Right up to the suicide doors I was on board with everything this build was about. It's a personal deal and the owner makes the call but I've never seen a suicide door conversion that looked and functioned better than the stock configuration. Kinda like, 3'' makes a bitchin' chop on this car so lets cut it 8". Sometimes (actually most of the time) knowing when to stop is at least as important as knowing where to start. Frank
I have been skeptical of the suicide doors from day one but they do function well and now that they are flush fit they look really sweet! They have been an absolute bear to get to where they are at and I don't even want to look at how many hours are into them. I still have to reskin the doors which had nothing to do with the suicide thing. The hardest part was flush fitting the overlay doors. Each door, inner and outer was cut into twelve pieces to make it work. The doors required a lot of work from day one. I still like bumps on my cars but I think the change works now that it's done. I might add..... We bought the hinges and for anybody who thinks they are a pop in..... I had to change everything about them and if I did another set I would just make my own since that's about where we are at now. When the cab is painted this will be impressive.
I've always wanted to do a set of suicide doors on a deuce pickup ever since I saw this pic of one...
That truck is gorgeous! I really like the way the treated the welt around the door handle which we have done on Kess's as well and the roll around the 'bones is just perfect. You have any more pics of that truck?
I appreciate everyones comments! Since everything I do is stolen from someone my best work is by opinion! I'll have more pics up tonight when it's on the wheels and we can see how it really sets. I can't wait to get it outside and get a good look!
Nice build Koz. I will say I would have preferred the non suicide doors myself like Kess. Not trying to be too critical, but I am keen on safety and have seen the results of accidents involving gas cylinders. I'm referring to your (high pressure) shielding gas cylinder sitting in random places in the shop unsecured with no cap on it, regulator hooked up, an accident waiting to happen. I have personally seen the devastation that a high pressure bottle that falls over and shears the top off will do to a shop. Put the bottle against a wall and secure it with a rope or chain and invest in some hose, or build a cart with a bottle holder for the welder. Shop safety first IMO. Thumbs up otherwise.
Just for the record, the suicide doors are Kess's contribution to the project. We have been having a light hearted thing since he requested them. I had some reservations at first but now that we are moving along I think they are pretty cool. The real part of that isn't the suicide doors but the flush fit on them which he was adamant about. Loads of work! As to the bottle, I walk around here on pins and needles because of that bottle. I need to build a cart for it. Ever since I sold my big Lincoln and picked up the Miller I haven't had a cart for it. The first thing I tell anybody that comes in here is to stay away from the bottle. I know the damage that can be done, especially with a bottle that size. I am notorious for neglecting my own stuff in favor of getting customer work out. I have a habit of donating thousands to a project but don't spend a dime on myself. Major character fault! The wheels for the cart are laying here for two years. I haven't had the time to pick up my meds for two weeks so I need to start cutting myself some slack and get my own stuff done! Thanks for the "heads up" and the compliment.
We are. Oddly enough I thought I was being creative five months ago when we bought that stuff. This guy beat me to the draw. Each time I look at that pic I see something else that is just so nice. Thanks much to 3wLarry for posting it. Great inspiration. The color combo on that truck looks somewhat familiar. What truck have I seen that on before? I've spent the entire day, and I'm talking like 14 Hrs., fitting the wheels and drums up today. I had to open the rear and pull the axles, redrill the axles and drums, press in new studs, and fab two 5/16" spacers to make the rear ones work. The front obviously required some machine work on the drums. Now I'm fabbing a pair of centering wheel spacers that will take 1/2" Allen head bolts through the threaded spacers to offset the wheels to work on the Buick drums. I have to admit it looks outstanding set up this way. I'm sure Kess will post some pics when he gets back this week. After several months of busting my ass it is all starting to fall in place.
This pic is beginning to change my mind about suicide doors. Its all in the detail, does that door seem to have the skin from the other side? (I'm referring to the bump under the handle). Anyway, awesome build, definately subscribing to this one. - Pete.
I don't think you can flip the skins because of the way the door lays against the window frame. What I did was take about a 3" sq. section out of the front and around the door handle and swap them. Easy and perfect. I really like the way the bead follows the tie rod end on the split 'bone. I never thought of that but you know I'm going to use a variation on the theme here.
A couple of quick shots here. I set the body back on while I finish up the metalwork. Kess has gone over to the dark side with the rest of us and we have decided to return the doors to overlays with exposed hinges. They will be suicide style but much more traditional in appearance. My chore today is to cut out the jerk off concealed hinges and put a set of originals back and stretch the doors back to stock dimensions. Good call! I must say with the wheels on the back and the fronts propped up where they go while the hubs and spindle sleeves are being machined up to put the wires properly on the Buick drums this has to be one of the most bad ass looking trucks I've ever built. The pics do not do it justice! Paint by the weekend? See you guys at York!
Doors resized and the hinges returned to stockers. The door is skinned and ready for weld up. I need to remove the rear lock pad and put it in the other door. I also set up all the steering stuff, put the pedal mounting mechanism in and fixed a few things that bothered me. My last week before paint.
Much progress on this ride this week! I have the front wheel machine work back. We are making up some aluminum pieces to both fit the Buick drums to the '40 style hubs and properly locate the '35 wires. Too many of these get done without any means of indexing the drums or the wheels on the hubs and no regard for scrub radius. These parts take care of all this and more. Special thanks to my machinist. Tim Wertly, for some exceptional work on these. Everythng runs true within .001! Very good for any wheel/drum setup. Scrub radius is within 3/16" of optimum, near ideal. I'm going to index the drums, adapters and hubs and drill for 1/2" hardened allen bolts. The adapters will be tapped for the Allens and set with Locktite. Comments and critical thoughts are much appreciated on this setup! I'm going to try to finish these in the next day or two, I'll post finished pics. Working on the finish up of the steering and pedals. Some very trick stuff there as well. I love doing the details!
Some serious machine time to finish up the aluminum billets that put the wires on the front. I indexed an drilled the hubs drums and billets off my indexing fixture. I then tapped the adapters to take the 1/2" x 20 hardened Allen bolts. When everything goes together..... super sweet! Nonexistant runout and stronger than hell. I used tapered insert washers so I could torque up the wheels nicely and regular lugs. The wires bed perfectly without the collared discs you usually need to keep the centers from bending. I'm proud of these! Some pics for your perusal and as always comments/criticism appreciated. Yeah I know the scrub radius is outside the norm but we were aware of this and with the narrow wheels there won't be a hard turning situation like there might be if we were using wider tires on the front. The wheels bolted up nicely and everything is ready to go!
Thanks, The suicide doors turned out to be a lot of work but well worth it! I think I noted somewhere in this thread we added an inch into the top to get the proportions right.
I finished up the seat frames and have them ready for primer and satin black. They get webbed wood frames inside to support the foam we sourced from Glide. The seat folds for access to the rear of the cab and "sets" just perfect! Also finished up the Hurst style front mount. Trying to get as much as I can ready for paint. Because the truck is so low everything about it, inside and out, is virgin territory. Fabbing the last of the pedal assembly. Very cool stuff there. The offset hinges on the seat back lift the seat to clear the base as the seat folds forward. I'd like to get this to the trimmer for cover while I make the rest of the interior panels. The truck gets a pretty potent stereo so there are panels to mount speakers and equiptment being built into the substructure of the cab. Involved, but neat as all hell!
I have a concern about seat backs moving forward. When I wrecked my Model A the seat crushed me against the steering wheel and broke ribs. Wouldnt it be a good idea to have a catch so the seat back does not push the driver into the steering wheel if you run into something? Ruined my steering wheel too! I have a 34 to build and am watching this build to see what I can learn
Looks good - for safety I would want one(seat Latch). I would hope it would never have to be tested also.
A latching seat back is one of those safety improvements which has developed over the years due to exactly the type of situation Manyolcars speaks about. While my 63 Chevy PU did not latch, a good set of seatbelts (traditional or not) will go a long way to improving your chances in any accident.
I have enough wrenching to do in my own garage with other projects, plus the fact I dont have enough knowledge to do it right.
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