Greg's 1935 Ford pickup

Anyone who knows their street rods in Victoria should know the name of Greg Jones. A 30-year veteran of the scene, Greg has built close to 20 rods since his first back in the late 1970s, and in a recent chat with JUST CARS, indicated that this latest creation - a 1935 Ford pickup truck - won't be his last, either.

 

The choice of the '35 model Ford may seem a little unusual, but Greg has built plenty of "traditional" '32 coupes, as well as '33 and '34 models, too. A '35 Ford has a bit of a personal connection for Greg, too, going back to his earliest days in rodding.

 

"Back in about 1979, I built a little '35 pickup. It was probably my second hot rod," Greg explained. "We built that and got it on the road in about 1981, but it wasn't much of a car!

 

"Then this ('35) body came up in about 2004. And I thought, 'Yeah, I wouldn't mind building it - and building it properly this time'."

 

What was originally intended as another personal rod project later became a 'shop truck' to advertise Red Fox Frames, Greg and Jenny's business specialising in windscreen frames for hot rods and vintage vehicles. Completed just prior to this year's Victorian Hot Rod Show, Greg said this pickup has been one of his most comprehensive and detailed builds to date, as well as one of the longest; a point that was more than a little galling.

 

"Once I start a build, it takes me nine to twelve months to finish. But this one just took longer, and it's probably the hardest car I've ever built, because of the amount of detail."

 

What turned out to be five-year on-and-off build included things like a fully custom-built chassis, airbag suspension, detailed undercarriage, pickup bed, engine bay and interior, along with comforts like electric windows, power steering and air conditioning.

 

Starting point was an Australian-style 1935 Ford cabin, which differs in some styling elements from the same year American truck cab, as Greg explained.

 

"The Australian cabin is very 'peaked' just above the back window. So I pancaked it, and made it rounder.

 

"The American one is a better looking model than the Australian. I'm very particular about how a car looks, so I altered it to make it look like an American cabin. It's just more pleasing to the eye."

 

Stripping the cab back revealed serious rust, requiring replacement of the whole back section, which made the 'Americanising' somewhat easier.

 

In co-ordination with this, the cabin and doors were lengthened two inches, while the roof was chopped two inches. This may seem like a lot of work for minimal changes in dimensions and appearance, but Greg said the lengthening greatly added to in-cabin comfort.

 

"I built my own chassis as well," Greg added. "It's copied off the original ('35) chassis, but I had my own laser-cut panels and built it all in a jig."

 

An all-new floor, incorporating the two inch stretch, was also added, while the front guards also needed a lot of work.

 

"The steel guards were really, really bad, so there was a lot of repair required. In doing that, I actually changed the swage line where it comes around the front of the car."

 

This explains why the front end resembles a '34 Ford more than a '35. The headlight stands (for Model A Ford lamps) were also chopped and moved both further forward and closer to the grille. The grille itself uses the original shell, but with all-new stainless steel bars, to which Greg added some additional bars to fill it in more.

 

There were more changes made at the back, too, with the wheelbase lengthened two inches in accordance with the cabin stretch. Again, this seems a minor change, but one that Greg notes is important to maintain overall proportions, as well as his vision of how the finished car should look.

 

"I didn't want to just lengthen the cab and leave the wheels in the same spot, because that would have thrown out where the wheels sit in the pickup bed."

 

This created additional problems, requiring lengthening of the fibreglass repro running boards to cover the stretch. A slightly wider rear track also needed an inch added into the width of the fibreglass rear guards, which in turn meant that the running boards had to be split lengthways then re-glassed to cover the taper from front to rear.

 

The pickup bed itself is a reproduction unit from Queensland, which Greg rates as one of the best available, while the bonnet and louvred sides are also reproduction items, from Rootlieb in the USA.

 

Of course, all that exterior panelwork (and a lot of the interior, Greg added), is covered in that distinctive green paint, which has been a major talking point.

 

"Originally, it was going to be silver," Greg recalled, "But I just happened to see this Toyota Camry one day, saw the green against the red tail lights and I thought 'That would go with whitewalls in between it'."

 

The wheels Greg's talking about are genuine '35 Ford wires, cut down to suit a 15-inch rim. Purchased well before this project came into being, they proved to be perfect, having both the right vintage look, as well as a complementary stud pattern for the Jaguar front and rear suspension.

 

"When I told people I was going green, they go 'red and green - shouldn't be seen!'," Greg laughed. "In my car, they will be seen!"

 

Going over his back catalogue of hot rods, Greg's credo of not going for obvious exterior colours becomes apparent, so the Toyota 'Cyber Green' used here isn't a surprise, really. With so much metal to cover, both inside and out, Greg believes this project has probably taken up more paint than any of his previous cars.

 

Inside, the interior came together around a steering wheel and set of red-detailed Classic Instruments gauges purchased online. The rest of the interior fitout was themed to suit this, and included Mazda3 bucket seats, re-trimmed in red leather-look vinyl, matching door trims and carpets, and a Chevy tilt steering column.

 

With power steering, electric windows and air con, the longer cab is a comfortable place to be. The 'mod cons' may upset some rodding purists, but given this vehicle's work purposes, they're welcome.

 

"It wasn't going to have air con to start with, but we're getting soft, so we put it in," Greg laughed.

 

The truck was only just finished ahead of the Vic Hot Rod Show, where it gathered a lot of interest and positive feedback as part of the Eastern Valley Street Rodders club display.

 

When asked if there was any part of this project he was particularly satisfied with, Greg couldn't pin it down to just one thing, saying he was happy with the whole car. While he's proud of the finished result, Greg believes the build prior to this one has been his greatest so far (check out the bronze "55" 1933 Ford HiBoy in our Vic Hot Rod Show coverage to see the car Greg's referring to).

 

When we asked what ideas he's got for his next build, Greg laughed "I've got plenty of 'em!"

 

First cab off the rank will be another '33 Ford (US) 5-window all-steel coupe that'll run airbag suspension like the pickup, as well as a stroked Chevy 348 "W" motor, T700 trans and a bunch of other performance and special parts. If it turns out anything like this '35 pickup, this next build will be one to keep an eye out for.

 

To find out more about Red Fox Frames, go to:www.redfoxframes.com.au

 

 

Make & Model: 1935 Ford pickup

Frame: Custom-built C1935 style, strengthened in key areas and lengthened 2 inches

Body: 1935 Ford (Australian-spec) steel cabin, stretched 2 inches, chopped 2 inches. Steel front guards, bonnet and side panels, and pickup tub. Fibreglass running boards (lengthened 2 inches and widened) and rear guards (widened 1 inch)

Tray: All-steel, timber-lined, with access covers for battery and air compressor

Engine: Chev 350ci V8, stroked to 383

Transmission: Tremec TKO600 5-speed manual

Rear End: Jaguar XJ6 diff (3.54:1 ratio)

Front/Rear Suspension: Independent Jaguar XJ6 Fr/Rr with airbags

Wheels: 1935 Ford wires, resized to 15x6-inch Fr and 15x8-inch Rr

Tyres: 185/65 Fr, 255/70 Rr

Brakes: Jaguar XJ6 discs front and rear, Falcon master cylinder, dual diaphragm 8-inch booster

Paint: Cyber Green (Toyota) PPG 2 pac

Interior: Mazda 3 bucket seats, re-trimmed in red vinyl, red vinyl door cards and steering wheel trim, red carpets, Chevrolet tilt steering column, banjo-style steering wheel, Classic Instruments gauges, Vintage Air a/c unit, electric windows

 

Thanks to: Mollinari Racing Engines, Stateside Trim, Moorabbin Signs