My Street Rod Project

[Captainfab]

Welcome to the forum

You're getting right after it on tearing this truck apart

I've not shortened a '60-'62 frame, but I'm thinking you will have to cut out the front half of the X-member, and then reposition it after the outside rails are back together.

There are not any aftermarket patch panels to fix the door jamb and lower A- pillar on these trucks. You will need pieces from a donor cab. I do have the lower A-pillar piece on the drivers side. The upper section is already gone.

[International Texan]

Got the cab stripped most of the way today. I am really surprised at how little rust this thing has, especially since it has been off the road since 1990.

Drivers floor pan and rocker...





Firewall..



Passengers floor pan..



Dash..



I think I have a plan for my upper door jamb patches and my A-pillar patches. Being in the Air Force has it's advantages when you have friends that work in the sheetmetal shop.

[rmvlt1100]

Nice truck to start with. You have the right idea on using a sheetmetal guy to help you out with those rust areas. I did have very good luck with some of the aftermarket parts that are out there. If you have to buy any ask around the forum on what and where people have purchased there parts from. Keep up the steady work. Will be watching.

[International Texan]

I'm about to order up some cab corners. Anyone have any place in particular they thought had the best fit panels?

[International Texan]

Passenger cab corner...



Driver cab corner...



Passenger sill and rocker...



About to order some cab corners up from Brothers...

[Bomp]

Wow, You didn't waste ANY TIME getting the cab stripped so do some rocker, floor & cab corner work.

Are you going to have the cab sand blasted?

[International Texan]

Going to blast it myself. Northern Tool sells an attachment to a pressure washer that goes into a bag of blasting sand. I've used one before and it works really well....and keeps the metal cool during the process.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...duct_8520_8520

[International Texan]

Sup guys, I've been waiting for the brown truck to get here with my cab corners...they should be here mid-week. I cleaned as much out of the cab corners as I could, there was a lot of dirt and rust that came out. It looks like the cab mount perches will have to be replaced, they are pretty rusted out and two are pretty much broken. Will have pictures up soon during the cab corner install.

[Jeff La]

Man I'm waiting to see how it goes with the sand attachment for the pressure washer. I like the idea and will get one if it works out ok for you. Will follow along as you go, your doing great now.

[International Texan]

So, I was out in the garage and getting more dirt and rust out of the cab corners...

Drivers side...



And all the crap that came out of it...



Passengers side...



And all the crap that came out of it...



The Brown Truck dropped off this...



This weekend I should have the cab corners welded in. My main focus is chopping down the frame or cutting down the bed...I'm cool with either getting done. I've yet to find a "how to" to chopping down a frame with an X-member...guess I'll take a lot of pictures and document as much as I can for you guys.

[rmvlt1100]

There was a little bit of stuff in those corners. Keep us up to date with the frame project, looking forward to see how you do that. Hope those cab corners go good for you. I had to do a little cutting and adding some metal to get my one corner to fit. I will post a couple of pictures.





Keep up the good work.
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[International Texan]

Hey guys, it's been a while since I've posted. I've been pretty wrapped up with work and haven't had a chance to work on the truck lately. Don't worry, I haven't given up on it and I will post when I am able to get back on it.

[International Texan]

With family time and gearing up for hunting season, the truck has been on the back burner. I've been able to get back out in the garage to make some room to resume my project. I went to the junkyard today and found a short stepside bed in pretty good shape that I can pick up for cheap. I'm going to try to drop off my long wheel base fleetside bed to them and get the short stepside bed. After I get it home I can make my final measurements and get to chopping the frame!

[International Texan]

Finally got some time and got some work done on my truck.

Got the interior stripped.





A friend let me use his sandblasting cabinet.

Inner fenders, hood bezels, headlight bezels, battery box, and fender extensions before being sandblasted.



And after...



They cleaned up rather nice...

[McMurphy]

Good to see you back on this !!

[C@rnut001]

Keep it up and thanks for updating. I like your plan for your truck. It is a nice solid start for what you are planning to do. Keep the pictures coming, they are great to see how you are doing.

[International Texan]

Thanks for the encouragement fellas. I've decided that I'm going for a more simplistic build than I originally planned. I'm going to delete all the holes in the center of the dash, because why would you need a radio when all the music you need is coming from the exhaust? I'm also toying with the idea of swapping in a 73-87 front suspension to utilize the disc brakes, power steering, and an S-10 brake booster and master cylinder with CaptainFab's conversion bracket. I'm also looking at a T-5 out of a camaro or maybe a late 80's/early 90's truck. And maybe adding an aftermarket heater under the dash since, ya know, it does tend to get cold up here in North Dakota...even though this thing will be driven in the semi-warm to warm months.....all 4 of them!

[International Texan]

Had a little progress lately. The Brown Truck showed up with some sheetmetal for me to get started with....with my cab corners I already had.



And got some sheetmetal painted. Inner fenders..



..and the rust I have to fix on it the sand blasting revealed..



Core support wings..



Hood bezels..



..and the battery box..



I should be getting started on the floor supports this weekend, and I'd like to start filling the holes in the firewall.

[International Texan]

I figured the cab was sitting a little too high in the air, so I shortened the cab dolly to make it a little more accessible.



I also decided that I can't save my rocker panels and outer floor pans, so I will be ordering those for both sides shortly. Hopefully that's all the sheetmetal I'll need and I can start getting this cab rust free instead of just talking about it.

[TJ's Chevy]

Cool truck! Keep up the good work!

[International Texan]

A couple updates. I got the rest of my sheetmetal in the mail the other day, just waiting on my welder to get here so I can get started. Also, went down to the DMV this morning and registered the truck in my name. I got antique plates, I get to keep the original 1960 title, and I never have to pay for registration again. Ready to get going on this thing!

[bj383ss]

Looking good man. I am on a similar path as you just not tearing mine down as far. The UPS man just delivered all my sheet metal this past Friday. I start vacation on Thursday so hopefully I can get most of it welded in.

Where did you get your sheet metal from?

Look forward to seeing your results.

Bret

[International Texan]

I ordered my cab corners through Brothers, my floor supports came from LMC, and the rockers and floor pans came from Top Banana. I've read through every build thread on this website multiple times and these had the best results from the people using the parts from these specific vendors (they are probably from the same company that stamped them)...from what I've read. I know they will need to be trimmed or tweaked on some way or another, but I'm ready to get it done. I'm probably going to take a week or two of leave in December or January and concentrate on getting my cab rust free, or as rust free as I can.

[Bomp]

Sounds like you have a great plan:
Done the research,
planned for a bunch of time off (so as not to be in a hurry)
Have ordered and received top quality sheet metal,

Good luck man!

[bj383ss]

Awesome! I ordered my rockers and floor pans from Top Banana as well. Hopefully that's all I need but only time will tell.

Bret