Australia is a major steal producing nation and rectangular hollow section is used in everything. The reason it’s used in so many builds here is because back in the late 1920’s our government placed tariffs in Ford, GM and Chrysler in order to give an advantage to local body builders. In response the big three set up assembly plants here where they could build their own bodies which were placed on chassis that were imported from Canada. In order to keep costs down, they used a lot of timber in their bodies up until the mid 1930’s. and over time the timber would breakdown or rot. So rather than try and replicate the timber with fresh timber, it’s far cheaper to use RHS in our builds.
Hey Guys. Another update, not many photos this time but some much needed additions were added. One problem I had was when I welded the b pillars together I realised they were an inch too narrow at the top. I had the width of the cab at 55 1/2 but the b pillars were only 54, so I had to figure out how I would widen them. The other thing I wanted to do was run a piece that tied the two b pillars together. So the first thing I had to do was screw the cab back together to give it some symmetry and rigidity.
From there I found some 1x1 RHS and cut two equal lengths, I then marked out even cross-cuts using my combination square as a guide and cut even increments with my grinder. There were then bent up and welded, I was careful to clamp the two lengths in a vice when cutting and welding to keep them the same. In order to get the correct radius on the inside edge, I used a tool called a contour gauge which is a long straight edge with a flexible brace along the top that allows it to be pressed against what ever shape you want to reproduce. Once that shape is has been duplicated on the gauge, the wing nuts on it are screwed down so it holds the shape before removing it.
The whole process of welding up the cross bracing took the best part of a day because even with the cab fastened back together, try as I might, I could not get both sides symmetrical. There is a lot of flexing in a cab with no structure and I did bot have the b pillars sitting inside at this point, so in order to get the width of the cab to pull back in to 55 1/5 inches. I leaned the cab back 45 degrees against the stair rails and used a length of narrow pipe wedged between the ground and the leading cross rail on the underside of the roof turret to push it up, thereby pinching the sides back in to the desired 55 1/2. From there I was able to sit the three lengths inside to make sure they would fit and finally clamp them in the vice and weld them up.
By the time I had done all that it was getting dark and I still hadn’t addressed the b pillars being an inch too narrow. In order to widen them I had to do relief cuts on either side, but re-welding would not be easy. The reason being, that they were at 90 degrees before and widening them out half an inch each side would have to be done in such a way they they are perfectly symmetrical. A sliding bevel is the best way to measure this. Since I didn’t have one tall enough, I made my own, with two strips of half inch, metre long steel fastened together at one one with a bolt, washer and wing nut.
And here is how things are looking at the moment, the b pillars are not completely welded up, but when they are they will sit exactly at 55 inches wide allowing a quarter of an inch either side for the frame to slide inside the cab. It’s an effort to get it in there with the roof fastened down, but at the same time, without the roof fastened down, there is no structure, it’s a kind of catch 22. Next week I want to attach the cross frame and work on the frame around the back window.
Hey Guys. Another week has gone by and I really wanted tackle the lower part of the frame. With the cab fastened together, I was unenthusiastic about the idea of dragging it through the door. So rather than take it apart, to get it through, I decided I would use the other disassembled cab to test out the frame. This time around I was able to weld in the remaining joiners along the floor and the vertical ones as well. This is what I was aiming for.
Yes I know it’s quite different, but it’s actually a lot stronger using RHS. I will be using sheet metal to cover the vertical frame and the floor.
The next task will be blending the cab frame into the sub rails. I had this in mind. I’m not sure where I got these braces from, I had a 34 Chev and Oldsmobile Sedan Body so it might be from one of them, either way I think they can be re-purposed for this one.
Love the old barn truss turned into door posts, they look right at home there. I've got a stash of random materials like that too and sometimes it's easier to make stuff out of that than to figure out what I'd have to buy new to make whatever I'm making. Cheaper too.
Hey Guys. It seems like the only time I get to work on this is once a week at the moment. I wanted to finish off the sub rails but was scratching my head looking for material, until I remembered the shed frame I was given.
Capping off the sub rails was the first task and a length of 2x1 RHS was cut from the frame and added to the end of the sub rails, another length was added to the centre.
I was trying to figure out how to butt the frame of the cab against the edge of the sub rails, the cab needs to unfasten from the sub rails, so a flange was needed to allow the two bolt together. I had a solid piece of angle lying up in the house that I thought might work but was worried was too short. I brought it down and the measurement was spot on. So it was welded on.
Just came here this morning. The patience and skill that you exhibit is multi-graduated. The 'growth' of this cab has devoloped like a tree. From a sprout to a towering sapling Your use of materials at hand impresses me as well. ( Always I buck against my wife's mission 'get rid of that junk' ) A Salute to your 'shop' area. I've several vise's, one not attached, I can choose the work space. *R-E-S-P-E-C-T*
Hey Guys. After finishing the framing around the cab last week, I spent a couple of hours trying to figure out how to tie the cowl and cab together above the doors and came to the conclusion I was overthinking it.
So this morning I settled on the most straightforward approach and that was to use a couple of lengths of 2x1 RHS, they were tapered at the front to follow the flow of the corner. And the front was drilled to allow a 11mm bolt to fasten it to the corner brace above the b pillars. One thing I was worried about was the bolt crushing down on the RHS. To remedy this I got a length of RHS and cut it to the height of the inside of the 2x1, then placed it inside the length, dropped the bolt into it to keep it centred then welded it onto place.
With that done, I closed the tab around the front and welded it up. There was a gap between the upper and lower A pillar corner braces, so I found a couple of lengths of 8mm plate that were pre drilled, lined them up with the holes for the corner braces and frames and clamped them.
From there, I welded along the length of the outside and ground off the front corner to match the radius of the frame. Then I placed the finished unit inside the corner braces and dropped the bolt in to fasten it to the front.
One thing that really annoys me about these early trucks is the way the doors overlap the cabs by a third of an inch or so. I want flush fit doors for mine, so I started mucking around with gapping to see what I could come up with. My conclusion is that I can have flush fit doors.
It won’t be quite as easy as that, but because I have made the b pillars from scratch, I can adjust them accordingly before I add the striker plates and latch’s. With all that done, I wanted to get the passenger side framing up to the same level, but one thing was bugging me. The angle of the frame was far further out on the passenger side and I could figure out why. The cab was perfectly squared off, but top of the cowl was off centre. I did some measurements with my angle gauge and sliding bevel and came to the shocking conclusion that the whole upper half of the cowl that houses the windscreen frame was not square. The passenger side one leaned inward by half an inch or so, and the drivers side one leaned out by the same measurement.
Fortunately I do have a solution, it involves using the scissor Jack out of my car, angled at 45 degrees to slowly push the frame back into line. It was working and once I think it’s squared back up, I will try and place the windscreen frame back inside to make sure.
Hey Guys. Last time I posted up, I had just discovered the cowl was not square, the left A Pillar was leaning inward and the right A Pillar was leaning outward, so I set about trying to square it back straight. The first order was to build a jig to lean the scissor jack to lean against.
It works up to a certain point but clearly more reinforcement is needed and possibly turnbuckles. I’m in no mode to deal with it at the moment, I don’t have any turnbuckles at the moment so I will be concentrating on framing around the doors and header panel.
I didn’t post up last week because by the time I finished it was too dark to get photos. But I was able to get the header panel replaced with an RHS one.
The doors are in reasonable condition, the rotted out timber framing meant no moisture was able to collect at the bottom so rust is minimal.
The Jalopy Journal
