Looky at what I have to fix

This, is what I call a bad day, this is what a 1942 ford looks like when it falls off of an overhead hoist, and yes, I was under it at the time. The door was off and when it fell one of the beams p***ed through the opening where the door was supposed to be and the weight of the truck came crashing down on the top of the cab resulting in the minor ding you see here, and at the same time it ripped the cabmounts through the floor, and separated the back of the cab from the floor all the way to the other side of the cab.
We managed to locate another cab, but it is a complete rust bucket, except for the section of cab that we need. My plan for fixing this is to first make a jig in the unbent cab in the shape of the door opening. Then cut out the really twisted bit of steel, only as much as nessacary to allow the floor of the cab to be repaired, then repair the back of the cab and install the jig made from the unbent cab to hold everything square while the new bit is welded in. Just wondering if this sounds like a good way to go about fixing this little problem.
Charley

 

Damn, that ****s. Lokks like most of that will buff right out. I've seen worse wrecks driving around town. Be thankful that you are still around to fix it. This story could have had a much worse ending. good luck.

 

wow! that can really dampen your day, sorry bout your truck, looks like a great project tho..

 

How did it happen? We were just talking this weekend about lifts and stuff.

 

Looks like a good time to chop it.
r

 

If it was my truck, it would have already been chopped, unfortunately it belongs to someone else, I was just finishing the replacement of the two front cab corners, you can see the missing front corner in the pic, I had just made a new corner and was about to weld it in when the truck came tumbling down. The hoists over here are on the outside with arms that pivot under the car, so when things go wrong, the car falls through the middle. Yes, I am ok, I noticed the car moving above me and did a superman dive out from under, but I still can't find my undies. The reason it fell is because the owner had a bar under the back of the car , he called it a safety bar to stop the car from moving, I came over to work on the truck while he was out and didn't notice the bar, let the truck down a foot and walked underneath, the rest is history.

 

Hey Charley,

If that were my job I'd bolt the door in the opening, check the A & B
posts for alignment. Next, check the sill area for alignment and if both
check out I'd next clip the top panel posts and all. You'll spend a ton of hours straightening that cant rail and top panel when four welds from the top clip will, atleast save ya time/money. The floor and mounts should be basic straightening and welding operations. Use
the other cab for measurements, but given the rust issues????

S****ey Devils C.C.

 

that ****s. At lest it didn't hurt ya in the fall.

 

.....and to think I thought I was having a bad day because I have a contant drain on my battery that I can't find.

 

safety bar 'eh? we call them a "dead man" for a reason.

I'll second the chop.

 

just let it rust an say its a barn find there . u get 30,000 dollars for it when its done

 

wow i think i woulda **** my pants.....!!!

even if you could get it straight the metal might be all sorts of stretched out and it would take forever to shrink it, in fact... the whole body might be stretched...... yikes.

 

I would cut the windshield pillars and replace from there all the way down to the floor of back panel with your used part. Cut roof and back panel off........install doors on hinge pillars...........trim used part.... fit doors....fit windshield.....and weld her up. The w/s post will be easy and you need to patch all the way across the back anyway. I have clipped and pieced togather many bodies and sometimes what is thought to be the easiest way by staying small becomes the biggest nightmare. I say do one big piece. Steve

 

Yeah the donor cab sounds like a good idea too bad its rusted. Hopefully it isnt too mangled that you can weld on another roof from the pillars. And like its already been said its good thing to hear your safe...Keep practicing those superman jumps.

 

Mearly a flesh wound.

 

Keep looking...I'd ***ume '46 cabs are almost identical (or is a '41 closer...???) No sense trying to straighten that one...it'll take you more time to get it looking correct than it will finding a new cab... looks like the old one needed some work anyway...they are out there, you just need to widen your search...

R-

 

Ok, update so far, Cut a bit of steel out of the roof to allow the cab to square up, as soon as I cut it the cab sprand back into shape. I only cut out the really bad bent steel, I'll make a more precise cut tomorrow. Also repaired all three cab mounts on the left side of the cab, and straightened the floor on the right side so now the cab sits square on the frame. Also finished the jig that holds the door frame square when the new roof piece is welded in. I'm going to replace the left side of the cab roof from the rear roof seam, across the top and down the windshield post to the hood, this will get rid of alot of rust at the same time and actually make life a bit easier and end up with a better truck than he started with, which is the least you cn do when you drop it off a lift for him, hehe.

In australia 1942-1943 trucks are as rare as chicken teeth, or rocking horse poop, thats why I have to repair it, and besides, I don't have the money to replace it, but I do have the time to repair it, and I figure I will learn heaps in the process. Also he has a 1948 cab I really want, hehe.
Time so far, 10 hours
Charley