Page 54 - Issue 30

Tom started out with a ’66 F-250 service
bed work truck with a built 352. He decided
to pitch the slushbox and replace it with a
New Process four-speed. A bulletproof
Dana 60 with 3.54 gears out back puts
the power to the ground. Disc brakes
were added from a donor truck.
The rolling chassis was sent off to
Charlie and Elmo to Z the frame and
set the engine and tranny back 16”.
They also chopped the cab 6”.
A mere three days later, the
truck was loaded up and
brought back to Tom’s
shop. When we say ‘shop’,
it’s no Big Dog Garage. It’s a
20x30 enclosed carport with
a concrete slab, and a mostly
dirt floor. Power is supplied
by a single extension cord
run from his house. Tom’s
point is that ‘conditions
don’t have to be ideal’ to
build a rat rod. In fact,
Tom’s shop may as
well be Jay Leno’s
garage when you take
into consideration
that some of the cars
we’ve featured have
been built outside
in a driveway.
There
was still a
lot of work
to be done.
Tom had to fabricate
a new steering rod to clear all of the
changes that were made to the
frame and the newly-positioned
drivetrain. The clutch and brake
pedals had to be heated and
bent. The skills he developed

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