They are off a Mini Cooper. One of these days when it quits raining I will back it out and take some pictures. It has a mid engine and the bed and cab are on linear actuator to pivot out of the way for access to the motor.
Chopped 55 f100
- Thread starter Duke55
- Start date
They are off a Mini Cooper. One of these days when it quits raining I will back it out and take some pictures. It has a mid engine and the bed and cab are on linear actuator to pivot out of the way for access to the motor.
Joe69
Well-known member
That COE is awesome! You do great work.
Joe
Joe
BBChevro
Well-known member
I just finished reading through this thread from start to finish, I was soooo impressed by both the design and the execution of build.
There are so many things on this truck that I normally wouldn't like (louvres, big diameter wheels, exhaust stacks) - but on this truck, they all work - I just love it.
I was hooked by your first post in the thread about the history of the truck, and I am sure that your father (and your grandfather) would indeed be very proud of what you have achieved.
Mark
There are so many things on this truck that I normally wouldn't like (louvres, big diameter wheels, exhaust stacks) - but on this truck, they all work - I just love it.
I was hooked by your first post in the thread about the history of the truck, and I am sure that your father (and your grandfather) would indeed be very proud of what you have achieved.
Mark
Bullockornis
New member
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2014
- Messages
- 2
Love the aggressive stance!
dlcwent
Member Emeritus
Extremely impressive.
Bjmayberry2
New member
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2013
- Messages
- 1
Drewski 2 posted this on the FTE site so I dropped over to check it out. Very Nice
Love the story about family connections with old pics. I agree you do very nice work both your truck and the COE are attention grabbers! Sure wish I had some of your skills (and tools). What great talent!!!
Love the story about family connections with old pics. I agree you do very nice work both your truck and the COE are attention grabbers! Sure wish I had some of your skills (and tools). What great talent!!!
Thanks for all the great comments, it definitely feels good to have the truck back in the shop. I was looking into the ABS plastic kits that go under the back window to be upholstered and decided I might as well fab my own since the ABS one would likely need modified and I am kind of liking the paint theme over upholstery. So it took about 20 minutes to get this far and realize I have depleted my sheet-metal supply and need to get more prior to finishing. I plan to continue the two tone paint through the assembled panels. In hind sight, if I would have already done this it would be much cleaner but that's what I get for designing and fabricating on the fly (someday I might learn).
Since I didn't have enough metal to finish, I re-installed my mock drive-line to remind me what length I need. Hopefully, I can get a shop building a new drive-line this week so I can finally see if this thing is going to run.
Since I didn't have enough metal to finish, I re-installed my mock drive-line to remind me what length I need. Hopefully, I can get a shop building a new drive-line this week so I can finally see if this thing is going to run.
Great Thread! Thank you for sharing. Your work is amazing! I was wondering if you could post up some pics and details about your garage paint booth? what Kind of lights are you using? do they help bake the paint? what kind of fans and placement are you using to get good air flow to reduce overspray? Id like to build a nice paint booth as well.
Thanks, Scott
Thanks, Scott
don long
Well-known member
Just plugged back in and found that rad COE
Nice work
I am very interested in the molded interior of the 55
I am planning to do that very thing to my 70 elcamino
and I am a bit sketchy as to how to start it
Your progress is amazing
Thanks
Don
Nice work
I am very interested in the molded interior of the 55
I am planning to do that very thing to my 70 elcamino
and I am a bit sketchy as to how to start it
Your progress is amazing
Thanks
Don
Drewski 2 posted this on the FTE site so I dropped over to check it out. Very Nice
Love the story about family connections with old pics. I agree you do very nice work both your truck and the COE are attention grabbers! Sure wish I had some of your skills (and tools). What great talent!!!
Thanks for telling me about the FTE sight Drew started. Never thought of it before but it is cool to know how many people talk about my truck without me even knowing about it.
This is not the first time I have been asked to post on my shop or booth so I know I need to get it done. I have changed computers since I built my shop so I need to decipher the wife's ingenious photo archiving. But I will get it done since I looked and looked when I was building mine and I only found one or two home built booths that may have helped.
Tonight's progress
I don't seem to have a problem starting. My problem is the lack of up front thinking. Once I think of something I like, I usually go after it. If I would have thought this through I would have it all welded in and painted at the same time. This after thought will be painted out of the truck then installed but I still think it will look better than upholstery (and I guess 99% of it is hidden anyways).
Also got the car out to drive while the weather is good. Don't think I have ever posted this car since I really haven't taken too many (digital) pictures of it. This was my first real paint job I did back in 98. I remember the first thing my dad said when he saw the car after painting "man your first paint job turned out better than my last!". The car has been neglected (or used how they should be I guess). I haven't turned a wrench or buffed on it for at least 10 yrs and I definitely drive it like its stolen (it will break before it wears out). Anyways I guess I have rambled enough.
Had these photos in Photobucket so here is a start.
This is the front wall of the booth that has the exhaust filters
On the other side of the front wall I built a manifold that doubles as my paint mixing table. A 24" tube axial Dayton fan connected to a column in the front manifold and ducted through the exterior wall. Not very good pictures but might tell the story.
Other side of booth front wall
Column fan is mounted in that pulls air through the manifold
Intake filters are in the rear ceiling. A large manifold pulls air from the ceiling of my two work bays on the other side of the paint booth wall. I have a 380,000btu natural gas heater that puts out nearly 10,000 cfm of heated air into the work bays. Since the booth pulls very hot air from the ceiling, I have not had any problems keeping the booth warm even at temperatures down to 10F.
Nothing too special about the lights. I mounted recessed lights into sealed enclosures I made then made frame to hold glass covers that seal to the wall. Also added a couple sealed exterior outlets for buffing after paint.
Will posts some better pictures once I track them down.
This is the front wall of the booth that has the exhaust filters
On the other side of the front wall I built a manifold that doubles as my paint mixing table. A 24" tube axial Dayton fan connected to a column in the front manifold and ducted through the exterior wall. Not very good pictures but might tell the story.
Other side of booth front wall
Column fan is mounted in that pulls air through the manifold
Intake filters are in the rear ceiling. A large manifold pulls air from the ceiling of my two work bays on the other side of the paint booth wall. I have a 380,000btu natural gas heater that puts out nearly 10,000 cfm of heated air into the work bays. Since the booth pulls very hot air from the ceiling, I have not had any problems keeping the booth warm even at temperatures down to 10F.
Nothing too special about the lights. I mounted recessed lights into sealed enclosures I made then made frame to hold glass covers that seal to the wall. Also added a couple sealed exterior outlets for buffing after paint.
Will posts some better pictures once I track them down.
nonhog
Well-known member
Love the truck, but wow! That Merc! Want one.
Wasn't sure if I would ever get one of these COE's and had four in my driveway at one time. The owner was very happy and will send me some photos of it once its all put together. The three are rough but they are much better than what I had. The wife thought I was crazy when she seen the them but having the painted one parked next to them sure helped her see it my way (need to remember this trick in the future).
HOTFR8
Banned
WOW, that COE looks good.
1953mercury
Well-known member
"Gonna buy me a Mercury, and cruise it up and down the road". Nice. Mike
Don, I am now addicted to the molded all metal interior look. I found myself today thinking about doing that to one of the COE's that just showed up. On my 55 I simply cut the roof off of another truck and trimmed it until it fit on the inside. This took care of the hard piece to fabricate. The rest of the panels were done in sections so it wasn't bad at all. The last part I added under the back window wasn't anymore then 15 minutes of fab. In may ways I think it is easier then dealing with upholstery.
I have been following your COE build for quite some time but am embarrassed to say I had never seen your party garage build until a few days ago. That is completely amazing to say the least.
Seems that I am posting everything but progress on my truck. Hopefully that soon wont be the case. Thought I would post the truck I just bought the wife. After 14 years in a base model Honda Civic, three kids and mainly putting up with me and my hobbies, I think she's more than earned it. Its a 2014 F150 Lariat 4x4 Ecoboost with Max Tow package and 6.5' bed. It is definitely on the other end of the technology spectrum from what I drive.
Pulled everything out to clean the garage to make some more room (lots bigger than her Honda).
The wife didn't believe me that I bought it for her, she thought I was just getting me another truck. But after driving it I don't think she would give it back even if it was for me.
Pulled everything out to clean the garage to make some more room (lots bigger than her Honda).
The wife didn't believe me that I bought it for her, she thought I was just getting me another truck. But after driving it I don't think she would give it back even if it was for me.
BBChevro
Well-known member
Nice fleet pic Royce, you should wheel the 55 out & take another one.
busted knuckle
Well-known member
Good Lord thats beautiful country your in. Love the build and hopefully more to come.
marty_p
Well-known member
I'll second these thoughts!
And beautiful Blue Ovals, Royce. I may soon be over that 'Jeep thing' and back in an F-150 like what your better half rolls - although I would much prefer a '76 - '79 like you roll!
spoonsports86
Well-known member
wow this thread is pure awesome
spent the last 2 hours at work reading the whole thread and glad i did
spent the last 2 hours at work reading the whole thread and glad i did
alprill
Active member
Love the truck, story & also like the lockers
Looking through some old family videos (8mm converted to DVD) to see if I could find any pictures of the chopped truck when my dad or grandpa had it. This is about all I have found.
Before the truck was done I guess. Way rough considering it was early 60's.
Car show in 1965:
Has the canted headlights with upside down 62 rambler grille. Also notice the snorkel scoop on the side of the hood. I still have this hood with the snorkel in pretty good shape (I did not want to pie cut this hood)
Two piece windshield
Can just see the frenched antenna mount on the side of the cab that's still there today
Up camping
There is a shop up camping that shows the stacks on the truck that I need to find and save.
There is another one that shows it pulling over a decent size building that is pretty comical if I can find it again.
I promise the day is coming soon I will get some work done but I thought these were worth posting.
Before the truck was done I guess. Way rough considering it was early 60's.
Car show in 1965:
Has the canted headlights with upside down 62 rambler grille. Also notice the snorkel scoop on the side of the hood. I still have this hood with the snorkel in pretty good shape (I did not want to pie cut this hood)
Two piece windshield
Can just see the frenched antenna mount on the side of the cab that's still there today
Up camping
There is a shop up camping that shows the stacks on the truck that I need to find and save.
There is another one that shows it pulling over a decent size building that is pretty comical if I can find it again.
I promise the day is coming soon I will get some work done but I thought these were worth posting.
don long
Well-known member
Royce
Did you start with a piece of tubing, bend it to shape then weld sheetmetal to the bent tubing??
That is how I am visualizing starting the project.
I need to get back on my COE soon, to many interruptions from the party garage and making changes to it
That is exactly what I did on the center console. I used electrical conduit and a conduit bender. This was before I built my tubing roller. I ground the galvanized coating off the best I could then welded with my doors open and respirator on.
The roof was cut off another truck and then trimmed to fit into the recess for the factory headliner then welded in place. Had to hand make the corners on both sides of the rear window.
Now I have filled below the rear window which I wish I would have done at the same time so it would be welded in.
MP&C
Well-known member
Awesome to see the "show truck" out for the family camping expedition!
I think that was one of the only shows the truck was ever put in. The truck was bought to be a daily driver and work truck. My dad was given the truck 6 yrs after the car show and it was pretty beat up. He straightened it up and re-painted it silver with black scallops and white pin stripping. Then he used it as a daily driver. Some time in the late 70's he stopped driving it and found another truck that was in a lot nicer condition. So he cut the roof off the original truck and placed it on the nicer truck. This is how the truck sat for the next ~25 yrs with half that time being stored outside. So when I got the truck it needed a lot of work all over again. The difference this time is it will not be used as a daily driver ever again.
New progress - primed a bunch of misc interior pieces. Plan to paint this weekend.
Also had an aluminum drive shaft made that I am going to pick up today. Once that is in I can get serious about starting up the engine for the first time. Hope that goes good. After that I need to get the alignment done and can finally install all the painted sheet metal and see what this thing is going to look like.
Picked up the driveshaft today and installed it. Just realized I didn't take any pictures of it installed.
Then I added all the fluids, primed the oil pump, put the distributor in and fired it up. It fired quickly and runs very smooth
. Its also loud as **** in the cab. Carpet will help a bunch but its going to be loud.
Today is a good day.
Then I added all the fluids, primed the oil pump, put the distributor in and fired it up. It fired quickly and runs very smooth
. Its also loud as **** in the cab. Carpet will help a bunch but its going to be loud.Today is a good day.
johno
Well-known member
I was wondering about that when I saw you putting in the metal interior panels
hondakilla98
Well-known member
Have you thought about some sound deadening? 25% coverage with a dynamat type material, then a layer of closed cell foam and mass loaded vinyl. Made a huge difference in my car. It's all attached with velcro for easy removal.
don long
Well-known member
Thanks for the insight Royce
The 55 is looking good
The history on the truck is very interesting Thanks for sharing it with us
I'm sure you will enjoy the truck for a long time.
A roof inside a roof very clever
The 55 is looking good
The history on the truck is very interesting Thanks for sharing it with us
I'm sure you will enjoy the truck for a long time.
A roof inside a roof very clever
Looks like I am having some Photobucket issues. I started a new account which should help. All the old photos should be available after the 5th of May.
Done lots of redoing this week. I had some leaks in the air ride that have appeared so I spent almost a complete day tracking them down and fixing (mostly - still a very slow leak but I had enough of that for a while). I did find that using kids bubbles works very good for finding leaks.
Moved on to redoing my door poppers. The poppers that came integrated with my Bearclaw latches didn't have a chance once I installed weather-stripping. So I picked up a couple starter solenoids for VW's.
They are 2.25" diameter so I cut the expanded ends off of some 2.25" exhaust tubing I had laying around to make the mounts. After mounting them to the latches I still didn't like how they worked. They struggled unless I left a lot of slop in the system so it could get momentum to pop the door (which was loud and violent). So I modified the moment arm on the latch and now everything works great.
Modified latch, mount for solenoid and linkage. I added a bracket not shown to the solenoid holder so it bolts to the factory lower side window rail bolt location.
Then it was time for playing since redoing just irritates me. So, I turned a horn button, clutch and brake pedals and installed throttle pedal.
Installed dynamat
Finished painting misc interior pieces and installed rear panels after dynamiting the back wall of the cab and the inside of the rear panels.
Picked up a new windshield Monday and everything went good with cutting it down today. Hopefully I can get it installed without any problems.
Done lots of redoing this week. I had some leaks in the air ride that have appeared so I spent almost a complete day tracking them down and fixing (mostly - still a very slow leak but I had enough of that for a while). I did find that using kids bubbles works very good for finding leaks.
Moved on to redoing my door poppers. The poppers that came integrated with my Bearclaw latches didn't have a chance once I installed weather-stripping. So I picked up a couple starter solenoids for VW's.
They are 2.25" diameter so I cut the expanded ends off of some 2.25" exhaust tubing I had laying around to make the mounts. After mounting them to the latches I still didn't like how they worked. They struggled unless I left a lot of slop in the system so it could get momentum to pop the door (which was loud and violent). So I modified the moment arm on the latch and now everything works great.
Modified latch, mount for solenoid and linkage. I added a bracket not shown to the solenoid holder so it bolts to the factory lower side window rail bolt location.
Then it was time for playing since redoing just irritates me. So, I turned a horn button, clutch and brake pedals and installed throttle pedal.
Installed dynamat
Finished painting misc interior pieces and installed rear panels after dynamiting the back wall of the cab and the inside of the rear panels.
Picked up a new windshield Monday and everything went good with cutting it down today. Hopefully I can get it installed without any problems.
BBChevro
Well-known member
Great progress Royce, I am in awe of your talent
Mark
Mark
Great progress Royce, I am in awe of your talent
Mark
Thanks, I really appreciate your comment. It seems more often then not I am learning as I go. Looking back at the projects I had done previously they were more or less pretty typical builds. The way I got this project dared me to step it up and do things I had never done before. When I first got the truck I stressed every day and night for a very long time that I would not do the truck justice. This truck was literally my dad's life dream. I never planned to build it like he was going to, I planned to surpass all he ever dreamed of doing with it. I did reach a point not too long ago where I do believe I surpassed anything he dreamed of, but I still find myself going further.
After being off the road for the last 36 years, I will have it out this summer. It will be very rewarding for me and my family to show the truck and talk about my dad and grandpa. I know he will be there with us and I hope it feels just as good as the night I had last week when the truck started for the first time.
Thanks again.
stinkity stoink
Well-known member
This is a beautiful build!!!! I love the louvers also!! I think they fit the truck and the era you are going for. great Job!!
[email protected]
Member
Your work is amazing and can't wait to see more! I am in love with your 78 F250 Fummins too...
chris fresh
Well-known member
Really great build,beautiful craftsmanship,and all around fantastic job.
Richard D
Well-known member
Good work. I can't say I dig on the wheels or other modern stuff. It would be super cool to put it back the way your Grampa had it back in the day with the cool period correct custom touches, but it's not my truck. You surely are talented fabricator.
Been working on the truck a lot but haven't posted because the majority of it has been bad luck and not very motivational for me. But that last couple of days have been pretty good.
Installed all the sheet metal except the hood (need to paint the reverse tilt brackets). Finally starting to look like a truck.
Installed the grille but I do plan to remove it and paint the surround.
Got the seats a year and a half late and the guy charged me twice what he quoted (next time I will be doing them myself).
There are no windshields in Utah but I found one in Idaho so I will be driving there next week to get it and hopefully it is the last windshield I have to buy for it.
Installed all the sheet metal except the hood (need to paint the reverse tilt brackets). Finally starting to look like a truck.
Installed the grille but I do plan to remove it and paint the surround.
Got the seats a year and a half late and the guy charged me twice what he quoted (next time I will be doing them myself).
There are no windshields in Utah but I found one in Idaho so I will be driving there next week to get it and hopefully it is the last windshield I have to buy for it.
MP&C
Well-known member
That truck is just off the hook! Awesome work...that grille is perfect for the colors on the truck..