47-55.1 If I had more brains...And more money. (New Whole Cabs)

[mick53]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eICXt-4LvG4
Here is a video of them making a cab. I spoke with them on the phone yesterday. They are in AZ. Shipping to Indiana is $900 or so. They said figure a grand to be safe. Crating fee $500. Recessed fire wall $1200. I have no idea why it is so much. you can buy the firewall for $400, the labor should be the same. They don't have 3 window but will weld a piece of metal over it. The inside is still 5 window. I'm going to take a hard look at mine before I buy one. I would have to customize the firewall anyway for my blown 292. 5 to 6 weeks lead time.

[dsraven]

it seems like that crew would benefit from some personal protective gear. spot welding with all the sparks etc and they are in T shirts with safety glasses. watch them cringe when they spot weld, they know the sparks are coming.
nice work though.

[mongocanfly]

man.... when I think how bad mine is a rust free cab sure makes my mouth water....nice video

[mick53]

I spoke with Premier a couple of days ago. They are in AZ. They said shipping to IN. would be around $800 but figure a grand to be safe. There is a $500 crate fee. They don't make a 3 window but will weld up the windows, it's still a 5 window on the inside. They charge $1200 for the recessed fire wall. I don't know why that is so much you can buy it for less than $400 and it seems the labor would be the same. I ask if they could do a custom recess for my blown 292 and they said no. They said 5 to 6 weeks lead time. I'm going to have to look long and hard at my cab before I buy one. Here is a video of them making a cab.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eICXt-4LvG4

[jweb]

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

Daaaamn, with shipping it's about $900 more, over twice as much!

Brian

I'm sure the Mar-k parts are higher quality, but how good do you need them to be? Once you truck is rebuilt I would guess it will be stored inside and the biggest thing you will haul is a lawn chair and cooler.

You could contact some vendors to see if they will be at any swap meets in your area. I try to buy my big items local or at the Portland swap meet, The truck and car shop is there every year. Then you can see the parts and save shipping cost.

[mick53]

Originally Posted by dsraven

it seems like that crew would benefit from some personal protective gear. spot welding with all the sparks etc and they are in T shirts with safety glasses. watch them cringe when they spot weld, they know the sparks are coming.
nice work though.

When I send pictures to the customer of progress on the factories I build I have to screen them for OHSA violations. That video could be used for such a violation.

[1project2many]

Originally Posted by mick53

When I send pictures to the customer of progress on the factories I build I have to screen them for OHSA violations. That video could be used for such a violation.

Wow! Agreed.

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by jweb

I'm sure the Mar-k parts are higher quality, but how good do you need them to be? Once you truck is rebuilt I would guess it will be stored inside and the biggest thing you will haul is a lawn chair and cooler.

You could contact some vendors to see if they will be at any swap meets in your area. I try to buy my big items local or at the Portland swap meet, The truck and car shop is there every year. Then you can see the parts and save shipping cost.

Anything over a thousand dollars and the shipping is free! Even for those bed sides!

The bed pieces don't go over a $1000 but with all the other stuff I am ordering it does.

I really wonder, I would be ticked it they sucked, but anything pretty close I would forget real quick that it's not perfect. But I am still rolling it around in my head, American made, real nice, I am thinking about it.

Brian

[b-mac]

For some reason, watching that video of the cab assembly makes me want one even less. Maybe it's the lack of professionalism, or just a regular dudes in t-shirts building it. I don't know. I'm sure my cab that was built in 49 was just a sloppy, and probably even less safe. I just don't know. Makes me glad I fixed my original cab.

[whitedog76]

Originally Posted by b-mac

For some reason, watching that video of the cab assembly makes me want one even less. Maybe it's the lack of professionalism, or just a regular dudes in t-shirts building it. I don't know. I'm sure my cab that was built in 49 was just a sloppy, and probably even less safe. I just don't know. Makes me glad I fixed my original cab.

What's unprofessional about the cabs? They have nice heavy duty jigs and a massive spot welder.

How many builds have you seen guys jack the cab up on 2x4's and weld fence posts to the door frames?

If they had a 54/55 cab I'd be on board with one.

[dsraven]

whitedog, that's funny......but true. some stuff you see you just gotta shake your head.

[mick53]

Originally Posted by whitedog76

What's unprofessional about the cabs? They have nice heavy duty jigs and a massive spot welder.

How many builds have you seen guys jack the cab up on 2x4's and weld fence posts to the door frames?

If they had a 54/55 cab I'd be on board with one.

Don't know if this is what you are looking for?

http://www.justsheetmetal.com/classic_body_tr47.asp
Dynacorn is the maker I believe.

[mongocanfly]

nope mick...that's not what hes looking for....the 54 &55 1st series have a 1pc windshield...but the cab shape is similar to the 47-53 cab...just more people selling stuff that don't know the differences

[whitedog76]

I called Premier Street Rods a few years ago. I saw an article in a magazine about them. They said that they don’t do 54/55 cab. They could however build one without a dash. That way one of there cabs could be modified.

The only way I can see how to do it, would be to chop the top on a 54/55 donor, remove the dash, and modify the cowl.

[mongocanfly]

that would be horrible to have to do all that to a brand new cab to get a 1pc windshield....I could see foose or kindig doing something like that though.....

[joedoh]

I would have to pay myself 80 bucks an hour or better to make this value decision, but some stuff is just too far gone. and not everyone can blast to bare metal.

Originally Posted by b-mac

For some reason, watching that video of the cab assembly makes me want one even less. Maybe it's the lack of professionalism, or just a regular dudes in t-shirts building it. I don't know. I'm sure my cab that was built in 49 was just a sloppy, and probably even less safe. I just don't know. Makes me glad I fixed my original cab.

i know where you are coming from with this comment, seeing the guys in short sleeves spot welding overhead wasnt the high point for me either. holy geeze, aprons or gloves at least haha.

I did get a kick out of the 4 ft spot weld arms though,

[mick53]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

nope mick...that's not what hes looking for....the 54 &55 1st series have a 1pc windshield...but the cab shape is similar to the 47-53 cab...just more people selling stuff that don't know the differences

I think I have one of those sitting out back. 1 piece windshield, the big fat grill, flat bed rails and open drive shaft, 235, 5 window? It's a 54. Otherwise looks like my 53. It even came with a few bullet holes.

[whitedog76]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

that would be horrible to have to do all that to a brand new cab to get a 1pc windshield....I could see foose or kindig doing something like that though.....

Precisely. A whole bunch of work, not a lot of benefit. Cutting up a brand new cab negates the benefit of a brand new cab.

I’m sure I can replace the floorboards and cowl and be well under the $10k price tag. Problem solved.

I could even pay someone to do it and be well under $10k too, as long as I don’t use Fantom Works that is. LOL.

Chris.

[b-mac]

Originally Posted by whitedog76

What's unprofessional about the cabs? They have nice heavy duty jigs and a massive spot welder.

How many builds have you seen guys jack the cab up on 2x4's and weld fence posts to the door frames?

If they had a 54/55 cab I'd be on board with one.

"Unprofessional" probably isn't fair. And your comments are valid. I've been inside a lot of different manufacturing facilities. I guess 3 guys in a small shop is not what I was expecting. Especially not for almost 10 Gs. But, obviously, the demand is low for these products.

[mr48chev]

On the Mar-K I've heard some "Street Rodders" don't tend to like them because you can see the spot welds just as you can on the original beds and they have to work at it to get that slick no flaw look. That is the only complaint I have heard about them though.

On the Premier Street rod cab, the wise thing would be either find out what big show within a reasonable distance they were going to have some on display (and for sale) at and look your self or ask the significant other if they would like to take a trip to Lake Havasu and see the London Bridge and poke around the area for a day or two.

Looking on https://www.facebook.com/premierstreetrods the LMC cabs are Premier Street Rod Cabs.

It still comes down to the simple fact that if we have the time and skill to do our own work it might be a bit spendy to buy a new cab. If we have to farm out the work at current shop rates that 9 K looks real interesting as an option and may save a big chunk of cash in the long run. It might save a project from being in body shop jail for an extended period of time too. If a shop sees it as something they can finish out and get done and get paid in a timely manner rather than spending a ton of hours getting it right it gets done faster rather than being shoved in the corner so they can get the quick jobs done and get paid.

[whitedog76]

Agreed. I know there is a bunch of us AD truck guys out there. I don't believe many of us are dropping the coin to buy something like that. I have seen a couple though. I don't see where there would be a high enough demand for full scale production. It is nice to know stuff like that is available and there are companies out there keeping the hobby alive. I wonder if they just build in low volume or on an order by order basis.

[mr48chev]

I'm thinking primarily to order as they do show a lead time on their site and on LMC's site.

As far as demand, we have seen guys reworking roached out cabs that most of us would have scrapped and having thousands of hours an a couple thousand bucks in patch panels on here and other sites. Some guys have the money available and not the time. Guys with good jobs, good incomes, money from the last ride that they sold going into this one and what not. Some just do not have the time available to spend several hundred hours rebuilding a cab but have an hour or so a day or a few hours on the weekend to call their own.

I don't knock anyone for farming out certain parts of the work as not all of us have the skills to do everything and it isn't always the "rich guy" who farms stuff out but the guy who is wise enough to know his limitations. On any board the most vocal "you have to do all the work yourself or you aren't a ______ guys are almost always the guys who have a roached out rat rod looking thing as their ride in their avatar and you never upon never see them post photos of any work they did but they are always first to badmouth having a shop do the work.

Sorry to get off on a tangent there but the people who badmouth others for farming work out or for buying replacement parts including bodies or cabs rather than spending tens, hundreds or thousands of hours doing the work themselves and possibly doing a less than stellar job because of skill level or time allowed are some that burn my biscuits across the internet and at local shows.

[b-mac]

You are literally describing me in this post. ^^^

[Str8poolne1]

Just ordered one, they said about 4 weeks. My cab was totally shot and would have had to replace almost every piece of metal on it.

[mongocanfly]

sweet str8.....please do a build thread so we can keep up with it and how everything goes for you....im very interested in how this works out.....
who did you get yours from?