My last Challenge. what do you think?

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I am not a pro at building by any means, I was inspired again by you guy's and seeing the awesome builds you have done. And my son who is building a 40 chopped Chevy pick up, so I got one of the roughest bodys to try and build from scratch.
I will be posting pics as I go on this build and any ideas or suggestions I gladly welcome!

I just got this 1947 Ford panel home Saturday. I wanted to build one more and this is it. I got it off a H.A.M.B member here in KY. All the glass is there except the drivers side window. all the cranks are there and work. plus all the door handles and locks are there. Body is pretty solid and still has orig. heater under dash.
Front floor pan is in great shape. wiper assembly is all there. Hood is in great condition. I will get the front clip soon.
I cleaned the welder off, got compressor ready, and now the fun begins!

 

Ok I'll try this again,

 

Thats looks like it be neat ! what is your plan for it ?

 

The first thing is to get the body straight and weld in the two side squares someone cut out. once I get the body in shape, and a new wood floor in rear. I m not sure what frame I will go with yet but it will be a late model. I used a paint program and chopped it and I didn't like it, looked more like a coach so I think the body will remain the same except I will do some french work for tail lights. And I have been looking hard at 59 caddy tail lights. And I welcome any suggestions because I want this to look good for my last build.

 

good luck with your build looks like a cool project

 

Thanks for the good luck! Think I'll be needing it.
I just got an old vin plate off of it and it is a 47 Ford Panel. Great no more guessing.
Thanks guy's, Me and PB Buster were really good friends today.

 

Keep up the good work and dude your only 53. You got more in you after this!

 

Keep us posted on the progress especially ME.....will contact you towards the end of the week about the front clip. You all are cool dudes and was glad to meet you!!!

 

Nice find, it will make a nice ride, I have a 47 truck and the dash is the same as the 40/41 trucks. Good luck with it.

 

I know a guy through my grandad who is damn near 80 and he's still wrenchin on cars. And I don't mean just changing the oil. He's doing a full on resto of a Mustang. You still got time to do more.

 

Your going to encounter a lot of unecessary work if you go with any frame but a stock one. There is a lot of support for this platform in the way of solid axle and independent front ends, spring/shock adaptors for rearends, and motor swap materiel. A frame swap opens a realy big can of worms not the least of which is the trashing of the base vehicle after you chop it up to the point of no return trying to fit a bastard chassis.

Frank

 

And same here! I told the guy's after we met at the station , How kewl is this as we were being escorted to the 47 panel with keith in the lead in his chopped 46 ford pick up.

The wood floor fell out the bottom when we unloaded it. I am thinking about 1'' square tubing and make a support frame to secure the front floor pan and the side and rear panels.
It would have been nice if the 47 had a frame under it but I only got the body. This panel is going to be far from original but still have the respect of it's era. Thanks for your comments guy's! H.A.M.B has always been where we can get great info to make a good decision.

 

It's takin shape, newest pic in my avatar other pics of progress in photo album. I have decided to put in a steel floor all the way back, and build a box frame over the rear inside wheel wells and install oak slats for the top. (like a raised floor) This way I can also have extra storage for spare tire. This style framing should really make the old girl solid!

 

What are you taking the pictures with, your phone cam? Those things are either tiny, or this is the smallest hot rod in the world!

 

Lookin good. Can I ask why you are saying this is the last build for you? Just curious as you seem to have the skills, time, and place. Maybe it is the desire that is fading? They say this is a sickness....hate to think you have been cured!!!!

 

53 and the last hotrod? Ive done 2 since 53 and starting another, if I dont get it finshed before I get burried someone else can take over, untill then I'm going to enjoy. Don't put limmits on your self it just makes you old and lazy.

 

Hey Buggy--if you have a better camara send it to him, be a good guy. Not everyone has a 254 mega pix.gold plated piece of crap to take pictures with.

 

FYI all my pictures are taken with my phone, and come out fine, but are somehow much larger than a postage stamp. No 254 mega pix for me.

I was simply trying to poke some humor into asking for better pics, as I really would like to see the build. Not sure what you were inferring from my post, as I don't have a gold plated anything.

It's all pure gold

 

Thats what I like ......a man purchases something from you and takes it home and is already digging into it. Keep them pics updated Dan.....

 

It's all good, I had been away from rods for a few years and After I get this one on the road. I really just wanted my wife and me to enjoy it. It is a sickness, and after my son got his 40 chevy build going. he put me onto H.A.M.B and I have seen some of the most amazing builds. YOU GUY'S ARE AWESOME! All of a sudden......The fever was back and I was planning a road trip to pick up this project. I said this is my last build but I didn't know that my Daughter could get so hyped up over our old rusty metal. Shes gettin the fever. So this will be the last for me and it's lookin like I will be building the first for her. My wife got our digital camera back she had loaned to a friend and I got some better pics. I used my cell phone cause I didn't want to miss any photo's of the progress I had made. Im still open for suggestions and ideas?

 

Hopefully these are better. PB BUSTER is a real time saver. I was able to remove everything from that rusty old dash and it made removing the split windshild and frame a whole lot easier. I even have the whole windshield molding. in case I cant find one to replace it.

 

That dash has got to go. I can Fab one but I would like to do something different, any suggestions on this?

 

lower part of dash is removed and cleaned up some of the top of the remaining dash I will be useing. I am amazed that I haven't hit a big mass of bondo. But I did hit a couple of spots of lead. That was the way to do bodywork. Wish I knew how to do that. That was a true art. I am going to post what ever progress I make with this build.

 

Looking better by the minute Dan.......

 

Damn dad,
You're not messing around! I can't wait to move back home....we will be unstoppable....and inevitably single! hahahahaha. Jess got the fever over the summer. I'm really regretting building the blown hemi 5w Coupe for "her" I tell you. haha. Keep posting pics. I have some ideas for your dash. I will draw some up and send it to you.

 

Thanks Steve! I can't believe how far I have got in just 4 day's.

And son I can't wait either. With your talent and ambition who know's what will roll out!

I had forgotton how much I enjoyed doing these builds. This is the only fever easy to get and fun to have! hahaha.

 

HEY....STOP working on that truck now! I've had my '41 Pontiac since 2000, and it's still not done. You're going to pass my by if you keep going this fast. I had a '46 Ford 1/2T back in the 70's and 80's, and I knew the original owner. I was the fourth owner, and I took it back to the original owner after I was done repainting it. She really enjoyed seeing it and telling me how she and her husband used that truck for everything.

 

Wow, that body's cleaning up nicely.

 

Thanks guy's, I seen a thread on here 'Mother of all dashes'. they couldn't have posted it at a better time. I was browseing through the pics and have got some really nice ideas.

 

This is how far I've gotten today.



In pic 1. The roof had seperated from windshield frame, I added metal and Ran a couple of welds. Pic 3 The orig. door handle had been partially primered, figured I would just clean that up while I was at it. Pic 4. if you remember the cowl had split. Now that the dash has been removed I can do The cowl welds from inside and save the factory seam. Pic 5 is more of the cowl I cleaned up and at this point I deserved that Bud sitting there!