COE 1941 Ford COE build

Another thought... Anyone looked close at one of those Sport Trac units? I wonder if I could use the center section w/o the two side panels then flank that with fixed, rectanglar panels sourced elsewhere.

 

How 'bout a window that matches the box on the back?

 

That's great Eli! Looks like it belongs there.. Unfortunately, I've re-glazed enough freakin windows in my lifetime.

 

Tilt cab question. It looks like the back of the cab goes up like 24 inches max. What is the limiting factor ? Brake lines. Steering shaft? Linear actuator?

 

Fenders hitting the front of the tires. Lowering the front end got me a couple extra inches cuz the fender would contact the tire closer to the ground where it isn't as wide front-to-back.

If I had moved the pivot point forward, I could tilt more, but the steering would have been a little more challenging. Brake lines just have the flexible, SS hose right off the Corvette at the hinge point.

My access to the motor is OK, the radiator can only come out the bottom. Likewise, if I need to pull the engine, it can come out the bottom too.

 

Thanks. Trying to get the creative juices flowing......

 

I've been going back and forth on back window options and all of them lead me back to making it look like it belongs on a 1941. I'm no Eli, but you get the idea...

 

Yup, it'll look better if it matches the cab methinks. How big was the window on the cab? My thought is, with adhesive techniques today you could have a piece of automotive gl*** cut to a larger size, then use two original style rear window rubber mouldings cut to fit, bonded and installed. Then you pretty much have free rein on how big or small you want to go.

 

I had similar thoughts.. Maybe a slider made for your truck, installed with it's own rubber gasket and surround that with a piece the same shape as the original rear window. I wondered how to attach the "surround frame"... Why not just goop it? I like your make that "surround frame" from 2 originals idea although they are metal versus the aluminum sleeper. I wonder how I could make one in aloo-min-ee-um.

 

Is there an aircraft graveyard in your area? Old planes had lots of cool aluminum pieces.

 

With a little time and effort, you can make any shape you want. I made all the window openings in my sleeper from 20 ga. steel, using an aluminum hammer form, hardwood would work for aluminum. I made my openings with a flange for gluing the gl*** in, but a flange for rubberset wouldn't be any more difficult. Notice that I slit my corners to relieve stress during the forming, afterwards I made little patches and welded them in. If you made a form that was one corner plus two straight sections, you could splice/weld the sections together to form any size rectangle you wanted.

 

Incredible work... I just may need to talk to my buddy that has forgotten more woodworking than I ever knew... I suspect a wood hammerform for my part will take some routing beyond my skills.

 

Happy New year, Gentlemen!

Ended up with a sliding RV unit intended to be installed in a flat panel. When I mentioned to my buddy that I was a little nervous about cutting the hole, he said "You've already sliced and diced that sleeper, what's different now?". haha .... Barring a nice aircraft junkyard or making a sweet hammer form, I think I'll try using the original Ford back window sheet metal to make a fibergl*** "exterior trim" piece.

 

Began the fibergl*** rear window "surround" to hide some of the modern. It's coming along...

Also salvaged the portion of the stock running board that I would have trouble making. It will bolt to a 54"x12.5" piece that will run from the front fender to the rear edge of the sleeper making a nice round corner on the rearmost end of the running board. The other beauty of this plan is that when I have the bed and rear fenders in place, I just unbolt the salvaged piece and run the front running board all the way back to the rear fender with a second new piece.

 

While I am on vacation in Eli's neighborhood, actually Maui, and doing some long term planning, I re-read a bunch of your build thread. Did you ever do the final mating of cab and sleeper? Did you use some tape or goo to keep the water out? Can you show some pics of how they are kept together and maybe a pic through the windshield so I can see the seat height compared to the hole in the cab? Thanks

 

No final mating yet. It's bolted together. I'm debating just using the bolts or hucking it together for the final ***embly. My plan is to use a product called Sikaflex to seal the cab to the sleeper. I plan to paint them separately. I used angle stock to frame the hole and make the opening a bit more rigid.

Being able to move the seats back is very nice. The headroom at the seam is not abundant, but doable..

Running boards coming along. Began the second "surround".

 

Thanks for the extra pics. Makes more sense now. I like the extended running boards.
I don't know what product they use to attach van cabs to cube or box vans, but when I tried to separate my cab from box, it was next to impossible. It looked like a grey tape about 2" wide and a little more than 1/16" thick. Stuck like baby **** to a blanket, or maybe better than that

 

Sikaflex is some sticky **** and very well could be the stuff you're thinking of b-bop! The trick is going to be aligning the cab and sleeper on the first try. (you don't get a second try)

 

A buddy from work has decided to help me with the finish bodywork! I've seen some of his work and it's quite nice. This should get Buford to paint much faster than I could on my own!

 

Used the "tools" I had to put the curved edge on the new running boards... Very happy with the way they are turning out. On to the supports.

 

taking the sleeper off again. I barely had the clearance, had to remove the overhead lightbulb.... Still LOTS of sanding to do.....

 

In football that is called negative yardage, it is to be avoided at all cost!

 

While moving backwards certainly isn't my first choice, I'm learning ALOT! My buddy's eye for how to fix things body related is pretty keen. For instance, a few little tweaks and the front fenders now fit about 300% better. Working with him even gave me the confidence to take a hammer and dolly to the roof dents and it came out pretty damn acceptable, if I do say so myself.

I always knew this step was coming if I wanted it to look decent after paint. Buford will never be at a Concour D'elegance or on Wayne Corini's trailer but I think he'll be far more acceptable than my eye would ever need!

My wife keeps reminding me to stay on track and finish the truck. That's not always easy... On a recent junkyard visit I spied a bare frame, axles, straight 8 and grill shell that as it turns out belonged to a 1935 Pontiac. How bad*** would that be with a minimal body of some sort???

<Now back to our regularly scheduled program already in progress>

 

Fenders on with welting... It's coming along! My buddy says drive it a while as is and make sure no cracks appear... I'm trying to swallow that and not take it immediately to a paint booth even though the mud on it is very minimal.

 

Looking good! Any decision on color yet?

 

Blue and white... Haven't changed my mind since the last photoshop you did. Although, my buddy seems to lean towards lighter colors on the cowl...

 

Looking very good!

 

Sitting on the 1941 running board supports! Marked the frame after lots of back and forth on the right spot. I plan to borrow my buddy's Huck gun again as it seems I can get blind huck bolts to attach the original 1941 supports to the 2002 fully boxed frame.

 

"Paint Job" for the summer...

 

Hmmm, may be time for a little photoshop action...