We made some good progress yesterday. I built a new lower A pillar. I used the brake for the straight bend but the other side was a curved 90 degree bend so I used the tipping die on the bead roller. for the hinge recess, I made a male and female die and pressed them in the shop press. A relief cut was needed on the end and it was welded back up for a factory look. Then I welded it in place with a lot of measuring to ensure it went back in the stock location. Marked and drilled the lower cowl skin holes for the fenders and installed new floating nutserts where needed. Lower patch welded in place Dad bent up a new rocker panel (taller than stock to accommodate the channel). We rolled a few beads in it for looks And here it is installed. The factory weather stripping channel was also installed.
Nice workmanship,nice build!....glad to see you keeping ford power! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Thanks guys. Dad got the brake lines done, the fuel line run and the sending unit in the gas tank. I'll take some pics next time I'm over his place
Passenger side rocker is built and welded in. The front pillar was in much better shape on the passenger side and only needed the bottom couple inches patched. We still need to weld the cowl patch in but its all fitted and ready to weld.
Time for another update. Dad got the rear panel of the cab welded in last week, he made some new cab corners and tacked them in and I welded and metal finished the passenger side lower cowl patch last night. We set the cab on the chassis just to make sure everything was still in line and put the bed on as well. Its all lining up really nicely. Dad also did some work on the bed, straightening some dings/dents, welded on some new factory style fender studs and cut the gas filler hole 4" higher due to the channel job. All pretty boring stuff for the build thread but we're slowly plugging along and making progress.
The cab is nearly done, all the patch panels are fully welded and metal finished, just need to play with the door bottoms now. So we started mocking up everything else to see how its all going to fit. We want to get the cab to paint soon that way we can body work the fenders, hood and other panels. After many hours of lining everything up, its looking pretty good! The stance is right where we want it, but we will have to find a little tire clearance in the front. We are going to start with a narrower axle and we may swap the front 6.00X16 tires to 5.50X16. Worst case, we'll have to pick the front up an inch or two. Due to the 4" channel, we still need to make new running board brackets and cut down the front fender braces.
Sweet truck great job !!! can you tell me the size and brand of tires you put on your truck ? I'm working on a 37 ford P.U KUSTOM
Thanks Kool, the tires are Firestone, rears size 6.50X16 and fronts are 6.00X16. We might swap the fronts to 5.50's for a little more turning clearance
Alright, time for an update. We have taken the truck apart after the first mockup. Everything lined up pretty well so its time to finish the minor welding and patches left and start doing some bodywork. The fenders have been repaired and straightened and are now out being sandblasted. The drivers door needed some attention. The inner door bottom was rotted out as well as the bottom skin. The lower hinge area was also really bad so we cut it all out and rebuilt it. Sorry for the lack of pics. The inner door is all welded up as well as the new hinge area. I still need to weld in the skin My buddy Nick has started on the bodywork. That's it for now. Hopefully we will be ready for paint by mid May
Thanks for the kind words guys. Sorry for the lack of updates recently, its just been a bunch of bodywork, nothing to get excited about. The cab is close to finished and I'll post an update as soon as we start painting. I had Andy Kohler drop an axle and keep it as tight as possible to narrow the front a little. We're going to try that in there first. Hopefully it will give us enough clearance
The Jalopy Journal
