The doors are kicking my rear. I cannot get the door to stop drooping down at the rear especially on the drivers side. Pain in the rear. Drivers door is worse than the passenger side by a long shot.
The doors are kicking my rear. I cannot get the door to stop drooping down at the rear especially on the drivers side. Pain in the rear. Drivers door is worse than the passenger side by a long shot.
The doors are a serious challenge. I was real disappointed with the amount of work needed to just get them to fit half way dissent. Hopefully they have worked out some issues sense I received mine. Think yours was right about the time frame mine was built. Actually I think yours was delivered on the same truck. If you have a body/paint guy that you are going to take the truck to I would see if they could come by and look at it. If not give me a shout and me and shop dog will make a road trip and see if we can help ya out. On the road all this week but will be back on the weekend.
Sounds good. I messed with radiator, condenser and mounting all of it. Doing hood tomorrow, hopefully. Have bed fully done minus some sanding and filling.
Got my tail light mounts welded up. Just need to smooth out the welds and prime and paint. I might try making another set with a little smaller OD tube but I think once I get paint on these they will look good. Going to put the doors all back together for final fit and trim and get ready to paint. Need to do a little more work on the radiator cowl and that will be done. I have about nine days off over Christmas and New Years so plan on painting over the Holiday. Going to change the color so have to pull the tires off the wheels and get them blasted and powder coated
Got all the wiring hooked up temp to make sure I know where everything goes. Took a while to get it all working Have waterproof auto plugs ordered so I can simply unplug everything for removal and maintenance. Lights, dash et.
Its looking close to my original vision. Never noticed how massive the tires were on the black label truck! Those things must be 34-36 inches tall in the rear. Mine are 30 and look puny compared to those things. Cant wait to test drive this thing! Still need to get Trans control and wire that up.
I haven't been on this site in ages. Still not in a position where I can build a kit, but whereas my interest was strongly on the '33 coupe, since the truck was released I'm seeing more and more that pulls me in that direction. Always have loved Rod-style pickups.
I read your build thread Bruce and just wanted to congratulate you on fixing so many of the aesthetic glitches in the design. I honestly believe that FF should pay you big money to take molds off your modified body parts as you've fixed the glaring misalignment of the cowl/hood/nosecone that have always niggled my eye in virtually every 33 and truck build I've seen. Your truck even in primer looks like a Pro Rod-building shop got their hands on it. It's been years since I messed with glass-fiber, but I built a panel van on a VW Bug basis years ago and did loads of subtle body mods on the glass-fiber parts that most people missed because they made the overall appearance so "right". Most people won't realize all the modifications you've made, but you will have the satisfaction of knowing you did a lot of work that satisfied you and will continue to every time you drive the truck in the future.
Can't wait to see your truck in paint as the design looks like it will really stand out.
I have to agree that your alignment of the front end and the fixes you made are the best so far. The nose has really bothered me on most builds. Some make it less obvious than others but still have that pig nose look. I really think they should pull molds off your truck.
Its looking close to my original vision. Never noticed how massive the tires were on the black label truck! Those things must be 34-36 inches tall in the rear. Mine are 30 and look puny compared to those things. Cant wait to test drive this thing! Still need to get Trans control and wire that up.
I went back and looked. What wheel and tire size did you go with?
I went back and looked. What wheel and tire size did you go with?
I like it!!!
Wheels are 10" & 12" X 15 ". Tires are 275/50R15 and 325/50R15. Was really hard to find 50's that were radial. Only ones I could find were the Nitto and Hoosier. The Hoosier I like better but wanted to be sure I liked the size before paying the price!. I'll go with the Hoosier after I burn these up (Which should not tale long!)
Haven't had a lot of time this past week. Spent today setting final gaps on doors and blocking flush with body before I disassemble the whole thing again. Took quite a bit of shaping to get the body moldings fitting nice but happy with how they came out. Hopefully get the hood and cowl finalized tomorrow so can take everything apart next week.
Mr. Nelson, I notice in your photos that you have a slight gap between the hinge attached to the door and the door fiberglass. I noted in the assembly manual to trim that area to the width of the alum. hole fitting template. That leaves a slight angle when to snug up the hinge, putting pressure on the fiberglass door edge.
Did you shim the area behind the hinge to get it to fit flush, or grind the door edge smooth with the hinge fitting flat on the fiberglass door attachment point.
I am at this point and confused as to what to do to not stress the door seam.
I hope my question makes sense.
Mr. Nelson, I notice in your photos that you have a slight gap between the hinge attached to the door and the door fiberglass. I noted in the assembly manual to trim that area to the width of the alum. hole fitting template. That leaves a slight angle when to snug up the hinge, putting pressure on the fiberglass door edge.
Did you shim the area behind the hinge to get it to fit flush, or grind the door edge smooth with the hinge fitting flat on the fiberglass door attachment point.
I am at this point and confused as to what to do to not stress the door seam.
I hope my question makes sense.
Thanks, Ralph
It confused me as well. As you say if you just trim to template it leaves an edge on the door skin that holds the hinge out from the jam. I called FFR and asked about it and they said I could trim to flush. But when I did that it ground through the edge where they join the two pieces together and made it real flimsy. So then I had to glass back together and built it up a little to make more sturdy.
So Knowing this now I would say best way to get it right would be to trim to the template and then simply build up a little with glass in the jam to make hinge flush and straight with that edge. Hope that makes sense. I filed the outer edge to leave a small gap so would not be a direct pressure on it after paint and crack or chip it.
Thanks, we have a common experience. Even when I cut the notch to the template, it exposed the crack with no adhesive between the door skin and inner panel. I have used the strong 3M adhesive, and fiberglass, to reinforce the "flimsy" area inside the door where the notch is cut.
I am still debating to cut the area down flush, or metal shim, or add glass to the door area to make things flush. It will be on the door inside and should be easy to hide my work.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Hopefully our comments will help others.
Slowed down a little waiting on some things. Have some closed cell foam ordered to try and do some interior/headliner and finish off the back in something resembling actual interior. After getting some astronomical estimates decided to try and do myself. Been spending time cutting and fitting insulation board and covering with heat/sound material (hush mat). Filled all the side and back spaces between frame members with 1/2" foam board and covered both sides with the Hush Mat. The sides I was actually able to stack two layers for total 1". Hopefully that will help with temp/noise. Fabricated some aluminum panels on the back side to cover up and make a cleaner look. Taking everything apart this week and want to get all the preliminary interior work done before I paint so I can lay upside down to make a little easier. (wish me luck) This will be a whole new challenge
Quick question for you if you don't mind. Since you chopped the roll cage, have you noticed any sag or problems with the chassis? Are you planning to reinstall the cage? Thanks in advance.
Quick question for you if you don't mind. Since you chopped the roll cage, have you noticed any sag or problems with the chassis? Are you planning to reinstall the cage? Thanks in advance.
Going to sleeve and reinstall back portion only. The cage has no structural purpose as far as the frame goes. Safety only. I talked to engineer at FFR before doing it to be sure it would not effect the integrity of the chassis. He suggested I support the rear bar like they have on the bronze truck. If you look at those photos you will see it does not have the complete cage but some support bars going out toward the front to stabilize and strengthen the roll bar.
Going to sleeve and reinstall back portion only. The cage has no structural purpose as far as the frame goes. Safety only. I talked to engineer at FFR before doing it to be sure it would not effect the integrity of the chassis. He suggested I support the rear bar like they have on the bronze truck. If you look at those photos you will see it does not have the complete cage but some support bars going out toward the front to stabilize and strengthen the roll bar.
Not a lot of visible progress to show but have spent the Holidays getting all the panels ready for paint. Have all the panels with exception of the cab totally done and ready to seal and paint. probably wait till March for it to warm up a little. I took the wheels down to powder coat and they did a great job but color is totally off. Going to have to go fight that battle after new years to see if i can get redone without paying another $300.00 In my support I gave him a spray out of the color so no excuse about me picking the wrong color chip.
Sprayed the cowl to get an idea of the striping I wanted and to see what the color combo looked like. Any input? I think I like it. The Coating Store gloss black and Habenero Orange. A little more red than the Huger Orange. Put a 1/4" silver pin stripe highlighted with 1/8 orange. The stripes will continue along the top of the lower belt molding all the way around the truck to separate the top black and bottom orange.
Glad to see your posting again. I missed seeing updates on your build. The paint scheme looks great!!! Rob
LOL. Just not much new to show. Priming and blocking...priming and blocking....priming and blocking...My hands are killing me! Hope to have some interior stuff updated next week or so. Looking forward to your completed pics. I'm having to make a business trip up to Chicago in February. We ave an office in Woodridge Il and doing some site visits up in Green bay. Possible to come by and take a look and shoot the sh.....it?
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Originally Posted by sperger72
I cant wait to get this thing on the road!
