1949-50 3100

[dwcsr]

Originally Posted by solidaxel

I see no reason why you should not guarantee that truck for the next 50 years!!!

It might be hard to do warranty work at 120 years old but I'll try.....

[98layinframe]

Sorry double post..

[98layinframe]

Southern folks are getting a taste for what every single northern rust belt cab looks like up here! This is why we drive south or west for 2 strait days to get parts. Are you guys sure the last body shop did that work cause it looks like something farmers up here would do over years of trying to keep it from going flinstone style, maybe the previous restoration was more like a sand, bondo and paint kinda deal?

Either way, feel bad the owner got ripped off and look forward to seeing you guys save this one
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[dwcsr]

Here are some pictures of the front and where its rusty under the A pillar jackets. Once these are sand blasted there will be no rust left on this truck at all.

[Denee007]

omg! An image of a very large big back window comes to mind, or a convertible! How much time do you think will go into this build?

[dwcsr]

I originally wanted to be done in 90 days but my part suppliers seem to have a different idea on how long its going to take. I'm busy making some removeable jigs that I can bolt into the door hinge pockets and to line up the cowl and hood hinge holes. I'll post some pictures of them for those that plan on doing similar repairs. During my research I found some really good videos on building a cab from scratch.

NEW Cab Build! (1 of 3) - YouTube

NEW Cab Build! (2 of 3) - YouTube

NEW Cab Build! (3 of 3) - YouTube

They make is look so easy

[dwcsr]

We made up a jig to make sure the new cowl is in the proper place when its replaced. It has a plate bolted to the upper door hinge pocket and just runs up to make a guide point for the belt line where it meets the door. The other part goes to the from and bolts in the hood hinge holes so the firewall is in the same place it is now. The other guide points are the dash lip and the pinch weld for the top of the window. Since we are not removing the dash and upper window support all that should line up nicely. The tube we used is very heavy wall DOM, I think its about 3/16 wall. Not much flex in at all.

[dwcsr]

I was told I'm getting sheet metal tomorrow or Monday so we are getting all the spot weld areas ready and the rot we found under the floor fixed. This cab dolly worked out perfectly. Its just the right height for sitting and doing a corner, rocker or standing and fixing the upper cowl area.

[dwcsr]

One more. we also will be treating the areas we sandblasted yesterday. The areas that are covered by the A pillars, roof skin and so on.

[dwcsr]

We are working on the front floor area and the rotted cab mount. First I welded some bracing in place and tacked the good section of the cab mount to the frame part of the cab mount. This way its all in position to replace the cab mount end and the rocker end without the cab getting out of shape.

[dwcsr]

Here we are cutting out the mount end and as you can see it rotted which is typical of these trucks. I cut the rocker inside of the first pillar so I had a good place to weld in the rocker end. Once its trimmed up we weld it in.

[Larry Lindley]

Dam a new after market cab may have been a faster build.

[Denee007]

"We have the technology, we can rebuild it!" kind of from The Six Million Dollar Man! (and apparently a customer with deep pockets. I would think the challenge and the ability to do a task like this would be quite rewarding

[dwcsr]

A new cab is $8500 plus shipping and crating. I can make 3 of these cabs for that price with all new metal.

The challenge is most of this so I don't mind and the customer ends up saving money.

We fixed the rocker end and just need to cut the hole in it like it was. We just cut back to good metal and welded in the new pieces.

Tomorrow we start on the back of the can lip where it meets the outer shell and floor.

[FarmerSid]

Awesome work man! The hours ................. Good job showing us all what and how you are dong it Dave.

[dwcsr]

Thanks farmer,

We fit and welded in the right inner panel leaving as much old metal as we could around the vent hole. The holes up near the cowl are hinge bolt holes and this is what will help us line up the outer cowl when we get that far so I wanted to leave it intact.

[dwcsr]

We decide to add a hinge to the front of the dolly to make it easier to work on the back side. The can lifts surprisingly easy. Later hinges will be put on the back of the dolly.

[dwcsr]

Today Jacob my helper made and replaced the left rocker end. This is a tricky part because at the pillar its curved with a flare and the rest is completely flat where the foot brake assembly mounts to it. We ended up making it all curved and then about an inch from the pillar we slit it vertically and flattened the front part of it and then used hammer and dolly to give it the flare then welded it back together so we ended up with the curved flared part at the pillar and the flat part at the brake assembly.

[dwcsr]

Finally got a pallet of parts in and we are now fitting, adjusting cleaning up trouble spots. Because these parts are "Rust Panels" they don't fit as if they were new OEM panels. Some have extra length to them to compensate for another rusted parts or are wider so you can trim to fit. None fit like a puzzle piece so don't expect them to.

We have started fitting the left lower cowl, wheel house and inner kick panel and working on the floor fit so all the panels in that lower cowl area fit nicely. Once fitted everything gets clamped up and we do the other side. When all looks right we tack it all in place making adjustments as we go and start the finish weld.

[Denee007]

That's exciting news! That should give a boost in progress! I love new parts; nice and clean
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[dwcsr]

Originally Posted by Denee007

That's exciting news! That should give a boost in progress! I love new parts; nice and clean
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Its like christmas in the middle of the year. Stop by Friday if you have time . I'll show you what we are doing.

[dwcsr]

Just an FYI I'm using a product called Jasco Quart Prep & Primer for the bare metal and rust conversion. Its similar to Ospho and costs a little less maybe $3 a quart cheaper. It converts iron oxide (rust) to iron phosphate. I like it because its at almost any home center and usually readily available. It is acid so you have to wear protection for the face and hands. Cuz it burns like the dickens when it gets on your face. Here's a link
http://www.wmbarr.com/product.aspx?catid=103&prodid=221

[dwcsr]

We are still working on the left front cab area. From what we can tell the cab due to all the rust was shifted a bit and when I welded it into position to replace the cab mount it was off by a half inch so we had to spend half a day jacking it back into position and lining up the other work we did. We have the floor, wheel house , inner panel and rocker end all lined up now so it just a matter of fitting the lower cowl and tacking it all in place.

[dwcsr]

Here are a few more pictures. The old mount was narrower than the new one so it doesn't fit as well as I would have liked. next time I'll just replace the complete mount. Next it the lower cowl fit up.

[solidaxel]

Is the new sheet metal the same gauge and weight as the piece being replaced?