the roof is back together finally!!!

finally, the roof is one piece again. now i can move this thing around again without it coming out of alignment. it looks great and i'm totally satisfied with how it turned out. gonna finish welding on it this week, but for now, bask in the glory!!!

on to the drivers side today

i moved from the passenger side, to the drivers side today. i did this side a little differently. i removed the grafted section that i cut out of the rusty red cab because i didn't like how it looked after it had been welded in place. i fabbed up the entire patch. inner bracing and outer skin from some 14 gauge flat sheet. it is thicker, but stronger. i just have to fill in the center gap and final weld the seams. i should finish the roof tomorrow. thats it for today.

stitching up the top...

i started stitching my way across the top of the cab. this part is really frustrating, trying to make the bridge piece even with the front and rear sections. the panels want to move with each strike of the mig. i dont have a bunch of high dollar vise grip long reach clamps, so i have to keep the panels even as i go up. this part is taking a lot of time, but it is going to be done correctly and i feel good about how it has gone so far. i cant wait to get it stitched up all the way across and begin on the doors. then i can move the truck around without fear of the truck coming out of alignment. thats it for tonite, mike in k.c.

more rust repair

the jambs on this cab are pretty bad. turns out the drip rail was the reason for rust in these areas. the tops skin rusted where the water was channeled, separating the top skin from the jamb inner supports. i cut a section of 20 gauge sheel steel, bent it in the shape of the opening, and welded it in place. i did the passenger side saturday, and worked on the drivers side today a little. i patched in a connecting piece today on the drivers side which bridged the gap created when the two halves of the roof were separated. that little step alone, really did a good job of keeping the cab from moving around on the stands. when you cut the top off of a car or truck like this, you really do have to brace everywhere or it will move around like a plate of jell-o!!! thats it for today, mike in k.c.

goodbye 69 dodge monaco, hello 71 adventurer!

saturday i recieved a parts donor truck for the 39. it's a 71 dodge 1/2 ton adventurer. 383, 4 speed. everything is still there. the motor, tranny, pedals, bellhousing, driveshaft(s). the rear leafs are still under it too. the entire front suspension with the 5 on 4.5 bolt pattern drums is there as well...score!!!!!!!! the body is toast and sunday i started removing the unwanted body panels to get to the good stuff! i kept the hood and the hinges. i scrapped the fenders, passenger door, the bed and tomorrow the rest of the cab is going away too. i am going to use the frame in some way, either in whole form or sections for the 39. i think i can use the entire frame if i do my math correctly. this truck also has 5, 16" steely rims in very good shape that are definately going on the 39. this truck brings me so much closer to gathering everything i need for the project. i have a 383 big block, a 4 speed with granny first, an 8-3/4" rearend from a 66 plymouth, the front suspension, and wheels. i still need the rear suspension parts though, such as either a 4 link and coil-overs, or the single leaf/track bars setup. i'm pretty sure that one of the 58 dodge 3/4 ton leafs from the straight axle parts i bought last weekend, will work in the rear and the other will work in the front for the "suicide" frontend i'm going for. here is the hack and trash pics from over the weekend and tonite. NOTE: the sheetmetal parts i trashed are too far gone to have done anyone any good, so you hardcore mopar guys out there like me, dont fret, i didn't trash anything usable. a previous owner must have hauled salt in the bed, the whole bottom all the way across was rusted away and the bed sides were wasted as well. plus there are a couple of small sheets of plywood in the floor of the cab where the metal floors used to be, nothing usable in their fellas. thats it for tonite folks, not much glamour goin' down tonite! later, mike in k.c.

re-assembly begins...

i began to put the chopped sections of the cab back together tonite. the cab corners lined up near perfectly. i just tacked the rear corners but the a-pillars are where they are going to be permanently. the outer skin is perfect all the way around. just a little tack here and there, a little filler, and this is gonna be spot-on!!! the doors are going to be a little tougher i think. i set the door frames in place and it looks like i have a lot of grinding and fitting to do, but no problem overall. thats it for now.

score dude!

my latest craigslist score! man, i love craigslist! this is a 1958 dodge d200 straight axle. to look at it one might think it's off of a 1 ton, but i'll check into it that little later. either way, this is my front suspension. almost certain now that this will be a fenderless truck. that was my original goal anyway. gonna check to see if the leafspring center mount has equal length from to each eye. if so, i'll just use one stack and mount it transversely and build a "ford" type single stack leaf and hairpin unit. this gets me a lot closer to having a rolling chassis. i'm reassembling the cab sections and doors this week so i can at least get it on my dolly and move it around when needed. man, i am stoaked! the wheels on this frontend i'm not sure about. they are cool, but they are massive and the tires are monsters! the rims are 17.5". not exactly the size most folks have laying around the garage. i have to look into tire availability, and also will look into rearends with the same bolt pattern. my to-do list just got a little bigger! that's it for now, mike in k.c.

not much on the truck front today!

all i did today was split the top sections of the door frames in half today. this step allows the two sections to rest on the lower door posts, just as the roof was sectioned to eventually rejoin with the lower posts. i also prepped all areas for welding. just some basic grinding to give the weld surfaces a clean, uncomtaminated metal to penetrate. that's all folks!

did a little work today afterall!

i felt the truck calling me today after i decided to take today off and i guess i just broke down, went down stairs and cut the top across the top. this step was necessary to allow the upper front pillars to realign with the lower posts. pretty straight forward, i put my tape down where i wanted to cut, put the top on my saw horses, ran a couple of bungees from front to back on both sides to keep the halves from falling on the ground after the two halves were separated. that's all i did today. tip of the day: use 1/32" cut-off wheels instead of 1/16". 1/16" wheels take a lot longer to make the same cut if you were using 1/32" wheels. the 1/32" do not last as long, but it's worth it. also, the 1/32" does not get the metal as hot as the 1/16" wheels. just an fyi. i will cut the upper door window frames this week sometime. that's it for today! gonna go workout, do my daily walk, then watch, "the next food network star" on food network. it's the finale tonite. later, mike in k.c.

cut the doors down today

i cut the doors down today and i removed the windshield frame from the hinges. the door cut down was pretty straight forward. go slow, always be aware of the angle that your blade is it thru the whole piece you are cutting. the blade tends to jam up during the process. they turned out very good and i'm happy with all but one cut, but i can make it work. really it's just slightly off, no biggie! the windshield frame was a bitch! there are 3 small flathead screws on each side of the outside of the frame that hold the frame to the hinges. i used a center punch in the center of each screw to locate a point to drill a starter hole. then i used a 1/4" drill to get the rest of the head out of the hole. i did not drill any deeper than i had to for the head to just fall out and then the frame falls away from the hinges. i could not do this while the top was still lying on the pillars, so i pulled the whole top off and laid it upside down in the grass to drill them out. i also cut the doors down while the top was in the grass or it would have surely fallen from all the shaking created by the saw. i'm done for the weekend kids. have a great saturday and sunday. i'll update this week. mike in k.c.