaps between the outer door skin and the inner door skin. Used panel bond to glue outer skin to inner skin where there were gaps. Also added fiberglass reinforcement inside door along door hinge line and door latch area.
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Shaped and re-glassed transmission tunnel to provide room for 700R4 transmission but allow room for parking brake and seats. Also cut top front section off with grommets for 3 wire bundles. This allows wire bundles to be stay in place on the chassis while transmission tunnel can be removed.

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Used Kirkey low back vintage seats to maximize leg room (Tony FFR recommendation), then fabricated seat mounts that allow seats to flip forward for access under and behind seats.

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Fabricated Harness Bar behind seats and eyebolts in floor for 5 point harness mount.

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Fabricated engine side panel supports. Installed ¾” steel tube under top edge of side panels, that anchor to the grill structure and to the firewall. This tube provides many benefits such as support to keep grill in place, minimize risk of hood gap changes, anchor for grill cowl and anchor for side panels.

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Cut engine side panels under front control arm to enable easier installation and removal of engine side covers. Layed fiberglass matt on inside contour to provide means to bolt parts back together after installation.

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Added vents to engine side panels to improve engine bay cooling. Reinforced side panels with 2 layers of 1708 fiberglass with epoxy resin. Cut 2 openings in each side. Bonded aluminum grill material to inside of covers behind openings.

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Fabricated hood support from ¾” steel tube hinged at the firewall. There is a U shaped notch by the grill cowl to support the tube in the down position. When the hood is closed, the tube supports the center of the hood to remove sag (was about 1/2"of sag). The tube tilts up to support the open hood.

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Used Quick Latch fasteners on both rear edges of hood. This eliminated the floppiness of rear hood edges. Hood pins are solid mounted to a steel angle on the inside of the firewall, on top of the frame tube. It also retains the rear corners of the hood more precisely aligned with body lines. Cut a racquetball in half to use as a seal around latch pins, under cab front.

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The fenders were very flexible and I was concerned that they would flex going down the bumpy road and crack the fiberglass. I was also concerned that rocks thrown up by the tires would eventually crack the outer gel coat. So, I reinforced the fenders in multiple ways.

Added 4mm Coremat and 2 layers of 1708 biaxial fiberglass to inside of all fenders with epoxy resin. This made fenders much more rigid, reduces chance of cracking/fatigue, and reduces likelihood of rocks cracking gel coat (painted) surface.

Front 2 bolts of front fenders are bolted into grill structure (tapped holes in aluminum). Bolts 3 and 4 from front of front fenders are bolted to stainless steel radiator supports. Bolts 6 and 7 from front of front fenders anchor to steel angle I fabricated to anchor fenders to chassis engine mount bracket.

On rear fenders, fabricated tube to anchor bottom bolt of rear fenders to the chassis.

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In addition to beefing up the fiberglass and mounting points, I used stainless steel strap to reduce fender vibration. One on the tail of rear fender to bed side, using weld mount stud on inside of fender. One on the side of the front fender behind the wheel to the engine side cover, using weld mount stud on inside of fender. Second on the top forward of the front fender (near the headlight) to chassis, using weld mount on underside of fender.

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Fabricated aluminum running board pads. They are powder coated with hammertone finish to provide a durable surface that doesn’t show scratches. The hold down bolts are countersunk into the aluminum and allow anchoring the fiberglass running boards to the chassis running board support structure.

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Provided battery access door in bed. Cut a door from the stainless steel floor and installed it with a hinge and Quik Latch fastener.

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Resolved front-bed-panel gap to bed sides. Fabricated a ¾” angle that bolts to the front panel and to upper angled bedside.

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Bolted tailgate closed to remove unnecessary hinges and latch hardware. Fabricated 1-1/2” stainless steel strap to close gap on inside of tailgate to bed sides. Fabricated 1-1/2” angle for top edge of tailgate for finished look.

Installed a license plate frame (center mounted) with a built in backup light.

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Installed windshield wipers. Motor is mounted high up behind the dash on the passenger side. Wipers are bent stainless steel with wipers for curved glass.

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Fabricated aluminum kick panels inside cab to cover frame and body near hinges. Significantly reduces hot air from engine bay. Also provides anchor point for door check straps.

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Fabricated aluminum door sills to cover edge of body and top edge of carpet. These are different than the FFR sills which required cutting much of the body fiberglass flange to install.

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Fabricated a center console between the vintage racing seats. The console continues forward for gear shift indicator, window switches and auxiliary switch panel. Due to the width of the vintage racing seats, the console had to be pretty narrow.

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Steering shaft relocation to improve U-joint angles and eliminate notchy steering. Additional U-joint added between firewall and frame, along with Heim-joint support to reduce U-joint angles. This works okay for me, but if you have large feet, the shaft between the accelerator pedal and brake pedal could interfere with moving your foot from one to the other (use caution with this mod).

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Frame notch for driveline clearance. At bottom of hoop in rear of cab, cut ¾” out of the horizontal tube under the driveshaft. Smoothed transition with fiberglass and epoxy. Reinforced cut section by adding heavy SS strap under the tube section I cut away.

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Resonators installed behind mufflers to reduce loud harsh exhaust and improve exhaust tone. Used Vibrant Ultra-Quiet Resonators with 2-1/2” inlet and outlet. Cut existing exhaust tips and inserted the resonators into the exhaust tips to keep the ball end mount and turndown tips.

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[Straversi]

Greg,
Congratulations on your gorgeous truck and thanks for your fantastic write up. I’m sure we will be seeing many of your great fabrication projects popping up on builds that follow. Great work.
-Steve

[Pat Landymore]

Hello Greg:

Your build of the truck is fantastic…you’ve shown us so many original ideas👍🏼👍🏼

Congratulations on a super job!

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Greg,
Congratulations on your gorgeous truck and thanks for your fantastic write up. I’m sure we will be seeing many of your great fabrication projects popping up on builds that follow. Great work.
-Steve

Steve,

Thanks for the feedback. It was a very fun project and I learned a lot from others on the forum. I thought this post might help pay it forward with ideas for others.

Greg

[Sbda4]

Hello Pat,

Thanks for the feedback, and especially thank you for all your posts. You have a nice truck and a nice build thread. I read them in detail to gain ideas for my own build. :)

Greg

[jayguy]

Beautiful truck! I like all the mods and additions you did too, very smart!

[Robodent]

Greg Beautiful build ! Thanks for sharing your mods. I really like your seats and center counsel beautiful job. That’s going to be a modification I’m going to do on my truck down the road for me . Thanks for the pictures and ideas you created for others. Rob

[Sbda4]

Greg Beautiful build ! Thanks for sharing your mods. I really like your seats and center counsel beautiful job. That’s going to be a modification I’m going to do on my truck down the road for me . Thanks for the pictures and ideas you created for others. Rob

Rob,

I see you post often and appreciate all the info I get from you and others. Thank you!

Greg

[wallace18]

Great Job!:cool:

[Chris Wingardh]

Beutiful! Thanks for all the pic's. Will be very helpful for me. Thank you!

[McGuyver]

Very nice and thanks for posting!

[ztoolman44]

Frame notch for driveline clearance. At bottom of hoop in rear of cab, cut ¾” out of the horizontal tube under the driveshaft. Smoothed transition with fiberglass and epoxy. Reinforced cut section by adding heavy SS strap under the tube section I cut away.

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I just cut that entire piece out of my truck today. I will be fabricating a new drive shaft hoop down the road. Thanks for the tips and tricks.

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That is certainly a viable option. I already had the chassis and body work mostly done before i realized that driveline clearance was an issue. So I did a minimally invasive approach. If I was earlier in the build, cutting the tube out completely would be a pretty good option.

[RuffShod]

That is certainly a viable option. I already had the chassis and body work mostly done before i realized that driveline clearance was an issue. So I did a minimally invasive approach. If I was earlier in the build, cutting the tube out completely would be a pretty good option.

Is your rear suspension on high or low setting?

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I used the lower holes for my suspension to get a higher ride height. This is recommended for the trucks, but I found necessary for full fenders. It does create a challenge with driveline clearance near the floor at the back of the cab.

[BluePrintEngines]

Hello Greg,

Congratulations on this stunning build! We greatly appreciate the build thread, and pictures! Can we share this pictures on our social media? I cannot thank you enough for choosing BluePrint Engines!

Thank You, Jose

[Sbda4]

Hello Greg,

Congratulations on this stunning build! We greatly appreciate the build thread, and pictures! Can we share this pictures on our social media? I cannot thank you enough for choosing BluePrint Engines!

Thank You, Jose

Jose,

Thanks for the post. Yes, you can share the pics on BluePrint social media. The SBC 400 and 700R4 have been a great choice. I can’t say enough good things about the support I’ve received from BluePrint with some technical questions. Johnny and Josh have always been quick to provide support.

Greg

[chuck35truck]

Great job on the wipers. I wish I had seen your build thread before I finished my 35 truck

[edwardb]

Awesome job on your truck build. Appreciate all the ideas and mods you posted. I'm going to steal one of them for my rear fender bracing. Can you show some pictures and describe how you handled the inside bottom edge of the door windows? I'm really struggling with that on mine. I don't care for the transition from the provided weatherstrip around the other three sides. Plus the gap between the door fiberglass and glass on mine is way too wide to use the weatherstrip they provided. Thanks!

[Sbda4]

Awesome job on your truck build. Appreciate all the ideas and mods you posted. I'm going to steal one of them for my rear fender bracing. Can you show some pictures and describe how you handled the inside bottom edge of the door windows? I'm really struggling with that on mine. I don't care for the transition from the provided weatherstrip around the other three sides. Plus the gap between the door fiberglass and glass on mine is way too wide to use the weatherstrip they provided. Thanks!

Edward, Thanks for the feedback. Unfortunately my windows are a disappointing part of my build and I hope to find a better solution. I attached pictures of my weatherstrip installation. The transitions at the front and rear are awkward since the width of the 2 weatherstrip styles is different. The inside gap to the glass is also very wide, about 7/16" rear, 7/16" middle and 1/4" front. I would really like a better solution for this. I thought of using the blade style weatherstrip FFR provided for the front of the dash, but it is far too rigid to bend at the corners to meet the upper felt weatherstrip and the blade is so rigid I think it will add a lot of resistance to the glass and likely impact the movement of the windows up and down. I am on the lookout for a better solution. Pictures attached to illustrate.

Good luck with a better solution.

Greg

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[edwardb]

Edward, Thanks for the feedback. Unfortunately my windows are a disappointing part of my build and I hope to find a better solution. I attached pictures of my weatherstrip installation. The transitions at the front and rear are awkward since the width of the 2 weatherstrip styles is different. The inside gap to the glass is also very wide, about 7/16" rear, 7/16" middle and 1/4" front. I would really like a better solution for this. I thought of using the blade style weatherstrip FFR provided for the front of the dash, but it is far too rigid to bend at the corners to meet the upper felt weatherstrip and the blade is so rigid I think it will add a lot of resistance to the glass and likely impact the movement of the windows up and down. I am on the lookout for a better solution. Pictures attached to illustrate.

Good luck with a better solution.

Greg

Thanks a lot. Really appreciate the response and pictures. Clearly you're not alone because mine is exactly the same and I agree one of the more disappointing aspects of the build. I too considered that blade style weatherstrip material and also decided it was too stiff. I'll keep trying to figure something out.

[Sbda4]

Thanks a lot. Really appreciate the response and pictures. Clearly you're not alone because mine is exactly the same and I agree one of the more disappointing aspects of the build. I too considered that blade style weatherstrip material and also decided it was too stiff. I'll keep trying to figure something out.

I finally got around to addressing the lower inner door to window gap. I used a larger bulb seal as you described in your build thread and it worked well. It is a major improvement from the FFR cat-head seal with a large gap. An added benefit is that is stops the window from shaking when partially or all the way down and driving. Thanks again for the ideal.

[DonS]

Greg, I've got the extended cab on order, scheduled to be completed April 8,23. Wondering if you would consider sharing the details (ie measurement, materials, drawings, etc.) so as to allow the duplication of your front bumper ? I think it's a great idea and extremely functional. Thanks, DonS

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Greg, I've got the extended cab on order, scheduled to be completed April 8,23. Wondering if you would consider sharing the details (ie measurement, materials, drawings, etc.) so as to allow the duplication of your front bumper ? I think it's a great idea and extremely functional. Thanks, DonS

Congratulations on your order. I found it both fun and challenging to build. I am very happy with the results. I wish the extended cab was available when I built mine, but it is what it is.

When I fabricated the bumper, I experimented with different scraps of steel I had on hand until I arrived at a design I was comfortable with. My primary goal was to protect the grill if I ever pulled up too close to a parking curb; it is not a full function bumper. I also wanted to provided a safe location under the car that I could easily use to lift it with a jack (use a floor jack under front or rear support). Attached is a quick drawing I made to provide some detail for you.

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[DonS]

Thanks so much.

[Bob Loutonx2]

Can you send the measurements for the 2 holes drilled for the wipers. Also,what is the length of your wiper arms?

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Can you send the measurements for the 2 holes drilled for the wipers. Also,what is the length of your wiper arms?

Bob, The holes are 18-1/2” on center and 1/2” above the cowl. The drivers side hole is 12” from the windshield recess. The wipers are 11” long. The wiper arms are 8-1/2”.

[Bob Loutonx2]

Thanks. That will help me a lot.

[Guardm16]

Good evening Greg. My 35 truck will be delivered in just two months, my wife and I are discussing how we would like to finish the interior. She is dead set on a bench seat (her little dog loves to ride) I am very impressed with your seat fabrication work and look forward to all the build challenges. My question to you is:

What is the interior width in the cab? There are several aftermarket bench seats available, but I want to find one that will fold forward or I can do a flip design as you have done, however the width, both at the seat and at the shoulders is going to be the determining factor. Thanks in advance.
Steve

[Sbda4]

Steve, I haven’t been on the forum for awhile so just saw your question. Part of the motivation for using the vintage racing buckets is that they have minimal space required in the back since they have minimal padding. This is a way to get more leg room.

At the back of the door opening, the shoulder width is 49.5 inches and at the door sill the width is only 44 inches. The cab is narrower at the front than the back. So, at the front of the seats, the inside width is 48.5 inches at the window opening, 43.5 inches at the arm rests, and 44 inches at the door sill.

Hope this helps. - Greg

[CA_PI]

Thanks for taking the time to post your build thread. My kit is arriving in a few weeks so working my way through various builds. Found yours very well done and very useful. Multuple ideas I plan to implement.

[peterh226]

Really nice build and good reference as I start on my truck!!