1952 F-6 Build

[gold03]

"Read that as being a referee."

Families are all the same!

Glad your back.

 

[Torchie]

I'm not a great welder. But I am a great grinder....

Todays Effort...
Finally got back into the shop today so I decided to finish up the door top that I started before going down state for my WWF family smackdown.
Pic 1 shows the rest of the 1/8 rod tacked to the door top. Tack, Tack,Tack, ad- nauseum. Oh yeah. And Grind, Grind,Grind.....
Pic 2.Window frame/door top done.
Pic 3. Lets fix this nasty litttle misalignment.
Pic 4. More rod welded in.
Pic 5. Finished product.
Still need to do some final gap adjustment(Removing. Not adding.) but that will have to wait until tomorrow as I lost my balance and put my bare hand down on some freshly ground metal.
Thanks for looking in.
Torchie.

 

[Dirtyrat]

Looks like you are getting that gap adjusted just right, weld, grind ad nauseum yes yes...

I'm going to be in that boat with you very soon Torchie!

 

[Old Iron]

Thumbs up to ya Torchie [cl
It's all in the small details

 

[1952B3b23]

Lookin' good Torchie. Almost every time i go out and work in the shop i manage to find a freshly ground piece of steel to put my hand on, wakes me up real quick.

-Chris

 

[Torchie]

Meager progress....

But progress none the less.
Had some help last night so we did some adjustment to the cab and front clip.
Raised the back of the cab 1/2". Not a lot I know, but it made the bottom of the cab more level.
The front clip was also tilted to one side. Measurement from axle to top of wheel opening was off by a 1/2" with the passenger side being high.
As per a discussion in the Q&A section about hanging Ford front sheetmetal. These fat fendered vehicles can be a PITA to get lined up. And without the needed radiator in place to help, I just made a simple brace to shore up the low side. Now all is good and level from side to side.
This morning I filled the gas filler hole and rewelded the inner PS door that I recut to change the angle.(That's too much re-ing).
Looking at the filler hole you will see a burn thru at about 7:30.
Oh well. Whats one more hole.
That's it for now.
Thanks for looking in.
Torchie.

 

[Torchie]

More of the boring stuff....

My eyes have been too wonky to weld for the past couple of days. But in keeping with my promise to my self of working on this project everyday(regardless of how little). Here's todays effort.
Stripped down the PS door.
Off to the eye Dr's on Monday for my 6-8 week injections.
Thanks for looking in.
Torchie.

 

[Old Iron]

Yes sir, might fine, mighty fine [cl

 

[Torchie]

No progress due to the cold. But I did some internet research and came up with some interesting stuff.
I mentioned that my build was inspired by the Jack Rushton built 1941 Ford custom pickup.
I have never seen the entire 1957 Rod and Custom article on the truck, but today I saw it.
Turns out that he used a cut down 2dr sedan and added a pickup box to it.
I always thought that it was a 1941 truck cab with the 41 car front clip added.
If I had been able to go this route it would have eliminated all the cutting and fitting of the Hood/front fenders, but would have entailed grafting a pickup cab rear section to the car roof and floor to create a truck cab.
So I suppose that the amount of work would have been about the same.LOL
Intersting what you can find on the "Net".
Thanks for looking in and stay warm.
Torchie.

 

[jmlcolorado]

Ya gotta be careful with that Internet research stuff!!!!!
My "simple" 1 year build has morphed into a complicated, never ending build mostly because of that darn Internet and all the neat stuff I find that I want to incorporate into my project

 

[1952B3b23]

I find my self burning up hours doing research for my truck on the old inter web but i look at it as mild progress. Its a good thing to do on those real cold New England days.

Any chance you could post the link to the '57 issue of Rod and Custom?

-Chris

 

[Torchie]

Chris.
Here is a pic. Hope you can read this.
I have started to post some custom stuff on Rik Hovings Custom Car Chronicle site and he posted a scan of the article.
I have been looking at buying a copy of the mag on e-bay but hadn't pulled the trigger yet.
It is from Feb. 1957. One month before I was born.
Torchie.

 

[05snopro440]

No progress due to the cold. But I did some internet research and came up with some interesting stuff.
I mentioned that my build was inspired by the Jack Rushton built 1941 Ford custom pickup.
I have never seen the entire 1957 Rod and Custom article on the truck, but today I saw it.
Turns out that he used a cut down 2dr sedan and added a pickup box to it.
I always thought that it was a 1941 truck cab with the 41 car front clip added.
If I had been able to go this route it would have eliminated all the cutting and fitting of the Hood/front fenders, but would have entailed grafting a pickup cab rear section to the car roof and floor to create a truck cab.
So I suppose that the amount of work would have been about the same.LOL
Intersting what you can find on the "Net".
Thanks for looking in and stay warm.
Torchie.

I think yours looks a lot better, actually. Just the proportions in the cab, the windshield angle and door and window shape look like they flow together better on yours rather than using the car body. The bed on your inspiration looks longer too, and it just doesn't look right to me.

How about an actual side-by-side:

Congrats on improving on your inspiration!

 

[Torchie]

I think yours looks a lot better, actually. Just the proportions in the cab, the windshield angle and door and window shape look like they flow together better on yours rather than using the car body. The bed on your inspiration looks longer too, and it just doesn't look right to me.

How about an actual side-by-side:

Congrats on improving on your inspiration!

Thanks snopro.
Not sure on the bed length. But I did move my rear fenders forward a bit..
The interesting thing about the old books is that many times they were full of wrong info in regards to a custom. Including getting the amount of chop and channeling wrong as well as parts used.
The more I look at the original the more I can see the car in it. Especialy in the slant of the windshield posts. The cars were laid back more than the trucks. I thought that perhaps this was a result of the chop they did on it. Laying the posts back instead of extending the roof.

The other point that I question is the rear fenders. They claim that the sedan ones were used and widened to fit the bed/truck theme. They sure look like stock F-series rears to me with the gas filler cover added. Although the wheel opening arch does appear slightly different than stock.
If they were indeed the sedan rears there was a huge amount of fabs/mods done to them.
See the pics below for comparisons.
1st Pic. Stock 41 car.
2nd Pic. Stock F-series.
3rd pic. Rushton Truck.
4th pic. Better view of a stock rear fender.

Thanks for looking in.
Torchie.

 

[Bamamav]

Torchie, i think you're right, It looks like a F fender to me, with a 41 gas door grafted in.

 

[MercuryMac]

I agree with you Torchie and Bam, it looks like a truck fender to me.
I also agree with Snopro in that your truck looks better proportioned than the inspirational one. The upper back of the cab, out at the corners, is nicer on yours too, maybe because it's a little more rounded like a truck. Anyway, your truck is number one and that earlier one is number two.
Keep on tinkering.

 

[gold03]

It would be interesting to see the stock car fenders on the side of the truck box. Tail dragger style, or just real low all around.

Your right about the fenders. Why would a guy go to all the trouble of building truck fenders from the car fenders?

I agree with the guys on the proportions of your truck looking better than your inspiration truck, specifically the cab.

 

[smallfoot]

For matching the looks of your inspiration truck, you sure did a helluva job for attacking the build a different way. I'm with everybody else. Yours looks best!

 

[Torchie]

Thanks for all the positive response's gang....

But since it was -24 this morning and has now risen to a balmy -6, I don't think that shop time is in the plans for today.
Being able to post this stuff and getting your response's helps to keep my head in the game.
Thanks for looking in.
Torchie.

 

[1952B3b23]

Thanks for posting the article Torch. I need to blow it up so i can try and read the words haha. I agree with the rest of the folks though, i like yours better.

Dang -24!! If it was that cold here in MA id move.

-Chris