COE New to the coe world

I just bought a 1947 ford with a 1939 grill. Looking to put a box on the back and make this my daily driver service truck. I want to lower the truck, but not slam it on the ground. Thinking about a chassis/suspension swap. Been looking through the threads I can find and there are lots of different chassis being used. Here is my question. I’m not building a car hauler so I don’t think I will need crazy heavy duty stuff. Also not going to tow anything. Looking to have as little modding as possible. Is there a good fit to put a rolling****embly under the cab? Building the box so I’m not concerned about where the rear wheels land. Can make wheel wells in the box wherever they are needed. thanks in advance.

 

Welcome, that's just what I wanted when I decided on the build of my truck. Mines a 41, and the shortest wheelbase that was made back then. I lowered the truck by taking out some of the leaf springs as I was only going to use it for running around in it and not a hauler. I also used the original chassis.

 

Like your truck.

Trying to post a couple of pics of mine but get an error. Don't know what the deal is.

 

mine's a half ton,light towing duty and more car-like drive...

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1941-ford-coe-build.919826/

 

That is an amazing truck

 

Finally got a few pics to load.

982638BC-5AB5-4800-9785-57A2389573E3 by scott selvidge posted Nov 30, 2019 at 7:16 AM

306477F3-5352-4551-873E-4D22AF2C51D2 by scott selvidge posted Nov 30, 2019 at 7:16 AM

972C7EC4-5713-421C-A057-D559D774D79E by scott selvidge posted Nov 30, 2019 at 7:16 AM

 

In addition to the chassis/suspension question does anyone stop make cab corner patch panels?

 

No priv to see your pics...

sadly, the only source for cab corner patch panels is no longer in business.... Wescotts makes some FG pieces... (gravel pan, fenders)

 

So sad that they sent all the COE tooling to a scrap yard

 

here is a loaded question......any idea how many hours it might take for a shop to make cab corner patch panels and weld them in? Just trying to get an idea what some repairs might cost me.

 

Check ford pu of that year patch panels should fit or would be easily worked to fit . Good shop about 3 hrs to weld in patch panels . If you have the corners built in a shop with all the right tools day and a half .

 

PU cab corners will not work. They are very different.

I built my own cab corners long before they were available to buy. Not too hard to make, but each one took me about 6 hours to fabricate and make the initial fit.

I made them out of three pieces welded together. (very bottom edge, lower 2" wide band, wide top section with a 1/4" wide lip bent on it) It all has somewhat complex curves so I did a lot of hammering to lightly bulge the panels. A shrinker/stretcher could have made it a little faster/easier by making the bottom edge and 2" band out of one piece and eliminating one welded seam.

Just welding each corner in place took another 2 to 4 hours...slow and steady work with a torch, hammer and dolly. Lots of fitting, adjusting and grinding as I went.

If the rust is also in the jamb, add more time to recreate all the lips and corners there.

Add bodywork time on top of that...another 4 hours each.

Total about 12 -16 hours...maybe more, for each corner.

 

Built these corners in 3 hours about 1 hour to weld in and an hour to hammer out .

 

might want to uplift Blue's numbers a bit considering the fact that he's really freakin talented!!

 

I must work slow or maybe I just need to turn up the amperage on my welder

 

oh hell, I work so damn slow that I can't answer when someone asks me how long it took. The start was so long ago that I don't remember!

 

https://richmond.craigslist.org/pts/d/chesterfield-ford-coe/7020322269.html

This is a long shot.....Here is a COE project that has two new cab corners shown in his parts pile..."maybe" you can buy them from him?

 

Just sent him a message to see if he is willing to sell parts.

Thanks for the replies.

 

Looking for experience here. The cab corner and lower rear cab patch panels.....do they look like they are in good shape? Surface rust rather than something more serious ?

 

It helps to have a few tools and 55 years of knocking sheetmetal around .

 

He was willing to part with the cab corners, as well as, the lower rear cab back panel......they are on the way. Thanks for the link.

 

that's awesome!!!

 

Well that was amazing...sometimes long shots pay off!

 

did he have 2 or 4 corners?

 

2 corners and 1 panel that is the lower rear panel across the back of the cab.

 

I know this is an old thread……I was going through all the parts that came with the truck when I bought it. Trying to clear out anything not needed so I could get it delivered to the builder to get this project started. I ran across the trim for the oval grille. Had no idea it was in the pile of parts. All I have is the grille surround. Having trouble finding the smaller parts. Also trying to decide if I want to use it at all. It may not be worth it if I can’t find the other parts and/or if it costs too much to fix the couple of dings that are in it. Any thoughts are welcome.

 

There are a couple of us struggling with the dented stainless trim issue right now... I think I will at least attempt DIY since I have an entire spare hood, grill and stainless trim that's very rough. I won't feel too bad about messing up a spare SS piece that's not on my primary grill should my attempts turn out unsuccessful... (it's that or a road trip to Texas )

 

I don't think the damage is too bad....

Grille by scott selvidge posted May 27, 2021 at 3:08 PM

Grille 2 by scott selvidge posted May 27, 2021 at 3:09 PM

Grille 3 by scott selvidge posted May 27, 2021 at 3:09 PM

Grille 4 by scott selvidge posted May 27, 2021 at 3:10 PM

 

... can't see the pics...

 

I don’t know how to fix it. The pics are showing up for me.