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Cab Extension - Page 3
To stop water and dust getting into the channels on the new floor pan I used some seam sealer.
The raw steel parts started rusting in the shop. I'm thinking the swamp coolers are the culprit. To stop the surface rust I sprayed on some pain.
Using a hole punch to create the rounded corners of the fuel tank access panel.
The access panel isn't very big since the cross supports are close by.
For body material I picked up two doors from the junk yard. It was half price day, so I scored two doors for $75 bucks! I measured the gap, added 2 inches for a buffer then cut chunks out of the doors
Dry fitting the new body material. Once lined up, I marked where the cuts needed to be exactly.
I trimmed of the extra material on one side and ground the edges of the other.
Perfect fit!
I used the excess trimmed off for backing on the edges of each seam. Same routine as the bed shortening.
New side panel clamped into place.
To avoid any warping I slowly weld small spots a few inches apart. After cooling a bit I run a few more spot welds. I repeat this quite a few times before the panel is fully welded. Then I repeat everything on the driver side.
Missed this photo. Its before the side panels were fitted. I aligned everything onto the new body mounts and welded the floor to the remaining cab parts.
Angle shot of the passenger side. Thats as strait as I can make it.
Killing time while waiting for the metal to cool. Maybe just a bit to much time.
Driver side panel installed same as the passenger.
Removing the fuel filler off the old bed side.
Tracing the shape onto construction paper.
On the front side I press the construction paper into the groves. I cut the piece a bit crooked so I used the ridge to find a level point to measure.
Using the pattern I align the ridge to the body line and trace the edges.
Then I cut.
Working slightly different from the body panels, I wedge pieces into the edges of the filler backing.
I clamp into place and check the alignment.
Now I weld in the same fashion as the body panels. The filler isn't in the best location, but there would of been a lot more work to move the whole thing. My fuel tank won't move back anymore due to the axle. So I have to work with what I have.
Onto the roof... Since I'll be creating a completely new roof section I'll need to meet the stock curve. To accomplish this I start with some scrap 3/4 inch plywood. I then measure the front section of the roof's curvature. From the measurements I create and ark on the plywood. Then I rough cut with a bandsaw and clean up with a belt sander.
Now I create a wooden frame to hold the arc molds in place and at the right height.
Verifying the two pieces are the correct height I place a strait metal bar across the gap.
Next I cut a piece of 20 gauge steel to fit into the gap. I cut 2 inches longer than I need to rough fit everything and slide it under the current roof sections
The roof is marked then cut to fit. As you can see from the additional line I messed up, luckily I caught it before I started to cut. Measure twice, cut once!!!
More of the same overlapping backing to weld on.
Roof welded into place. Since there is a lot of room for warping, I'll be taking a day or two to weld this up. I start by running spot welds a few inches apart. Over time I will continue to spot weld between the other welds until its fully welded.
While between welding the roof, I start to get ready to work on the wheel well of the cab.
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