Looks pretty damn good. I'm hoping to get started on my '37 cab (which i was considering turning into a pile of scrap metal for a while) sometime this week. Just a suggestion, but I think an A-grill shell would look better on this truck than the push bars, I know its another thing to have to find/buy but It'd help the lines of the truck a whole lot. 500th post
Thanks Frosty, im still pretty up in the air on the grille..... or if there will even be one..... at the moment im leaning towards 2 friction shocks and headlights up front. but i havent completely ruled out a grille, i still got alot to do and no help doing it.... im hoping to get the front end under it in the next week or two, got to order the spindles tuesday, going with a set from CE that is old ford on the axle side and mid 70's gm on the wheel side, so it will have 4 wheel disc brakes, probably dont need them, but i like it......... Before you scrap out that 37 you let me know... ha ha, i might be dumb enough to want to do another truck again...
Naw, I decided I didn't have the heart to cut it up (which i was going to use the doors on another cowl, and keep the '37cowl) I kinda realized, i'd only be killing the roof on the truck, which is actually one of the better panels, and the thing has a bit of history...so why not just do something with it? So now I'm looking forward to doing a lot of sanding. Got to get it up here first. And yeah, A grilles are up all the time on ebay, they don't usually sell for too much, and it'd look pretty good on there.
Moved it out from underneath the house Monday, had it in the garage about 30 minutes and a 1/8 mile later. I've been sanding on it quite a bit lately, it feels smooth, but still looks like crap. The truck was originally Orange (the first Road Dept. Truck in our County), and was painted Brown at some point. G.W.18000 was stenciled on either side of the cowl, so at one point, it could haul that much I guess. It had a wench put on it, and was used to put up the Sky Lift (Ski Lift) at Natural Bridge State Park a long time ago. I think somebody hauled logs with it after that, and then it was retired to the woods behind some guy's house, where it was almost scrapped, and I saved it. I still have to cut the bottoms of the doors level with the rest of the body. My first priority though is to use up all the random bedframe, angle iron, and square tubing that I've gathered up over the last year or two to make the sub-frame out of. I have the body squared up pretty good, the doors shut and open just about as good as any strikerless door can (I have some plans for fixing that), it just flexs like crazy now because of the lack of any floor at all. No pictures of the current progress, I'll wait till I make a little bit more.
Side-view, still looks rough, but feels pretty smooth. There is no floor. Might get it put in during the next couple of days. Ignore the purple blob on the side, I was just seeing what it would look like, took the light bar off, had to grind the heads off the 70 year old screws (Pawn-Shop grinder), and sanded a bit on the roof.
I think im going to cut the upper airshock mounts loose and raise them up some to lower the truck some more, maybe 1 inch off the pavement when fully deflated....... any thoughts? <embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://i71.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid71.photobucket.com/albums/i130/antihuman81/rat%20truck/00001.flv" height="361" width="448">
See previous post for details <embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://i71.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid71.photobucket.com/albums/i130/antihuman81/rat%20truck/00002.flv" height="361" width="448">
My mom sent me a present for the truck, i like it..... p.s. its the tag on the firewall, i still need to get my H.A.M.B. tag for the driver side....
I got the front radius arms done, got to make frame mounts, I have my spindles at an older local garge getting the kingpin bushings reamed. should have the front end on it SOON, still got to get a front leaf spring though....
Anybody have a set of doors for one of these trucks, any shape close to Cincinnati??????1940 Chev or other models that will work.
The welds on that thing scare me. I understand that each person has their own view on how a vehicle should look but when it comes to safety and you driving on the road with me, that doesnt look safe.
I saw a 41 for sale today sitting on a trailer. It had doors, hood, (iI think) a home made bed, and I think I saw the grill in the cab sitting on a frame of some sort with IFS and I think a Caddy rear end. I couldn't make out the particulars on the for sale signs, I think it said $1200, but if you want some pics and a number to call I'll get it for you if it's still there tomorrow...Trouble is ,it's in Modesto, Ca. PM me if you want to know more...I am NOT the seller nor do Iknow who is.
You can whistle Dixie all day long,it won't make this safe.Lets say there are four points on a frame A,B,C, & D. A is the left front corner B is the right front corner.C is the left rear corner and D is the right rear corner. Now with a tape measure and I really prefer two tapes of the same manufacture,measure from point A to C. Now measure from point B to point D.Are these the same measurement?Next measure from point A to point D.Then Point B to point C. Are those two measurements equal? Is this frame sitting square and level on your jack stands? During fabrication can you lay a level on a flat surface from side to side and hit plumb?Are points A & B level to each other at the same time that C & D are level? The same for length wise? Has it stayed this way thru the fabrication? What method did you use to align both of those kick ups.The out side corner of each as this frame sits are points C & D.Guess thats a few questions I have.Do you understand why I may have these concerns?I wish this were a fford.It's still, in my most humble opininon a piece of crap
xderelict, I appreciate your feedback, what should I do different? What have I done wrong? (other than what you have pointed out so-far)...... I would sincerely appreciate prompt feedback. Thanks man!!!
I don't really think there is anything wrong with the truck, the proportions are actually decent compared to some other fenderless '40 somethings. The only thing I'd really worry about would be the welds on the frame, a Flux welder running out of an extension cord won't do much-I've done alot of welding with a stick and 7024's and 7018's, and there about the only thing I'd like to use on anything heavy like a frame. I've been using a Campbell and Hausefield flux on the sub-rails of my truck, you can get a decent bead-with pretty good penetration, but I still wouldn't trust one on a frame. And it is tough to find old vehicles of any kind around there that are not complete rust buckets, there might not be too much salt-but in these hills most of the old cars and trucks got used to redirect creeks and were piled up and covered with dirt to make house seats and such. Besides, your building this thing under a tree, in your driveway, that takes some real determination-might not turn everybody on, but you can always change things later.
very cool .much respect for just doing it and being willing to fix mistakes and learn stuff rather than playing safe and doing nothing..... or waiting till you get your shed built i have a deal for a 40 pickup in the works and am really motivated now hope it all comes through !(been saving a beer keg for years ) over here that truck had an under floor master cylinder, they can be re sleeved and re cycled and you get a nice simple pedal too hope the steering works, the short wheel base will be a bit diabolical at speed (and with that gearing and motor you will be 'at speed' in about eleven seconds !!!!) congratulations ps weld with your ears not with your eyes
Hows your progress Frosty? Pistonhead, Thanks... I can hardly wait, i might have found some CHEAP parts to get me alot closer to done for now..... Suavemechanic, thanks for the comment, ive waited and waited and i cant wait any more. I plan on this being a long term project, but not one that stays in the garage till its done then gets driven, i plan to go back and re-do ALOT of things on it but I need to get it drivable SOON. The wheel base looks short in the pics, but i havent set up the front suspension yet, the wheelbase is going to be a few inches longer than the 77 nova in some of the pictures so it "shouldnt" be too bad. Otto's, thanks for the critic, i know the welds dont look too good in the pics, ive had a few people (professional welders) look it over in person, one that was there when some of it was done, i was told that although they dont look pretty that they should get the job done... we'll see.
I can completly understand your concerns, but if you look closely at the pictures, none of the frame I have added would actually change the alignment of the suspension or alter the safety of the original toyota frame. I removed one crossmember at a time measuring before, then replaced it with the new one, and measured it after with the same tape. From point a or b to the rear axle (whether it is all the way up, mid point, or down) it is less than 1\16th off, which is closer than the majority of older vehicles on the road that have been through the miles, so i dont believe this to be a problem (but hell, i could be wrong). Are there any other concerns that you would have? You addressed execution, said it was very poor in your post prior to editing it. What part of my unfinished truck is poorly executed? the fact that i got the cab to sit perfect on a toyota frame? the fact that my kickup comes up just perfect for the radiator to clear the rear diff by 4" when layed out? or is it that the engine and transmission mounted up so easily? I just dont have a clue what part of the exectution is so horridly wrong? Thanks again for your input...
I'm not going to get in a pissing match with you,Let me know when your in Nebraska,I'll stay off the road.
I wasnt in a pissing match, im seriously wanting to know what else ive done wrong? Im taking your criticism constructively.
Haven't got the doors cut down to fit the body yet, as you can see on the inside, I've got my mock-up "seat" (coke crate) and "floor" (treated scraps) in there. Actually got my floor welded completly in the other day, three different pieces of bedframe. Its laid out in a box pretty much, the front piece goes from door post to door post at the cowl (the thickest and most rigid part of the body) and the back piece (which got cut 1/8 of an inch too short) is welded on top of some Police Cage brackets that are welded, and plug welded to the door posts. The two middle pieces are almost welded in, I exceeded my duty cycle the other night and never did get around to welding the other side of the passenger piece. Anyway, it might not be very pretty (not that anyone would ever notice, because its going to be covered with an actual floor pan), but it makes the body extremlely rigid, I might brace it up a little better, but I'm pretty confident in it as is. To get a better idea of how its laid out, I was cannabilizing my mockup floor at this point for something else. Its a pretty tight fit inside, I might end up building my own seat-or atleast partially, so I can get as much room as possible out of the cab. I was thinking about combining two top halves of a Chevette backseat to make an very low profile seat, that'd still be comfortable. I already plan on having to take almost all of the dash out to get a little more leg room, and will be running my steering column about 6 inches higher than stock-not sure about gauges, but I might put a small cluster in the middle of the dash or something. I can fit inside fine, and my 6'1 friend actually fit in there alright too, but i'm going to have to conserve as much space as I can. Been trying to get the sheetmetal in presentable condition. Sand the old rust and paint off with 50 grit, wipe off the dust with a wet rag and dry it, sand again, repeat, wipe it down and prime. Sand, wipe, paint, repeat...and now this 1/4 of the roof is pretty much pit free. Going to have to weld that awful looking stress crack on the A-pillar though.
even though he commented on your frame dynamics(which are insanely important), many people have commented on your welding skills/what you're welding with, now I'm no genius when it comes to building vehicles, I'm on my first build which I'll begin to start posting shortly. However I've tooken every grain of salt and more; reading through these forums and whatnot and have not dismissed anything from some of the more competent people from here (and we have some really talented guys on here). When I look at the welds on your frame and the general planning of how it went together, frankly it scares me, I have a 180 amp mig, and a 200 amp tig, which I'm using to weld on my own custom made frame (which is in a jig), I've had comments from 20+ year proffesional welders, saying I'm a natural and my welds look really good, yet I'm still unsure of my welds and I am sure as hell gonna put reinforcement plates on every seam, why? Im there and its a hell of a lot easier to do it now, then when my frame cracks and Im f**ked on the side of the road, or even worse I kill myself or even worse yet, SOMEONE ELSE! So really man, dont f***ing talk back, because he's sure as hell concerned with the last thing I mentioned, reinforce that s**t, and triple quadruple measure that thing to make sure its true. I know I wouldnt ride in that thing at the current direction its going. I hope you see the light, and give it a once over, cuz the last thing we want to see is you getting pushed away from the hobby, or something happening to you, which may involve others and put a blemish on the hot-rodding community. cheers, and happy building, good luck man
post #98 first photo,I don't know what to say. post # 120 second photo down.If I laid a level on the front cross member and found plumb,would every other horizontal line,body, engine, frame, rear end,etc.etc. etc. also be plumb with that cross member.I understand there is distortion from the curviture of the camera lens but the basic question remains the same.WTF?
about the welds, if your not 100% sure I'd get them redone, you got no rubber in them engine mounts that I can see and between the vibration from that and the road it wouldn't be to long til things start to come apart, most likely it will be at the most inconvenient time hopefully nothing life threatening if or when it does
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