Hey Guys. I couldn’t find any half round aluminium cover strips but I was able get a full length of one inch high j channel. This is the same profile as the drip rails on early thirties automobiles. After cutting it to size, I tapped and drilled the holes for the screws. These were done every three inches.
I still had the issue of what to use for the cover strip for the rear of the cab, so I looked around the shed and found three strips of flat bar. These flat bars were the same height as the j channel making it the perfect solution. This was also tapped and drilled at three inch intervals.
The j channel was then attached above the doors. I was careful to round off the leading edge of the channel so it matched the profile of the roof.
And here I have reached an imp***e. When I purchased this truck back last year, I told myself I would sell the other one off to fund the construction of this one.. And up to this point I have done nothing to facilitate its sale. So starting next week, I’m shifting focus onto the other cab. Like this one, it also needs a lot of work, but unlike this one, I’m actually going to pour some money into it. The construction will be the same, but the materials will all be new, including the sheetmetal for the door skins and floor pans and lower cowl sides. This list of modifications will be more extensive and include an external visor, one inch chop and rounded door frames at the front. It will also get get j channels above the doors, but I’m thinking of making them in steel. In summing up, I have two trucks but can’t afford to build both so this one has to go.
Hey Guys. I finally started working on the other cab today, but the first thing I had to do was dismantle the other one. At the same time I had another clean out of the shed to make some more space. It’s nothing more than a one car garage, so anything I can do to clear it out is a bonus.
I then looked over the cab, I’m planning on selling. This one is definitely the rougher of the two. The upper frame, the windscreen sits under is completely rotted out as is the upper part of the cowl the vent sits inside. I will really have my work cut out for me repairing this one, but luckily the other one is solid in these areas.
I was going to cut an inch off the base of the turret but after marking it out, I had second thoughts. I’m concerned that by doing so, it will have trouble fastening over the cab. I thought about pie cutting from the back to the front, allowing the front to remain at full height but for the moment, I may just leave it as is. I also mocked up the visor and it looks wrong.
One thing I did get done was reshaping the leading edge of the doors. This turned out to be a relatively easy task.
I’m really keen to start on the guttering for the turret, it will be J Channel like the aluminium ones on the first cab, but I will be making it in steel so I can weld it to the turret.
A lot of work, but your skills are outstanding. I'm very excited to see your progress. I'm always amazed at the materials you find in your sheds and what you turn them into. Great. Best, Harald
Hey Guys. It’s been slow going on the cab I’m selling off. I thought I would be able to just replicate the steel framing, repair the rust around the cowl vent and bottom of the doors and make up the guttering.
The rust in the top of the wind screen and around the cowl vent is bad, but there there was a lot more.
I found what I thought was a pin hole of rust in swage at the base of post, so I put a wire brush onto the impact driver to clean it up only to uncover this.
So I got to work on repairing it. I don’t have my electric bead roller up here, it’s down at the other house, so I had to figure how I would replicate the swage with regular hand tools. The first thing I did was take a paper pattern.
Not having the bead roller meant I had another idea for putting the folds in. It involved using the angle grinder with a thin cutting wheel to score the folding lines in it.
I then used solid round bar over a vice to hammer the radius into it. Once the desired radius was achieved, I welded the inside along the score lines. Still a lot of work to do but I’m hoping to weld this section in tomorrow.
"Still a lot of work to do". Yes, it is, but when you do not have the tools necessary the "Mother of Invention" kicks in. Where there is a need, the motivated person can find a way. Thank you for sharing your view and end result that overcame giving up. "NEVER GIVE UP".
Hey Guys. Here is a far as I got before I realised I was wasting my time. It looks ok until I take the piece off.
The whole inner structure of the A Pillar is shot, the only way to repair it is to cut out the whole pillar out and fabricate a new one. I did some mental number crunching, combining this extra work, with the repairs I already had to do, it did not add up. I thought about using a different cowl, I do have a 32 Cowl, but being a Roadster Pickup Cowl, I would still need to fabricate A Pillars to mate up to the doors. I reached a very rational conclusion. I’m wasting my time trying to repair this cab to sell off the to fund the building of the other. The time and money it’s going to cost to repair this cab is better off being spent on the build it’s self, so I’m shelving this cab. The doors cab and turret will be dismantled. As for the cowl itself, it will be used to repair the other one.
The best thing about abandoning the idea of repairing and selling off the other cab, is not only the time and money saved, it’s also the parts, I can salvage off it. The inner A Pillar mouldings on the damaged cowl are in better condition than the ones on the build. I’m also going to use the windscreen frame and cowl vent as the truck is missing both. The other thing I will pull off the damaged cowl will be the feet that fasten the firewall to the frame.
The question over how to raise the funds for the build still remains, but I think I have that figured out. I did a checklist of other projects to sell off and if I can sell these off over the holidays, I will get several thousand dollars. I’m also simplifying the build, I wanted to run the original wheels, re-drilled to fit late model rotors. This is what I had in mind.
While it looks great, it was probably going to cost thousands to get the six wheels re-engineered, money I could be spending on the front end instead. So I have given up on that idea.
Instead, I will be picking these up next month. The price was right and they have the tires. They are an Australian Wheel called Dragway’s. Kind of like our version of Halibrands, only a lot rarer. They are 15’s so they will fill out the fenders quite well.
I was also given a complete 37/38 Ford front end, including late model rotors, so these wheels will bolt straight on. I will most likely only use the rotors and stub axles off the front end and sell the rest of it on, as I need an aftermarket 32 to 34 front axle. I’m thinking a So Cal mild drop I Beam with hairpin radius rods. The front end is going to be the most expensive part of the build, but when it comes to handling and safety, no expense should be spared.
The Jalopy Journal
