The truck I bought from Rhode Island was originally a flat bed with removable wood stake sides. When I got it the flat bed had been removed but it still had the heavy duty rear end with the dually double wheels and rear tires. The wheelbase of the frame is eight inches longer than the frame of the standard pickup truck. After a lot of thought I determined that a pickup truck bed and the big bulbous rear fenders offered a more attractive and interesting starting point for customization than the stark, exposed, utilitarian nature of a flat bed. By sheer coincidence I located another truck in Arizona that had all of the body parts of a pickup truck except for the tail gate and was in substantially better condition than the first one from Rhode Island. It did not, however, have a frame. Anecdotally, the shipping cost me more than the body parts. I briefly considered shortening the frame but was too intimidated to risk that kind of structural modification. That decision meant something had to be lengthened. The hood, front fenders and the cab were all related to fixed mounting points associated with the centerline of the front suspension and the engine/transmission. The bed and the rear fenders were related to the centerline of the rear suspension. So, if everything was bolted in place where they belonged there would eight inches more space between the rear of the cab and the front of the bed (normally there would be about two inches of space). Next are a couple of line drawings to help visualize what modifications I might want to make. I looked at combinations of lengthening either the cab or the bed splitting the difference to make up the extra eight inches of the longer wheelbase. Cab lengthened 8, roof chopped 4, chassis lowered 4, 22 rims Before starting the modification I decided the 4 chop was a little too radical and obstructed too much of the view (particularly street lights). The final decision was for a 2 chop. Heres the cab after lengthening it eight inches. The approximately two inch gap at the back was necessary because of the trapezoidal shape of the body in plan. I had to keep the angle of the sides in line. This is after the chop. Theres still going to be a fair amount of tweaking to get the fair curves of the roof to line up and look right. The tops of the door are just duct taped into place to see what the final opening looks like. Not quite as radical as the sketch but they definitely looked chopped. The doors, which were welded into place so the gaps would remain consistent, were removed so that work could continue on the interior. Some of the existing floor panels were rusted so Michael cut out nearly the entire floor and welded in replacement parts (yes, they even sell replacement parts for this old truck). Thats all for now.
loks good man your doing a lot of work good luck with it . heres a few pics of a 47 i built awhile back. ithas a 429 c6 narrowed front clip from a 69 marquis .i also shortened the frame 6 in just behind the cab and narrowed and boxed the frame to fit 1950x15 rear tires
Thanks for the luck Yours looks like a nice ride ! not a lot of folks out there working on 47 ford Pickups ! Its nice to see how others have turned out, I will be installing a 351 w with a c4 and yes a have a ton of work ahead of me!! but my wife knows were I am on the weekends
Welcome from Michigan I wish I would have added length in the doors like you are, I was going to use another set of doors. I started with a 3/4 ton frame that was longer than the 1/2 ton too. I shortened the frame but it all turned out okay. I chopped mine 2 1/2 inches. I drove that truck for 5 years. I sold it last Nov to a guy in Germany. Check out the album of my '46
Very cool 46! Adding the length to the doors has just made the truck look more proportional and people are just bigger then they were back then I need some leg room! I will post photos as I progress Take care Mike
Thanks ChefMike. I know what you mean about more leg room. I bought a model A sedan this spring. This one I can put the seat back.
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