***TECH: 32 RPU Project - Roadster-izing a $50 Cab in 3 Simple Steps***

32 RPU Project Update

Here’s a little back ground on this project. This post is kind of a follow-up a to tech post I did a few years ago on saving a $25 Deuce frame…

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25304

…which ended up looking like this.



As you can see, the cab was already in process when that pic was taken, but we’ll start this story at the beginning.

The Cab Project

Since I didn’t learn my lesson with the $25 frame, here’s the $50 cab project...



The original plan when I bought the cab was to build a jalopy…primered, channeled, welded shut doors…kinda like the Roach Rod™ and the Mild Mod™ . And I was gonna do all this in a year’s time. Well, sometimes projects change as you go along…and get more complicated. I decided to use the 32 rails I had, then I found a 32 firewall, and before I knew it I was trying to make a legitimate 32 out of this pile of junk. I located another cut-off cab 32 truck that yielded some more parts.



Not much there, but the firewall, dash and parts of the cowl and sub-floor were useable.



I ended up using the cowl top and cab back from the original 33 cab…



And the dash, lower cowl and cab subframe from the 32 truck…

 

Step 1 – The Cowl

I started studying Model A and 32 roadster pickups and found that a 32 rpu used a 30-31 roadster windshield frame. After a little measuring I found that the 30-31 parts would be a pretty close fit on this cut-off cab. I located an old chopped W/S frame, upper and lower stanchions and a dash rail. I trimmed down the panel below the windshield and mocked the parts up. It was kind of starting to look like what I had in mind…



I wanted everything screwed together, as Ford would have done. This took a little more thought than just welding all of the pieces together. I started by welding a piece of 1" square tube between the door pillars to form a new dash rail support. I hung some strap down to tie in the steering column drop and gauge panel (it's strong, but not some of my finer work )



I cut the top of the truck dash off...



And screwed it in place...and that makes things look better already.



You can see the tabs sticking out above the dash...those are for the dash rail. Like I said above, I decided to use a 30-31 Roadster dash rail (or atleast half of it)



I spot welded on some nuts onto the under side of the dashrail, to screw in from the top...





And here it is screwed in place...





The Model A lower stanchion would have needed some serious cutting, so I started from scratch. I capped the A-pillars and welded on tabs to mount the lower stanchion. This is the piece that the upper stanchion will bolt to…



Then I made a cover that will screw on to have the look of the Ford piece. I hammered out a couple of pieces of 14 GA and tacked them together for a trial fit…



As you can see, they ended up similar in design to the 30-31 lower stanchion, just different proportions..



I had to re-chop the W/S frame to clean up a messy chop, then chopped the 30-31 upper stanchions to match.



And here it is in place, which pretty much finishes up the cowl...

 

Step 2 – The Cab Back

Now It's time to move around to the back of the cab. Here’s an old pic that shows it pretty well as how I got it.



Fortunately, when the cab was cut off, they left about an inch of material above the beltline. This allowed me to hammer it over and make the top roll look a little more factory...rather than weld a piece of tubing arond the back. I made a male and female hammer form, clamped it on and worked my way across the back of the cab. Here’s the two hammer form pieces…



…clamped in place…



…ready for hammering. I did have to pie cut the corners to get them to lay over.



With the top rolled edge pretty well done, I moved on to rust repair around the bottom…



I put patch panels in the corners, but needed some suspension clearance, so I cut the bottom out and replaced it with a piece of 1-1/4” square tube cut and bent to carry the lower bead across…



I turned my attention to the inside. I decided to make steel bracing to replace the wood.



I fit a piece of 1” square tube across the back and fitted in the trianglular braces.



Here is everything tacked in place…



Once the bracing was welded in place, I fit the back to the subfloor and bolted it all to the frame. A friend donated a 28-29 closed cab p/u seat riser, so with a few modifications, that fit into place…



You can also see the door jamb has been thinned, and the latch and dovetail have been removed and welded up so I could add open car pieces. Here's a pic of the closed cab dovetail and a repro roadster dovetail...just to show the size difference.



I decided to use bear claw latches, which came with a generic mounting kit. I trimmed the pin mount down to fit in the now thinned rear jamb.



Cut the jamb…



And fitted in the latch pin mount…



I decided to make a piece that would look like a stock roadster door catch when the door was closed. I cut the shape out of a piece of 1-1/2 x 1/8" angle...



With the jamb cut down, it was real flimsy…basically a 20 ga flange so I made a 1” sq. tube reinforcement. It needed a few notches for the latch, dovetail and rubber bumpers.



Here it is ready to fit into the jamb…



After that was tacked in, I figured if this was going to look like a real roadster, it better have a way to attach top. I made up some tabs out of 3/16" x 1' flatbar and attached them to the back of the door pilllar...

 

I picked up these neat little stampings at the LA Roadsters Swap this year...



So I cut out the cab..,



Dropped on one of the stampings...



Trimmed it to fit...



And started tacking it in place...



Here's the finished jamb, with the latch pin, dovetail and rubber bumpers installed.



Compared with the stock jamb.



With the cab pretty secure, it was time to move on to doors.

 

SIZE="3"]Step 3 – The Doors [/SIZE]

This part goes against my usual mode. I am usually piecing together old Ford parts…this time I had to cut some up.

I started with a pair of pretty good original doors…





Let the cutting begin…





…and before you ask, Alchemy already laid claim to the door leftovers.

Not that the doors weren’t without problems…



After the hinge areas were repaired, work started in the A-pillars. 32-34 cabs used only two hinges…and after the roof is cut off you only have one hinge.



I felt the lower hinge was too high in the cab to look right. I measured a 32 roadster and decided to move the lower hinge down about 2”. When it moved down, it also need to be lengthened…

I welded up the stock holes and add a piece of 1/4” flatbar to both halves of the hinge…



With hinges modified, I squared up the cowl, installed the upper and lower hinges in the A-pillars…



I shimmed the gap in the jamb, clamped everything and drilled pilot holes in the hinges.





And now we have a door hung…



Next it was time to move on to the jambs and door latches in the doors. Like I said above...with a close car/truck, the doors are thicker than a roadster because of the window and regulator. I took about an inch pie cut from top to bottom to thin it down, like a real roadster. Here’s the stock jamb.



Again, I used the installation kit that came with the latches…



…but cut it down to fit in the narrowed jamb.



I bent some ¾” square tube for an upper door strengthener and welded on tabs to mount the repop 32 roadster door handles.



Since the 32 door handle pulls forward and the latch pulls up, I made a small bell crank to tie it all together.



And to recap...here's the modified jamb compared to the uncut passenger door...



I cut out a piece of aluminum for a temporary door panel and screwed it on to finish it off for now...



And here it is all closed up.

 

And Now...The "Roadster-ized" 32 Pick-Up…

Here's the whole package, in yet another mock-up stage...



And rolled outside...







OK, so maybe it wasn’t 3 SIMPLE steps, but I think it is getting closer to looking like a legitimate roadster and less like a cut-off piece of junk.

If you made it through this long winded post, I hope there were some ideas that can help you along with a project, whether you are cuttin' the roof off of something or just putting door latches in.

Thanks,

Neal...in CA

 

w


o


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you = legend

And that's how you do a 'tech' thread


wow.

 

Wow, neat, very neat.
It boggles my mind to think someone would think 'I will just take these sheet metal stampings to sell' and you had the forethought (such a word?) to buy them. Amazing.
Great job, nice attention to detail.

 

great work, like always

 

wow...sorry, that's all i've got.

 

wow..............very nice ...... i love how you making every thing look 'factory'.

 

do you want any friends???? nice work man..

 

Bloody hell you do nice shit! Thanks for the inspiration.

 

That work is right on point Great job!!!...

 

Amazing fab work, great job ! You make it look easy.......




CBB

 

Perfect RPU ! very well done , simple yet elegant ....
Thanks for takin the time to show us in an informative thread !

 

too cool..

 

beautiful work.. the patience required for this kinda stuff is pretty rare these days.

Im about to start putting together the cab pieces of my closed cab 32 truck, and there are lots of great ideas in here Ill be utilising, the latch layout for one, and the steel seat supports to replace the wood.

Thankyou very much neal!!

 

Your philosophy and your work are right on.

 

AMAZING Work !!
The way you made the dash rail, door tops & lower stanchions work together into a total FLOW ... EXCELLENT !!
Traditional Hot Rodding at its BEST !
Thanx for sharing
Klaz

 

best tech week ever

 

Great post, Great work, youve got mad skills, very nice.

 

Another amazing tech. !
Very nice work.

 

AWESOME TECH! Had to do a similar job with my 32 (5 window/sport coupe) with the roof and windshield posts cut off. I now feel that I have to completely cut out and redo every bit of fabrication I did on the car.

on an unrelated note, what steering box are you running?? it looks like an F100 box with F1 cross shaft and arm??

 

seriously nice work.... wow

 

neal,you have done one very nice job.i am amazed on how much talent is on this board.i am impressed.

-danny

 

I've read this twice and I still don't know what to say other than you that is incredible. Nice work.

 

I'm am floored and truly impressed. That was/is incredible and beautiful. With one of the nicest flatheads to drop in between those rails as well.

Awesome work.

 

Geeez!
Between this post and flthd31's post about building a '32 frame from scratch, I'm not worthy!
Amazing and inspiring stuff.