Thread: Lethal Weapon, Project A-Bucket

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Originally Posted by 34_40

All very good points! I agree that the lower panels will change the view, but as it sits right now? I like your vision!
There, I just grunted again! You do realize you may have created a monster right? LOL..

If I had any real idea how to spell it out the Tim Allen grunt would be here, ______________..............

Originally Posted by dlotraf33

If I had any real idea how to spell it out the Tim Allen grunt would be here, ______________..............

RRrrrrr, RRrrrrr, RRrrrrrr.... I've seen it this way before..

I like it. Nice job on the metal body too.

Originally Posted by stovens

I like it. Nice job on the metal body too.

Thanks. Some of this, mostly sheet metal work, is a first for me. So I have been mostly pleased with myself. There are a couple of F'd up spots, and they kinda bug me but I AIN'T telling where they are.............

Okay,you say you want honesty so here is my 2cents worth then you can shoot me. I like the side profile from the drivers side,the rear tailgate is all good,the grille is the correct height, but, yes now the but, the side door needs to be redesigned sadly. It would look better if it was deeper and I realize it is a big job to change now but I think it would be worth the extra time involved to get right. Oh yes we are all getting old and we do require all the help in getting in and out of our toys,so don't do away with the door altogether,but see if you can improve it a bit please.

My 2 cents worth, leave the tailgate the way it is and as Whiplash mentioned, drop the door down.

Originally Posted by Whiplash23T

Okay,you say you want honesty so here is my 2cents worth then you can shoot me. I like the side profile from the drivers side,the rear tailgate is all good,the grille is the correct height, but, yes now the but, the side door needs to be redesigned sadly. It would look better if it was deeper and I realize it is a big job to change now but I think it would be worth the extra time involved to get right. Oh yes we are all getting old and we do require all the help in getting in and out of our toys,so don't do away with the door altogether,but see if you can improve it a bit please.

It's not a question of what it would take to re-do the door, its function over form. The door at all is a compromise. The reason it doesnt go all the way down is I do not want to sacrifice the lower DOM side bar. Which is right about at bumper height. I realize it doesnt look the best with the partial door. Hopefully with tight door gaps and paint it won't look like a festering boil on the side.......... There probably is some other way to do it and get the strenth I want but I spent a couple months pondering this, and this was in my capabilities. So I will conceede it kinda looks wierd. I don't really like it, but I'll have to live with it. I just won't look at the passenger side................

And Whip, I appreciate the honesty. But if it wasn't a little ugly I wouldn't know it was mine.....

Tim allen grunts


http://youtu.be/BAhVmjptZMI
Wish there is an easy way to embed video, nothing seems to work?

Here is a great compilation of all of Tim's accidents on tool time(about 7 minutes worth) It had me in stitches, he did slapstick well!

Originally Posted by stovens

Here is a great compilation of all of Tim's accidents on tool time(about 7 minutes worth) It had me in stitches, he did slapstick well!

That was GREAT.................... Still makes me sick though when they drop that beam on that Nomad.

Okay I understand about the side intrusion bar for safety. What if you lowered the pipe bar down to almost floor level and used the curvature of it as the finishing sill/or rocker panel as you guys call them,then with a deeper door have a side intrusion bar across the middle of it at bumper height. With good hinges and anti burst proof bear-claw catch it would still give you the safety you require. I'm just thinking out loud here as even I laughed at your ugly comment.

Originally Posted by Whiplash23T

Okay I understand about the side intrusion bar for safety. What if you lowered the pipe bar down to almost floor level and used the curvature of it as the finishing sill/or rocker panel as you guys call them,then with a deeper door have a side intrusion bar across the middle of it at bumper height. With good hinges and anti burst proof bear-claw catch it would still give you the safety you require. I'm just thinking out loud here as even I laughed at your ugly comment.

Yeah I thought of that. If I had a tube bender there might be some different things I'd do. But I'm still thinking it over. The door does have an 1 5/8 DOM bar in the center, with upper and lower frame of door made from 1 1/2 .120 wall box. I'm not even sure the door on pass side period is going to make it that easy for me to get in. Got to put the column and shifter back in and try it out. It's gonna really piss me off if I went to that trouble and it ends up being useless to me. My Daughter on the other hand, well thats a different story...................... Well nothing is ever set in stone......................

Your nickname on the tailgate will make the ladies giggle, but it'll be a good confidence check.

If you dropped the bed so that the upper rolled side bead was visually at about the top of the tire, then it would look better, and the proportions of the planned skirt to the bedside height would work better.

To get the door to work/look better the only thing I can think of is to drop the skin down with a light supporting framework behind it. That way you can leave the inner member (nothing to do with the tailgate) at bumper height and still have a more pleasing visual when the door is closed.

Originally Posted by Bob Parmenter

Your nickname on the tailgate will make the ladies giggle, but it'll be a good confidence check.

If you dropped the bed so that the upper rolled side bead was visually at about the top of the tire, then it would look better, and the proportions of the planned skirt to the bedside height would work better.

To get the door to work/look better the only thing I can think of is to drop the skin down with a light supporting framework behind it. That way you can leave the inner member (nothing to do with the tailgate) at bumper height and still have a more pleasing visual when the door is closed.

Yeah Bob, I hadn't even thought of it in that particular way.................. Might be reason enough to toss it. As to the bed, again I'm torn. I wanted a somewhat functional bed. At present height I still loose 3" of bed height. Although I have considered redesigning the rear suspension so that I need less kick up.

I think if you didn't want to mess with the bed height, then you could change the look of the back of the cab with a couple of small raised roll bars behind each seat. Just a thought, but I think it would breakup the line of the tail gate and the back of the cab. Either way lowering the bed, or raising the cab a little will set it off better. I also like Bob's idea of extending the skin on the door, to cover the break in the side. On my 48 truck, they did something very similar, where the door goes all the way down the side on the outside, but is just a thin double wall going past the inner frame for the last few inches.