3" chop at the B pillar is 3 5/8 at A pillar and a 1" roof stretch. There's my tech tip of the day. Time for lunch then back at it. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I have to say keeping the rear window stock is a great idea I'm trying to do the same with my 37 cab keep up the great work
Thanks! A bit more work but I'm happy with it. One more before bed. My post lunch work wasn't as fruitful. Spreading the A pillar was rough going but I got it. In addition I need to add this isn't a difficult chop however I will never look at a chopped and or channeled rig again the same. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Back at it. The inner cab area above the windshield needed some love. One of my biggest rust areas (thanks mouse piss) and I wanted to tackle it before I glued the roof back on. Cleaned it up and thought about a quick and dirty Fiberglass patcher. Then decided to try the roller I saved from the dumpster. Much better. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Welded the top on this last weekend. Going to cut it all off and try again. I was thinking rather than try to butt weld the piece in I would use my pneumatic flange tool and overlap a new piece in and tech screw it secure before I start welding. I feel like if I crimp it then run it through the roller it will be more rigid and less wavy. Advice would be great on this. It's a large unsupported span. Plus I used a seamstress tape to mark center of both portions of the cab and centered the fresh piece of steel and the jam area came out goofy. I suspect I still need to take a little bit out of the A pillar which will widen the gap to be replaced. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Also the gap is narrower in the center of the roof and spreads as it gets to the jam area. Something is off that I can't figure out. To fill the jam I was planning on using some of the B pillar jam. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
This is way out of my realm but it looks like the back of the cab is leaned forward (=down)a little in the last pic (or the front is a little high?)which I think would make it closer together in the middle (center of roof),if the back of the cab is leaned forward, notice how its down over the door a little on the left(back of cab) and a gap between the the door and cab on the right. It looks close enough to make it work to me with a little finessing,trimming and smoothing but Im not a body man "yet" but Im getting ready to start working on it.
3 things here I'll say my piece on. I know we all have our opinion's about them. #1 I'd clean up all those seams before doing any welding. Meaning get the paint and rust off both top and bottom side. When you weld around paint and rust it burns taking away your shielding gas. That's what causes those blisters and bubbles. #2 ZERO gap at all times. When you fill that much gap as the weld cools it shrinks. That's what causes the wrinkles, buckles, and oil cans. Eliminate the gaps and stop things from moving around so much. I use a file and square a line as much as possible then lay the fill piece behind and scribe the new line on it. Then trim and file to fit. #3 NO LAP SEAMS! It's impossible to metal finish 2 pieces of metal sandwiched together. Excessive weld fill is not your friend. Other than that I like what your doing. The Wizzard
Ok p-n-b. I agree gaps are killing me, I use the butt splice clamps but the gap grew at the edge of the cab vs being so tight on top I have to hammer those things out. I wasn't sure about the lap method and I'll clean the edges up more. At a minimum I'm going to redo the out edge and see if that gets me in a better spot. Also you're correct, the cab is slightly tilted forward, I chopped 3" across the back and B pillar and have done about 3.5" up front, I was raking the chop on purpose which is complicating things a bit. I'll be back out there tomorrow for try number two. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
These guys are spot on with the fab oriented points.....me(?).......I admire the fact that you pretty much dove in, with a "fuck it" thrust. Pretty much commit yourself to figuring it out.....when you do it that way. Sink or swim. I like it. Splish splash man. Carry on.
Things are going to move around a bit no matter how you go about it. Your going to get there. So for me once I have a nice tight seam and start tacking I tend to do 3 tacks then stop and grind both sides of the tacks flush to the metal and if it's moved I gently hammer just the tack spot on dolly just till things come back to where I started. Remember, the tack shrank so it needs to be expanded back. The Wizzard
Grill is gone 4sp. So Wiz, I had planned on using a single strip. Do you use a few or even several and do it it segments? I appreciate the input. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Fortunatly my Body tool cart has around 50 Vice grip deep throat clamps of wide variety of throat depth. I would make the band in one piece and longer than actually needed. Once fit and welded across I'd trim it off the ends. If you don't have the tool assortment to do that you could do it in pieces. Another way is to make 1" wide strips long enough to bridge from the back panel to the front panel and Cleeko in place. Then you could lay the fill strip in place and begin welding doing both sides as you come across Left to Right side. Using 1/8" cleekos will leave just a few 1/8" holes to plug. There are many ways to do the job and the choices largely depends on tools at hand. The Wizzard
The strip is too narrow, even in the center where it too tight - that space should be wider. As it gets wider in the center it will eventually become the same size uniformly as the ends. Even with a wedge chop it doesn't matter. The peak of the roof gets taller because the curve has the same trajectory but the beginning and ending pints are further apart. If you wish not to increase the peak then your strip needs to be more of an subtle hour glass shape. And you may need to change the trajectory by pie cutting thru the door jambs. Also if you were cut a perfectly straight and uniform slice out of a stock roof then flatten it. that piece out it wouldn't be flat nor straight but it would remain a uniform width. I would line up the jamb and gutter witness marks, then see where the roof is at. Some bracing there will help hold it where you want it. When it comes time for the roof seaming strip, I would cut it an inch wider and fit it perfectly to one side for a butt weld. Then cut it in place for the other side& weld it up.
Some good advice there 31 Vick. I generally do weld the addition strip to one of the panels wider than needed prior to tacking the pieces back on the body. Another thing I often do is run the fill piece through the English Wheel to add just a bit of Crown. This keeps from having a flat spot at the fill point. One other thing when doing this kind of stuff,,, be sure to use same gauge material for the fill piece. Helps finish work go a bit easier and better results. The Wizzard
I got out for a few hours today and cut the old strip out and played with the A pillar height. An 1/8 or 3/16 removed from there makes a huge difference in gap width and how the drip rail line matched up. I had to slice the interior of the A pillar where it meets the roof and push it out to get my A pillar to have a straight edge. Then did the same with the door/window frame. Much better. Tomorrow I plan to get the pass side door frame fit to help assure the drip rail lines are good. I have a roller but not an English wheel, I'll probably do this in three strips rather than one this time and start at the door jam area and move inward, I suspect it will help maintain those lines and gaps. I didn't plan on the portion of my build taking so long, this will be my 3rd attempt at the fill and I'm going to nail it this time. Thanks again for the input, I'll post some pics soon. Ready to start the frame!!! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Don't feel bad about redo's. It all takes time and work to sort things out and get exactly what you want. Remember to get the Crown in the center right your space may need to grow just a bit. Personally if I were going to do it in 3 pieces I'd start in the center. First I clamp a brace/bridge across the door opening to keep it lined up then scribe some marks so I could keep an eye on movement. I would not tack weld them. That way you will know if your pulling it together. If you tacked it you could have stress load and not know it till you removed the brace. I'd totally metal finish the center then move to one side and finish it before doing the 3rd piece. Try cutting a 4 foot by 2" piece of heavy gauge sheet metal. Lay it front to back and look at the arch it makes on the Top Skin. That may help you keep the Crown in the roof skin. The Wizzard
Ok so we've all been there so don't mock my mock up too much. It's a newer bed but it's in great shape and was pretty local. It was a trailer and the tire and wheel was a spare. 6.0 16, I plan to run a 7.50 16. The chop is coming along, my last attempt has gone much better but I stalled out running down parts and taking the trailer apart. Back to it next weekend. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Feeling good about progress. Third attempt on the chop fill was the charm. I'll need to remove the rear roof rib to do some hammer and dolly work then replace it but it's working out. The door frame metal is so thin, like welding paper. I'm getting a little tired of body work and am going to take a brake and start the frame this week. A change of scenery will be nice. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Thanks, I have to admit I'm a little proud of it. I've been searching all night for tech archives but I'm not having any luck. There was an article I read a few years ago where a guy built his own Model A frame and did a really nice write up on it. I saved the link on my old PC but it's gone. So I'll read some others and pull from my memory while building mine and post some pics up. For the ride height I'm after I think I'll be doing a Z up front with a kick up in the rear, I have a Speedway front cross member and I pulled some plans off the interweb and took them to our AutoCAD lady at work where she printed the front horns out 1:1. I laid them out on some 4x2 .120 wall tube, I'll cut them up and weld them tomorrow and post pics. The Z won't happen for a while, I need to buy a front spring, make some hangers for my bone as well as get some ends for them. I want to Z the frame at the toe board area of the body but don't know the exact distance I need for my OT engine... I'm rambling in part to lay out a plan for myself and in part to see if I'm blessed with any words of wisdom.
Here's an Ozzie dually, not sure what chassis is under it though or what engine it runs. Your chop looks good and in proportion, I'd be happy with that.. He's another colour choice from a PU I saw the other day.
Love the thread, interesting read, Love the Black Dually! Sent via carrier pidgeon & smoke signals with the HAMB App
Obviously I have no idea how much chassis knowledge you have but I'll share with you my basic build method. I like to keep as much passenger space as possible. I generally have a vehicle profile in my minds eye before I even start. To get there I decide what Dia. tires I'm running front and back. Get some rollers that exact size. I have cut plywood circles for mock up. That's easier to change if things don't look right. I have front and rear axles that will stay with the project then move on to frame rails. I mount things using the Main leaf of spring only and a 2-1/2" spacer between top of axles and frame rail bottom. This sets the stage for what needs to go between them. Once the project is done I stack a set of springs to carry the load as needed. This sets the vehicle right where I want it when done. When doing a late model frame graph I work with factory ride height of new unit and set my Vehicle at desired finished ride height then make what it takes to join them together. I've never had to cut coils or use dropped spindles using this method. Notice the 2-1/2" spacer between axle and frame on this A chassis. They stay in place till vehicle is done, then I stack spring leafs. Your welcome to discard any or all of above info. It's just my way, not necessarly the right way. The Wizzard
I have a bit of chassis experience but it's all 4 wheel drive. Lots of home built stuff with suspension and frame modification. Heck it has to be worth something I got my old cornbinder to score almost 1100 on a 30* RTI. I digress. No 1930's experience at all. But Pist n's method is pretty much what I had in mind. Also the build sheet is changing a bit. I sold the 8 lug Lockheed brakes and kept the F1 spindles, bought a '53 F100 front end and swiped all the Bendix stuff. After buying a pair of 35 wires I decided the look is too cool. I might head to the antique auto ranch later this week for a mock up spring so I can assemble my front end with plywood shoes for now. It's 12* outside, garage is warming and we'll see how the new furnace works. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
The Jalopy Journal
