Thread: Can I Do It In 98 Days?????????

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I answered this under your $3000 T thread,

I wish i was closer don, i love deadlines, ive found the only time i get anything done is when a show is coming up, i get lazy until about a month before, then its all out trying to get the things i want done. You can do it! If i could make a few weekends down your way i know it could be done.

Thanks Ken and John. Glad to see you didn't get blown away in the Hurricane in Hawaii.

Stayed up til 3 am last night epoxy priming the front end parts for the Dodge. Got everything done but the main leaf to the spring. "Supposedly" I am going to be able to pick it up at 5 PM tonight from the spring shop, then I can prime it and start bolting the front end on for a trial fit.

It's 4:20, so I gotta go, but here are some pictures of the stuff I prepped last night.

Don

Well, just went to pick up the main leaf. Paid for it........$ 108.87 which is absolutely ridiculous since the whole spring only cost $ 45.00 new! But I need it done, so it is what it is.

Drove to the back to pick it up, and the new leaf looks just like the old one, EXACTLY !! It was the same length !! I told the guy it was supposed to be 3 inches shorter, and he said they told him to make it the same as the one I took in. I said a few choice words about how it was going to screw up my weekend, and he said he will bust his tail to get it done by noon tomorrow when they close.

I hope this isn't an indicator of how this whole project is going to go. Oh well, that's part of building a car, I guess.


Don

Don,

Don't you just HATE it when one part keeps you from working on 20 parts? Do you have buttons for this spring set to keep the paint from galling?

I really like the looks of this one. Unusual motor (for these days, that is), and a vehicle that doesn't get rodded all that often. A real traditional hot rod.

By the way, if you keep working this speed, you'll be back doin' the thing you love best - bodywork.

I have been waiting for you to get back on the old Dodge,,,I am at the same point with my 1941 Ford P/U and am currently just building the frame. I am waiting for the pictures of the doors getting done. Keep the pics coming,,,lookin' good

Thanks Jack and Truck. Yep, it's always something going wrong that screws you up on these things. If I had been smart I would have simply ordered a complete 26 inch spring from Speedway and beefed it up with some additional leaves from the 29 incher I have. That was the problem, the axle is set up for a traditional 26 inch spring like on T buckets, but I am using it under a heavier car and also have that 700 lb chunk of Olds sitting up there, so I needed 5 leaves instead of the 4 that come with the 26 inch one.

So it ends up costing me twice as much. Funny part is, I had these same people shorten the Model T spring on the rear of my '27 about 17 years ago, and the tab was $ 18.00 !!! Now that's inflation !

As for the doors Truck, I'll be sure to take lots of pictures when we start piecing them back into the new, smaller window opening. BTW, I like what your tag line says, "between 41-43, not sure". I call mine a '39, but the title reads '37. and I understand '39 to 47 are all the same, so who knows???


Just called the spring shop, new leaf is done. I told them not to paint it, so I hope they remembered. It just causes more work as I have to first strip their paint off and then reprime and paint it myself.


Don

Actually looking into it abit more I am thinking that my truck may be a 47,,,I got it in a junkyard/estate sale, from what I understand it was in there since the mid 60's and all I got was a cab and a rad piece from a 1939 International truck. So basically I am starting from nothing,,,good thing is I got it all for $40 bucks

What makes me think it is a 1947 is that it has wipers on both sides of the windshield,,,anything early to mid 40's just has a wiper on the drivers side

Originally Posted by TRUCKENSTEIN

What makes me think it is a 1947 is that it has wipers on both sides of the windshield,,,anything early to mid 40's just has a wiper on the drivers side

Ummmm, not true grasshopper. Here's a pic of my bone stock (well, except for those charming farmer style signal lights on the cowl sides) survivor '41 Plymouth (it was only 34 years old at the time). It had wipers on both sides.

Good point you have,,,,but with the Fords were there any before 1946-47 that had wipers on both sides, or any options of both side wipers, mine are down in the cowl,,,

did you get those doors cut yet Don?, seeing you working on your truck has given me new inspiration to get back on mine, Since I got the Chevy II out the Ford has been just sitting there looking at me. I was out in the garage tonight for about 5 hours getting the welding finished on the top and trying to pound some dents out of it

Ah.........my mistake.......the way you were talking with Pops it sounded like you had a mopar truck rather than Ford. Here's a pic of '41 1/2 ton p.u., both wipers. If memory serves correctly they had essentially the same cab from '38 to '47. The '38-9 had different belt line stamping, windshield, and the wipers over the windshield, from '40 they were in the cowl and the windshield didn't open anymore. The '40 also came with two wipers.

[QUOTE=TRUCKENSTEIN]

did you get those doors cut yet Don?, /QUOTE]


No, they are going to be done further into the build, lots of other stuff to do before we get to that stage . That part should be pretty straightforward though.

We put in a 17 hour day yesterday, didn't even stop to eat until we got home at 5 AM this morning, but boy did we make progress! At first when we got to the shop Dan wasn't real enthused about my idea of getting this thing done that fast. But after a while he started coming over and looking at it, and pretty soon he was offering suggestions of how we might do things, and before long he was knee deep in working on it with me.

While I was bolting the front end together he worked on building a bed. The front end went together with no surprises, and after about 4 or 5 hours I had it up on wheels. Still have to build some small spacers for the backing plates to spindles and do things like greasing the wheel bearings, but that is about it. Front shock mounts won't be too big a deal, and I will probably get those done today.

After I got that done I started helping Dan build the bed, and by the time we quit this morning we had the basic shape built in 1 x 2 tubing, and had skinned it with some sheet metal we bent and bead rolled. We made it slightly longer than the original plan, but I think it fits better.

We have decided on doing the truck as an early drag altered. We slipped the slicks and wheels off of my T on it, and liked that look, so it looks like Coker will be getting another call for another set of slicks.

Here are some pictures of where we ended up last night. I don't know how much I'll get done today, I can barely move.

Don

Man that is a nice looking project!!! Best of luck on the dead line. Hope you guys make it!!! I'm sure you will.

G.

Dan is a master at forming these beds . If he could slip in extra time he has a market im sure. We all can see this truck is rolling along allready Don . I think you'll hit the goal this time . Remember the you tube when you start it up for the first time .

Thanks G and Bobby. Yep, I was definitely happy when Dan decided to jump on board with this project.........if I built the box it would have been out of Masonite or something like that. There is also "talk" that he may cut up and give me the louvered tonneau cover he had done for his '29. He is going a little different direction with the RPU, and may not need it. He says is could be cut to fit this one. I love getting all his cast offs.

I think what swayed him was me telling him he could use this truck until his '29 is on the road. At least he can have something to go to some cruises and shows in until that happens, and I can't drive two cars so it works out fine.

Don