1952 F-6 Build

[MercuryMac]

Hi Torchie,
You asked for opinions on the '41 front and I'm a generous guy so here goes, I'll give you one. I like it a lot. Don't pancake the hood if you don't have to. Maybe like Klink says, scrape out the silly putty and let the factory seam show. '42 to '47 Pu fenders might be the answer for the back, although they are even harder to find. You're doin' fine Torchie.
Keep on tinkering.

 

[Torchie]

Torchie, what's going on? Hope life hasn't gone off the rails or anything. Ou haven't posted for a month. Hope all is well.

I've been very distracted with repairing my beat up passenger door. I've been learning some hammer and dolly stuff. Kinda cool, but I must be a slow learner.

I just read your entire thread again. It's time for me to pull apart my restored interior, and weld in some cross bracing. Then on to a chop if all goes well.

Thanks for thinking of me. Life never goes off the rails gold03. Just the train you are riding in.
Dealing with lots of external issue's right now(as many of us have too) but that has not stopped me from picking up a few parts.
A set of really nice 41 front fenders are on their way from out west via Kentucky [S Also picked up a salvagable F-1 box thanks to a tip from icebox here on RRR. (Turns out I know the guy that had it)
Also grabbed as set of really decent rear F-1 fenders and a pair of running boards that are rough but for what I need useable.
So once the front fenders get here I should be set for the time being on sheetmetal.
The box and the rear fenders are from 2 different guys but both only a short drive from my house.[cl
Also looking at some other goodies that I will keep to myself for now untill I score them.
I will post some pics tomorrow of my stuff to keep this thread alive.

Hi Torchie,
You asked for opinions on the '41 front and I'm a generous guy so here goes, I'll give you one. I like it a lot. Don't pancake the hood if you don't have to. Maybe like Klink says, scrape out the silly putty and let the factory seam show. '42 to '47 Pu fenders might be the answer for the back, although they are even harder to find. You're doin' fine Torchie.
Keep on tinkering.

Thanks Mercury Mac for the encouragement.
I don't think that I will have to pancake the hood. Most likely a couple of pie cuts on the top to bring the sides in closer to the cowl. Still looking at using the rear edge of the F series hood and grafting it onto the 41 hood as well to take care of the shape difference.
So with the parts that I have gathered I am looking at using the 41 car front sheet metal most likely with the factory seams. The 52 F-6 cab. A 51-52 pickup box and Rear fenders and running boards.
If my artist daughter can find the time I may be able to post an "Artist Rendering" of this contraption.
Torchie.

 

[gold03]

Good to hear all is well. Sounds like you have had your nose to ground on a parts hunt.

 

[Torchie]

As promised here are some pics of the parts that I picked up for my build.
The guy that i got the fenders from had them chem-dipped 20 years ago. He then oiled them down,stored them and bought fiberglass. Should clean up nicely. pretty solid with small amount of the usual rust.

The box is complete but rusty. A few holes in the sides but we will see how it looks once cleaned up.

The running boards are rusted but the the edges are all solid.
The last pics are of 2 planes that formed the back drop for a Air Show dance that my big band played at last night. Just a little eye candy for you all...
Torchie.

 

[Torchie]

Pics of the box.....
Torchie.

 

[icebox]

Great to see you got the parts. Where was the air show? Any word on the tail gate?
icebox

 

[Torchie]

Air show was at Gaylord airport icebox.
The guy that had the box didn't really have as many extra parts as he said.(At least not where we were) Just some cabs and pieces from another box he let his son cut up to build a computer desk. He used a tailgate for that.
He says he still may have another but he has to look for it. If any thing comes thru I will let you know.
What else does your son need for his build? Let me know and I will keep my eyes peeled.
Torchie.

 

[Dirtyrat]

Everything looks pretty solid that you picked up, the flats of the running boards will be easy to repair, judging by the work you have shown us!

 

[Torchie]

Hard to believe that it has been way over a month since I have worked on the truck but some times that is the way life goes.
I got a good jump on the wooden boat that I am working on over the past few days so I decided that starting today I am going to get back on scheduel and do at least one thing a day to the truck project.
So for today I started to tackle the job of fitting the vent wing.
Pic 1. Shows the stock vent frame.
Pic 2. Shows how much it doesn't fit the current opening.
Pic 3. I dissasembled the inner frame(glass channel) from the outer frame( the frame that fits into the door top. I then cut the frame. The bottom of the inner frame fits back in with no modifacations.
Pic 4. Here I am using a carpenters square to determine the location of the end of the top of the inner frame. The end of the top of the frame and the end of the bottom of the frame have to be in line with each other.

 

[Torchie]

Now here is where things start to get fun...
Pic 1. Shows the difference in the curve between the the window opening and the top piece of the outer vent frame. The outer frame has to be bent to fit the opening.
Pic 2. This is the area that has to be bent. Best way that I could come up with was to use a vice and carefully bend the frame checking for fitment. Got to be careful as this is just channel that can be collapsed easily.
Pic 3. This is the outer frame reshaped and tack welded together. The looks of this frame are not crucial as it is mostly hidden inside the widow opening as well as by the rubber trim/weather strip. What is important though is the location of the upper pivot point for the vent glass.
Pic 4. The completed outer frame in the window opening with the bottom of the glass frame in place.
That's all for tonight folks. Tomorrow I will tackle the inner frame.
Torchie[

 

[icebox]

If you need more parts I think I have a right and a left vent window . In my extra parts .

 

[gold03]

That's coming along nicely. Thanks for the pictures.

 

[Torchie]

If you need more parts I think I have a right and a left vent window . In my extra parts .

Thanks icebox. I will keep that in mind in case I screw this up.

That's coming along nicely. Thanks for the pictures.

Watching you and all the rest of the people here on RRR gold03 have helped me to refocus on getting back to work on mine.
Torchie[

 

[Torchie]

As promised. Chopping a vent window the rest of the story.....

Pic1. With the outer frame set in place I took the time to get a better weld.
Pic 2. Removed the frame from the door and set the upper part of the inner frame in place. You can see the alignment issues. So my first thought was to bend the inner frame. Good luck with that. That steel is some Ford Tough stuff. Plus I didn't want to risk deforming the channel by heating it and trying to bend it.
Pic3. My solution was to make a series of cuts into the channel being careful NOT to cut all the way thru. The channel was still intact but now I can work it. Used my Canadian all purpose body dolly and body mounts ( apology's to gold03) hockey puck to form the new curve.
Pic 4. That's closer. Time to trim.
Torchie[

 

[Torchie]

Pic 1. Inner frame reshaped and trimmed. Ready for a little tack weld.
Pic 2. The outer and inner frame pieces that were removed. Pretty close match.
Pic 3. The entire vent window in place and screwed in at the bottom using the factory mounting hole.. If you look close you can see that I made some more relief cuts at the top of the inner frame past the pivit to get a better shape.
Pic 4. And it works.[cl
I am going to leave it as is for now in case I need to make some adjustments once I get the new rubber seal for it.
Once final fitment is done I will commence to welding and grinding up all the cuts. A dedious task that one has to be in the right mood to do.......
Torchie[

 

[Torchie]

Spent a little time this morning on one of the rear fenders I picked up.
These were chem dipped back inthe late 80's. Then oiled and stored away as the guy went with fiberglass. He said they needed more work than he wanted to do[S
I ran over the fender with a DA and now you can see all the low spots and dents and dings. Typical work vehicle stuff. Typical F-1 fender rust issues that I will deal with later.
Picked a couple of the bigger spots and got out the hammer and dolly's.
Not going for a perfect metal finish. Just looking to get them better.
A couple of before and after shots.
Torchie[

 

[gold03]

Nice info on the wing vents[cl

The fender cleaned up nice.

 

[MercuryMac]

Hi Torchie, I notice that you didn't stop at pretty good on those fenders. Nice job.
Keep on tinkering.

 

[Torchie]

Hi Torchie, I notice that you didn't stop at pretty good on those fenders. Nice job.
Keep on tinkering.

Old habits die hard MM. I started out working in body shops right after HS back in the mid 70's. The guys that taught me the trade had all been doing it for at least 20 years at that point so I learned lots of the "Old Ways". Now it's called"traditional". I just call it right.[

 

[Flipper_1938]

Rear portion of the fenders that attaches to the cowl have been cut off. Plus looking at the backside of the fenders reveals mucho rusto. I am in communication with some one that has a set. But if any one knows of any let me know.
Torchie[

Sounds like an excuse to vent the fenders "bonneville style"