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Hot Rods Extending a 30/31 model A' pick up cab?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by steve hackel, Jan 13, 2022.

  1. steve hackel
    Joined: Mar 5, 2010
    Posts: 389

    steve hackel
    Member

    Evening; I've always admired the look of a steel top 30/31 model A pick up cab, but the
    fact that I'm about 80% legs had always kept me away from buying one. Where abouts does someone lengthen the cab - and I'll assume it's behind the B' pillars - but how does
    one begin this; where & how to make the cuts and pieces, do you extend the frame or
    just shorten the pick up bed, what are the draw backs and how much is too much?
    Does anyone have any pictures of one, or possibly a link to one of the build threads here
    on the HAMB? Thanks in advance. Regards, Steve
     
    nunattax and dana barlow like this.
  2. I really like those trucks too and always wanted one but have been warned by many owners that if you are over 6' forget it. I have seen several extended cabs to solve this problem, some by lengthening the doors, some by adding quarter windows from a coupe but none of them look right to me. The proportions of the stock truck looks so good that fooling with it looks odd ( to me anyways, not everybody). The best solutions that I have considered are making a custom seat back which is thinner to allow you to sit back a bit or powering it with a 4 banger so you can extend the floor down each side of the motor for legroom. That is how the british did it on their sportscars. Installing a v-8 and moving the firewall back into the cab is not so good for legroom.
     
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  3. fastcar1953
    Joined: Oct 23, 2009
    Posts: 3,567

    fastcar1953
    Member

    This one is glass. I would not recommend stretching one. This is 8 inches longer in the cab with 4 foot bed. It's not very comfortable and I'm only 5 ft 10 inches tall. Looks out of proportion also. 212565558_1142585619572189_3534432963591544335_n.jpg
     
    Stan Back likes this.
  4. ^It's also channeled, which doesn't help.
     
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  5. finn
    Joined: Jan 25, 2006
    Posts: 1,280

    finn
    Member

    Even my 36 is too small to really be comfortable.

    Unfortunately, I have never seen a stretched cab that looks good, and that goes all the way through the mid fifties Chevies.

    It’s the way it is, but I wouldn’t recommend doing it. It destroys the design.
     
    Blues4U likes this.
  6. twenty8
    Joined: Apr 8, 2021
    Posts: 2,318

    twenty8
    Member

  7. Always liked this build, proportions look right
    Screenshot (33).png
     
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  8. COCONUTS
    Joined: May 5, 2015
    Posts: 1,163

    COCONUTS

    In the past I have seen a 4 door sedan, cut in two, taking the area of the rear door out and welding the body back together. It looks like a coupe without the trunk area. Then mount it on a frame with a short, 4 foot pick up bed behind it. Sorry no picture.
     
    Greenblade likes this.
  9. mr.chevrolet
    Joined: Jul 19, 2006
    Posts: 8,860

    mr.chevrolet
    Member

    it would look better by lengthening the doors
     
    joel, twenty8, HemiDeuce and 2 others like this.
  10. Never2low
    Joined: Jan 14, 2008
    Posts: 1,160

    Never2low
    Member

    Agreed. Makes in and out easier, and keeps it proportional.
    Or you could add coupe rear quarter windows.
     
  11. finn
    Joined: Jan 25, 2006
    Posts: 1,280

    finn
    Member

    Sorry, but that’s a great photo of what I don’t like.
    To each his own, though.
     
  12. fastcar1953
    Joined: Oct 23, 2009
    Posts: 3,567

    fastcar1953
    Member

    I'm in the never chop and channel the same car if you plan on driving it far. Yes mine is chopped and channeled . I just deal with it. Don't like it.
     
  13. Blues4U
    Joined: Oct 1, 2015
    Posts: 7,589

    Blues4U
    Member
    from So Cal

    Changing the proportions always tends to ruin the aesthetics, IMO. I have yet to see a stretched truck that looks right. The red one above looks OK, but that's one helluva blind spot all around the driver. I guess if you don't feel the need to be able to see around you it works.
     
    lumpy 63 and finn like this.
  14. continentaljohn
    Joined: Jul 24, 2002
    Posts: 5,506

    continentaljohn
    Member

    Hey Steve I have the same issue with the cab being too small for my height as well as door size. Instead of a Model A Ford have you considered a 1932 ford truck. They have many similar features but feel the lines are more graceful and cab is a bit bigger. I have a extra 32 cab and frame and a bunch of stuff and do some trading . Plus you can take the other truck 34 to see how you do fit.
    I extended a roadster pickup body and never like the lines afterwards. You have to shorten the bed or extend the frame . I believe that is what throws off the lines or look. Maybe extending the doors a bit along with the cab would help the look. You then have to deal with the bed ... 0781467A-729D-4CDF-824A-2D0582484FB3.jpeg E621E88B-3EC4-415E-8B36-982BE01EF9F2.jpeg
     
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  15. fordf1trucknut
    Joined: Feb 13, 2007
    Posts: 1,174

    fordf1trucknut
    Member

    20211120_014402.jpg I just built a 31 Budd cab truck this summer from a pile of A parts cut apart with a fire axe and stored in a chicken coupe since the 50s.......was a lot ot metalwork!!!!

    I had to make a very low profile seat so fit but I can manage to fit my 6 foot 8 inch body into it...

    I really like the stock proportions

    But long trips are out of the question. 20220113_150459.jpg 20200708_210446.jpg
     
    Last edited: Jan 14, 2022
  16. Corn Fed
    Joined: May 16, 2002
    Posts: 3,278

    Corn Fed
    Member

    I think the only way to remotely do it without totally wrecking the proportions would be to add an 1" in the doors and an 1" behind the doors. Then maybe add an 1" to the frame while removing an 1" at the front of the box. But all that would be a ton of work for just a little gain.
     
  17. dana barlow
    Joined: May 30, 2006
    Posts: 5,115

    dana barlow
    Member
    from Miami Fla.
    1. Y-blocks

    I owned my own speed shop for over 30 years, I retired 23 years ago.
    I drove my hotrod an my custom a lot,I raced oval cars,
    but also worked on a lot sports cars.
    My place pretty much known for fixing stuff,no other place could!
    Got a number of guys come in asking,if somehow I had away to make more room for them in there ride???
    I helped out by redo of ,seats,pedals,steeringwheel,column,floor even firewalls,some times a combo of many of those things. For guys as tall as 6.4'
    Adding to body or doors,was not ever my first idea.
    I was 6foot,even in high school,so my own channeled 28A roadster was layed out to hold me.
    When doing my build in the late 50s,I mocked up the cockpit manytimes*,tell it seemed OK.
    An older n fatter me now still fits in my high school rod,but I had to drop steeringwheel size down too 14in across. What I think is min.* on any thing but a go-cart.
    One note that may help ,dropping the floor,only were your feet are can work,as long as pedals work right.
    Time used on mock-up pays off,an may cut down on work needed,plus keep proportions look of a car.
     
    Last edited: Jan 14, 2022
    echo ed, osage orange, pitman and 2 others like this.
  18. ekimneirbo
    Joined: Apr 29, 2017
    Posts: 4,217

    ekimneirbo

    From looking at the pictures above, it appears (might be my imagination) that the fiberglass truck may have its cowl extended some. That seems to be part of whats wrong. Second, since he is running no fenders, and channeled it, the body area doesn't look as tall. And last I think the bed is a little too long.
    Fiberglass truck.jpg

    The second Red truck has much better proportions overall with the fenders and shorter bed. I think they went a little too far with the rear extension, and I would have made the doors extend a little further into it.
    Extended truck.png

    The third truck is pretty stock, and I have to say that I don't like the stock proportions either.

    Sock 32 Truck.jpeg

    What I would do is ask someone if you can sit in their truck and see how much additional room you need. Then I would add part of the extension in the door area and part in the roof support. My suggestion is to try to find a spare cab where you could cut the back of the cab off and sit it behind the good cab. By moving it fore/aft you could judge the effect and cut it to fit. Same with extending the doors, cut the spare doors a little longer than what you cut off the stock doors. You can also experiment by taking some pictures and printing them out and then cutting them and overlaying them. I think the key to doing it right is moderation. A little here and a little there.
    Or you can get one of those computer programs that lets you change things around. I have seen extended trucks I didn't like but I have seen some I thought were well done. So it can be done.
     
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  19. I'm shrinking as I age, down to 6',1" at nearly 73 from 6'1-3/4" a decade earlier. I did the math and don't think I can live long enough to actually fit comfortably in my '29AA cab. I guess I'll do what I can to keep my kneecaps out of my nostrils.
     
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  20. fastcar1953
    Joined: Oct 23, 2009
    Posts: 3,567

    fastcar1953
    Member

    Cowl and doors extended. Hate the channel and the cab looks out of proportion. Living with it for now.
     
  21. BamaMav
    Joined: Jun 19, 2011
    Posts: 6,711

    BamaMav
    Member
    from Berry, AL

    I had a 36 Dodge for a little while, it was chopped about 4" and channeled about the same. I could sit on the floor and my feet wouldn't touch the firewall, with a 4" thick seat I still had plenty of room. I'm 5' 11". The Dodge has a deeper cowl than the same era Ford.
     
  22. gimpyshotrods
    Joined: May 20, 2009
    Posts: 23,264

    gimpyshotrods
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    One inch in the cowl.
    Four inches in the doors.
    Two inches in the cab corners.
    Chop it 2-1/2 inches.
    No channel.
     
  23. Rusty J
    Joined: Nov 25, 2019
    Posts: 153

    Rusty J
    Member

    Built and drove a 30 A-truck - we put the rear seat back flat to the back of the cab - and it was still too short - drove it half an hour and half way to where I was going I had to open the drivers door while at a stop light and stick my leg out just to stretch. By the time I got where I was going I couldn't stand up straight.
    If you don't have photoshop or whatever, take 2 (or more) copies of a side view picture of your truck, get out your scissors and start sectioning the cab part of the picture, lay it on top of the second picture, and move it around until you have proportions that look good to you.
    Second, sit in a seat facing the wall and put your feet to the wall, scoot the seat back until you have your minimum comfortable driving position and get your measurement from the wall to back of the seat. Transfer that measurement to your cab and that'll tell you what you need to do so you can fit.
    We did this process for a 34 Ford cab and figured we'd have to stretch the doors 2" and the cab 3" to make it bearable to drive. (Never did build that truck)
     
    R A Wrench likes this.
  24. Model A Gomez
    Joined: Aug 26, 2006
    Posts: 1,695

    Model A Gomez
    Member

    I'm 6' 3" and wear a size 15 shoe and drove a stock 30 Model A pickup as a daily driver for 19 years, there is an art to just get my foot in. My knees were almost against the steering wheel and I was running a shortened seat bottom. I have a stock 29 and a 30 Sport Coupe V8 A and they are all tight. shop2r.jpg
     
  25. steve hackel
    Joined: Mar 5, 2010
    Posts: 389

    steve hackel
    Member

    Beautiful truck Gomez ! I'll ask this question "theoretically" since I don't have a truck yet to start with, but Johns green truck from post #14 would be a great starting point.
    Looking at Johns green 32 truck - a work in progress - and assuming I would start with this truck or something like this, how hard is it to locate a pair of doors as donors for the extension portion either the front hinge A' pillar side, or the rear B' pillar side? If any 32 door would have the correct front A'
    pillar shape / design / hinge location, then the donor door would be the way to go whether it was from a 4 door or anything I could locate. Section the donor doors and then use the rear portion of the 32 trucks doors as the B' pillars extensions and make the doors what ever length (within reason) they needed to be. Add a small section of cab length just behind the B' pillar and make the cab fit my needs. The pick up box/bed could be shortened the same amount , and from the side view of the Blue truck there seems to be enough bed length to work with . I did some photo shopping and printed out a few pictures, cut them up and extended the doors about 3" to 4" and the cab about the same (hard to get 3" exact)
    and it looks good to my eyes. So, in the end my theoretical question revolves around a pair of donor doors; how hard are they to find, and what is a ball park figure if a good pair can be located? Thanks
     
    dana barlow likes this.
  26. lostone
    Joined: Oct 13, 2013
    Posts: 2,820

    lostone
    Member
    from kansas

    Here's my friend's truck. They added 4 inches to the doors and roof.

    I like it as far as either build something you can actually drive and enjoy or build something that you drive a very short distance and want to get the hell out of.

    I prefer the drive it and enjoy category especially considering the amount of money that can get involved building it.


    IMAG0340.jpg
     
  27. steve hackel
    Joined: Mar 5, 2010
    Posts: 389

    steve hackel
    Member

    Now that does look correct with flowing proportions on the doors. I like it !
     
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  28. twenty8
    Joined: Apr 8, 2021
    Posts: 2,318

    twenty8
    Member

    Most that look a bit weird and out of proportion have been done by only extending the back of the cab behind the doors. By far the easiest option. To keep the balance you need to add a little to each section (cowl, doors, rear), or at least the doors and the rear section. If you get it right, it will look right, and look like it is chopped a little.
     
    nunattax likes this.
  29. gimpyshotrods
    Joined: May 20, 2009
    Posts: 23,264

    gimpyshotrods
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    That looks great!
     
    lostone likes this.
  30. gimpyshotrods
    Joined: May 20, 2009
    Posts: 23,264

    gimpyshotrods
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    My '29A pickup will be growing in the doors, and the firewall will be going forward (no engine in front).

    It is channeled, but the floor will drop into footwells that are flush with the bottom of the frame rails.
     
    61Lancerwagon and Hamtown Al like this.

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