Some of you may know that I bought several Seagrave firetrucks when there was a run on scrap before the China Olympics. Since then, I've been wondering what in the hell I was going to do with them. A picture on the internet inspired me to build a vintage parts getter. Here is the truck that lit the flame. It is 1930's firetruck that has been converted to a pickup.
The convertible might be nice in sunny California, but I want to build a year round truck. It needs to have a roof. Unfortunately all four of my trucks are roadsters. No tops, no side windows. I thought about making a hardtop, but couldn't come up with a design that worked with the existing windshield shape. I needed a donor cab. Looking at pictures on the internet, I thought a Diamond T cab was what I needed. I drove to Sidney, Nebraska to preview that big assed auction (they had 30+ Diamond Ts listed) to pick out a truck to bid on. Once there,the tape measure told me I picked the wrong donor. They are way smaller than they look. While there, I looked at all of the crazy stuff the guy had. One thing that caught my eye was a 1940's looking snow plow. This one wasn't in the auction, but the cab was promising. Fast forward a couple weeks and I found an Oshkosh snow plow cab for sale (also in Nebraska). We went and picked it up on Thanksgiving.
This cab is supposedly from the mid 50's. But the styling looks earlier. And has a cool stewart warner instrument panel. It does need work to blend with a Seagrave, but it is closer than anything else I've seen. ....and it is an all steel body.
Right now, I am planning how to blend the oshkosh cab to the seagrave hood. Yep, I'm doing it backwards. The seagrave has a 4 ft tall cast aluminum grill shell. I think it has to stay as is. The yellow cab is big, but the Seagrave is bigger. 5 inches wider at the firewall, back of cab is same. The firetruck I picked is a 1950 model (a wider cab than the gray one). My original thought was to graft a Seagrave cowl onto the cab and be done, but something is going to have to sectioned to make these parts play well together.
I had a '48 Seagrave pumper for about 20 years. It had the 468 ci Pierce-Arrow derived V12 engine. It was a remarkably tractable vehicle. I used it as a "daily" on nice days (when I had the gas money and parking space). Double-clutching becomes second nature when you do it enough. I say go for it.
We will be using the Seagrave frame and leaf springs. Modern axles from a motorhome are being swapped in. The front axle has a substantial drop vs the stocker. Motorhome brakes, steering, engine, and trans will also be used. By the way, the motorhome had an Oshkosh chassis. I think the stars are aligning.
Very impressive! As an owner of old ambulances and I still own a modified 46 International KB 5 fire truck, suffice it to say, I have a ton of respect for you and absolutely no envy! I know how addictive this particular element of doing projects like this can be, and how expensive truck parts and tires and paint can be! All of that being said, I am digging the unique, eccentric, adventurous, spirit you have, to think outside of the box! GO FOR IT WITHOUT REGRET! Thanks from Dennis!
If I understood you correctly, it seems that the easiest course of action would be to widen the front of the cab on the Oshkosh. That way you will not have to do anything to the front of the existing truck. Good Luck on your Heavy Metal PU!!
Yeah, it is damn near as big as my 2000 F250 in the area of the seat back. It should easily have room for three.
I was contracted by a local Fire Dept to repair a hood on a 32 Seagrave fire truck. The harmonic balancer exploded and sent shrapnel through the hood. The hood was super heavy duty. It made it easier to repair. Neat old stuff.
I still have to decide what is getting cut. Right now the only thing I don't want to cut is the grill shell because it is cast aluminum. Regardless of what gets modified, I want to keep the original Seagrave styling and proportions on the nose. I think they are almost Packard-ish, yet are still work trucks. The plan right now is no firefighting accessories. I want it to be a stylish work truck. Something that can pull a trailer cross country. I have the drivetrain to make that a reality. All that said, I do have a little flexibility on hood/cowl width. Based on measurements from my 1938 model, the gray truck is 44 inches wide at the firewall. My 1950 model is 58 inches wide at the firewall. I should be able build a nice looking truck somewhere in the middle. I think the trick is finding a smooth line from the hood, across the cowl, and the across the door. That might be simple or it might be a shitshow. I need to cut the roadster out of big red and make a place to set a yellow cab and start lining panels up. There is also an elevation difference...bottom of window is 30" on seagrave doors, 34" on the yellow doors. That might be a non-issue due to the different windshield shapes. 34" might be the height at the peak of the cowl. It might look "right" as is. If not, it will get sectioned during rust repair.
That's why I ended up with several. They look like big fricken hot rods. Up until this point, they've just been garage art.
That view of that truck tells me that I am overthinking matching up the hood/cowl/doors. Nothing wrong with that truck. Also. I dig the tilt bed floor inside the pickup-ish looking bed.
Haven't seen that Boyle truck before. Thanks for posting pics. Anymore detail pics? & Yes, the proportions are spot-on, copying that form will make your life easier. Marcus...
The overhead view popped up as a Facebook memory. I googled ^Boyle special racecar hauler^ and found other pics.
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