Projects 1937 Ford truck hot rod roadster build

I haven't jumped ship yet. This is going to be a sweet truck.

 

Funny! If it was a one hour reality TV show it would.

 

Worked on the top today, had to wrap it up bad weather rolling through with quarter size hail storm. Gotta love the unpredictable weather in Central Florida! It's either fantastic or it sucks!

 

The difference between this build and similar builds is execution. Meaning you got the skills to execute this correctly.

Looking forward to more updates.

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37 Ford commercial grilles have been hard to find in good shape at a fair price for 40 years. Note, a fair price is whatever the traffic will bear.

 

After the storm yesterday I got back to working the top. The truck came out of South Dakota and it was obvious that during storage the top had something very heavy on it, like another vehicles as the top was caved in in many areas as much as a half inch+ resembling car/truck rails. For 4 hours I hammered and dollied out to get the initial shape of the top. Now I just need to heat and shrink the metal, once that is complete the top will be ready to cut in half and add the 1 1/4" section to the middle to lengthen the top. Then onto the body work with 1/8" skim coat of body filler and blocked down to 3-5 papers thick filler left ( about 6 mills)
All the dark areas is Ospho to treat the deep surface rust. It will be grinded and sanded off before body work.

 

Great work! Thanks for sharing so many details as well as the "why" behind your revisions.
Neat to see genuine "Craftsman" hinge pins! Just kidding.
Keep up the good work and sharing the updates.

Thanks.

 

Thanks for the kind words. Do you think Sears will honor the life time replacement warranty on the Craftsman screw drivers?

 

Windshield frame mocked up today before chopping it 3" and welding it. I pulled the windshield hinges out of a bucket of molasses and water, been soaking for a week, and cleaned up nicely. Soon I will make new brackets to modify and hold the hinges in place with the new windshield post fabrication.

 

The windshield hinge system is now working. I don't have the regulator for it, so I will make a lever to allow the windshield to open, close, and lock at the bottom. Tomorrow I will weld up and fab the top post area with a 1/4" dimple were the windshield hinges stick up.

 

I'm on board with this, I was a little worried at first but I see the light.

 

Today I started the fab metal work on the windshield post. I reversed the wiper motor assy., and attached it. This will allow it to fit inside the windshield post rather than protruding out the top post by 3/4". Once I get all the metal work done I will make an access door to get to the wiper assy. and hinges. I didn't take photos today, I'll make sure I take some tomorrow.

 

Todd: I like the sound of what your fixin to do. Your doin the work, spendin the time and money so go for it. Remember what Bob Dylan said: You ain't goin to make all the people happy all the time. Keep us up dated. Tim

 

Well, I did not get as much work done this week as I would have liked. The heat and humidity kept me in the ac more than I wanted. Here is some picks of the top sitting on the partial fab work I did to the windshield post, and the really good condition radiator I picked up today for $75 bucks.

 

Some updated photos of the windshield post. Over the hinges at the top will receive a 1/4"cone shaped dimple that will act as one of the top guides to allow lineing up with the top when fasten.

 

The project is coming along well. I completed my '40 roadster pickup a couple years ago and have been enjoying the open air drive since. One suggestion that worked on my build: reinforce the back of the cab with structure and added frame mounts. By taking the top off, a lot of structure went too. Without adding some structure back in, your door gaps will be opening and closing on every bump. I added square tubing framework on the sides as well as flowing the trans tunnel up into some structure in the back wall to form a backbone. With care you can avoid any interference with your bench seat.

 

Thanks for your impute. I plan on reinforcing the rear panel and striker area once I channel the body over the rails. Your '40 RPU looks great! I like the color and stance you have there. It's hard to see in your avatar, is your windshield lower than your head?

 

It has a Duvall windshield that is pretty low. I am about 6'1" but am below the windshield with my sightline below the top bar. At speed, the air goes up and over. I have a convertable top for it and I fit inside without problems. I did lengthen the cab by 5 1/2 inches which let me lay the bench seat back a bit plus it also helped with the cab structure that I mentioned.

 

I dont know how i missed this. Im doing something similar, with a 35 Chev. I have no metalworking skills though, just good vision, and good friends who are skilled in the areas, that im not. This build is inspiring, for my own. Its winter down here, so theres not much getting done in the shed.

 

Thanks for the reply guys. I cut the Carson style hard top and added a little metal to it. Right now I have just a few spot welds on the inside and outside. Once I get the welding done, back to shaping the metal and reinforcing it so it wont flex when removing and installing.

 

Have watched this the thread started. I like your direction.
I had some 37 p/u parts give to me a while back I'm using on my build. You don't see them much.
Good luck and keep posting.

 

I got a little more work done to the top. A little more trimming to do then built the inner support structure to the roadster top. Once this has been completed I will fit and weld the door window post to the top to get the look I'm after.


Inner post. I will build the upper metal support to lay flush with the upper windshield post, then fab some top hold down latches.

 

Welded both sides of the top and mocked up the door post one more time.

 

So, are others getting the picture now and my vision on this build?

 

It would be cool to make the top a removable painted steel top....without the bulky Carson padding and all that. Maybe. I dunno. I dig what you're doin!

 

I completely agree, that's the direction I'm leaning towards.

 

Some won't ever get anything they haven't seen before
Some think things aren't doable simply because they can't do them
Some say it won't work because they failed
This is a centuries old problem too .

In 1633 Galileo was imprisoned for abandoning the geocentric (earth-at-the-center) view of the solar system and teaching/writing about the heliocentric (sun-at-the-center) view of our solar system. Then in 1992 after a 13 year investigation that began with earnest in 1984 they finally said "oops we were wrong, Galileo was right" and issued a full pardon.

 

Well said. The word "Can't" not in my vocabulary.

 

More headway on the underside of the top.