Project Old fishing truck

[ckcp]

So i went and bought another truck as if i needed more on my plate of things to do. My plane is to take this old fishing truck in 3 months time from what it is to a head turning custom on a reasonable budget all while still working a full time job and still being a dad and husband. I want to bag and body it and go from lwb to swb and speed up the age process on the paint and give it more patina. I also plan to put this truck up for sale when i am done so someone else can enjoy the custom bagged truck seen. That's the plan anyway.

[Mac93]

Remember, don't sacrifice family time for "truck" time. Our projects have a way of consuming us. Whats the reason for the short time frame you have set?? Keep us updated with your progress, CKCP!

[ckcp]

Originally Posted by Mac93

Remember, don't sacrifice family time for "truck" time. Our projects have a way of consuming us. Whats the reason for the short time frame you have set?? Keep us updated with your progress, CKCP!

yes i am keeping that in mind after my last build racking up 7000 hours over an 8 year span i know how they can take all you time from you. As for the time frame its more of a challenge for me just to see if i can do it with the life i live and it also falls at kind of the right time i think as i do want to put this truck up for sale when i am done it will be tax return time and spring time just in time to buy a summer time toy. its kind of a time is money thing and the sooner i get it done the better off i am and if i don't sell it right away i have another cool truck to drive.

[ckcp]

A small amount of progress was made i have about 3 hours in tare down so far and 3 hours in pressure washing 40+ years of dirt oil and grease off. i also got the massive 8 inches cut off the back of the frame.

I can stack them 2 deep in this garage

[ckcp]

I made a little more progress on the truck have not had as much time to put into it as i would have liked to so far but i did manage to get the front clip off the motor pulled and 90% of the grease and dirt build up cleaned off and i also found a sweet surprise under it all. "Factory" hand cut power steering brackets they are by far my favorite find so far on this build.




its even lined up with the pulleys real nice

[low&slow]

I'll follow in on this one as well.

[gdavis]

a lot of work for three months. I been on mine for three years and still not done.

[ckcp]

Originally Posted by low&slow

I'll follow in on this one as well.

thanks its nice to know i have people interested in what i do even though this will be nothing like the last truck on the radical scale side of things. i have thought about transferring over all my pics for my other build so its not just a random small build of a paint job if i get time in the future

Originally Posted by gdavis

a lot of work for three months. I been on mine for three years and still not done.

i know your feeling my other truck took 8 years and it too has things i still would like to do i just felt i needed a brake from that one. the 3 month goal is more of a challenge for myself to see just what i can do in that time frame and keep my costs and time at a reasonable amount so when i do put it up for sale i don't need an astronomical amount to justify selling it. i am hoping to make some extra money doing this truck to put towards some of my other stuff. i do not plan to get rich by any stretch of the imagination but i thought i would give it a shot and see what happens. worst case scenario i have two cool trucks

[low&slow]

Originally Posted by ckcp

thanks its nice to know i have people interested in what i do even though this will be nothing like the last truck on the radical scale side of things. i have thought about transferring over all my pics for my other build so its not just a random small build of a paint job if i get time in the future

I think it would be sweet to see more pics of your other build. As for this build, I'm interested to see how you build it to not be radical. Shows more of what you're capable of doing.

[low&slow]

Where about out here in Idaho did you get the truck from? Looks pretty solid

[ckcp]

Originally Posted by low&slow

Where about out here in Idaho did you get the truck from? Looks pretty solid

the truck came from Pocatello the old man i got it from was the second owner he bought the truck in 81 from a friend of his i was told and said he only used the truck in the summer to haul his fishing boat to the lake.

[ckcp]

made some progress on the truck and also helped a friend lower his truck down as low as he could till he saves up for bags

its flipped in the rear with drop hangers and drop shackles and the front is drop spindles with cut springs



I have been using the cheery picker to its utmost potential



also got the frame cut and stacked the rear on top i still have lots to do with that part of it box plat and make look nice but it helped to shorten it a foot and raise the rear 6 inches the front i cut and re angled the uca ball joints and cut some off of the cross member







I am not one to really post much on "oh look what i got" but i got this it was free

[ckcp]

ok so far what i have done is raise the cross member 2.5 inches and forward 1 inch rack and pinion steering cut out the spring pockets on the cross member re angled the upper ball joints made room for the rack to clear dropped the front frame horns and cab mounts down 1 inch cut the bed section and moved it forward 1 foot and stacked it on top of the other half of the frame and platted both sides also cut off the bottom rolled out edge if the frame and also moved the rear end back 1 inch after dropping it and also doing a 3 inch pipe notch. doing all this i have my front and rear wheels centered in the wheel wells and am able to have the body on the ground while keeping as much of the floor depth as i can and also keeping it flat.

[ckcp]

here is some more pictures of the rack mounts





and some of other stuff i got started on

[cooperhw]

Cool.

I am subscribed. I have seen many of these types of lowering jobs on the HAMB forum where guys just use what the got, or can get, cheap.
Subscribed.

[ckcp]

Originally Posted by cooperhw

Cool.

I am subscribed. I have seen many of these types of lowering jobs on the HAMB forum where guys just use what the got, or can get, cheap.
Subscribed.

Thanks and I know high dollar builds have there place and are awesome but I love to be creative innovative and let's face it I can't afford alot of the stuff I see a lot of guys on here buying for there truck so I do with wat I can ant still try and make it as nice as I can in the time frame I gave my self which at the moment have not got in as much time or am as far along as I want to be but sometimes that's how it goes

[cooperhw]

Originally Posted by ckcp

Thanks and I know high dollar builds have there place and are awesome but I love to be creative innovative and let's face it I can't afford alot of the stuff I see a lot of guys on here buying for there truck so I do with wat I can ant still try and make it as nice as I can in the time frame I gave my self which at the moment have not got in as much time or am as far along as I want to be but sometimes that's how it goes

You are welcome. I know "EXACTLY" how you feel on the high dollar builds and all the really cool stuff. I am in the same boat. I am also trying to build as cool a truck as I can "without" the latest and greatest. Not saying anything against them (they're awesome) but exactly opposite of what I am wanting for my truck right now.
keep up the good work,

[ckcp]

Originally Posted by rusty76

I'm in.!

Thanks

Originally Posted by cooperhw

You are welcome. I know "EXACTLY" how you feel on the high dollar builds and all the really cool stuff. I am in the same boat. I am also trying to build as cool a truck as I can "without" the latest and greatest. Not saying anything against them (they're awesome) but exactly opposite of what I am wanting for my truck right now.
keep up the good work,

Thanks

[rusty76]

I'm in.!

[ckcp]

made some more good progress. The balancer clears the rack by about a half an inch i also got more of it all welded up. the motor mounts are raised up and also the trans cross member is raised and made new mounts for it also started mocking up the exhaust and started building the rear link setup

[ckcp]

some small progress was made with the rear 2 link

[ckcp]

made some rear bag mounts

[ckcp]

the truck is on hold for a bit and will not make my 3 month deadline but its ok i have a customers bug and it is getting the top chopped on it its a 5.25 inch chop in the front with back glass laid down for a nice flow it is going to be a volksrod

[swamp rat]

Holey crap! I wish one of these days i could watch somebody do this so i could see how all the parts are moved and stretched into place, i'm sure there is way more involved that the pictures let on. Nice work!

[ckcp]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Holey crap! I wish one of these days i could watch somebody do this so i could see how all the parts are moved and stretched into place, i'm sure there is way more involved that the pictures let on. Nice work!

thanks man and there are a lot of things to factor when doing a chop measure measure measure and then measure also brace the body to keep everything square most of the chops i have done where cut it down to what i think looks good and has a good flow for me and also the customer must love it and approve i say all of this because #1 it is there car and they must love it but a lot of times they may see something that gives them a base of what they want but dont really know what it could become by improving on someone else s idea also i say what i think looks good because there are people out there that would disagree and say it looks bad or they dont like chop tops. with all that aside chopping a top you have to know what your working with flat glass cars and trucks are easy you can move pillars to cooperate. curved glass cars and truck is where things get a little tricky you have to retain that curve so pillars have to kind of stay where they are.

here is a write up i did for a guy on another forum when i was building my chopped gmc i know its not the same as being in the shop and seeing it done but it is good information to have

first off chopping a top is not for a first time fabricator. there is a lot to take in account when doing a chop. what are you wanting to chop is it a car or a truck does it have flat glass or curved glass. as far as how far are you wanting to chop is is all in what you think looks good and what is the theme of your build.

when doing a chop you need to brace the cab or shell of the car in multiple spots to keep any thing from moving when you go to cut the top off both cross bracing the inside of the body and all the door openings before you make any cuts. you will also be making A LOT of measurements to keep it all square and to insure it will come out right because if not it will look bad and all your hard work will have been a wast of time and hard work. like the chop that was on my truck when i bought it i had to find another roof and start over and do it right and also make it safe.

a flat glass chop is the easiest of all the chop top you can do. the 20's and early 30's cars and truck had flat glass and straight posts. this makes it easy to just take out the section you want lets just say 3 inches all the way around. ***the easiest way i have found is to use masking tape to mark your cuts wrapping it all the way around the pillars to make sure your cuts are straight all the way around. to make your life easier your first cut should be on the top of the tape so when you remove the top you can make your second cut on the bottom side of the tape easier on the car or truck because it will stay still to ensure a nice clean cut also on a chop like this it is best to brace the roof as well so it dose not flex and move and always make baking plates to put in the pillars to help keep the strength in the sections your welding back together the best way to do this is you can use the 3 inch section you cut out. just take it and cut it apart so you can slide the peaces into the pillars and drill some holes in the pillars on both body ans roof sides 5/16's to 3/8's holes is what i recommend and put the peaces in on the body side and weld the holes up with the metal clamped tightly this adds straight and holds the peaces in place when you go to put your roof back on. but just when you think you are ready to wild the roof put it on and measure all openings side to side and cross measure the openings corner to corner and do it again. if all is spot on weld. and now for the doors cut your 3 inches out the same as the pillars but you will not use backing plates in the doors because you have a window track make sure you doors are aligned and have good door gaps weld back together.*** (this will be done on all chops)

late 30's to late 40's cars and early 50's trucks still have flat glass but had tapered pillars and where also angled in and back. because it is flat glass you can cut and angle the pillars as needed. take that some 3 inch chop and you will see that the pillars will not line up because of the angels you will have to cut in the corners making the roof side wider and the lower body side wider to ensure that they line back up and you may also have to pie cut the pillars if they are tapered making the bottom a little thinner and the top wider. on cars lay the back glass in and make sure you brace the window opening to keep it true so you keep your back glass you can also use the brace back glass method on trucks if you want to keep the back glass the same size.

50's curved glass with straight pillars (like a 55 chevy truck) it is like the 20's and early 30's cars and trucks. note do not angle pillars.

50's - present curves glass with tapered pillars. when doing these chops you have to cut the roof into 2 to 4 sections because you can not angle curved glass pillars in so you will need to widen the roof and also the pillars are tapered so they will need to pie cut them. you can however lay the pillars back but have to cut in the corners and make sure they lay back equally if you do not want to lay the windshield back you will have to cut the roof to make it longer like i did on my truck if you look back through my build. also when making your roof longer the door glass opening will also have to go longer most of the time you can use the peaces you cut out to fill in the gap but in some cases the body lines are different and you will ether have to make filler peaces or get a second set of doors and use the sections to fill the gap.

on cars and trucks with tempered curved door glass when doing the doors you can eater try and find laminate curved glass some windshields have that same curve and get it cut to fit if that will not work you will have to use the tempered peace and pie cut and fill in the gap with metal because tempered is not able to be cut.

note*** a 1 inch chop is going to be easier than a 3 inch chop the more you do the harder it is because the greater the angles will be changed.

now my truck has a 5/8 chop that is a 5 inch chop in the rear and 8 inch chop in the front when doing a rake you will have to reangle the pillars

this bug is a 5.25 chop in the front with the back glass laid down similar to that of a chop you would see on a lead sled i will have a lot to rework on the back to keep the flow of the roof line also i did reangle the the pillars in ward because the roof is narrower at the top and wider at the base of the pillars it is all flat glass on the sides so i will be fine in doing this but i have seen guys split these roofs down the center to keep there pillars at a more factory angle