Aside from thrashin' on my own hot rod projects, there's nothin' more fun than checking out what's coming together in other like-minded rodders' digs. This month I was lucky enough to get an inside look at the goings on behind the doors of Plain City, Ohio, rodder Jeff Eischen's home shop. Jeff's '29 roadster pickup is one cool commercial-and totally homebuilt-just how we like 'em.
Jeff's original mind's-eye view of his project encompassed a traditional hot rod look and personality-suicide front end, tall skinny tires, steelies with hubcaps, and a channeled body. This project required Jeff to, in this case, construct most of the body, all of the chassis, and the major components of the suspension from scratch. A chore made that much more attainable by a ton of skill and one of the nicest and most well-equipped home shops I've had the pleasure to check out. That said, let's get movin' and take a look at some interesting images of both Jeff's project and his awesome shop.
I told ya Jeff's shop was...
I told ya Jeff's shop was a pretty cool place. For me it's a toss up as to which is more impressive, the '29 Ford pickup project or the shop.
Here's a peek at a few of...
Here's a peek at a few of the pickup's components.
Speaking of homebuilt tools,...
Speaking of homebuilt tools, how about this louver press? Jeff couldn't find anyone local to punch the louvers in the pickup project's panels so he went ahead and fabricated his own press!
This pre-assembly shot shows...
This pre-assembly shot shows the chassis with the cab, engine, and side-steer setup in place. Jeff utilized a Schroeder box and a homebuilt steering column for this.
Jeff used a 5-inch-drop Magnum...
Jeff used a 5-inch-drop Magnum I-beam and selected leaves from a '48 Ford spring pack to suspend the front end.
Talk about well equipped,...
Talk about well equipped, it looks as though Jeff has everything needed to build a top-notch street rod right at hand.
A rear three-quarter shot...
A rear three-quarter shot shows the frame kickup directly behind the roadster cab-that and the Schroeder Slingshot-style front end are what give the pickup its in-the-weeds stance.
Here's a shot of the neat...
Here's a shot of the neat top frame and bows he whipped together too. Further along you'll get to see the finished top mounted on the roadster cab.
In the foreground is the rearend...
In the foreground is the rearend assembly. It's a conglomeration of Ford, Winters Moser, and Wedge Loc components along with a really cool Eischen-designed wishbone and quarter-elliptic spring setup.
If you look closely, you can...
If you look closely, you can see the ingenious front suspension setup Jeff came up with.
This is an image of Jeff's...
This is an image of Jeff's pickup sans body and bed but ready for final assembly.
Here you can see the rear...
Here you can see the rear suspension a bit better. Jeff utilized some cut-down '48 Ford leaves to fashion a neat quarter-elliptic setup that is used in conjunction with another pair of Ford wishbones.
This overall shot shows the...
This overall shot shows the completed pickup. As far as we're concerned, Jeff stayed perfectly true to his intention of building a traditional hot rod with incredible craftsmanship and more than a modest helping of cool.
This elevated view shows the...
This elevated view shows the SBF in its place and dressed with a pair of homebuilt headers, and exhaust and a neat carb adaptor sitting atop an Edelbrock intake.
As I said earlier, the cab...
As I said earlier, the cab started out as a Brookville cowl-everything aft of it was home shop-fabricated, including the bobbed pickup bed assembly.