Finally back to work in the shop My C.O.E.

[HOTFR8]

I wouldn't chop it, but if you could find an old mobile home, shorten the truck up and make yourself a trailer or refurb a mobile home, or keep the looks of an old mobile home but build the inside of it as a trailer for hauling.

No matter what though, I'm already jealous that you have a COE. And for what it is, the engine looks fantastic, and glad to see you are going to keep it ALL Ford.

A few have been done like that before.

 

[HOTFR8]

Simon
You have given me a good suggestion / idea that I will follow up on
Thanks

I have a photo of the Cab on HOTFR8 when we did that if it helps you.
View media item 34739You can see from the photo just how it made life easier to work on it.

 

[Anglia Guy]

Ha-ha!! What a fantastic job you are doing!! That is so awesome! Please keep us up to date.

 

[MP&C]

The coe is looking good Don!

 

[don long]

Love your Ford COE . . . good luck finishing it up.

Here is cool YouTube of bunch of COE's:

Thanks CNG
Loved the collection of COE'S

Eh, if you have a forklift handy....
Way to go, Don.

Zeke
In my world a fork lift , man lift, and a tractor gives a guy a pretty good fleet of equipment Thanks for following along

i love cab overs. hope to have one some day

Boost Creep
Good luck with your hunt / Dream
I'm sure I will enjoy mine Thanks for checking in
Don

 

[don long]

Simon
I really like the green 51 ford motorhome Thanks for posting those pictures
and the pic' of your cab was exactly what I had in mind after your last comments

Ha-ha!! What a fantastic job you are doing!! That is so awesome! Please keep us up to date.

Anglia Guy
I look forward every evening to posting the days progress so check back often
Thanks for the complement

The coe is looking good Don!

MP&C
Thanks for dropping in
I'm glad you like what you see
This type of bodywork in a bit new to me
I wish I had a touch of your talent and understanding of the
equipment used for these builds I follow along with your projects and am I impressed !!
thanks for those posts they have helped me a lot
Don

 

[don long]

Sorry for no posts last night
I folded camp early as I wasn't feeling too good
And today I am fighting Vertigo so everything is a bit fuzzy to say the least!!
However yesterday Brett worked on the sub frame of the interior floor and I started taking the grille apart and removing the dents in the grille bars
Today I finished the grille bars and will send them out for chrome next week
But first I need to figure out how I will attach them back on the headlight plates after they are chromed (They were spot welded on)So here are the latest shots

We also tacked the motor mount brackets in place

The grille after the front end was dismantled






After I took the grille apart with a drill and chisel





The grille bar after the body work all pick and file before chroming

 

[HOTFR8]

Simon
I really like the green 51 ford motorhome Thanks for posting those pictures
and the pic' of your cab was exactly what I had in mind after your last comments

Sorry I know nothing more about the green one or if it is Aussie or US built.
As for the fork lift base once you have it made you will be surprised how you can change it and re use it. Sherwood Restorations here in Castlemaine painted HOTFR8 for me and they do MACK truck restorations most of the time moving them about the same way.

 

[HOTFR8]

I spoke to soon. Here is a link with some build photos of that Green COE Motor home.

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Number=6552636

It may give you some ideas Don.

 

[69Fastback]

Don, love the project and I will follow your progress with interest. I would love one of these one day myself.

Pete

 

[don long]

Thanks for the help Simon

Pete
I will try to keep you up to date with the progress
Don

 

[don long]

Today was a good day
We need to know how the sleeper and the cab floor will line up
So we cleared out the shop brought the sleeper mounted it on the truck and put the truck back on the lift to build out some mounts

We also flipped the trans mount to the bottom of the frame so the exhaust will travel straight thru the area

I worked on getting the grille bars to remount to the headlight panels with bolts

The cleanest the shop has been in a while



The sleeper (called a coffin sleeper)




sliding the sleeper off the cart onto the truck frame




The truck back up getting fitted for mounts

 

[HOTFR8]

That sleeper looks too wide. Do you have plans to narrow it to suit the cab ?

 

[don long]

Simon
Funny you should ask!! My son And I were just discussing that
I will put the fenders back on before I make that decision

We were also discussing about the blend of steel cab to aluminum sleeper
and what process to use (Fiberglass??)

 

[Stooge]

Again, love where this is going, that sleeper box is going to look great behind the cab, and realistically, i dont think your going to have to worry about narrowing anything. the fenders on those fords stick out a ton and should be pretty damn close to lining up with the outside of the sleeper.
those grill bars came out especially nice too

 

[HOTFR8]

You best have a look at HOTFR8 and see how my sleeper looks so you get yours into proportion.

View media item 34795This is the image on the biscuit tin.

 

[LXCam]

Holy **** Don, you're not wasting anytime and it's looking great!. Sorry I missed your call the other night, I'll be in touch soon.

 

[BUGTHUG]

If you run some big fat side pipes just in front of the sleeper, it might fill out some of the miss proportion? like the picture of the green and silver coe from down under.

 

[Duke55]

Simon
Funny you should ask!! My son And I were just discussing that
I will put the fenders back on before I make that decision

We were also discussing about the blend of steel cab to aluminum sleeper
and what process to use (Fiberglass??)

I absolutely would not use fiberglass. I would recommend keeping two pieces with a seal between. The potential minor improvement in looks with very likely come with a huge regret down the road.

 

[MP&C]

Don, most of your ambulance manufacturer's use an accordion style seal between the cab and rear body, that spans about a 2+ inch gap span, and has the trim lock style seal on either side to attach to the two different panels. If that made any sense.....

May be an option for you....

 

[HOTFR8]

The top of that sleeper will be fiberglass so easy to cut and shut just like all the metal work in it as well. Mine has the rubber boot to join the cab to the sleeper. As for the exhaust pipes try not to go bigger than 3 inch or it will again look out of proportion.

 

[e-tek]

I just can't get enough of ogling your shop Don!

What is the boom for running across the top of the lift?

Cool CO too btw!

 

[don long]

Again, love where this is going, that sleeper box is going to look great behind the cab, and realistically, i dont think your going to have to worry about narrowing anything. the fenders on those fords stick out a ton and should be pretty damn close to lining up with the outside of the sleeper.
those grill bars came out especially nice too

Stooge
After thinking about it a bit , I have to agree so to be sure I put the fenders back on the truck tonite
The grille bars I'm concerned that they must be remounted straight and even and that will take a bit of time

Now what do you think

You best have a look at HOTFR8 and see how my sleeper looks so you get yours into proportion.


View media item 34795This is the image on the biscuit tin.

Thanks Simon
I will be putting a looong custom bed on mine so I will need to bring down the bottom of the sleeper to match the lower cab lines

Holy **** Don, you're not wasting anytime and it's looking great!. Sorry I missed your call the other night, I'll be in touch soon.

Looking forward to it
Thanks Cam

If you run some big fat side pipes just in front of the sleeper, it might fill out some of the miss proportion? like the picture of the green and silver coe from down under.

Yea that is one pretty rig

I absolutely would not use fiberglass. I would recommend keeping two pieces with a seal between. The potential minor improvement in looks with very likely come with a huge regret down the road.

Duke55
Thanks for the heads up
I'm just not sure what direction to go with the sleeper yet so it is just sitting there for now

Don, most of your ambulance manufacturer's use an accordion style seal between the cab and rear body, that spans about a 2+ inch gap span, and has the trim lock style seal on either side to attach to the two different panels. If that made any sense.....

May be an option for you....

Thanks MP&C
I wanted to incorporate the sleeper into a crew cab of sorts so don't know about the seal
Will be sleeping on this one for a while.

 

[don long]

The top of that sleeper will be fiberglass so easy to cut and shut just like all the metal work in it as well. Mine has the rubber boot to join the cab to the sleeper. As for the exhaust pipes try not to go bigger than 3 inch or it will again look out of proportion.

No exaust stacks in the plans today
Will have to do my homework on the blending of the cab and sleeper

I just can't get enough of ogling your shop Don!

What is the boom for running across the top of the lift?

Cool CO too btw!

Ed
today I emptied out the shop and fired up the pressure washer
Look closely at these pictures
I think that the bar you are talking about is the hydraulic ram that lifts the lift up rather than running under the ramp the cables run thru the front and rear x members




Thought I would give you shots from all 4 corners

 

[69Fastback]

I love your set up Don, I wish had your shop, but I will have to make do.

 

[HOTFR8]

Don, Rule of thumb should be the sleeper is not wider than the running boards and front guards / fenders.

Sorry the school is out on the bed until you share more. To date I have never seen a truck with a sleeper cab look right with a pickup style bed behind it.

That black stripe on the sleeper is growing on me.

 

[e-tek]

I've actually never seen a lift with the ram up there before - is it an older model? What brand is that?

Engine in the CO looks awesome!

 

[Stooge]

Stooge
After thinking about it a bit , I have to agree so to be sure I put the fenders back on the truck tonite..........
Now what do you think

I think it looks like a beast of a truck and that's a great thing looks perfect to me with the front track width and how the fenders, wheels and sleeper all line up. I don't know how the sleeper is constructed, but where some of the previous posts are suggesting they are made of aluminum and fiberglass, taking a few inches out of it to narrow the width seems like it would be a huge undertaking.

 

[fordsbyjay]

Cool build. I am subscribed.

 

[fordsbyjay]

Nice work, what chassis are you using? Looks like a F-450/550 or similar?

You might think about putting the engine behind and under the back of the cab. My 49 is under the cab like yours, but mine is 350 SBC. Still a major PITA to work on, plus the large engine cover inside the cab. Just something to consider.

I love this truck. It has to be my favorite COE ever.

 

[Duke55]

I have a photo of the Cab on HOTFR8 when we did it if it helps you.
View media item 34739You can see from the photo just how it made life easier to work on it.

I think this photo shows a good way to modify the cab to mate up to the sleeper. I would still rubber mount the sleeper to the cab (could compress a rubber seal down to about a 1/4" so it would be noticable).

My next project (or two) will likely be a 39 Ford COE. I have three of these style COE cabs lined up. The owner has a fourth COE cab that I am going to paint for the other three. So I have also thought of using a sleeper to convert a COE into a crewcab. My fear is that I keep thinking through extending the cab and making real crewcab.

 

[HOTFR8]

I think this photo shows a good way to modify the cab to mate up to the sleeper. I would still rubber mount the sleeper to the cab (could compress a rubber seal down to about a 1/4" so it would be noticable).

My next project (or two) will likely be a 39 Ford COE. I have three of these style COE cabs lined up. The owner has a fourth COE cab that I am going to paint for the other three. So I have also thought of using a sleeper to convert a COE into a crewcab. My fear is that I keep thinking through extending the cab and making real crewcab.

That is my F4 truck AKA HOTFR8 and yes it has a rubber boot or sock that joins the cab to the sleeper.

I also had the idea to build a crew cab or perhaps a supercab when I built the F4 and then when I looked at the sleeper it had seat belt mounts as factory so it is a 4 seater.

 

[MP&C]

Don, just for comparison, here's some pics of a "factory" mid 50's GMC with the sleeper.

Didn't have a tape measure with me but you should be able to compare to door jamb thickness..

 

[Kevin54]

That sleeper looks too wide. Do you have plans to narrow it to suit the cab ?

Simon
Funny you should ask!! My son And I were just discussing that
I will put the fenders back on before I make that decision

We were also discussing about the blend of steel cab to aluminum sleeper
and what process to use (Fiberglass??)

Don, just for comparison, here's some pics of a "factory" mid 50's GMC with the sleeper.

Didn't have a tape measure with me but you should be able to compare to door jamb thickness..

I'm with MP&C and Simon on the width. The sleeper the way it is now looks just too wide in proportion to the rest of the truck. I would definitely narrow it up some. If you look at Simon's truck, and look at MP&C's pics, the sleeper does not stick out much past the cab of the truck. And when looking at it as an overall vehicle, you want the truck to be the primary thing you are looking at and then the sleeper secondary. If you had it setting at a car show, people would look it over, but if you asked the person an hour later what the vehicle type was, chances are they wouldn't remember. That's just my 2 pennies worth on it.

I almost forgot...are you going to have a cut through area from the cab to the sleeper, or just leave it as is? If you are going to make a cutout between the two, instead of having the accordion style of seal, I think I would shop around and get a seal that would go between the two, then bolt both the cab and sleeper solid to one another.

There is a company out there that has hundreds of seals and such, but I cannot for the life of me remember what company it is. I think it's out of either California or Texas though. I bought some rubber protectors that went around my '89 Silverado ground effects a few years back. Someone on here may have an idea what company it is, or later on, I'll go into my Quicken and see if I can find the company name for you.

 

[HOTFR8]

I'm with MP&C and Simon on the width. The sleeper the way it is now looks just too wide in proportion to the rest of the truck. I would definitely narrow it up some. If you look at Simon's truck, and look at MP&C's pics, the sleeper does not stick out much past the cab of the truck. And when looking at it as an overall vehicle, you want the truck to be the primary thing you are looking at and then the sleeper secondary.

Comes back to the rule of thumb I posted about the sleeper cab not being any wider than the running boards on the cabin. You have detailed it much more Kevin. It all has to be in (size) perspective or it will look wrong. Even what you do behind the Sleeper can make or break how it looks when finished.

Don, My sleeper cab came of a Peterbilt and they are easy to cut down given they are Aluminium with a fiberglass top section and the rubber boot or sock is easy to adapt and even make smaller specially if you do what I did with mine and cut the back section from a Peterbilt cab and graft it to your Ford cab.

 

[HOTFR8]

These photos may help. Don what is your sleeper cabin from ?

View media item 35038Original Peterbilt sleeper before we cut, shut and narrowed it. Kept the opening the standard size.
View media item 35037The window area is where we cut and narrowed. In the roof we offset the cut so as to keep some strength. Note also the fork mounts to move it about.
View media item 35039Window frame was cut down in size and new glass made to suit. The width was taken out in the middle section.

 

[Duke55]

Stooge
After thinking about it a bit , I have to agree so to be sure I put the fenders back on the truck tonite
The grille bars I'm concerned that they must be remounted straight and even and that will take a bit of time

Now what do you think

With the fenders on at this view I think the sleeper looks pretty good. Is the sleeper any wider than the front fenders? I personally think HOTFR8 and the factory sleeper MP&C posted are too narrow for what I would do with them. I think they would be right for no stacks but I can see a 12V Cummins, 6" stacks and a full width car hauler bed.

 

[JonBoehman]

Cool build!

 

[jlckmj]

Don
Nice build, I am jealous of the build and the shop.

Keep one thing in mind, there is only one person that has to like it, and that is YOU! Build it how you want.

Jim

 

[-Brent-]

Very neat project. One question: is that all you're doing for motor mounts or will there be final work on them when it's broken down after mocking it up?