Well, what better to do on vacation tha start a new project.. well sort of new. Its the parts truck i bought for a frame. The cab was crushed in so what better to do than build a roadster out of it. Heres what it started out as.. After i guess a tree fell on it, the whole cab was skewed so the body lines were off by about 5" so the doors wouldnt even shut. So once the roof was cut off, i was able to pull the posts back and get the doors shut. Once i did that, tacked the doors shut and started on the floor. Did a 'rat rodder' section and channel job on the truck so i just raised the floor up 4" with 1x1 and 1x2 for the crossmembers. Once i had that in, i was able to cut the stock floor and rockers out, but that pretty much fell out. Once that was done, i had to fis the passenger side rear latch post. It was bent right above the dovetail so i had to pie cut it and bend it back. It was way off so it had to be done. Had about a 1" gap between the post and the door. The i fixed the rust damage on the back and replaced the whole back side. And to finish off the day, i cut the winshiled post off and im getting ready to weld the dash in and blend it in to the cowl. Thatll be tomorrows job. Now i just have to even out the cuts and cap the top off with some exhaust tubing to give it a nice finished edge. Still have to cut the doors down and make new rockers. And i stil have to trim the bottom and finish it off with some 1/2" conduit. And the floor, but thats an easy job.. hopefully. To finish it off.. im going to make a hallock type windshield for it out of aluminum. Found this great tech article on the tech archives that should help me out with that. Well let me know what you guys think. Oh.. and what color should i paint it? I was thinking of using the new duplicolor paint shop system. So im torn between black or red. John
More power to you...I'd have looked at what you started with and seen something that should have gone to the crusher. I'm glad you have vision...
Well i actually saved it from the crusher. Bought it at a junkyard that had a whole bunch of older cars. The frame was perfect so im gonna use it for my '40 thats sitting with out a frame. And thanks alot.
There is alot of similarities here to my '37 (Being so rusty that the floor practically falls out) and my plans for an recycle yard '54 International and another '46 Chevy I ran across. But, its one more old truck (eventually) on the road.
More power to you! And my wife was pissed when I brought my Model A home..... I'd go with the red. Keep us posted.
Well.. i know its been a long time but finally got a chance to hop back on this thing while my friend Josh was home for spring break. Picked it up from my barn on monday and have been working pretty much ever nite on it. And tonite was a thrash to get a majority of metal work dont. So we welded in the dash, put in a filler between the cowl and dash, patched the corners of the cowl for the windshield to sit on and started the windshield frame. Im so freakin tired right now that i dont know what else to write so heres the pictures. Ill add more stuff in the evening tomorrow after the cab is back at my barn for bodywork and paint. Let me know what you guys think of our work.
Well John glad that is out of my garage now thought I would add some pictures of what we got done today since you forgot your camra. well its come along way by the way who likes my curtains? My mom made them there purdy
What are you planning on using for an engine? I'm building a 41 for myself, I have a SBC that I plan on using but I've yet to put the engine up to the cab. I'm not sure how the distributor will work out with the stock firewall. I'm not sure how it will look with a large gap between the firewall and the engine, I like the long low look but with such a tall cab I fear the proportions will be way off. Keith
I had thought about doing the roadster thing with mine, but I remembered I don't like being in the sun alot, and I like to drive alot so those wouldn't mix well for me. I like your build so far, can't wait to see it done.
your truck is coming out real nice.cant wait for more pics.my homie has a 41 truck too and weve been trying to figure out what to do with it.
Not sure of the powerplant. Inline six would be sweet. Got a 235 for the '40 im building. Built up and sounds sweet. But right now i just want to get it to the point where it looks nice and i can put it up on egay or something. Need the room and money for my other projects. If it doesnt sell, then ill finish it up.
I found this while wondering the web, it's from a shop in MO I think. I hope you finish this ride but good luck anyway.
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