possible body swap?

dawny and i have been talking and i am toying with the idea of swapping the truck body for a speedster body. i dont like that it is so tight in the cab and with a different body i would be able to have a longer and a bit wider interior. i would also be able to add a universal joint to the steering column and that would straighten out the wheel. on top of all that. i drool everytime i look at a speedster.

now admittedly. a car like the BMW BRUTUS is impossible but boy o boy is it ever cool.

the wire or disc wheels and tires would be expensive.

that truck is hella-cool but it is so tiny inside my wife cant even drive it.
and pops couldnt get into it
and he aint fat.

i will sacrifice some comfort for style but if my wife cannot ride and be comfy
whats the point?
i might as well have a single seat hard tail chopper.

Not to hate on the speedster, (far from it) but on your current chassis I'd be looking for a sedan body... or a touring car "tub" perhaps...

Edit: Hey! You broke 2K! Congrats Billy!

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my frame is 24 inches wide
thats why i right away thought mutant speedster

Just my $.02, but have you thought about stretching the current cab far enough to get comfy?

animal said:

Just my $.02, but have you thought about stretching the current cab far enough to get comfy?

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it would be impossible for me to match the curves and add those stamped lines into the panels.
in other words
it would look really stupid and crappy. [S

Yeah, it would take finding another cab or at least the rear part of one........... and that wouldn't be easy. If you decide to build a speedster, you can mix and match pieces and parts, and even make up a removable top if you want. [P

I don't know what your truck looks like inside right now, but is there anything you could do in order to get more room in your current cab? Thinner seats further back in the cab, move the steering wheel and pedals, etc.?

It seems like the cab is fairly long as it is, for a pickup.

I like the look of your truck as is. Not huge on the speedster idea but it's not my truck either.

While we're brainstorming how about this: Make everything quick connect and easy to change, so you can swap it in a couple hours from your truck body to a speedster body, maybe even a sedan body? [cl

My vote would be to fix some of the truck problems, Billy. Nobody has mentioned yet that you just moved 1500 miles north and that puts you in a zone where you don't want to drive an open car every day. There will be many days that the closed cab pickup will really shine.
Can you make the seat backs thinner or throw them away and just pad the back of the cab? Can you unchannel the truck somehow, maybe double Zing the frame? Can you change the position of the steering wheel with U-joints or new mounts?
Keep the truck Billy, it's ten times cooler than a speedster.

05snopro440 said:

I don't know what your truck looks like inside right now, but is there anything you could do in order to get more room in your current cab? Thinner seats further back in the cab, move the steering wheel and pedals, etc.?

It seems like the cab is fairly long as it is, for a pickup.

I like the look of your truck as is. Not huge on the speedster idea but it's not my truck either.

While we're brainstorming how about this: Make everything quick connect and easy to change, so you can swap it in a couple hours from your truck body to a speedster body, maybe even a sedan body? [cl

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that cab is tiny
i am 5.9 135 lbs and i can stick my arm halfway out the passenger door window without leaning.
and i am crammed in that truck.
knees touch the dash with my knees spread out to fit in the cab at all.
floorboards so small i have to use one foot for the brake and one for the gas.
i do like the quick swapper idea![cl
there is only 12 bolts holding the cab and bed on the frame
i could have everything off the frame in an hour.

05snopro440 said:

While we're brainstorming how about this: Make everything quick connect and easy to change, so you can swap it in a couple hours from your truck body to a speedster body, maybe even a sedan body? [cl

Click to expand...

You know I considered this very concept when I built my rat . What stopped us dead in our tracks was the registration which says what the vehicle is IE 1946 Chevy Pickup , if you had a 1934 sedan body on it and got stopped it would not go over very good . Also you can't have the same VIN # on two different cabs .

IAM-LDS-2 said:

You know I considered this very concept when I built my rat . What stopped us dead in our tracks was the registration which says what the vehicle is IE 1946 Chevy Pickup , if you had a 1934 sedan body on it and got stopped it would not go over very good . Also you can't have the same VIN # on two different cabs .

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mine says 2012 handbuilt.
VIN on frame

..............

IAM-LDS-2 said:

You know I considered this very concept when I built my rat . What stopped us dead in our tracks was the registration which says what the vehicle is IE 1946 Chevy Pickup , if you had a 1934 sedan body on it and got stopped it would not go over very good . Also you can't have the same VIN # on two different cabs .

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I'm not sure if it's different down there, but up here we go by body serial number. You would just need separate registrations. You could maybe have the firewall separate from both bodies, so the steering, gauges, and everything stayed in place, as well as your serial number... As long as it's serialized as a homebuilt as Billy's is. The other issue your comments brought to my mind is insuring such a beast. Especially if it's classic insurance and it's appraised, you might need a separate policy for each body...

Just brainstorming. I still like the truck, Billy. As Mac said, can you unchannel it or make mods to make the truck work? It's bloody cool.

The truck is too nice to go monkeying with it. I'd sell it and buy a 40's to 50's car. Much more room inside. Like somebody said, a closed cab will better in that part of the country, it get pretty cold up there in winter.

If you go with the speedster idea Billy I would plan on building your own body from scratch.
Not that hard to do and can be done with basic hand tools.
Any of the 20's and even up until the late 30's car bodies were and are very narrow. Even if you found a Model T or Model A tub you would be able to gain length but they are still fairly narrow. That's why many of the fibreglass T bucket manufacturer's are going towards making larger buckets.
If you scrounge around on the internet you can find plans for speedster type bodies.
Nothing worse than having a car too uncomfortable to drive.
Torchie.

Ok
I am going to unchannel it and drop the floor four inches.

I like the sedan body idea .. my 31 chevy cab is the same way Billy knees touch the dash and I could use thinner backs to my seat but you are shoulder to shoulder in them things. (that) would not be an easy fix .

my lil truck has a 24 inch wide frame
but a 120 inch wheelbase
now i am thinking of a two cockpit speedster one in front of the other.
kinda like an airplane[S

OK, lets say if you change bodies, I'd be interested in the cab and bed