From Norm on Jan 31 @ 8:04PM:
I actually got a little time to work on the ‘51 this weekend.
After setting the upper cowl section on the lower sections I found that there was a misalignment between them. Although I expected some misalignment the difference was a lot more than I had planned on.
So I cut out a piece of the newly refurbished cowl and moved it around until it properly fit. Getting this part straight is important since the front edge of the door must line up with it. I used a straight piece of angle iron to line up the pieces for welding.
The front of the cab has been welded to the frame since I first did the frame swap.
It was only welded on the inner edge and this resulted in the cowl being pretty “wobbly” from side to side. I made a filler piece to put in the gap and reinforce the lower cowl to frame joint on the outer edge. I put holes in the filler piece so that it could be rosette welded to the lower cowl. I figured that would increase the joint strength.
I tack welded the filler in and then remembered to check to see if the cowl was square.
And a good thing, too. The cowl was “racked” out of square from corner to corner by about 2 inches. I’m glad that I only had to cut out a few tack welds to fix the problem. Measure twice and weld once. I used my handy dandy Harbor Freight Tools pickup bed cargo divider bars to push the cowl square.
After I got the piece in the cowl is much stiffer from side to side. Since this is going to be a unibody type set up the body needs to be as rigid as possible. Now on to the other side!
The big tri state swap meet is in Denver next weekend so I don’t expect to get too much done on the ‘51, except buy parts. It’s interesting that I have a good idea of where I want to go with the build in general I can only see a couple of steps ahead on the details. I suppose that is because I don’t have all the details.
I’ll keep you updated on the progress or the lack thereof,
Norm
Norm,
I like the way you brought “the section” together. I’m just sorry it takes me so long to get your story about this one on-line, but I think we’ve got that doinked.
As you know, the other side usually goes quicker. There have been times that I’ve learned an easier way when I’ve done the first side of something but have still decided to do the other side exactly the same for symmetry. There’s also been times that I’ve pulled the first one back apart.
This is no small undertaking and sometimes people lose sight in the thick of things. I encourage you to keep the finished vision in your head.
Keep at it and thanks again for sharing.
John