75 Dually build

[aggie91]

Chris, I too like the old sleepers with the wing from the past. The 60's cab does have that wing look them. Something bugs me on this one, I think it is the 60's cab drip rail. I just seems to not flow with the cab lines and its at a different elevation than the drip rails over the doors. But I do like the idea!

Are you planning to go to LST in February?

[daddyjeep]

That is a thought....shave the drip rails on the truck. As Karl said, something was bugging me too. I like it though, it is definitely unique. I really like the look from the back.

[75Dually]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Chris, I too like the old sleepers with the wing from the past. The 60's cab does have that wing look them. Something bugs me on this one, I think it is the 60's cab drip rail. I just seems to not flow with the cab lines and its at a different elevation than the drip rails over the doors. But I do like the idea!

Are you planning to go to LST in February?

Originally Posted by daddyjeep

That is a thought....shave the drip rails on the truck. As Karl said, something was bugging me too. I like it though, it is definitely unique. I really like the look from the back.

So I had a good friend over last night who is a professional hot rod builder, and when he saw it he thought the drip rail should tie into the dually cab so we played around with some really good ideas last night. I think we came up with a good solution, and I will present it later once I get it mocked up. Other than that thanks for the comments.

Yes I'm already signed up for LST. Can't wait!

[75Dually]

So this is how the project started out. I cut the back half of the cab off and my neighbor helped me set it up. Then we were off to the races.

[75Dually]

Ok this is the first time I've had it out of the shop with the sleeper on it. I'm more stoked on it today than the first time I started this project.

[Dieselwrencher]

That will look really sweet if you can get the drip rail to match!

[ProudSoul]

dang, looks really good. the cab sails and the way the back bumps up like a little spoiler/wing looks sweet and it blends really well with the rest of your truck!

[75Dually]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

That will look really sweet if you can get the drip rail to match!

Had a friend over last night and we talked about the drip rail. I think your going to like the outcome of that discussion. Should be trick, I hope...

Originally Posted by ProudSoul

dang, looks really good. the cab sails and the way the back bumps up like a little spoiler/wing looks sweet and it blends really well with the rest of your truck!

Thanks! I'm so stoked on it. Now I just have to finish it...

[75Dually]

OK so where did I leave off... So I made an inner structure. I had some old parts from a headache rack that I cut up for this use. Then I started to mock up the side panels. In the next set I will show you how I made the one piece side panel.

Stay tuned!

[Crcrft78]

I like the direction your going in with the sleeper but I'm wondering, didn't someone make a seat for these trucks that folded out into a bed in the cab? Choo Choo Customs or someone? It just seems like climbing in and out of that to sleep in would be a little troublesome when you can just fold the seats down and sleep in the cab. Either way I love your build. Your doing one hell of a job on the truck.

[75Dually]

Originally Posted by Crcrft78

I like the direction your going in with the sleeper but I'm wondering, didn't someone make a seat for these trucks that folded out into a bed in the cab? Choo Choo Customs or someone? It just seems like climbing in and out of that to sleep in would be a little troublesome when you can just fold the seats down and sleep in the cab. Either way I love your build. Your doing one hell of a job on the truck.

Actually we're just going to use this sleeper to store items on long trips. I doubt I can even fit through the slider window! LOL!

[75Dually]

So now we move on to making and shaping the side panel. OK so you know up front I'm not a professional body guy. I try to make it look as good as possible, but there you have it... These panels were actually fun to make. They took a lot of time and planning to come out right. So I spent a lot of time cutting out the cardboard templates. BTW these panels are all one piece.

As you can see in the pics below the lower edge has not been shaped round to match the original profile. I went back to the press brake and bend it a second time, and then used a hammer and dolly to refine the shape. Eventually they still needed some massaging and a little bit of body filler to perfect the round shape. I spent a lot of time on this element alone. It's items such as this that makes or breaks the outcome of a project in my mind. If someone can walk by it and not notice any flaws in it then I did my job correctly.

More to come...

[75Dually]

I got to looking at my pics again today, and one of the parts of the puzzle that was hard to solve on this project was the overall height and the profile of the sleeper that seems in some angles to stick out beyond the profile of the trucks roof line.

If I counted the hours I spent working on this problem I could have cured some horrible disease or something like that... You see the issue is that the rear part of the roof line on these crew cabs slopes a lot in the last 4 inches or so. What looks like a flat roof line is anything but that. So If you lined up the top of the sleeper with the corner of the roof then the sleeper would have been much lower and even more shrunk in on the sides.

So what to do? I took a long straight edge and lined up both roof lines to have the same overall height. That way when you look at this truck from the side profile the roof line matches. If I would have dropped the sleeper down to meet the corner on the trucks roof line it would have made the sleeper look like it was shrunk down to 9/10ths scale, and would have never worked in my mind.

This project had some many fun challenges. In the end some have liked it and some have not. And that's OK by me.

Stay tuned...

[75Dually]

Since the beginning of this sleeper I wanted to incorporate the stainless side trim from the 61. So I have yet to trim it up so it will fit the new panel, but will soon do so once I get this thing in paint. I will use the super duty 3M body molding double sided tape to adhere it to the side panel and the rear of the trim uses a single screw to attach it.

In the pictures below I copied what I had done on the drivers side on the passenger side. Naturally it was a lot easier the second time... From there I pulled it outside and shot a coat of oxide primer on it to give it some protection after I sanded the outside surface and got rid of all that surface rust. I then started to do the body work on it. That was a lot of work

More later!

[Ghostwhite]

I have the same thoughts as Scoti, great concept but fitment and lines are the killer. Between the width change after the rail and the cab slope you mentioned creating a dip. I do love the 'wing' idea though.

I'm also jealous of that big window, I have a 62 small window!

[75Dually]

So to round out where I am at to date with the sleeper cab. I did a lot of finish work and then shot some grey primer. I then got around to making the lower floor pan and the inner structure for that.

I still have a lot left to do on it. I need to finish all the prep work before I paint it, order a new rear window and seal, and much more...

Stay tuned!

[COS399]

I still like what your doing. Any plans for a third brake light?

[75Dually]

Originally Posted by COS399

I still like what your doing. Any plans for a third brake light?

Had not really thought about a third brake light. Interesting... I wonder where would be the best place for it?

[daddyjeep]

Originally Posted by 75Dually

Had not really thought about a third brake light. Interesting... I wonder where would be the best place for it?

Inside the glass. I wouldn't cut that thing up for it.

[75Dually]

Originally Posted by daddyjeep

Inside the glass. I wouldn't cut that thing up for it.

That is a really good idea!

[Dieselwrencher]

I think it completes the line to the sleeper for sure. But, will that front one retain water and become an issue? Or have you added some drain holes to them?

[75Dually]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

I think it completes the line to the sleeper for sure. But, will that front one retain water and become an issue? Or have you added some drain holes to them?

Neither one is functional in this mockup, but you are right about retaining water. On the front one I think I would connect the two rails with some stainless trim and not have anything behind it so that the water would flow as before. Great question!

As far as the back piece what if that was removable when the sleeper is not connected?

[smbrouss70]

I am not trying to sound like an @ss because I do applaud the fact that you are thinking outside the box and are not afraid to go for it, but you are asking for our opinions...

I have been following this thread, and I think you are building my dream truck EXACTLY like I would do it, ...until you got to the sleeper.

I think the added drip rails on the cab highlights the fact that the drip rail on the sleeper is not level on the truck, it looks like the back of the sleeper needs to come down to level it out. That would cause you to not be able to use the stainless trim on the sleeper. That plus the fact that the cab C pillars are wider than the sleeper makes me want to say that maybe you should cut your losses and go with what you really want, like Low Voltage below.

[lolife99]

Originally Posted by smbrouss70

I am not trying to sound like an @ss because I do applaud the fact that you are thinking outside the box and are not afraid to go for it, but you are asking for our opinions...

I have been following this thread, and I think you are building my dream truck EXACTLY like I would do it, ...until you got to the sleeper.

I think the added drip rails on the cab highlights the fact that the drip rail on the sleeper is not level on the truck, it looks like the back of the sleeper needs to come down to level it out. That would cause you to not be able to use the stainless trim on the sleeper. That plus the fact that the cab C pillars are wider than the sleeper makes me want to say that maybe you should cut your losses and go with what you really want, like Low Voltage below.

I agree with everything you said.
Love everything about this build except the sleeper.
Just doesn't flow.

But it's not my truck and love seeing the progress.

[75Dually]

Originally Posted by smbrouss70

I am not trying to sound like an @ss because I do applaud the fact that you are thinking outside the box and are not afraid to go for it, but you are asking for our opinions...

I have been following this thread, and I think you are building my dream truck EXACTLY like I would do it, ...until you got to the sleeper.

I think the added drip rails on the cab highlights the fact that the drip rail on the sleeper is not level on the truck, it looks like the back of the sleeper needs to come down to level it out. That would cause you to not be able to use the stainless trim on the sleeper. That plus the fact that the cab C pillars are wider than the sleeper makes me want to say that maybe you should cut your losses and go with what you really want, like Low Voltage below.

Originally Posted by lolife99

I agree with everything you said.
Love everything about this build except the sleeper.
Just doesn't flow.

But it's not my truck and love seeing the progress.

Thanks to both of you for your comments, trust me it is appreciated. Yes low voltage is what I was originally shooting for. But those sleepers are not very easy to find, so far I have not found one. Much less the turbo wing...