Roger, you are totally right. either way the truck is mine and I need to do what I think is right for it and me. I really do agree with you about asking for opinions and asking how to do something. and Ghoul it was 2 1/4" front 2 1/2" back not 1/4" just FYI. Damn I had to go back and edit your name to Ghoul. Almost let everyone know your secret identity.
Real woody material
- Thread starter the ghoul
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that thing is gonna be sweet! 8)
like driven, I like the original dimesions, but I'm a tall guy, and need the headroom, but I gotta admit: that 2 1/4 chop would keep me awake at night until a decision was made! always been a fan of the f-1 trucks, whether original or severely modified.
like driven, I like the original dimesions, but I'm a tall guy, and need the headroom, but I gotta admit: that 2 1/4 chop would keep me awake at night until a decision was made! always been a fan of the f-1 trucks, whether original or severely modified.
Got a good bit done yesterday. I braced up the cab and rolled her on her nose. To start cutting out the floor
I'm all about trying to save as much real steel as possible but it looks like there were several poor attempts at patching the floors and there was a lot of mud on the cab corners so there really wasnt any good metal to weld to
This is what I pulled out of the floor
These are the bottoms of the front pan
So the floor was removed
So at this point there are two mounts at the base of the firewall so I shotebed them by 4" and removed the lower section of the cab that wraps around the frame rails.
Then I set it in place and re-assembled as much as I could. (Front still needs to be trimmed and come down a bit)
I am a bit worried about tire/fender interference but we won't really know on that till the wheels sho up that we will be using...
So the game plan is to get the cab sitting right where we want it and start fabricating a new floor using all the old floors brackets and mounts.
I'm all about trying to save as much real steel as possible but it looks like there were several poor attempts at patching the floors and there was a lot of mud on the cab corners so there really wasnt any good metal to weld to
This is what I pulled out of the floor
These are the bottoms of the front pan
So the floor was removed
So at this point there are two mounts at the base of the firewall so I shotebed them by 4" and removed the lower section of the cab that wraps around the frame rails.
Then I set it in place and re-assembled as much as I could. (Front still needs to be trimmed and come down a bit)
I am a bit worried about tire/fender interference but we won't really know on that till the wheels sho up that we will be using...
So the game plan is to get the cab sitting right where we want it and start fabricating a new floor using all the old floors brackets and mounts.
liquidh8
Comic Book Super Hero
Hey! Thanks man, long time no talk at!liquidh8 said:
Only had a few hours today so I pushed the truck out, and cleaned out the garage.
Found this gem in the post-floor carnage
I used the freed up space to lay out some card bored and make a template of the old floor
I then added about 2 inches to the back edge (as the cab bells out the higher you go) and cut the template with excess all around....
That's about as far as I got, I then pushed her back in and buttoned everything up for the night
Started the day by getting the cab off the truck, wheeling the frame outside and getting the cab *ss up in the air. Then knocked the corner re-enforcement brackes and lower firewall out.
It was at this point that I saw the true scope of metal work that has to happen. Apparently on all 4 corners and across the back of the cab some one filled this thing full of what my buddy Ryan calls "dumb-dumb" AKA bondo
It's a good thing I like metal work!
The first order of busness was fixing the lower hinge mounts. All 3 bolts broke off on one side and one snapped off on the other.
So I cut the inner door jamb and bent it back to allow the tapped plates to be slid out
Then mounted them back-side up in my vice and welded nuts to the protruding studs. I made sure to really pile on the weld to get them real hot!
As they cooled I frequently hit them with pennitrating oil till they were cool to the touch, then turned them out with a wrench
Ok, so it wasn't exactly that easy 2 came out no problem the other two the welds broke but it shocked it enough that they turned out easily with vice grips. This is a real handy trick for extricating broken bolts even if they are broken below the surface... If the welds brake just try it again.
Then it was just a matter of sliding the plates back in place, folding down the cut section of jamb and re-welding
It was at this point that I saw the true scope of metal work that has to happen. Apparently on all 4 corners and across the back of the cab some one filled this thing full of what my buddy Ryan calls "dumb-dumb" AKA bondo
It's a good thing I like metal work!
The first order of busness was fixing the lower hinge mounts. All 3 bolts broke off on one side and one snapped off on the other.
So I cut the inner door jamb and bent it back to allow the tapped plates to be slid out
Then mounted them back-side up in my vice and welded nuts to the protruding studs. I made sure to really pile on the weld to get them real hot!
As they cooled I frequently hit them with pennitrating oil till they were cool to the touch, then turned them out with a wrench
Ok, so it wasn't exactly that easy 2 came out no problem the other two the welds broke but it shocked it enough that they turned out easily with vice grips. This is a real handy trick for extricating broken bolts even if they are broken below the surface... If the welds brake just try it again.
Then it was just a matter of sliding the plates back in place, folding down the cut section of jamb and re-welding
Next issue was the cab corner supports. Because the cab is getting channeled 4" longer inner corner supports needed to be fabricated
So here you see the stock rusty rear corner support
Then with the support removed and some cheap insurance slobbered on (por15)
Then with a card bored template i cut some new corner plates using some 1/8" plate I had kicking around. I re-used the support topper for a more natural interrior look (if some one were to look behind the seats!
After all 4 corners were re-enforced I rolled the cab over and put it up on some simulated frame rails with a mockup transmission to start the floor work.
I then cut up the old floor to scavenge the cab mount, door brackets and both front and rear cross-bars/seat mounts
Removing the cab mounts and floor pan from the rear cross bar was less then fun, but atleast I made it out with only one blood blister
With those two pieces cut free and with my cardboard template cut out and fitted (trimmed where there was too much cardboard, added ductape where there was not enough)
I have the starts of a promicing floor template
I think this floor will have to be a minimum of 6 pieces...
So here you see the stock rusty rear corner support
Then with the support removed and some cheap insurance slobbered on (por15)
Then with a card bored template i cut some new corner plates using some 1/8" plate I had kicking around. I re-used the support topper for a more natural interrior look (if some one were to look behind the seats!
After all 4 corners were re-enforced I rolled the cab over and put it up on some simulated frame rails with a mockup transmission to start the floor work.
I then cut up the old floor to scavenge the cab mount, door brackets and both front and rear cross-bars/seat mounts
Removing the cab mounts and floor pan from the rear cross bar was less then fun, but atleast I made it out with only one blood blister
With those two pieces cut free and with my cardboard template cut out and fitted (trimmed where there was too much cardboard, added ductape where there was not enough)
I have the starts of a promicing floor template
I think this floor will have to be a minimum of 6 pieces...
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