homemade roadster pickup bodies!

I have a '28 essex cowl rottin away in my backyard and Iv been dreaming about building a roadster pickup for a while now. I was just wondering if anyone has ever built a body from scratch. I have tried searching but nothing really comes up. If anybody has done this I would like to see some pictures. Thanks

-Dave

 

Yup,and there are some threads already out there on this. I've been putzing with this on and off for a couple years.

 

not a roadster pick up, but search for Pat Pryor's home made model a. Believe he's building a 32 right now.

 

You might think about buying the Brookville Model A rear corners and back piece, they aren't really that expensive.

 

A couple of things to think about. Most any panel on a car has some crown to it, if you
make it out of flat sheet it won't look right. Secondly if you don't rework the cowl to
use some sort of actual roadster windshield, it will always looked like a hacked off closed car. Neither of these two points are that hard to address when building; but if ignored the result will be less than you expected. Plan it out and go for it.

 

Im in the process of building a 29 roadster pickup, I started with a roadster cowl and built the doors and rear cab section. I bought a shrinker/stretcher for making the door skins and 1/4 panels, the rest was done using basic hand tools. 28-29 model A rpus are the easiest to build because the back of the cab is squared off.



Im currently working on the floor and subrails. In my opinion by the time you finish buying all the steel you need you might be better off starting with a couple pieces from brookville.

 

Sorry for the delayed response but here are a couple pics of my hand fabricated cars and bodies.

This roadster was built some years ago and I posted it up here on the HAMB back in 2006.











You might also be interested in taking a look at this free e-book http://www.hotrodders.com/scratch-built/Cover which I just wrote. It documents the step by step fabrication of the body on my sedan delivery shown below. Might give you and idea or two to think about in relation to your own plans.

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=460328

http://www.streetrodderweb.com/features/1106sr_1925_dodge_highboy/index.html

 

just a bunch of sticks...

Wood

 

I mated a 37' Stude dictator cowl with a free 56' one ton Stude truck body to build a roadster pickup body. Chopped the top off, narrowed it 6", channeled 6" and cut 6" off the bottom. See it at http://tribaker.wordpress.com (look in timeline for may 2011).
I show a lot of build pics of how I went about it.

 

I started one a few years ago with a '34 Plymouth cowl. I took lots of pictures of the body structure while building it:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=145423
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1724979#post1724979

 

heres one i'm building, havent gotten too far with it yet but my next step is to build the floor structure.

 

cool project. turned out nice. thanks for documenting it, will give me something to read today. have a great morning. rock on.
chris.


P.S
watched mad max dis morning, cant sleep etc.. anyhow, that crazy upside down hood scoop they used on max's black blown car would really fit the lines of your sedan. also, the car reminds me of the twisted T. if you not seen it, i think you would dig it.. looks like a model T coup melted on its frame.. i like odd stuff what can i say.

 

You got any links? I tried to google it and came up with nothing. I seem to have a vague memory of it but would like to see some pics.

 

Here's a link to one a guy builds and sells...
http://www.killbillet.com/showthread.php?t=29371

 

Dave,
There is a lot to consider when starting a project of this magnatude. Just like going on vacation you need a plan, money and an expectation of what you want your expierience to be . People will tell you they vacationed in Miami but you still dont know if this is the right place for you to vacation at.

Your Dad has a keen eye for detail and a good working knowledge of hot rods and things. Take him to dinner and pick his mind for ideas and info. Hell, drag his ass out of bed on Saturday morning and talk to the guys at breakfast. There is a wealth of knowledge at that table. You can come alone but your not allowed to bring him a carry out. We do have a couple of young guys like yourself showing up from time to time .

As far as building a body goes you need to have an idea of what chassis and running gear you are going to use . This is necessary because this is the foundation for eveything else . Take some time investigate the history of " coachbuilding " . Car bodies have evolved from horse carriages and some of the building techniques used in early auto body construction were used way into the early 50's. Check out some of the other internet sites like http://www.coachbuild.com or http://www.metalmeet.com . Stop in at the shop if you like . I currently have a couple of cars of different body construction at the shop and it can be useful to you to see the differences in how they are constructed.

Take the time to look at autos created by the great designers of the past and the ones blazing the path into the future. There are several great ones here on the HAMB.

Ultimately your plan is critical . If you dont have a good plan the project will be full of pitfalls and difficulties which will make your project even more challenging. Discipline and passion are keys to seeing your project through to completion.

 

Hi, i just remember it being on here in one of the tall t topics.. ill see if i cant find it. was pretty cool. looked like it melted from the cowl forward. pretty sure it was a custom from the 60s or 70s show circuit.. i plan on starting a bucket T ( i want the bobtail look )come winter.. here in the desert its to dang hot to do anything till winter so iv been collecting a few parts. im six foot 4. so no matter, im gonna have to stretch the body some.. im thinking 8" i have no fiberglass skills ( will have to learn if i use glass), my skills are in wood working and have a shop full of wood tools.. so was thinking maybe doing a woody t thing. still trying to come up with a plan. i can weld so frame wont be that big of a deal. ( crosses fingers , still this is all gonna be a new experience for me.) im thinking a white oak ( or even bamboo flooring.. its stronger than steel in some aspects.. i use the bamboo in custom longbows i build ) Woodie t bucket could look cool. stain it a walnut give it that flat black primer look but in wood grain etc interior could be curly maple or burl stained a lighter orange/brown.. my logic if i used wood, would probably be ok.. cause if you get hit in a bucket you are toast no matter if the body is steel or glass.. i think it could look cool.. but im just mumbling, see if i cant find that picture.

chris.

 

I can't take a bit of credit for this one, my Son Dan did all the work to convert this one from a fordor to a rpu body. Here is what he started out with:



He basically cut everything off behind the front doors and framed in the new shape with box tubing:





Then he bent up new side and back panels to close it in:





And he paneled the inside as well:



He also cut off the stock fordor windshield frame and adapted a true roadster frame to it. The car was coming along pretty well, and looked like this at one point:




But then he decided he wanted to go another direction, so he cut up the old frame, built a new one, and bought a Brookville rpu body instead. I couldn't see the rpu body he put so much work into go to waste, so we are building a new frame and I am building my own rpu out of it:





Don

 

thats so cool don.. nice work.. hey i got the name wrong.. was not twisted T.. was uncertain T. here is the picture:

i found these prints for a tbuket and a touring.. dunno what year they suppose to be from.. but if i build my body from scratch will give me something to work with. figure may help someone out there too. no clue who did the metal frame but i like it... and the red fire truck.. how cool is that thing.. i like the C cabs.. seems you could use plywood for the sides on one of them.. and would give lots of leg room. but i sorta want the convert.. so many cool ideas one could go with.. apparently that fire truck won a high end trophy back in the day.. no way could that win today.. sad. anyhow, the name was wrong good reason google was no help. i take no credit for the pictures found them over period of time.
chris.

 

we liked TUB's



http://public.fotki.com/sawzallshop/sawzalls-rides-past/sawzalls_shop_shop/

 

You may want to use the 26-27 T as a pattern to build from, a lot more room. There are dimensions out there, I'll try to find them.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=438877&highlight=dimensions

 

Ah yes. I'm very familiar with that one. In fact, a clone was done of it by an Australian hobbyist and I have about a dozen pictures of it, including some construction shots, in the "Gallery" chapter of my book. Also a short interview with the clone builder. Here's a quick link. http://www.hotrodders.com/scratch-built/Body:_A_Gallery_of_Scratch-Built_Cars Just scroll down the page a bit to "Rob Certain T" He used a very interesting technique for the body skin quite similar to how hobbyists builders cover airplanes and small boats.

Here's a pic of the clone.

 

I can appreciate the tribute to the body of the "UncertainT", but his choice of rolling stock, engine, interior...I will keep my comments to myself for once.

 

SUBSCRIBED! I'm creating a bobber prewar pickup starting with a '46 GMC pickup body...I'll need some good ideas and inspiration when I'm ready to start slicing and dicing.

 

Van upper quarters - flipped upside down....

 

hey! flippin the van rear quarter was my idea. mocked it up using 85 chevy van sheet metal on a 28 Essex cowl too. was going to build a tub. i guess great minds really do think alike.

 

Very effective way to create a body Harrison. Australian rodder, Rob (Chuck) Berry hand built this 34 Ford replica body by cutting appropriately curved panels from a Toytoa "High Ace" 12 passenger bus and welding them together. The fenders are aftermarket. More pictures of the build and completed car can be seen here http://www.hotrodders.com/scratch-built/Body:_A_Gallery_of_Scratch-Built_Cars

 

Now that I see the Van upper quarters, it seems so obvious! Do you have a build thread? If not, time to start one.

 

The rest of it....