Introduction / Overview:
I spotted this '41 in the Auto Trader. The ad read that the owner was looking to trade for a early 60's Chevy shortbed PU. I thought, hey that's me! After meeting up with the seller the trade was done. My '62 Chev P/U had a new home and the '41 was mine. That was about 5 years ago.
It was pretty much a classic Hot Rod. No creature comforts to speak of. It sported a '283 / turbo 350 combo with little else to list. But, it definately caught my eye.
Since then, It has gone through multiple upgrades, including:
The first thing was the addition of under dash air. (a must in Phx. as far as I'm concerned)
I had the front and rear suspensions refurbished. The front end made for a pretty wild ride. Retained the original front suspension but replaced Bushings, Drag link, shocks, etc. corrected most of the wander. The rear springs were riding on un-even shackles and needed to be replaced. Valley Spring did a great job on that.
The addition of steel floors (thanks John) up front eliminated the wood/fiberglass/whatever that had been there. We also eliminated a worn floor shifter. That lead to a new steering column w/ shifter, topped by a Mooneyes red wheel with glitter, some new carpet, seat, upolstery, door panels, rear side panels and a compartment cover for the rear.
A power booster and master cylinder, donated by Ken, upgraded the already existing front disc/rear drum setup.
The old 283 gave way to a new 350 ci. this spring, w/ 272 cam, Edelbrock Intake and ABF 4 Barrel. Soon to come, coated cast 2.5" ram-horn manifolds to take the place of nasty, worn out headers (hate em).
I'm in the process of redoing the 'black hole' of a trunk at the moment. Just a few tolerable days weather wise will allow that job to be checked of the "to do" list.
Interioir:
The interior has probably seen the greatest visual transformation. It originally had mis-fitted buckets that allowed a great view of the top of the windsheld frame. No way you could see a stop sign. The front floor was a concotion of plywood, fiberglass and some kind of foam. There was a psudo back seat that was "wired" into place, sorta. And black everything. The first thing to go were the buckets. Replaced by modified 'lower' buckets, from a late model rice-burner, fixed the vision problems but didn't really fit my vision, but worked for the interum. Most importantly, I wanted the front floors fixed and safe. Bitchin' Products supplied the 'almost fit' kit which, with the help of friend John, made the repair. Along with the floor came the added improvement of removing a rather worn floor shifter.
Next on the list was locating a bench seat to get the look I had in mind. Old School, red/white Tuck-n-Roll. Having found the seat in, a late model mini-truck, the interior bagan to take shape. Seat, door panels, rear side panels and a cover for the rear (now storage) area have been completed. Remaining on the list is the headliner which has been acquired but still to be installed and to fab a console (and trash the Wal-Mart cup holder).
