give me some opinions on my 42 cab

[ratterman]

I've been working on getting my 42 ford cab ready to chop and after looking at it for awhile i decided that it needed a little trimmed off the bottom due to rust. I marked out a line with tape and sprayed some paint on it to make a cut line leaving 1 inch below the door hinge. anybody ever done this before? I originally was goingt o spend the money on all the repair panels to redo the cab and section it but i think this way will look just as good and be tons cheaper, plus i hated to section out my bullet holes...lol

 

[ratterman]

and whats the best way to make sure you get a chop marked off right? i painted one line but when i run another piece of tape around the width of the chop varies. i tried making a cardboard template five inches wide to use as the next line but just managed to paint my hand black. next idea is to just measure 5 inches in a few spots and run tape across those marks to make my top cut line.

 

[Bonehead]

Saw one at a swap meet that somebody took the rust off at just above the floor.. It looked cool. It could work, fine I think.

 

[ratterman]

OH and then i played mock up a little.....lol

 

[ratterman]

Saw one at a swap meet that somebody took the rust off at just above the floor.. It looked cool. It could work, fine I think.

It will be channeled 4 inches over the frame so a new floor is in the plans anyways. i just need to get the cab braced up before i start cutting. I think the rust removal will kinda give it the sectioned look. cab will be 45 inches tall per my measurements.

 

[Bonehead]

Just make sure you still fit inside.

 

[ratterman]

Just make sure you still fit inside.

LOL, i should, I'm only 5'10''. although my tall friends probably won't ask for 2nds on the rides.

 

[ANNAMEL]

Ratterman
I did the exact same thing. Had to take 5 inches off the bottom due to rust and chopped 5.5 inches. Mine is a 41 chevy and had a 4" riser inside cab for gas tank. Works and looks fine for mine. Dont know how to post link to build but check it out racecar to ratrod.

 

[Gastrick]

Here's a link to ANNAMEL'S build thread.

http://www.ratrodsrule.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7592

 

[rainman]

Ratterman if you can find 5 inch wide duct tape thats an easy way to mark cut lines, BTW you need to checkout ANNAMELS build.

 

[ratterman]

I'll look around for 5 inch tape and yes I've been through every page of his build thread probably 3 times.

I'm going to get some scrape steel or maybe just some conduit to brace the cab up so i can start trimming on the bottom. Only problem is that my garage is not fully wired yet so I'll have to bolt the braces in somehow since my welder is 220 and only have 110 in the garage so far.

 

[rainman]

Ratterman you ever thought of taking it all off the bottom and leaving the top alone? Don't remember what issue but there was one in Ol School Rods a couple issues back done that way that looked very cool. Appeared to be about 10 or so inches taken off the bottom with no chop.

 

[ratterman]

Ratterman you ever thought of taking it all off the bottom and leaving the top alone? Don't remember what issue but there was one in Ol School Rods a couple issues back done that way that looked very cool. Appeared to be about 10 or so inches taken off the bottom with no chop.

I had actually thought about that but I really like the chopped look with the mail slot rear window. i did find another 40's cab that i may pick up if i can get it cheap but it's rustier than mine so it would be perfect to take 10 or so inches off the bottom. well actually it probably already has 10 or more inches gone...lol

 

[rainman]

Yeah I know what you mean right now mine is unchopped and I keep going back and forth as to what I want to do. But I'm pretty sure eventually I'll chop it, just don't know if I'll mail slot the back or section it and leave about 6 inch opening.

 

[ratterman]

I am planning to section 2 of the 5 inches out from under the rear window and take 3 out of the window. I was originally going to do the whole 5 out of the window but after measuring i think it would look more like a knife wound in the back of the cab than a window.

I ordered 25 feet of 1x1 for cab bracing and eventually the floor structure. So if time allows I hope to get started on the bracing soon and cut the bottom of the cab off.

 

[rainman]

Sounds like you are going to do you'res exactly like I had planned. I didn't lke the idea of a one to two inch rear window either.

 

[racer135]

Before you cut the bottom off the doors can you please measure the outside area roughly (within 1/4 inch). From bottom of the door to the bottom of the window, from the rear of the door to the front of the door, and from the bottom of the door to the top of the door. Any ideas if they're the same size/shape as 1952 f-1/f-2?

 

[ratterman]

Before you cut the bottom off the doors can you please measure the outside area roughly (within 1/4 inch). From bottom of the door to the bottom of the window, from the rear of the door to the front of the door, and from the bottom of the door to the top of the door. Any ideas if they're the same size/shape as 1952 f-1/f-2?

I'll measure it for you but there's not much metal left at the bottom so the measurement probably won't be exact. Although, i had a 49 F1 cab here when i bought this cab and the F1 cab was taller and wider for sure. I think in 48 ford called their trucks bonus built because they were bigger with more room starting in 48. of course that's just what I've read so i don't know if I'm correct.