1948 Chev extended cab with attitude

[alaska gasser]

About 1 mile from our home is a field that contained about 500 cars dating back into the 40's. I was able to locate the daughter of the deceased owner and learned the plan was to crush everything this year. I put the word out the best I could and some were saved, but about 300+ were scrapped 2 months ago. I purchased 6 trucks, 1 panel, parts from several more trucks and a '59 Impala to build MY extended cab.

While helping gather these, Diana found her '46 International P/U. Here's some of what we hauled home. Bodies rust well here, so it's going to take a piece of this and a piece of that to make one truck. The plan is for a 10" stretch, suicide doors, 6.5" chop in the front, 4.5" inch chop in the back and handmade 1/4 windows.

Burned, but had a usable nose, box and rear fenders.



Many thanks to "Muscle Man" my son Austin for helping gather the bodies. I could not have done it without him!!



WOW! Amazing what 1/2 an hour with a torch can do...



This will be the main cab for the build.



Don't worry. The roof and back of the cab are headed for the scrap heap.



This gem still had a decent grill and headlight rings due to them being hidden.



Rolling it over... "IT WAS TRYING TO GET ME!!!!"





Found a '59 Impala with...my 1st choice for a motor. It will be a different truck, so it needs a different motor...



Yup.. a 348 Chevy!



Thank goodness for friends!! That is a heavy car. Kicked my butt for two days while I fought to get it up out of the dirt and on the trailer.





This is a long bed frame. Perfect for the stretch and a short bed box.



Cut apart for the 10" stretch.



All diced up for the new beginning.



The two cabs meet...

[alaska gasser]

Here is the panel i got. It was sold to the Turnagain Childrens Home in 1954 as a used vehicle and I have that used title. The names off the sides have been cut off and will hang in my shop.





New cab mounted. Roof and back of the cab skins removed.



Back of the cab mounted 10" back.



Doors back on to check fit.



The back window marked out for the 4 1/2 inch chop.



I had to empty my cabinets on the back wall of the shop and move them so the water can be hooked up in the hotrod bathroom my wife has been working on. Progress was on hold until the magazines, etc. were off the truck and back where they belong.

I was too impatient, so everything was moved off the truck and back enough to continue working.

The windshield and door frames were removed.



The hinge pillars are almost identical to the latch pillars. In preparation for the suicide doors, an extra set of hinge pillars have been relocated. The driver's side to the passenger side and vice versa. Later, the door skins will be cut off 3/4 of an inch into the door jamb portion of the door shell. The inside portion of the drivers door (containing the hinge mounts etc.) will be swapped to the passenger side and vice versa. You then weld these inner sections of the door shell back onto the outer skins and you have suicide doors in about 3 hours. The inner portions of the door shell are only about a 1/4 inch different from side to side. It's an easy adjustment.



Sorry it's sideways. Everytime I loaded it onto photo bucket it did that.



Time to remove everything above the belt line!!



Before....



After the use of a saw blade 4 1/2 inches wide.



Here's a before shot of the windshield.



And after hitting it with an axe 6 1/2 times.



The window sections of the door frames were layed forward a few inches. Due to this new angle, the upper section of the back of the cab looked wrong standing straight up. This section was cut off at the body line and tipped down at the leading edge where the new quarter window will be to match the angle of the door. I forgot to get a photo before cutting it off.





Here are a few shots to show how much the door frame has changed.







Hung the nose to get a better over all view. It's starting to have the attitude I was looking for.







I sold the power glide transmission off the 348 for parts and am going with a turbo 350.



When I separated it from the motor, I found one of the torque converter bolts was missing. Here is a shot of where it was supposed to be.



Once separated, the flywheel showed signs of similar issues from a prior instance.




I'll bet it had a serious vibration!


To create some extra floor space, we dropped the 348 under the hood.

[alaska gasser]

The filler piece between the door and back of the cab was installed. Then the top of the door was tacked together to help figure out the angles on the new 1/4 window.









The filler piece from the door to back of the cab is in on the driver's side and the 1/4 window is also. This is a good indication of the new angle of the roof and chop.



I cut the inner half of both doors and tacked the drivers side onto the passenger outer shell.



A suicide door.



To make some floor space, I threw the roof off the panel on for a look. I've heard of a large sunvisor / brow, but this may be a little too much.



This is the back half...



Here is the front half. It has too much lift, so the back half will be used.



The stock cab corner is coming in 1" too far on the 1/4 window.





I decided the easiest fix would be to use the corners from another cab and only have one weld all the way around.



I was able to get the corners sandblasted and cut to fit.





Once they are tacked in enough, the roof panel will receive the final trim and it will go on for the last time.



The roof skin is welded on, but still needs some final grinding and hammering.



I found this on EBAY and I think it fits this build to a "T"....



I swapped a buddy for the dash out of this '58 he is stripping. This is a page from the scrap book Jackie is doing of the build.





Initial mock up.





I'm going with this flamed gauge cluster. The eyebrow is about 2" narrower than I need.





Remember...when using a plasma cutter.....it is not wise to use a glove with a hole in it. I should not have to be reminded of that!!!



The dash was narrowed and pancaked 1" each way.



The cluster looks like it grew there.



Once the doors are final adjusted, the ends of the dash will be cut off and welded onto them.



Here are some of the Christmas goodies. Gotta love the looks of a "W" motor!!



Cut the "A" pillars open and welded in brackets before adding more supports to the "B" pillar for the stretch. It was great being able to take out all the added cross bracing from the jambs, etc. and being able to move around in the cab again.





Put a couple of the interior panels back in



The door as last seen.



After sitting, staring, figuring, denial......decided I screwed up and had to undo the top part of the inner door swap. I'm going to try and use the stock locations for the door handle and window crank.





Finally got the 1st bear claw latch installed.





Started tearing into the front corners of the cab....lots of rot!!!







Got a few of the patch panels in from Classic Parts.



The new cowl vent from hillbilly willy.



Decided to find the hood I plan to use. Fortunately I remembered about where I left it.





Patch panels are in on the right / front corner as well as the firewall.



The left front corner is in as well as the driver's door is swinging and latching.



The floor and bracing are in.



Since the cab is one solid piece again. I was able to pick the frame up (since there is no suspension front or rear yet) and move it out of the corner it was in. This allowed me to put the rear fenders on and figure out how much the box has to change length wise to match up with the cab and the rear suspension.

Here is a quick mock up.





That's it for now.

[Pop's C-10]

wow..this is a killer build sofar

[dubie]

holy crap, what an aggressive looking truck. Nice fab work !!!

[_Ogre]

ambitious build, to quote dubie '' holy crap''
nice save, too bad the other 200+ were crushed

[DieselRat]

WOW! Very nice work. That all came together really nicely. I dont really like the look of chopped AD's, makes the nose look so bit, but with the extended cab it all comes together very well. Got any pics of how the bed is mounted to the frame?

Keep on keeping on!

[xpickup]

alaska gasser, I like the way you did the extended cab, that was slick. It is a shame about all the cars/trucks that got scrapped. At least you got to use some for your build. Good job.


Shannon

[arturo7]

Wow

[alaska gasser]

DieselRat--My bed will be mounted in the stock position using the stock crossmembers. I moved the rearend back about 1 1/2 inches using offset saddles and it centers up nicely in the wheelwells.

Originally Posted by dubie

holy crap, what an aggressive looking truck. Nice fab work !!!

Thanks for the thumbs up guys. About 18 years ago, I saw a picture of this style truck that had an angle chop and really liked the aggressive attitude it had over ones with a flat chop. I decided to build an extended cab for something different and for comfort. I have a pro street 1/4 ton Thames panel...



and my wife has a pro street Anglia...

[IMG][/IMG]



anyone that has ridden in either knows there isn't much leg room. We decided it was time for a comfortable long distance cruiser so when I had the opportunity to pick up all the parts trucks and car for a "reasonable price", I jumped on it.

The sad thing about all the rest of the cars that were crushed is that most were complete down to the hub caps and they went to the crusher for $50 a piece. Anyone in off the street, the price was $300-$2,000. If the last 150 don't sell for those prices this year, they are headed to the scrapper as well.

[Russell Ashley]

Wow, nice build. I'm not usually a fan of chopped ADs but this one looks right.

That 59 Chevy with the 348 engine was rare. Most four door cars were family cars and had a 283. If that one got crushed I hope someone got the dash out of it.

Nice Anglias. I bet that short wheelbase makes those get exciting sometimes.

[Elder Rogue]

Don't see that much here in Texas

[chevyboy73]

wow great work, what happened to the panel? did you cut it up for scrap? i'm not a big fan of chop tops but this looks killer!

[Bubba54]

alaska gasser, That is some real nice rides you have there. Build is looking great, and nice save on the early iron.

Good luck with the build.

Shawn

[hyatt]

I need the window trim from your suburban if they are good and for sale

[Trekster]

Nice fab work. I like the 348. Keep us posted on your progress.

[alaska gasser]

Originally Posted by chevyboy73

wow great work, what happened to the panel? did you cut it up for scrap?

It was extemely rusty. I kept what I needed and a couple friends kept parts for their panels. There are a few parts still lying around.

hyatt--The window trim has been sold.

Russell Ashley-- The '59 was sold to another guy for parts.There was no floor pan left as I was told it sunk into the ground about 30+ years ago. He is going to save the dash, etc.

The short wheelbases can definitely be a handfull under power...but fun too.

Treckster-- I went with the 348 for something different. It will basically be a stock rebuild with a thumping cam. I've had / got my high horsepower motors and am looking for miles per gallon this time around rather than fast and gallons per mile.

[davecarney2]

Breathtaking!!! Just awesome!!
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[Ferrofil]

Very cool build, nice proportions! Keep posting please!
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[youngrodder]

I talked to Eugene yesterday on the phone. What a great guy.
Thank you for your help, I appreciate it.

Marc

[sqrlnts]

In for the show! You have some great vision, patience and metal skills. Thanks for sharing! I will not try to buy anything from you as I have not seen any 57 parts that I need.......

Bunch of vultures around here! Hahahaha

love it, keep up the great work.

[alaska gasser]

Pulled the nose off to install the Mustang 2. The new sunvisor came in, so temp. mounted it to check the look and see if we like it. It is definitely staying.

[youngrodder]

Looks good..

Marc

[Get Down]

Holy crap! Talk about being aggressive and ambitious there is no fear in you my friend! A build like that could scare most people. Looking really slick. Which HEIDTS IFS set up did you purchase off e-bay if you don't mind me asking? Will you be posting more pics of the rear end and the front end as you move along? Can't wait to see more of your work.

[alaska gasser]

Get Down- I picked up the Heidts with the stock A arms instead of the tubuler since it will be so low you can't see them and the stock ones were cheaper. My frame is a stock 3/4 ton, so it is 6" narrower at the rearend than a 1/2 ton frame. I was going to move the springs and use 32" Mickey Thompson tires, but I like the handling of radial tires better. Thus the rear suspension is stock with an S10 rearend mounted above the springs. I'm installing the Heidts right now and will get pics. of the front and rear susp. after I can move the truck.