50s Ford F1 Build

truck looks great! latchesseem simple enough, think i'll get myself a pair. good job[dr

Let the chop begin!!!

Took 5" out, have some minor trimming to do to get the roof to sit down due to the sawzall cut on the B pillar, but its all damn close! I have been waiting for this day for a long time, best part of the project so far. If you are ever on the fence on how much to cut out, take one more inch than you think =) (Was thinking 4" chop, went 5")

Thanks to my cousin Mike for some help today inside the cab, and helping get the roof off.

More progress on the chop

At first it was a little difficult to get things lined up, and support the roof, etc. But I think I sorted it out fairly decently tonight, and started tacking in the pass side rear.

I did notice that at a 5" chop, and the vertical relief cut next to the rear window that goes almost all the way up to the body seam, it allows you to work the roof portion of the corner radius to match the lower portion without pie cuts or relief cuts.

I thought for sure after using a contour gauge on the two radii, I would be adding relief cuts, but I'm thinking it looks pretty good without. Not super happy with some of the gaps, but I think it will work. And I decided to move the rear window up 1.5" after the initial chop, so all the windows are more in line with one another.

Also decided that I will tack weld in the strip between the roof halfs prior to splitting the roof side to side.

Thoughts?

Keep going. Looking good. [cl

I keep watching your build so I get a few pointers.[P

A few years ago I sold my 1951 dodge truck (M-37) today I was making contact to purchase a cab for spare metal for my 49 Ford chop. It turned out to be the same guy who bought my old 51 Dodge. Looking forward to starting the truck project as soon as the snow backs off a little here. Its all bare metal and I don't want to haul it home in the salt.

Gold03

The chop looks good. I like that you kept the rear window original size. Now the fun begins...

Some more progress, tack welded in both sides, and the rear window

Its getting there, seems slow now, but once I get all the panels fit, and tacked in, it will start going faster when I can get the front half split, and moved forward.

No progress after this til thursday night, as I have a weld job to do for my cousin tomorrow, tubs on his truck...

Pics of the tubs, and the rear of my cab all tacked together

Finally back on the 49 after a day off from it....

Also, Summit wheel tub kits are VERY light weight, maybe a little too thin for my liking...

Zoooom

Man, you're movin fast! Good job, too.[cl

Lynn

Nice work, keep it up!![cl[cl

Whole lota cutting going on

Looks to be lining up good.

Thanks for the kind words, I'm enjoying this chop for sure!

I'm pretty happy with it, however I do find it strange on the upper portion of the chop, at the top corners, when moved out, the transition back into the flat center portion is more abrupt than at the bottom, I wish I would have looked at the cab prior to cutting it to see how it was. I'm sure the cut itself lends to quite a bit of spring back in the face due to the stress when they originally formed the panel.

It's not bad or anything, I just never noticed it before I cut it, heh... It will be good enough for the rat, so I'm not worried.

Anyhow, probably no more real progress until monday or tuesday night, gonna spend some quality time with the little one, and my gf.

One other thing of note, I sold my Explorer axle last weekend.

So, I have lined up a '12 mustang take off axle, with brakes (just need pads), springs, the center control arm, and I'm trying to get the stock sway bar as well. I'll fab the lower control arms, and the panhard bar...

Even though the gear ratio is not what I want, that can be changed, and a zero mile rear end sounds like a winner for the price I paid... the old axle would have cost me more to use, needed calipers, pads, new axle seals, etc....

The other benefit is that the axle is about 6" wider, so if I end up with a truck bed in the back, it wont have to be cut down as far, if at all. But right now, I'm really hooked on the Rat that was on the cover of Hot Rod mag in february... I'm not sure I could make it look nearly as cool as that, with a bit wider axle, but maybe.... suppose I could always have the rear end narrowed if I had to....

Well, I made a decision today to buy a donor car shell, I'll save the pics for when I get it home, probably next weekend. Headed into a custom rear for the rat. This means the F1 truck box sides, front, and tailgate are available for anyone who would like them.

This project is about to get interesting, thats for certain.... Adding some wings to the rat....

sneak peak

This is a similar condition car of the shell I am picking up.
I'm getting the complete body shell (2door), rear bumper, decklid, taillight housings (I need lenses) and I'll probably try to piece together some rear quarter trim...

More progress, split the roof.

Good news: Picked up a '12 stang axle take off yesterday (CHEAP), just need brake pads.
Bad news: my weld wheels don't clear the brakes, so thats an issue I need to sort out, or find some used wheels that are 16" and at least 14" wide...

Tonight: tacked some of the rear roof skin for some strength, split the roof, and started lining up the passenger side, looks like it won't be too bad to get back together, just seems like I never have enough clamps to hold it all in place...

A broom handle, and a 2x2 works well to prop up the roof here and there.

Anyhow, on to the pics.

If there is one thing I've learned over the year...

it's that you can never have enough clamps, pieces of board, sections of pipe, vise grips, welding clamps and hands....as many as you might have, you find you need more....nice score on the axle....too bad about the wheels....any way to use a spacer or something to avoid buying new wheels....I've got a dozen or so 16 and 17" ford interceptor wheels, 5x41/2 lying around...could have them widened.... to 14"...aren't chrome...

I found a shop that makes smooth wheels 15x14, I'm going to talk to them a bit on dimensions, and see about verifying they will clear. (http://www.earlywheel.com/smoothcenter.html)

in all likelyhood, I'll be selling off the weld wheels, but I'll use them for mockup, and I was going to run them til I could afford something that was more suited for a rat rod.

I like using heavy pieces of steel and angle iron to clamp to, man does that make a difference on lining up everything and keeping things aligned... Also harbor freight has some awesome slider clamps in 18" length that are only about $5 a piece... I need more C-clamps though at the moment...

Have you checked out www.petepaulsen.com? They have alot of the same thing plug you can choose your back spacing in 1/4" incriments

LUCKY DEVIL 13 said:

Have you checked out www.petepaulsen.com? They have alot of the same thing plug you can choose your back spacing in 1/4" incriments

Click to expand...

Thanks for the link I will check them out too, I'm having some issues getting accurate info from the wheel company as to where the radius(from the wheel center to the rim) is in relation to the mounting surface so I can verify clearance... I'll be calling them tomorrow if I don't get some clarification....

Well no luck with the wheel company I tried, I will try some of the other ones soon.
I also went and verified a caliper bracket from a 2004 mustang, and its taller than my caliper bracket which I was hoping it was shorter so I could move the caliper inboard, and lathe off the outside of the rotor... oh well, I'll figure out something I guess...

Also picked up the 57 Pontiac, I will get some pics tomorrow night, while I'm finishing up tacking the roof together...

Sgtpontiac, any idea what it costs to have those widened? I never priced it... I have to find tires that will work too if I go to a 16" or 17" wheel, tires that are 18" wide are not easy to get... 16 probably easier than 17...