I picked up my cab yesterday from American Metal Cleaning in Portland. Greg and the guys did a great job getting the cab cleaned up. The brownish purple areas are a reaction from an electrical current in one of the cleaning steps. Pretty amazing condition for an original 34 cab that spent most of its life in a field in Montana. Now I can get to work on the chop and channel.
Looks great! The dark spots come right off with metal etch. Sent from my SM-G900V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
That is one nearly perfect start. May i ask what the cost was to strip?? Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
Wow! that's in beautiful condition, and while im not sure what the costs were for that process, it certainly looks worth it!
Beautiful! Do you have a before pic? It's always a pretty awesome sight to see what they come back looking like. it's great to see your cab in such great condition, raw.
It ended up costing about 30% more to get the cab dipped then to have it blasted. In my opinion it was worth the extra $$. Plus no chance of distorted panels from an aggressive blaster.
Let me be the first to give you a bad time about ruining the patina. Must have been a neat old truck with history.
Looks like a great starting point. Gotta ask though...... I can't fit in early trucks as it is...... how are you able to fit in one that's chopped and channeled?
Kiwi 4D, I was wondering when someone might notice that cowl band. I've had a couple other people comment that it is an unusual piece. If anybody else has seen one I'd be curious to hear what it was on. My plan is to reinstall it on the truck.
Mr. T Body, I sectioned the frame 2" under the cab. When done it will look like a full 6" channel from the outside. The seats will be on the floor and there isn't any padding on the seat backs. It's going to be cramped, hot, loud, and have a bada$$ stance. Isn't that what hot rodding is all about?
Chemical stripping is a great process for a full rebuild. I have had quite a few bodies done but have always had them E coated after the dipping. The E coat will get into all the hidden areas that the stripping chemicals got into so there will be no bare metal anywhere. E coating is a process that very few places can provide because of the size of tanks it takes for a full size car body. https://www.rit.edu/affiliate/nysp2...nysp2i/files/pdfs/e-coating_process_final.pdf
Your cab looks great , a true unmolested find .My 3W was dipped . It looked much as that cab looks . And yes getting into all the areas is near impossible . I’m not sure all those areas were painted when new also . Good Luck , you have the beginnings of a winner .
Nice piece to start working on. I always scope out what American Metal Cleaning has in their booth at the Portland Roadster show as they take a freshly cleaned one to the show for their booth every year.
let me tell you that I liked the patina it had but....hey, it's your car and you have to build it to your taste/plan finally it's a great starting point! so please tell us how the story goes on...
I can't wait to see this one come together. I had my bodyshell blasted as I couldn't find anyone local that could dip it, fortunately the blaster was good and knew his stuff so no ruined panels.
Looking at that cab in the raw -you see something designed and constructed before the word ‘computer’ existed. Someone designed it with a pencil, then a guy with a slide rule sorted out the curves and angles. Men who fought in the First World War made the dies and ran the presses and welders to put it all together. Today-save for a couple dents- It looks like it could have been built yesterday. Amazing how it has stood the test of time.
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