Holy crap batman! You've got some serious talent. Very well done, thanks for the great thread. Cheers, Dan.
Got a little frustrated working on the grille insert,so I set it aside for a little while.Went to work on the rear of the hood.When I cut the hood and pulled the front inward,the rear ended up sticking out past the cab.I also didnt like the fact the body line on the cab doesnt continue onto the hood.I used some green masking tape to see how a body line might run onto the hood. To get the hood to go where I wanted it to,I cut the entire length front to rear.This gave me access to the inner brace which also needed cut and narrowed. I made 2 more vertical cuts at the rear of it also. Heres a before/after shot: BEFORE: AFTER: When I welded the hood back together,I welded the upper part over the lower,ran another piece of tape along the weld,and ground it accordingly.I ended up with a pretty nice raised body line on the hood. Just wanted to throw a couple of pics up of how the truck looks right now........ Also wanted to say thanks to all of you who have taken the time to check out my truck..........
When I first saw this thread I didn't think it would last long because the "traditional hot rod police" don't appreciate fenderless trucks after 1936. Most of those threads get closed right away, it's a rat rod thing... The look you've created is awesome. I admire your vision and metalworking skills. Those are probably the reasons your build thread has been left open by the moderators. I built a fenderless, hoodless F1 not meant to be a rat rod. It has a 32ish looking grill and the front axle moved forward 10 inches. After building I don't like the overall look, for the exact reasons the 'traditional police' say. The cowl just looks wrong. I wasn't HAMB educated when I started building but knew I wanted a fenderless hot rod. It was a really cheap truck, lots of fun to build and I gained tons of experience. So, then my plan was to sell it and find an older truck but hated doing that because mine has a decent body, great drivetrain and works good. After seeing yours, I'm gonna get some cardboard and see what it could look like. I'd never thought about adding engine side panels. Filling in the concave angled spaces on the sides of the cowl is a problem solver to making the F1 look better fenderless. I kind of filled that space with 'fenderwell' headers but the top of the cowl looks too bulbous without a hood. I still have a nice hood to cut up. Thanks for the inspiration and please keep updating. COOL TRUCK! OK, I do have one complaint.... Could you hit the *ENTER* <ENTER>button on your keyboard between each picture you post. That way the pictures are stacked on top of each other instead of side by side. I'm old and have an itty bitty monitor, so get dizzy from scrolling back and forth and up and down.
to be honest, thats the last thing i would do to an f-1. but fuck it right, your truck. at least what your doing is done really good. some of it im not completely sold on but its very nicely done to say the least. good job man
With all the holiday goings on and getting really busy at work,the truck is not making as much progress as I would like. But I have managed to get a few things done....... I got the mounting bolts and nuts installed in the front sheet metal so I could cut all the tack welds loose that were holding it together.Got the main radiator bolt mounts installed and got a fan shroud/mount made for the electric fan. I bought this particular radiator for the truck for a couple of reasons,cost,physical dimesions and the fact its aluminum.I figured I could modify it if I had to, being aluminum.Turns out thats what it needed.the lower outlet ran right into the front spring. I figured I would cut back the outlet and weld in a new one at a better angle..... Before I got to far with the mods,I made a call to a buddy of mine.He has alot more experiance tig welding aluminum than I do,so I thought he could help me getting my tig set up and if I ran into any problems. He took a look at what I was doing and had a better suggestion........ We ended up removing the corner of the tank and the lower mount.Rebuilt the corner into a small tank extension and mounted the new neck in it. the extesion is the same size as the original mount so the radiator still has the same foot print. The front piece was left longer so the it can be trimmed and drilled as needed to be the new mount,only running vertical now.
Got the radiator back in the truck.Had to clearance the crossmember it sets on,and add a vertical bolt mount. Made a couple of simple struts to help keep the radiator secure. BEFORE: AFTER:
Been working on the front end for a while,but i need to switch gears for a bit.I need to address the glass. I have a few more modifications to make before the glass guy can come over and make his patterns. A while back,I put a 59' chevy dash in the truck.This lead to modifing the windshield opening,and now leads me to modifing the doors. When I got the dash,I took all the filler pieces as well.I plan to install a couple of them onto the doors so the dash still has the wrap around feel that it did originally. Im also going to one piece side glass,(I did not get the vent windows with the truck),so I need to remove a small bracket from the door.There are also a number of holes I am going to fill,including the large one the prior owner cut for the inside handles Im not planning on using. I just want all the cutting and welding to be done before the patterns are made.
This build gets more interesting each time I see it! I take it those dash extensions were trim pieces that went on the cars doors?
I like what you're doing with the truck. Nice metal work! Here's a lo-buck grill idea for your consideration:
I just want to say thanks again for all compliments,and koolkemp,yes,they are the pieces that were originally on the doors in the 59'. Now,tonights progress...... Before I can fit the door extensions,I needed to close up the end of the dashboard. With that done,I fit the pieces to the doors and tack welded them in.You can see what kind of filler work they are going to need. Once I was happy with the placement,I welded started welding them up.I also ended up adding an additional filler pieces to the front of the window edge to help blend the dash into the opening. Even though I not finished yet,I wanted to clean up the welds and see what it looked like. Also in the 3rd piture you can see the extra filler pieces I mentioned before.They let the dash taper down into the window opening instead of stopping abruptly at the door. Now just need to finish the extension and weld up all the other unwanted holes.........
Amazing. As my dear ol' pap says: "Beats all I've ever seen." Sheet Metal Gu Ru! I'm sold -- subscribed.
Welded up the rest of the holes.Finshed the dash extension. Put on the lower panel to see how it all looks..... With eveything cleaned up,I closed the door to get a look at how everthing fits together....Im pretty happy with it so far.I still need to mount the inside door release and make some kind of arm rest. I decided to work my way across the dash instead of jumping over to the drivers door. Welded up a few trim holes,made the filler pieces for the heater control and old sterring column holes. Still have more to do,but thats tommorrows project..........
I finshed up the holes from yesterday.Also got the lower column mount installed too. With the column back in the truck,I decided that I needed to make some kind of cover to tie the column in with the dash.So I cut out some sheet metal and mocked one up. Just made a simple cylinder that attached to some brackets that are welded to the underside of the dash board. Also made a piece to cover the upper part of the coulmn, a "hood" similar to the gauge pods. I will eventually make a cover for the lower portion of the column,but it will be made from chip board and fiberglass.
PLEASE tell me you are going to make it up into Mich for a show or two this summer, maybe "the Zoo" in Sept? I really have to eye fuck this in person, my eyes are getting blue balls this winter at least until Autorama. Subcribed
Wow the dash looks great, I am puttin one in my 47 Ford (car) as well, just got it mocked up on the weekend.
Moved over to the drivers door.The extension piece for this side was not as nice as the other one,so I ended up making a repair piece. I thought it would be easier to put the patch in if the extesion was welded to the door.... With the piece welded and ground,I marked the area to be replaced,cut it out and welded the patch in. It didnt turn out quite as nice as I would have liked it to,but it should work just fine.
Awesome build.....love the lines and the interior, but one thing I would do if you'r gonna run a defroster, use the batwings you added to the door as vents also so your side windows won't get tooo fogged up....good way to conceal it all. Keep up the good work. Mott
Finished up the drivers door today.Was in the mid 50's outside,which isnt bad for Indiana in january.Decided to roll the truck out side.Gave me a chance to clean out the garage,and take a look at the truck as a whole.Kind of had to get the big picture while its still in the garage.....
The Jalopy Journal
