Sue's 51 build

[hotrodtim]

What a great find! Gary has a great selection of trucks and parts and is really a great guy to visit with. He sold me a great top that has no rust through anywhere and his prices are quite reasonable. He gave me permission to post a couple of pictures of his trucks and parts.

[hotrodtim]

So with a solid top to work with its on with the chop. Since the back portion of my original top is solid and already cut to height I decided to go ahead and use it. I cut it apart from the front lengthwise and then took 14" out of the middle that I'm going to replace with a piece from the new top. I then cut the front half off the new top and quartered it. I'm now ready to start fitting it all back together.

[donthekawguy]

I'm hoping he has the dark green one in the second picture in the spring. If he does it will be in my drive in March when the snow goes away.

[hotrodtim]

Well I've made a little progress this weekend. I got the two rear quarters of the top tacked into place and have the front quarters ready to go to the sand blasters for clean-up before tacking them into place. I had to section the rear quarters and move part of them forward and down to fit with the upper edge and corner of the door. I think the gaps are going to come out pretty even with a minimum amount of extra work. All the plywood bracing is necessary because I'm doing this by myself and two hands just aren't enough to hold everything in place and do the welding too. I would like to put in a third brake light in the middle above the rear window, does anyone have any suggestions for doing so?

[hotrodtim]

Okay, a little more progress on the chop. I have all four corners tacked into place now and its starting to take shape. The progress is kind of slow with this type of mod when you don't have anyone around to help hold things in place while you weld. Oh well, when it's done I will truly be able to say I did it myself.

[Chevette]

Wow! A lot of work. Very nicely done. Obviously not your first time around. I thought it was scarey taking the gutters and crown molding off mine. I don't know if I have the stones to do what you did. Looks great.

[oldman3]

That is some nice work, and I really like this chop, just enough and not to much...Jim

[hotrodtim]

Thanks guys and yes, I chopped a 53 F-100 about 14 years ago so had that experience in the archives. This one is actually easier since I took the same amount out all around. I took an inch more out of the front pillars on the 53 to make the roof line parallel with the sill of the door windows. Unfortunately I ended up selling the truck shortly thereafter and never got to see it finished.

[hotrodtim]

It's been a long time away from the truck project but finally time to get back to work. I used a piece from my donor top as a filler here.

[oldman3]

Glad to see you back on the truck, nice filler work...Jim

[hotrodtim]

Thanks, I hope to get at least one full day of welding on it this weekend.

[hotrodtim]

My PC fell victim to the crypto lock virus over the weekend so I'm trying to post this via my phone. Hopefully I'll be able to attach pictures as well. Okay, I managed to attach a picture but haven't figured out how to attach more than one. The picture is of the progress I made over the weekend. Not as much as I'd hoped to accomplish but progress is progress.

[oldman3]

Looking good...Jim

[Root2812]

Originally Posted by hotrodtim

My PC fell victim to the crypto lock virus over the weekend so I'm trying to post this via my phone. Hopefully I'll be able to attach pictures as well. Okay, I managed to attach a picture but haven't figured out how to attach more than one. The picture is of the progress I made over the weekend. Not as much as I'd hoped to accomplish but progress is progress.

Crypto virus? Is that the one where they tell you that the FBI locked your PC and you have to pay a fine using their service to get unlocked? That one is a scam for sure. If its that one let me know. I had that and its pretty easy to get rid of without sending your PC to a repair shop and throwing away $100.

[hotrodtim]

It's the one where an unidentified extortionist hacker breaks into your computer and encrypts your files and demands $300 dollars to decrypt them. I refused to pay the money and within 48 hours it completely shut down my computer. It's an old computer and we were planning to discontinue using it soon anyway. I'll probably just use our Ipad or my Iphone from now on. Can anyone tell me if it's possible to attach multiple pictures to a post from my phone? Every time I try to attach a second picture it seems to just replace the first one.

[hotrodtim]

I would like to know who thought it would be a good idea to cut a big hole for a spotlight right through the middle of the factory pillar seam that's full of lead. What a pain to patch.