^^^^^ Wow! Thats a mighty fine offer right there! I just broke down and bought a torch and 2 welding tips because I already had a set of full o/a tanks. I really appreciate the offer and it's amazing how many hot rodders out there are willing to help the young guys. Thank you!! Haha there is a mighty fine oil patch up here too. Jobs are good here (thats why crusty siezed flatties go for $1500 when they come up) and UAF is okay especially because all M.E. engineering studednts have access to the machine shop!!!! They cant do that in texas! haha and.... I have to build this thing before I can skip town haha. Maybe I'll see you in a couple years when I have a degree in my hands. Im thinkin East of Austin.
Speaking of machine shop, I took a piece of rail road track in yesterday and made myself a "dolly chunk" - one sude raduised with a grinder. Also took a pic of my growing collection of body hammers. These are Picard, some new, some used (barely). I wont be doing much for another week till finals are over.
Railroad track makes great dollies / anvils I hahe a 6" chunck, 18" chunk amd 5 foot peice ( more of a parking curb ) When I got carried away with a grinder on the roof welds of my 41 and shrunk the roof it was the 18" trck section and 8lb shorty sledge ( along with despair and anger ) that streched it back into a usable roof . I still spent a lot of ime with the regular body tools and then lead but it took some force to correct my dumb mistake !
Yikes! A grinder is kinda like a srinking disc I guess... I had not thought about that. Mental note- "grinder shrinks" Here is a flipper (slaper) that I made for the flat panesls on the truck.
This is me excited to use my brand new torch for the first time. Cutting happening. And here I am surprised at how easy it was to cut curves compared to my old grinder method!! I wont show what I cut out yet because I have shakey hands (doctors dont know why) and I SUCK at using this thing haha. Lets just say it isn't the best cut in the world...
Austin, cutting a radius or circle is not real easy to make look good. I cheat. Find something to use as a guide, same radius plus HALF the diameter of your torch head. Clamp it it place and drag around the radius, comes out much smoother. I have a plasma cutter, and make patterns from 1/4 inch masonite because there's not much heat. You can't do that with a torch, but you get the idea. At work I had to cut a 40 or 48 inch radius, I forget which. I took a piece of flatbar and drilled a mounting hole and a hole big enough for the cutting tip to stick through 40 inches away and used it to swing the radius. It worked great. Be creative, tools are your friend. You may want to use a holesaw for your bracket too.
Awesome build !! Your fab skills are progressing very nicely and you have the mindset and creativity for this type of work...Good job !! Carry on
I went right out to the garage a bent a strip of 1/8 scrap around a 3" radius, tacked it to the plate, and viola!... 2 3/4" hole nice and pretty. Thanks! I have learned a lot and wish I could go back and change the way I did things now, but there is more to learn so I'll just finish this one and start on the next one a little smarter!
Man if I had money I would build a dodge 4 for my truck that sounded like this puppy... Had to share even though its from a really old thread here on the hamb called odd ball engines. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjBe5gOdfsY Yes that is a 4 cylinder flathead!!!
merry christmas austin. been following your build and think your doing a great job. i love to see different types of cars and trucks being built and i'm not sure i've ever seen a graham pickup in person. love the route your taking with the full fenders and a hood. i don't tell people how to build there stuff but i will suggest one thing. i know your planning on chopping the top and that shape would be very easy to do but i really think you would make a real unique truck look just like every other truck out there if you chopped it. take a look back at the pictures in your post #1. the very first picture with you kneeling beside it and the picture out the window. man, those 2 pictures hooked me instantly! that truck is cool and different! i love chopped tops on most anything, but that top is what sets that truck apart. again, your truck so you have to do what you like. just throwing out a different view point. also have to say for a young guy with limited tools, you do some damn nice work. looking forward to more updates. good luck, jerseymike
Thanks jerseymike It has a goofy look to it with the tall cab, and I think it's the large roof overhang that I don't like. You have a point about chopped roofs, but they all look so good!!! For now my plan is to leave the roof alone (plywood) and get it driving so I can make a bed that has the right proportions. After that I will decide how tall I want it. Maybe I'll leave it the same height, but just a steel roof skin with a small radius, instead of a 4 inch thick wood frame. Thanks for the compliments! I know this truck is skating the edge of what's expected here.
Now for updates. I have been spending a lot of time with my lady friend since she is in town but she has a lot of friends and family that give me time to sneak in the garage. Here are some of the rear end brackets. I never knew I would use a torch so much, but since I got it, life is A LOT easier.
Firewall beatin' time! I cut the firewall out a while back just enough to get the cowl into place, but never figured out how much extra needed to go and how to make it look pretty. Here is what I came up with after watching the metal shaping video I bought from mindover. This took me about 12 hours of thinking, another 2 of sanding/cutting, and maybe 2 hours of careful hammering. Its not metal finished, but that can wait for another day.
Yeah, once you have a torch, it is unimaginable to be without one. Good to see you're getting some stuff done!
Hi Austin, I'm not a Hamb'r as you guys say, I found this via another site but I just wanted to sign in and say that although I'm a purist and disagree with the fact that your doing this to an other wise original truck I have to say... your doing one heck of a stand up job and should be commended. What your doing takes alot of hard work, dedication and funds and you seem like you have a healthy respect for the truck and it's history and that should be commended. Not to mention it looks like your having fun doing it and that's all any of us car/truck guys want. Keep up the good work, even some of us purists enjoy what your doing . ( I just have to learn to turn my head when the torch comes out ) Awesome project. Subscribed and waiting for the finale. Good luck young man. Dave
Dave, watch your P's and Q's and welcome to the HAMB. There are all kinds of car people here, so don't judge too quickly. This young guy is taking a truck that probably would have set and rotted and is learning to work with his hands and head. BTW, the answer to your question on "that site" is Briggs and Stratton. And my original keys do have DB on them, it really has nothing to do with the code.
Thanks for the welcome and I promise to be respectful . I apologize to anyone if my post came across as a judgement, that was not my intention at all. I have a deep respect for the work Austin is doing and I just wanted to stop in to cheer him on from a purist point of view. Not that he needs my opinion or needs my approval, I just wanted to say I appreciate his efforts. Trust me, my opinion is it's a free country and any of us have every right to alter or maintain an original vehicle if we choose. As I said, I'll just be sure and put my welding goggles on when I see a torch. Thanks for the tip on the Briggs key by the way. Again, keep up the good work Austin.
Thanks guys. I do know that I'm destroying a piece of history.... but its a little late to turn back. Some engine parts are in a '16 Dodge Bros. and I'm looking for the other one being restored here to give him the flat bed and radiator. I am working on metal shaping in my spare time and maybe some day I will make a new frame and bolt the axles up to make a copy of the truck in new steel.I took a lot of measurements and pictures so I could help someone restore one.....
Austin, again, not that you need my approval but I just wanted to say that as a purist I don't see it as you "destroying" a piece of history at all. As I said it's obvious you have a great respect for the history of the truck and you have every right to be proud of your accomplishments along the way. By the way, I kid about the torch, I learn alot from all my studies of welding and fab techniques and you are a very good craftsman from all indications who I believe I can learn from. It's good that your helping others out and taking all those measurements just from a historical standpoint, you never know when or for whom they will come in handy for someday, you yourself may find them useful someday even without realizing it now. I'd say your altering the truck but not destroying, but altering it in a very honorable way with respect. It's gonna be cool when your done, I can't wait to see it. Good luck Dave
Thanks guys. noboD I have used your idea for cutting a radius now a few times. The noggin is a tool I'm still learning to use. I have been working on the pedals. I keep changing my mind about the position of things, but i will bend them up soon. They are from a 1951 f6.
So nothing new so far. Engineering classes are getting the better of me, but I did get a used compressor for cheap so I can run air tools!!! Less 4 1/2 in grinder for this guy! Soon I will post a little about what I'm thinking for the floor and pedals.
Got my new (to me) compressor ready to go so I can run my air tools. Here I am getting started on the floor and inner cab structure.
Just a quick detour... I took the wheels off the old GB rear end to see what the brakes looked like and thought it was neat. Notice 1 piece brake shoes X2. One for foot brake and the other for parking.
This is great.I'm watching a truck AND a man develop right before my very eyes! I am truly enjoying this.
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