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I highly recommend finding a 3/4 or tonner frame to put that body on. All the reports I have read on this website say it is easier to adapt suspension onto the original frame than to adapt the body to a newer frame.
What he said for sure. Do it right the first time and only do it once.
I would look for a truck frame from that era and start my build from
that. You have a cool old truck there. I would hate to see it all cut up
and you get discouraged and then no one wanting it but the scrapper.
I listened to all the comments and decided to go ahead and try using the LTD frame. I took the body off and made the modifications to the frame I had planned and then put the body on the frame. I did not have to cut the body at all and there is no hump in the bed. Here are some pictures of my results... Thanks for the input.
Are you going to run fenders on the front? I see 2 different driver's side rear fenders on ebay right now. I see you have a couple extra front doors from a pickup or truck. I have several too and my front doors are junk. I'm thinking of installing pickup doors and filling in the body to fit the round top corners.
I was able to find a 47 pickup with a good cowl and firewall, so I cleaned the pickup to bare metal and built new floor boards and then cut the A posts on both the pickup and the panel and installed the pickup front to the panel. I also took the 390 out and went through it and cleaned the LTD frame and painted both and have it all reinstalled. Working on building body mounts and then replacing the wood in the floor with new. Also have a new page on Facebook Rustic Revival Street Rods. As always I enjoy your comments and suggestions
You have a tremendous amount of energy and perseverance, not to mention skill. You seem to be on your way to the 'it couldn't be done' award. We are not used to somebody showing up with an out of the box idea and actually having what it takes to do it. We see lots and lots of people showing up and quickly abandoning their project once they see what is actually involved. You and I have almost identical vehicles, but nearly everything about them is opposite. I'm doing mine my way, you are doing yours your way. It's a great hobby and I'm glad there are no rules to it.
Nicely done so far! Hopefully that wide track front end will fit within the confines
of the fenders, (but with your skills you may be able to widen them and still make
it look like the real deal..)
I have to admit, I am impressed. Usually frame swaps end with a pile of very ugly parts. You are doing the opposite and taking a pile of parts and making a good panel truck. I agree with GB, I am glad there are not many rules in this hobby.
If someone could look up and post a favorite poem of mine, it would be appropriate here. I will try again, but for some reason it isn't working. It's called 'It couldn't be done', or 'Somebody said it couldn't be done', by Edgar Guest. Who knows, I may be the first one on FTE to post up a poem. Oh, there was my ford truck version of 'These are a few of my favorite things', but technically that's a song...... Thanks in advance. I do however have one more poem up my sleeve and it was written by an unknown author about the flathead v8.
So I finally gave up and took a picture of it on my laptop screen. Here goes... My grandfather told me about this poem when I was a 14 year old kid building my first boat in my attic bed room.
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