Had a little spare time yesterday so I cleared the boxes of parts from the cab of the '52. Also got the passenger door open only to have it drop down considerably due to loose & missing(broken) screws. Another story.

Then I happened to look up and discovered the following damage. Cannot for the life of me figure out why someone cut this out with a torch in such a crappy manner. Inside doesn't appear to have had any leaks, and there were never any running lights installed above.

I have a bunch of questions as I'm now waffling between this cab and pulling the one off the '51 (which has its own issues). Just need to post what I found in the visor area. Is this even fixable without hours and hours of work? My desire is to make a nice daily driver not a show truck, but crap like this really drives me batty.

 

Farmer probably found that to be a good way to clean out the mice .

 

You know, that's about the only thing that would make any sense, though it would've had to have been one big mouse house to necessitate chopping out that much metal. Couldn't find any trace of moisture damage or any critters in there. Maybe he took 'em out with a ShopVac.

So in looking at the '51 cab it has some issues: hacked up dash, multiple holes in the floor mostly in the steering column plates but also firewall and transmission opening ala Johnny HotRod (maybe not what I'd have done but at least it makes some sense) and some rust through in the passenger side rear corner. '52 rear corners are good but both fronts have been repaired fairly well by the looks, and both sides of the floor have been patched up. And there's a giant jagged hole in the visor panel.

The questions are:

- Do the front door pillar plates/bulkheads directly rely on the outer front cab corners for structural strength or are they independent of them? If someone did a marginal job repairing the cab corners and covered it up with bondo, is it going to come back to haunt me or are they two different sections?

- Which is easier to repair or replace: dashboard or visor panel?

- Where does the VIN reside? I've read that it's somewhere on the firewall. If so, would swapping cabs turn my '52 into a '51 from a legal standpoint? I have titles to both.

It might seem like I'm nit-picking since these are old trucks and I have said that I don't want a show truck. But I don't want a kludged up pos either. Putting a lot of work into the cab only to have to come back and re-do someone else's mistakes isn't something I want to do.

Since I'm new to old Fords I'm trying to get a feel for what makes sense and what amounts to chasing my tail. I had hoped to avoid welding but that went away when the original fenders were toast from poor storage. It starts to become a case of pouring buckets of money into what is supposed to be only a straight, clean, daily driver. Just reading Jim's paint thread made me dizzy, and I'm not even close to that yet.

 

Is your last picture above what you mean by "outer cab corners"? If so, yes, the bolt you see is the main cab mount, being right on top of the trans crossmember (more or less) it anchors the cab while the other 4 supports allow movement.

Your dash won't be hard to fix. If you overlay a radio grille and radio delete panel (or install a modern radio) it'll look fine. For the gaping hole on the visor, tack in a piece of steel, then upholster it.... No one will be the wiser.

 

I just cut the top half of the cab and the dash out of a 52 that I'm parting out. If it were me, I'd replace the top roof panel. If you need one, I got one.

 

The cab looks pretty sound apart from the butchery, nothing there that should be a deal breaker.

 

I had lots of rust in the area above the windshield, If I had cut it out it would of looked like yours.

 

But how on earth can that area rust? Even if the truck sat out in the open with no windshield or doors, I just can't see how water gets into that area if the top of the cab doesn't have any holes in it. I agree with the mice theory. It's the only thing that could make sense. They could build a nest in that area which would, in turn, hold enough moisture to rust it out over a LONG time.

 

Not enough room behind the seat for a gun rack. That's where the PO kept his rifle / shotgun...

 

I like that explanation best, Joe. All 16 inches of it, butt to barrel end. It would be a perfect fit. Like the one James Caan carried in 'Eldorado'.

The confusing part of it is how solid and clean overall the rest of that panel is, inside and out. Nothing to indicate rust or leaks. Maybe mice crawled up the roof pillars and croaked in there which stank the place up.

Ross, the area I am concerned about is where & how the door pillar hooks into the cab for support. By 'outside cab corners' on front I was thinking of those replacement panels available - that area. This is where the work has been done and some bondo applied. Wasn't sure if I should be worried about structural issues hidden behind it with respect to the door support. I don't know these trucks very well yet, certainly not as thoroughly as you guys do. Patching the visor panel it is my first choice, but along with the curve of the panel there's another bend to meet the arc of the windshield. Hard to wrap my mind around. I'm sure someone who does metal work could figure it out fast.

The front floor has been patched on both sides over the transmission support that Ross pointed out, too. But if that ends up being messy, it should be easy enough to get replaced as the 18 ga. front floor panels are readily available. The hacked up dash is in the '51 along with the hot rodded floor. '51 is sorta red, '52 is copper-ish. The dash in the '52 is very clean overall. Was just trying to figure out which cab was the better candidate so I can send the '51 down the road.

What I need to do is take a step back, take a breath, and look at things more realistically. It's not going to be done next week or next month, *maybe* next year if I'm lucky. It's a low priority project on the financial side of things, being funded purely by other 'stuff' I sell off. That's part of the trade off that got the wife on board ("you have WAAAY too much STUFF").

Easier said than done, of course. Now that it's sitting here in the yard where I can get my mitts on it, I want to at least get the cab done so I can start hanging everything else on it and get it to where it can be moved around. Still plenty to finish on the chassis first like brake hoses and rear bumper. Need to focus....focus....

 

Yeah, you need to take the time to make a list of the things you want to do, prioritize the list, and then get started.

Of course, if you're like me, the high priority things will be decided by cost. The things I REALLY want to get done on the truck will be waiting for years (if they ever get done) until I can come up with the big bucks.

 

If you just want a basic truck to run to the dump, you'd be much better off (time and especially money) buying a running, driving truck.

 

__I think it was a case of a real hungry mouse , rat , that had real sharp teeth __

 

Hey Boomer,
It can get frustrating once you start digging into it. I would try not to stress yourself out by setting deadlines, etc. The cab is the most time consuming part of this whole build. Go slow & pick what ever cab you want & then carve up the other one. Take your time & have fun. Welding up the floor is a good place to start as it will be under carpet anyway - doesn't have to look great or be perfect.

Your dash doesn't look too bad. Think about the gauges you want to run
& how you want them laid out then start playing with mock ups. Here are pics of our 1950 F1 dash for motivation (I had help).

Keep up the momentum over there in North Carolina!

Ben in Austin
1950 F1

 

Bondo is never a "fix". Using it that way is sure to bite you later, it has no structural strength or value.
You seriously thought you could build up a derelict old truck with no welding or metal work???
That windshield header panel repair is a piece of cake, the dash just a little more effort. I bet there is some roof leakage you haven't found yet because it's been plugged or covered up, likely in the rain gutter or the body seams.
EVERYTHING on these trucks is structural, Ford didn't put in a single piece of metal that wasn't essential.

By the way I teach intro mig welding for novices and am an accomplished metal smith. See tutorial I wrote here:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-practice.html
If you plan on finishing one of these trucks it's time to buy a MIG welder (talk to me FIRST!) and learn how to run beads, it's not difficult.

Here's a few truths most of us have discovered:

Whatever you think it's going to cost, even in your wildest dreams, it's actually going to cost at least 2X that much.

However long you think the project will take, it will actually take at least 4X that long.

Regardless of the original cost of the project, a running, solid, safe to drive (but not necessarily pretty) truck is going to cost a minimum total of $15 - 20K including the purchase price, the only difference is how long it will take to get it back on the road. an already driving 8-12K truck will typically take 6 mo. to 2 years, a 500.00 basket case will typically take 5-10 years of intense dedicated work (20 -40 hrs/week) before it will once again drive down the highway. There is no quick and easy (or cheap) way.

Your truck will never be able to be sold for more than what you have invested in it, NOT including your labor (no matter WHAT BS they show on TV!). This hobby is for the love of the vehicles not for profit.

If you enjoy the drive a lot more than the build, save yourself a lot of time and money, buy a (nearly or) finished licensed truck. If you enjoy the build more, accept these facts, hunker down for the long haul, and we're here to help.