I'm working on a 48 Austin A40 pick up, It has rusted out cab mounts, rocker panel and lower hinge area on the A pillar. The RT door fits and closes good but the L door does not. The left door has a large gap at the lower rear and won't even fit in the opening at the top. I'm needing some advice on how to square up everything when the cab mounts are so rotten they not really doing much to support the cab on the frame. I have donner parts from a Austin A40 car to use as replacements.Thanks
I have a 4-door, slated to be a pickup... This tuck is from Ontario just north of the border, Great running truck!
Just line anything else you get the body squared up so the doors line up and the gaps are as close to perfect as you can get them and you brace and cross brace the crap of it so things don't move when you take the doors off and start fitting up the replacement pieces. Everything has to fit right and be square before you even think about welding anything in place. That is the mistake that was made all too often in the past when guys didn't think to get everything lined up and braced before they did any cutting or welding be it a chop, section, floor replacement or any other major structural repair or mod. Been there, done that have the bad gaps to prove it because back in the 80's those how to's didn't seem to show bracing a cab or body before you started cutting on it and there was no mention of lining things up and bracing the daylights out of it.
Yea I know that I need to brace the heck out of it. I guess I just need to keep moving things around until I get both doors to fit. Since I have the RT door fitting good would it be best to cross brace that door opening or wait until I have both doors fitting before I start bracing. Hollywood I'll try and get pics later today, I'll have figure out how to post pics.
It might serve well to put some bracing in the "good side" so you can get inside to brace the "bad side" before getting serious with the bracing. Not much room in that cab anyhow and if you don't have a little skinny buddy who can weld that you can stuff through the windshield opening or door window there has to be a way to get in there.
Yup. Figure where it is good first, and get a brace in there. If nowhere is good, find the closest spot, and move that to good and brace it. Work alignment locations in a path away from the good location, evenly, adding bracing as you go, as you get the next area good. Tack weld the bracing just enough to get the braces to stick, as you will likely have to move them a few times.
Ok, thanks for the help I really appreciate it. I'll get my braces in on RT side and go from there. Thanks
Also, be aware that hinges and/or the pins may be bent due to body sagging. Fit the doors, but don't stress the body into place against the hinges. If they are bent, loosen them from door/pillar, and fit door, and hinges. I guess what I'm saying is you need to be aware of everything that could have moved due to the rusting.
Since the body is sagging so bad I'm thinking it maybe better to square the cab on the shop floor instead of on the frame so it has more support. The body mounts aren't really doing much good because the floor boards are so weak and rusty. I think if it was on the shop floor the weight would be distributed more evenly. Am I correct?
Squaring it up on the shop floor might work (if it is flat and level) but eventually it has to fit right on the frame. I'd check that the frame is flat/level/square before mounting the body on it; which is what I would use to square the body to. Cross measure the right door opening and record those numbers; which you can compare to the left side. Also cross measure cockpit, right rocker to left side top and visa-versa. I'll measure and mark a spot for each measurement, so I can go back to the correct spot for the measurement on each side.