Hi all, I bought my COE about month ago off eBay and will be looking for a lot of advice here. My plans are to use this to haul a 5th wheel trailer so I am looking at just putting a box on the back rather than a car hauler or flat deck. I am in Calgary AB, and I would like to also use this as a daily driver during the summer months. My wife is into vintage trailers (she have 2 Shasta's) and I would eventually like to build my own vintage inspired 5th wheel to travel with. My plans include putting a diesel in it if I can and I have been thinking about a ***mins 4BT, twin turbos if they will fit. I would like to get her low, airbags most likely and the this thing I am struggling the most with is to reframe it or not? The length is about right, but i am just not sure how to handle the front suspension yet My truck is complete, right down to the original cardboard headliner. The flathead V8 was rebuilt recently and she runs great but won't be enough for my needs. It has very little surface rust and only a few dents in the back of the cab to pound out. Here are the before pictures. (I have removed the chrome so it won't go missing) The last 3 are what I am using for "inspiration". Kevin
Looks like a great start Kevin. Welcome to the group. There are a least 4 other Cowtown guys in this group. Looking forward to seeing your build.
Welcome Kevin , and keep us posted . Lots of good info on the HAMB . That's a really nice truck . Hope to have my COE running in 15 .
Welcome aboard, I'm with shopdawg, modern brakes, power, suspension, all in one package is hard to beat! How about this for inspiration. (for a trailer) Just a quick and dirty photochop of the bus that I have and what I plan to do to it. My Autocar is being built to pull it.
Funny thing. When I look at your pictures above there's a picture of my COE sitting next to my shop but when I click on it to open it up it shows your truck. Does anyone else see my GMC in his pics? Love the Mercury BTW. I have seen a 56 Ford sitting on an ambulance ch***is with a 7.3 in it. He did very few mods to make it fit and it would tow darned near anything.
I was afraid you were all going to say to reframe it but I agree with your comments. Love the idea of a bus for the 5th wheel Steve. C.G - you might have to clear your browser cache. I suspect we have the same file name for one of the photo's and your history is overriding my newer image. I would not have thought that 7.3 would fit in this at all. I will definitely do some research on that option.
Cool truck! Do some research, their are lots of builds in this group to give you ideas. Most mount the engine behind the cab, but some of us stuff them under the cab....their are pros and cons to both approaches IMO. I used a later ch***is under my '51 Ford COE because I just had a cab, but sometimes wonder if a stock frame with updated suspension would have been simpler. Good luck and keep the progress pics coming!
The Jalopy Journal
