Hot Rods Pope RPU

decided to make this build its own build thread instead of just keep posting it up in my shop work thread. so here it is

Building this truck for a good friend of mine since high school. it is a 30-31 model a roadster pick up.

frame in the jig on the table



start of boxing the rails, we are using our set of boxing plates, one of our flat x members



mocking up to get a good idea of the look.

the owner looking pretty pumped with 3 days worth of work in the evenings



he wanted to add a 32 cowl vent to his cowl top. so i went to work on it
trimmed out the vent from brookeville


made a card board pattern of the shape of the panel, and a negative cut out of the vent to make sure i get it where i want it

scribed the cut line

all tig welded up

after some filing, hammering and dollying. and a trip through the planisher it is getting pretty close

and installed on the car

then moved on to putting on extended cab corners
stock corners

 

stockers removed

old rear pan taken out and extended rear pan installed


new sides clamped on


cut the old rear panel off from the sides, going to but weld them back on instead of flanged so they can be metal finished after welding





reversed the fire wall and re shaped the bottom of it. wanted to make it look like it was made this way. not perfect but turned out pretty good
here is where i flipped the fire wall, making patches and patterns to smooth out the bottom of it

all patched and smoothed out

here is the back side with a new flange to make mounting the floor easier and a more factory look

and clamped in the car. just need to spot weld to the sides, weld along the bottom, and drill holes for mounting screws at the top


started off by making a new floor pan for under the seat bottom. 18 gauge steel, pre stretched the areas the bead rolling would be done to keep it flat.

then made a cover panel for over the tail shaft of the trans. made from on piece ,no welding was done. still pretty rough, needs a lot of finish work but ran out of time for the day on this one



making the floor pans and trans tunnel
floor pans cleco'ed in place

want to make the trans tunnel as small as possible since room is tight in this one. so i made some blisters in the tunnel for clearance. also had to make a blister to fit around where shifter comes out. so here are the basic steps i took to make the big weld on blister
blister laid out, the black line is the hightlight or edge line of the blister

using thumb nail shrinking dies in the recip. hammer. i shrink up to the black line

all the shrinking done

after a trip through the planisher

and all welded on. you can see all the other blisters formed in the tunnel, stills needs to be hammered and dollied and metal finished out, but that will wait until i get all the other panels made and fit up



starting forming the front part of the trans tunnel





and made some new upper cowl braces. looks much better





tig welding up the sides of the body



after a little grinding and some dykem for guide, and a pass with the file



hammered and dollied for a while. then hit it with the high speed sander with 80 grit



started with the DA on the top half, still need to work on the bottom some more. it is a tough spot to get to since i have to hammer left handed

 

stretched the rear of the chassis to help support the bed. then mocked up a model T bed to get the idea of the stance on the truck. starting to look pretty good

then i got a crazy idea to do an all aluminum bed that is a close version of a factory be. here is the pass. side roughed in






got the rear bed wall roughed in and cleco'd in.

started working on stake pockets


here is the over look for the day

[/

aluminum bed almost all roughed in. not to decide if i should make a new aluminum tail gate, or run the nice original one....... to many decisions

 

the bed is done minus the actual floor, made the aluminum tailgate with custom script. made extended aprons from aluminum and worked on the last couple filler pieces on the bed. started to make some good head way on this one. just need to get the correct wheels and tires on it for the total look


made an adapter to run a stock model A steering wheel with a quick release hub

bent up and dimpled some bed supports/ risers. got them clamped in




and started making the aluminum version of the 30-31 commercial truck grill shell

 

rolled the Pope RPU out side for a good distance look. still waiting on the front wire wheels to come back from cleaning, so we used some steelies to roll it around



started on the 4 piece aluminum hood, all hand made in the shop, hand rolled hinges



still needs some fine tuning and trimming




got the correct front wheels back from the cleaner. painted and tires on

extended the stock running board to meet back up with the fender. added a few louvers to dress up the flat part

got the upper stantions chopped , welded and smoothed out

and got the inside of the bed truck bed lined


more to come in the next couple weeks. it will be in my booth at Cincinnati cavalcade of customs, Indy Motorama 1962 and Detroit

 

Impressive work,I'm subscribed! HRP

 

hell of a nice RPU! Great craftsmanship.

 

WOW !!! That is really cool pickup !!! Great stance and heavily chopped windshield makes the right look !!!

 

Beautiful work. You really got your act together.Keep it up.

 

thanks for the kind feedback!!!! it is always good to hear good things about something you have been obsessing over for months

 

You sir are a craftsman!!

 

Been watching this on IG, Very cool.
Great workmanship as usual from you.

 

Very nice build

 

Gonna' be a hell of a nice RPU........................even if it isn't a '29.

 

That is some impressive alu work, and some impressive work in general. But I do like the alu stuff.

 

WOW! Nice work, that is going to be really nice. I like the look of the 26-27 bed with the front stake pocket location, guess you'll have a folding top. Bob

 

Holy shit once again you guys do some fine work.

 

Nice! Really nice.

Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

Fantastic skills, I only wish I could possess them

 

Really nice work. I'm impressed all over again with every new pic. That's gonna be killer.

 

If the young owner of the car is helping you with the build, the education he's getting is worth as much as the car! Your work looks like it came from an aircraft lab. Amazing work on that car.

 

thanks again everyone

thanks man, he is helping out on the build a lot. we are the same age and is good to be able to help out friends, especially when he can use the skills on more cars later on

 

Beautiful, beautiful work! You are extremely talented. This truck is going to be outstanding.

 

Very very nice !!!!
Every place you look there's even more to see.

 

...I'm almost speechless...WOW!...great lookin rpu

 

Excellent

 

Beautiful work!

 

i stopped by mikes shop to see the pope rpu, all i can say is WOW! lots of work and craftsmanship put into this hot rod. you really have to see it in person to see all that has been done to it and best of all it is not done. i really cant wait to see it finished. mike you really hit the nail on the head with this one. awesome work.

 

Boy is that neat!
KK

 

Thanks everyone. Should have more progress pics today