Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

:lol: the thought has crossed my mind....

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

Only in the new production model stretch a 63-66 frame with the stiffener on the inside of the frame to avoid the cab mount issue.

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

A CREWCAB???!!!
That's cooler than coldstone ice cream at the north pole...!!!!!!
:metal::metal::metal:
I am officially 1 jealous builder... lol
Congrats on the find...

:5150:

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

Never drove the truck...unless up and down the driveway a couple times counts. Doors are back on, but I don't recall any numbers. I wouldn't worry of blind spots, go with what you like is my motto. Besides, big window or small, you don't see much thru the canopy windows, that's what mirrors are for.

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

got some cabs cut up for patches, and started doing lots of measuring....
here is a pic of the notes....

the very bottom brace is an extra that they added to keep the new floor strong..
there is an inner rocker piece that they fabricated, but I did not measure it since I will be able to utilize the factory inner rockers.

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

If you were to cut a 2" square tube with an oxyacetylene torch, would the separated pieces not twist or warp?

The inner rocker piece they fabricated, is it not thicker than the stock inner rockers of the donator's? Seems a continuous inner rocker from front to back would structurally be desired, to enforce the center post between the two cab supports at the dog legs?

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

I'll have to jack it up and get some better pics than what I have.. the "square tube " really looks to be 2 parts of the same piece, and it is pretty thick, 1/8th of an inch , the reason I figured it was cut was the rough edges, and the inner one is shorter than the outer, but there doesn't seem to be a reason why they both wouldn't be the same size if they had sourced some "C" channel.

their inner rocker was just made of the same material that they made the floor with, it is just about 32 inches long and lap welded over the ends and the new floor panel- I'll have to get a pic of it...

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

Jon, I wonder if we could put together a list of all the known coach builders that made c/cabs
I am having a discussion over on the 60-66 site where they think that the only eng ever built was a V6 and that the only c/cab builders were armbruster and stageway.
they say that one can always fix ignorance
thanks
ron

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

I will scan a couple of sheets out of the silver book, there were more than I thought...

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-k...o/image0-5.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-M...image7-003.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5...mage20-002.jpg

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

so 10 of them, I think about half of those ads do not have one pictured, but do mention them, here are a crown, orrville , armbruster ,and an automotive industries:

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

couple more:

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

thank you guys for the info
ron

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

Not to forget, there's a mention to the salesmen to keep notes of any other source for truck modifiers not mention in the Silver Book. GM did not restrict their dealers from using other sources. GM was most interested in selling yet another truck.

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

anybody ever figure out what the rear door hinges was intended for originally ? my 66 crew-cab was made a 4 door with -out the left rear- hinges ! the door is just held in with clips ?/screws/bolts ? looks like the 4th door operating was an option ??? anyway i need to get the door off and figure something out for a hinge or fabricate something ? ithe original frame was junk /dont think "stage-way " had any good welding pros on board? ,so i used a 1971 chevy 1 ton chassis mount frame ,it is way to long ,need to shorten it ,i did use a 86 chevy c-20 front cross member and the c-20 single rear ,it all bolted in ,even the late p/s box /no adapter plate needed .im having trouble posting pics ,maybe i can get somebody here to post for me ? EVERYBODY with anything crew cab keep posting ,what you got !! thanks guys

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

Yes, on the special order paint job, everything was olive drab, including bumper, grill, wheels and hubcaps. However, the area behind grill and the area behind the bowtie designed turn signals in hood were black for contrast. Found a photo from back in the day for reference.

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

thanks for the photo!, I have been contemplating the color, if I want to do olive drab, or highway department orange like my donor cab, it won't be a 100 point restoration, more a resto-mod.. although I wouldn't mind having another that was a 100point restoration!:lol:

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

some pics of progress... my 2 "patch panels" , and the floor and floor braces I had bent up at a sheet metal shop.
I had to do a bit of rust repair to the rear braces and driver rear rocker/inner rocker, but now it is rust free...
will start on the "B" pillars next

at some point I will flip it on its side, seam seal and weld up a bit more of the lap weld on the floor pan...
wondering if I can get the whole bottom of it rhino lined?
would that guarantee me no new rust ??
At the least after all the weld is seam sealed it will get some sort of under coat...

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

these rear floor braces were a p.i.t.a.!
I sourced them from the orange cab, it was rust free, but the back panel and rear roof were toast (it was a dump truck).
The braces had some cracks and holes where the running boards were welded to them. I also had to cut an access hole to weld the back part of the cut on the brace from the inside.... so these braces would probably be real easy to do IF you were replacing the cab corners too... brace, inner floor, and then corner and it would be an easier job... regardless I got it.

I didn't have a patch for that little piece of inner rocker in front of the wiring harness trough ( in the first pic) , so I just made a pattern with a piece of paper, and then finessed the shape with some pliers, a vise, and a ball peen hammer!

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

Your floor work looks great.

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

are you just using the yellow crew cab as a guide to build a new one ?

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

Nice progress Jon :thumbs:

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

pretty much, as far as I can tell right now I will salvage the "B" pillars, some of the upper roof rails and part of the roof. Also the rear doors.

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

Looks kinda Partridge Family with all the different colored panels. lol
you must be so happy with this project. You make it look easy.

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

nice progress .....

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

nice work ..rhino lining will work ..make sure you do the perp for it

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

I thought the cops got the perps?? LOL

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

well, some steps forward,back, and forward again.....

next, before I set the "B" pillars I need to get the doors on and lined up.
Of course I let the driver door freeze to the ground... so I was waiting for a thaw, and then remembered that I had brought a few sets of doors home a few years back, when I was ambitiously thinking of starting my own crew build... lo and behold, the front set I have behind the shed were not frozen down, and much better than the green set I was going to use.....

so now I get the doors hung, and I see that the driver rocker is definitely not going to work...I checked it with a straight edge, and it was pulled in about a 1/4 inch where the orange , and seafoam green piece meet up., the passenger side is perfectly straight.

so, I ripped all the tack welds on the edge of the new floor panel, re-drilled my spots on the green piece and used a friction jack to push the rocker out to the right place.
now it is all straight and the door fits, so now I can get started on the "B" pillars...

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

I hate it when that sort of thing happens. Glad to hear you got the issue fixed. Looking good Jon :thumbs:

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

:metal:

Looking good Jon ...


I know this will turn out to be an awesome crew !!

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

looking good ..stay at it

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

wanna see some scary sh--??

I couldn't see in there , but the camera could.. this is the spot above the driver door.

I am trying to figure out how this roof piece was made. Unfortunately it is so rusty I can't tell if it is 2 pieces, or 1.
If it is 1, then it starts (as a cross section) 12 inches from the edge of the roof, comes to the drip rail, and folds in: like a 1/4 inch tall backwards "C", then continues in as the top of the door jamb, and down, to end at the edge of the weather strip.
It seems like a rather complex piece compared to some of the others that were made. if it is 2 pieces-which would make more sense for the ease of forming, it would end at the "C", but I can't find the weld if it is there due to the rust.....

in other news, I did get a rear axle hung in there so I can roll it around. It is resting on the bump stops....

picture 3 is inside the door jamb looking forward to the seam with the factory roof skin
picture 4 is looking towards the back.

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

I don't know for certain but I would think that the easiest, simplest way to fabricate that piece would be how it was done back then. And probably the easiest and less costly for you as well.

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

You should make some patterns of the pillar once you get to that part of the project , I am wondering what gauge metal they used for that ....

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

here is the upper portion of the "B" pillar, you can see the stock windshield pillar from a 61 that was used, and the little filler piece that they fabbed to tie it together.

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

here is the lower inside, it is all wet, because I have soaked it down with Lysol, there was another mouse nest in here about 8 inches deep at the bottom.
this shows the support plate that was used for the hinges, it also shows the "cages" that were put in for the hinge bolts to make them adjustable.

the last shot shows a cross profile of the outside edge, judging by what I can see from the inside , the rear portion of the pillar that they fabbed (front of the back door jamb) had a 90 degree bend on the outside edge. it was about a 1/2 inch in from the edge of the front portion (which is a rear door pillar), the nice curved portion that you can see is all lead.

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

1) at the bottom of the pillar , the coach builders just cut it off level with the rocker, since mine is going together a bit differently in the rocker area I was able to use the factory brace that bolts to the mount/rocker, this also solved a rust issue.

2) at the top my upper roof rail will go together a little different, so I used the orange piece, since it wraps under the gutter.

3) the white piece was used in the back to fix a rust issue, and to better mount it to the jamb- when I took this piece apart, at the top there was just lead, 1/2 inch X 1/4 inch thick molding all this together, and covering the hole!

4&5) here is the rain gutter/ upper door jamb that I had a metal shop bend up for me.

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

here it is mocked up:

pic 2: the lower rear portion is going to need a new piece fabbed, there is rust in between the inner plate and outer sheet metal, and the part that welds to the rocker must have busted loose and been re- welded several times when this truck was being used.

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

Wow...About the only thing i haven't built is a crewcab.....but your doing some good work there . Steel replacement is one of those things ya can't rush and it eats up a bunch of time....good job

Re: My 1961 crew cab- XRMYCRU
 

Your friend did a nice job on that upper sill plate .. how thick is the metal they used to reinforce the hinges inside the pillar ??

I guess you wont be using much of the original cab , you needed it mostly for measurements and the pillars .....