Installed a square tube header and also a square tube across the end of the visor. Got the back panel welded to the body, trimmed the roof panels above the doors and removed the door posts from the driver's door.
So pretty good progress today.
Thank you to those who are following this build and making comments. It is appreciated.
This trunk showed up on Craigslist last night. It is metal and has nice nickle plated hardware. There's a little brass manufacturer's tag on it. It was made in my hometown of St. Paul, MN. which is a bit of an attraction. If I use it it would be mounted somewhat higher.
I see there are votes for the wooden trunk.
Spent most of the day patching the lower 6" of the doors and one cowl side.
Now I need you creative types to opine on if I should cut about 3" off the bottom of the body. That would even it out with the bottom of the back panel. It seems pretty "thick" from the door sill to the bottom of the body.
The roof line looks great! Are you going to use a section from a donor vehicle so you can have a slight crown in it ? I've tried making flat sheet metal roofs before and it's a problem keeping them from 'oil canning'. I've used 1/2" square tubing for support braces under the top skin or even 3/4" square cut lengthwise so I could put a rubber strip into it to make a 'soft' fit against the skin.
Any of those trunks are cool as far as I'm concerned, though the last one is my fav.
This is a better approximation of where the trunk will be mounted. Below and behind it will be a gas tank mounted '32 Ford style, I have some cool rear frame rails I hope will fit the build. In front of the body you can see the patch panels on the doors. Both doors are patched and I have half of the deformed cowl panel replaced.
Still don't know how I'll do the top. I appreciate the information from zzrodder.
When I made the filler panels for the cab corners one is long and goes to the bottom of the body and one stops at the bottom of the back panel. When I put the back panel on I lined up the character lines and the bottom of the back panel ended up about 3" higher than the sub frame. So those are the two possibilities; extend the back panel or shorten the rest of the cab to match the back panel.
Here's the rear frame rails I hope to use. The trunk will sit on the flat part and the gas tank will mount under the rearmmost curved part. There is a rusted out tank in that position in the pic.
Completed the patch panel across the bottom of the rear of the body.
Decided to remove the entire subframe. It is pretty thin and pitted. I took it out carefully. Spent most of today doing it.
Picked up a 24 foot stick of 2" by 4" 11 gauge rectangular tubing. $95.00. The plan is to use it under the cab, channeled 4". It will only stick out beyond the firewall a little. Same in the rear. I will use car/truck frame sections where the frame is visible.
The tubing will be notched so the rear sections are parallel and the front rails exit the firewall at the outer edges.
The body will be bolted to the frame initially, until all the layout is done, then permanently welded. In this pic the frame rail is not fully in its channeled position.
Current plan is to use a '40 Plymouth truck axle and parallel leaf springs in the front. These parts were removed from my truck when I put a Mustang II in it.
I have a Ford 8" rear end but have not decided on a suspension set up.
I grabbed a couple 8' pieces of 2" by 4" rectangular tubing and made a couple cuts in them so they conformed to the perimeter of the body. They are fairly close to the correct length forward of the firewall.
Here's a 1929 Chevy truck frame and spring from the firewall forward. It is longer than it would be installed. The problem with it is a "Z" of about 8" would be required to get the front ride height low enough. Flipping the axle would reduce the "Z" by half.
Also, the Chevy frame is around 6" deep and looks very bulky. Would need to be "sectioned".