Re: project 39
 

Indeed, that is nice work. Is that a 401? That Star Wars air cleaner housing is a valuable piece.

Re: project 39
 

yes the motor is a 401 buick but the air cleaner is a repop caddy that i added a off set base to move away from the front. i glad you guys are liking this project. i was looking at the a/c hoses and and had a thought about the a/c compressor belt and adjustments. i went to put the belt on and when i was moving the compressor it was forcing the hoses to bend the inner fender where the 2 ports come through so i ended up making a couple of different hoses for the compressor. it wasnt a big deal because i didnt have anything crimped yet. last night i marked all of the hoses/ends with paint marker and removed them for crimping. the big thing i worked on for the weekend was chopping the windshield frame. if you have read the last few posts you know that i did find a new windshield frame kit and bought it. it a bit more money than i had planned on but what can you do? i was a bit hesitant about cutting it so i decided to start with one that was a bit crusty and if it didnt work i wasnt out anything but if it did work i would repeat the process. it actually cut nice and went back together nice. so i decided on sunday to repeat the process on the new one after talking to my uncle that is going to TIG weld it for me. the chrome guys perfer that it is tigged. the cut and tacking it back together went well but when i stuck it in the opening it really wasnt well. so i spent most of the day monday tweaking and modifying the frame, hinges and the opening. i needed to get the thing welded this week so i can get a glass pattern made and the frame over to the chrome guy in hopes i have it back in april.

Re: project 39
 

worked on the windshield frame over the weekend. i got it back from my uncle who tig welded for me. i still wasnt completely happy with the way it fit in the opening so i did a bit more bending and tweaking with the frame and the hinges and got it where i wanted it. i then shortened the center divider bar. the aftermarket one is aluminum instead of the stock stainless. we tried to shorten the stainless one but it is such a small gauge that it would not allow welding. i also made patterns for the windshield glass. i took the frame to the chrome shop on tuesday so hopefully i will see it back in april.

Re: project 39
 

worked on the doors this weekend. i want to get everything done that has to do with the glass so i can get the patterns off to the glass cutter soon. the drivers door i had started a while back but i wasnt happy with the fit so i ended up recutting and tacking it together so i could work on the top of the doors. i forgot my camera at work so i took these with my phone. i will take some of the passenger door and post them later. i think the doors are going to work out well. right now the doors are tacked to the body so i wasnt fighting everything at once. so i will cut the tacks and open the doors next to put the inside bracing together and make patterns for glass. one of the things i am going to do different from the last truck is to eliminate the rubber strip that seals the body to the glass and instead use the fuzzy type guide.

Re: project 39
 

took a couple of pics of the passenger door last night. it looks pretty good, have to work on the top part a bit more to get body lines correct. i am looking forward to having the extra 6 inches of leg room in this one. hopefully get most of both doors welded up this weekend and make some patterns for the glass and get that shipped off. i am going to put the drip rails back on as well i have enough pieces to get that done. that is why i recommend saving all of the bits that come off.

Re: project 39
 

saturday morning decided to get the bracing in the drivers door tacked together and the brace that holds the door latch and the window regulator needed to be lengthened. i had to make a decision on which end to make longer which you think would be easy but actually required some thought. If i added the 6 inches to the front the the door handle would be farther back than i wanted, if i added to the rear the window handle would be to close to the dash like my 40 is now. i have to be careful not to rap my knuckles on the dash. so in the end i decided to add the 3 inches to each end so the door handle remains centered in the door. i also was having problems with the drivers door upper hinge had slop in it. i decided to make a new door pin for the drivers upper. i have a bunch of old stainless 5/16 rod so i bored the pin holes to 19/64 and turned down the pin to fit. i needed new upper pins anyways because i have the mirrors that mount on the upper hinges.

Re: project 39
 

welded on the drivers door on sunday. i wasnt happy with the upper window frames that i had tacked together last week. so i cut out a 4 inch section and welded in a left over piece. it still needs some work but i am gaining. i also messed around with the door lock situation. i decided i really dont like the lock in the handle set up so i am going to change it to the lock cylinder style in the door that the 46s had. i really want a outside lock in the drivers door but i havent worked out how that is going to happen yet. i know thw the lock cylinder from a car will work but i have to figure out how to make the latch work with it.

Re: project 39
 

worked o\n the drivers door on sat. the front half that i used the bottom was kind of rotten so i decided to make a new piece for that and install it. i didnt want to lose my sense of where the bottom was supposed to be so i did that first then i made a new piece the length of the door where the outside panel overlaps. so i bent it and then used the shrinker to get the curve. i made a new panel about 2 inches up the outside of the door and shrunk the edges of that to get the curve. when i downloaded the pics this morning i see that i didnt get any of the completed door so i will take some and get those on here.

Re: project 39
 

we got a sizable snow fall on sat nite so i had to get up early(4:30) sun morning to take care of that downtown. So i got home about 8am and did my usual sunday morning chores. i was feeling a bit lazy after all of that so it was about 3pm before i finally made my way out to the shop. I messed with the door a bit more then decided it was time to start on the rocker. i decided that my plan was to get everything cut, mocked up and tacked together before i finish welding it all together in case i have to change anything. so i used 2 rockers to make 1. I went to bolt on the front rocker to check its fit and couldnt find the mount holes after looking at the back side of the door jamb i could see where i had cut off the screws to get the rocker off originally, so there was a bunch of screwing around to get the remaining screw pieces out. after all that nonsense i figured out the floor i bent up was to far out in the rocker area. i had to cut the bent edge and make a new one up, which actually worked out for better because i didnt have enough material hanging down to mount the rocker on any ways. i ended up making 3 pices by the time i got done before i was happy with the results. I ended up with a nice reveal to set the edge in when i am done.

Re: project 39
 

got some more pics of the work on the bottom of the drivers door. got home a bit early last night so i had some time to work on the rocker a bit. got it final cut and tacked together. put it back on truck and tried the door. it all fit together quite well just had to adjust the front corner of the lower door skin because it just touched on the top of the rocker. had to adjust the rocker drop off that i made on sunday because it stuck out about a 1/4 inch farther than i wanted. this is really going together better than i thought it would. my goal on this is to have it in primer and driving this summer and painted next summer. i want to take it to the back to the 50s for their 50th anniversary show and my 50th anniversary of owning it. i have a lot of work to do but i think the interior guy will be my hold up. it may not have a complete interior for back to the 50s but i am going to get on his list for spring of 2024.

Re: project 39
 

Nice work!!

Re: project 39
 

worked on passenger door this weekend. repeat of previous steps as the drivers door. didnt think anyone wanted repeat pics so non e this week.

Re: project 39
 

Got it, rinse and repeat :)

Re: project 39
 

GOTCHA!
Something like this.:metal:

Re: project 39
 

exactly the same just a mirror image. the passenger door front part is a bit rougher than the drivers door but basically the same steps. i thought it was going to go a bit faster after doing one side but it doesnt seem to. of course i also thought i was going to get a lot more done this past weekend but my 5 year old fridge decided to stop cooling on fri nite/ sat morning so it was off to the appliance store for a replacement so that finished saturday afternoon.

Re: project 39
 

decided to get the rocker and rocker mounting flange done and installed this weekend.i finished the rocker flange, i bent the lower edge to give it some strength instead of just flat like the factory left it. i also installed riv nuts to hold the rocker on instead of the nuts on the back side. i made filler pieces for the ends of the flange to the cab so it looks a bit more finished than the factory did. i also worked on the passenger door some more. i had been fighting the curve flange on the bottom of the door. i couldnt figure out why the drivers door went so well and this one isnt. well i was over thinking how much curve i needed so i must have had a brain fart. so cut off what i had started tacking in and make a new piece and tack in. when i chopped the top and stretched the cab i changed the rear panel. the outside of the panel is nice straight and rust free but something caused the inner brace to get rotten on the drivers side brace. so sat morning i spent digging out the cut off remains of a 46 cab so i can harvest the brace and the little pocket where the bumpers for the dovetail sit. it looks like somebody tried prying bumpers out and it is all bent.

Re: project 39
 

a little slow at work this week so i left a little early to try and get some of the 39 stuff done. welded in the rocker flange on the drivers side same as passenger side. i was a bit concerned on how the garnish mouldings were going to work out but after working on them a bit i dont think there is going to be a problem . the rear one was really easy after looking at it i decided i could just trim the bottom 2 inches and it would work. the front one i cut the 2 1/2 inches and it fit back together nicely. the biggest problem was figuring out what to use on the missing 7 inch gap front to back. i ended cutting a piece from another front moulding and using the factory splice cover to finish. i have a bit more to finish them up but i tried the glass channel and it fits nice. hopefully i can finish the bottoms of the doors and make my glass patterns this weekend.

Re: project 39
 

Great tutorial on what it takes to stretch one of these cabs for some more leg room. Please keep the postings coming.

Re: project 39
 

i am glad you guys have been enjoying it. it has been a lot of work to do but after driving my 40 for the last 25 years i am looking forward to having the leg room. i have more pics from this weekend to put up i will do that soon.

Re: project 39
 

worked on the door bottoms. the drivers door i had tacked before but was not happy with the gap on the bottom so i cut it loose and moved it around. only doing 2 inches on the bottom didnt allow me room to hammer on the inside as much as i wanted so the passenger door i went to 4 inches which will allow me to hammer on the inside a bit easier. i used one of my worn out thicker cut off disc for a gap gauge which made it a lot quicker and easier to check my gaps.

Re: project 39
 

last night i decided to work on the bottom of the cowl. as most of you know i have a lot of these trucks and parts of trucks. everyone i have ever had has been rotten on the bottom of the cowl. after cutting into it i can see why, there is no place for moisture to go once it gets into the space. i repaired the bottom of the cowl on the 40 when i built it but that was long before i had a clue what i was doing or the correct tools to do it. the bottom of the cowl is rounded so i made a pattern first of what i wanted and then made a hammer form from a old particle board shelf that was laying in my odds and ends pile. i cut it out of 18 gauge sheet metal, bent the jamb side in the brake and then hammer formed the bottom edge. i was not very happy with the result. after looking at it against the truck i came to the conclusion that 18 gauge is too thick to get it formed the way i need it and the brake i used is not sharp enough in the bend. so my next plan is to use what i made for the inside cowl piece on the other side and make the outer piece from 19 gauge and use the press brake to make the jamb bend. hopefully then i can shrink the jamb edge and get the small curve i need. i also got lucky and found an original reveal piece that goes on the lower cowl in front of the rocker. most of them rot and fall off. this one was on the leftover parts 40 that i am building. i am going to use the rusty part as the pattern to bend new ones from the left over pieces of rocker that i have and then weld them into the new lower cowl.

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i had dug out one of my cut off cab parts last weekend to use as a donor for the rear cab brace and the dove tail rubber bumper bracket. but then i remembered i had an uglier yet rear cab section that i had bought when i was in kansas 12 years ago that i wouldnt even feel bad about cutting up. it was hacked off a truck with a torch before i bought it. so this morning when i got to work i ran down to my storage building in town and looked for it. after about 20 minutes of looking i found it and weaseled it out of the pile of parts in one of the back corners. it was a very ugly piece but it will work for what i need. i brought up to the shop and proceeded to cut what i needed. which is the brace that goes side to side. and the bonus is i needed the left rear cab mount plate for the 1940 left over parts truck. i guess it is a win-win friday for me.

Re: project 39
 

i started on the lower cowl this week as you guys saw in my last post. so it actually took 4 pieces to make the lower cowl not including the reveal. the one pic shows the rusty under side of the inside mounting area i cleaned it up and sprayed some rust converter on it. when i get the cab on the rotisserie i will finish up the bottom of that and also weld the inside to outside cowl panels together and finish weld and clean up.

Re: project 39
 

had company on the weekend so didnt get as much done as usual. worked on making patterns for side window glass. made 2 patterns from the 1/8 inch stuff on sunday they were close so monday went and found a 1/2 sheet of 1/4 tempered board and cut a final i hope pattern. will try it on passenger side next to make sure.

Re: project 39
 

been working on the glass patterns for the side windows. i figured i had better make sure that the regulators and the glass channels were going to work correctly at the same time. it was a good thing i did. after chopping the top the angle that the window goes up changed, so i had to cut the front window channel mounts and move the bottom 1/2 inch to get the window to roll up and down without binding. so now i have all of my patterns done i can send them off to get some glass made. i also found some nors channels on ebay which definetly helped things along. most of these original channels are so crusty it is hard to find a decent pair.

Re: project 39
 

on sunday i decided i should look at seat placement and figure out where my parking brake handle was going to mount. i am trying to get everything mocked and tacked together before i take the cab off the frame and put it on the rotisserie. i bought the seat frame and foam from glide when i was at back to the 50s show in 2019. i had never opened the box until now. it is a very nice frame. i mocked the frame up with some wood blocks under to estimate the height. with the top chop it looks like i need to mount the frame a lot lower than i had planned on. so now my plan to mount the park brake is not going to work. so what i came up with last night is to use one of those universal electric park brake actuator so i wont need to have anything on the floor of the cab. i put one of these in a friends car a while back, they do work nice. the only problem is using it in an emergency to stop the car. it is either on or off no slow pull on handle to slow it down. i am still thinking about this one.

Re: project 39
 

Looking good! You are a man of many talents.

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i decided to do something different this weekend on the truck instead of the usual welding/metal work. i have been thinking about how i was going to get all of the terminal strips, relays, ground bars, power supplies and control boxes in the small space that i had set up in the side panels. i started shopping for a power strip that would fit in the panel and i have ground bars that i use for any of the wiring jobs that i do. i came across a fuse panel that was the height i needed to clear the side panel and the bonus was the panel has a ground strip on the top. i also had to wire the relays that will control the actuators for the bed cover. i had it set up for using a power window switch to control the actuators but i was concerned about the power draw through them so i found a diagram on wiring 2 relays and using the switch to control the relays. so saturday afternoon i got everything mounted, wired and i tested the actuator setup which seems to work well. the only other thing i had to think about hard was how we had set up the control box for the 3rd brake light. i looked back through this thread and found a picture of when we were bench testing the setup.

Re: project 39
 

Nice clean wiring job :)

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I forgot to add that after sending my glass patterns out last monday i got the new cut glass and the patterns back this monday. i have to say i was quite impressed with the quick turn around especially with custom cut glass.

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decided it is time to get the box finished up. i want to get all of the welding, grinding and body work done on the box then i will epoxy prime and weld the weather strip channels in. the wheel wells were just temp screwed into place so i pulled them out and did some finish work done on them. i drilled some weld through holes on the edges. i drilled and cut the section where the gas fill tube is going to go. did a bunch of grinding and die grinding on the rear section around the tail lights to get it smoothed out for the (hopefully) small amount of filler.

Re: project 39
 

worked on getting the box finished. did a bunch of welding. made some lower drop offs and welded them in. figured out what i was going to do with the rear inside by the tail light and started making pieces for that.i should buy stock in the wire and welding gas companies

Re: project 39
 

i have been trying to figure out what i was going to do about seat tracks and getting the seat mounted. as i had shown previously i mocked up the seat with blocks of wood to figure out my seat height. i had a set of aftermarket seat tracks but i wasnt impressed with them as far as mounting. on saturday mornings i take my garbage and recycles to the shop to dispose of them. when i was putting my garbage in the dumpster i happened to look over at the metal dumpster and saw that the seat that my brother had changed out in a 2000ish f150 last week. i looked at the seat tracks on it and thought those might work better for my project at home. so i stripped them off of the seat before any of the scrap vultures got to it. when i got home i measured them up and used a combination of tracks from the drivers and passenger sides. cut and weld drill a couple of holes and wala seat tracks. the only thing i didnt get done was the adjuster lever but after looking at it i have a plan. just goes to show sometimes the best plan just falls in place if you are looking and remember never throw away anything. the first picture is the track that i bought.

Re: project 39
 

You are doing a lot of good work. Keep on truckin!! :)

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not a lot to report this weekend. i worked on getting the final welding done on the box. it always seems to take the longest time to do things that you really dont even see or think about when they are done.

Re: project 39
 

worked on finishing off the inside rear of the box. i had to make a rear panel, rear side panels and removable lower panels. the rear panel i made with a 90 degree bend on the bottom so the lower removable panels had a place to sit. the hardest ones to make were the short side panels because there is so much going on in such a small amount of space.

Re: project 39
 

Nice fab skills!!!

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started the filler/body work. sanding is like at the bottom of things i want to do. my plan is to get the box body work done, epoxy prime and then weld in the weather strip channels. after all of that is done i will spray the lizard skin sound and heat control inside and under the box.

Re: project 39
 

i thought i would update this in case anyone is following it. i had a bunch of lawn mower repairs, house a/c problems and getting the coupe ready for the back to the 50s show in st paul. got everything done and left on june 22 for the show. everything was going good, checked in at the hotel and went over and registered for the show. went with a friend for dinner then we decided to hit the pool. that all went fine until i left the pool, feet went out from under me on the slippery tile. fell on my rear end and managed to break my left femur. never did get to go to the show or use my room. they put a rod in my leg and i spent the entire weekend in the hospital. GF came up on monday emptied the hotel room, picked me up and drove coupe back. of course with all of the road construction it was a 5 hour ride, never so glad to get home in my life.working on walking again so might be a few days before i make any more progresson the 39. but i am not giving up, the plan is to have it done for next years back to the 50s. i will win

Re: project 39
 

Oh man!!! I hope you get back to walking normally soon!!!