The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest cab rotisserie

Is there a place where the plans for a cab rotisserie can be downloaded?

Two Harbor Freight heavy duty engine stands and some 2" angle iron- - - -instant rotisserie!
Jerry

I think Deve came up with a pretty nice set up using a couple
of engine stands.
http://devestechnet.com/Images/Restorations/1950B/D50b00603lg.jpg

It's well documented in one of his tech tips here:
http://devestechnet.com/Home/RotisseriePlans

dg

He asked for a cab rotisserie. That is a whole nother can of worms. I thought the last time this came up, someone here had some links for Cab ones. There is A LOT going on with that idea. A good cab cart may be a better way to go.

Cab, frame or body....all looks the same to me Deve,
cept for the length and the mount.

A friend, aka; ctheusa sent me a picture of what he used for
his '47 build. Had one end on an engine stand and the other
on his engine hoist. Looked pretty cool.
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/162586860

dg

Sweetietheswede,

This is what a freind of mine and I came up with. He was the mechanical engineer, between the two of us. I contributed a few ideas to it. I was sent to the steel yard with a list. Then I cut all of the steel to length. He welded the framework together. I was in charge of tracking down the tall hydraulic jacks. Which, I did find at Harbor Freight. I am sorry there are no plans for it. We didn't have the foresight, to think about saving a list of measurements and take pictures of the step by step assembly. Perhaps, it will give you a rough idea how to build one. We used a couple different sizes of square tubing, for the base. This allowed us to slide inside the other. That way we could adjust the size. If you are going to only use it for one size cab, that pobably isn't necessary. We welded plates at the end of the round tubing, that spanded accross the doors. The upper door hinge and striker plate bolt holes were used to fasten the cab to the rotisserie. I wasn't as interested in capturing the rotisserie as the cab, when taking these attached pictures. Sorry that it is not a more detailed, for you. Hope this helps you out. Good luck with your project.

Rugo
http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/Rugocigars/media/Cab%20Rotisserie_zpszfjg1cv8.jpg.html?o=2
http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/Rugocigars/media/IMG_0573_zpsahwsn3pa.jpg.html?o=0
http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/Rugocigars/media/IMG_0572_zpsamgykvyd.jpg.html?o=1

No Denny, the cab is WAY different. And very problematic. The Cab was never designed to hold its own weight other than in its usual orientation. I have seen plans where they use the door posts to flip the cab over, but CRINGE when I see it because those door posts were never designed to handle the weight of the entire cab. I have thought of how to do it grabbing the actual floor mounting holes with an L shape bracket that also bolts to the firewall, but then, it defeats why you need it... to get to the hard spots to prep and paint.

In the end, I decided to make a cab cart with a pedestal to raise it high enough to paint everything but the floor, then have someone over to help me pick it up and set it on the firewall when I need the floor accessible. There are other people out there way smarter than me.. so I am hoping someone will say.. hmmmmmmmmmmm....

Rugo.. all I see is that I can get 65% off Wall Art. No pics.

Thanks Deve, I will give it another go. I am not sure what my calling in life is. But, I can safely cross off compters as a possibility.

Rugo

Steve,

I do not have a photobucket account.
I think I might need an account use the link you provided?
Look for a "public link" option.

Tim,

I have tried to attach a picture different way. Can you see it now?

Rugo

Thanks, Rugo/Steve,

I can now view your photos.

Steve, that is the type I was talking about, but maybe the worry is just in my mind. Wouldn't be the first time.

So I can't see clearly enough, but you have the unit bolted to the door hinge on one side and the latch area on the other? Did you do anything behind the latch area to augment the metal? Since no AD door openings are the same (can be wider or narrower by as much as 3/8"), is that adjustable for each side? How do stresses at the different angles affect the cab? My worry would be when it is firewall down or at an angle. Are you careful about the different angles in any way?

These are honest questions.. I am not dissing your rotisserie, I am wondering if there are improvements you would make if you were doing several cabs. How do you feel about the weight stresses on the mounting positions? Thank you for sharing the pics!

I agree with Deve, that is a very nice cab rotisserie the guys showed, but man seems like huge overkill. You can build a simple dolly with 2X4's depending on how many times you want to use it (more sturdy if your going to do lots of trucks). Use your engine hoist to lift and mount the cab(Brad uses a 4X4 under the top of the cab between door openings to lift it off the frame and pull the frame out), then you have access to inside/outside, everything but the bottom to finish your metal work. Get some buddies to help you set it on the firewall (like Deve says) and paint the bottom (someone here, I think Tiny or Carl used a baby bed mattress to set in on and protect it). Then put it back on the dolly for final paint. You can get a lot of cab repairs done in the time you would have spent building the rotisserie.

Deve,

All very good questions. No worries, your post doesn't lead me to think that you are dissing our rotisserie at all. I know that the pictures don't show off the rotisserie very well. As I mentioned in my previous post, that unfortunately wasn't my goal when taking the pictures. In hindsight, I wish that I would have taken more time to document the construction. You are correct. We did use the upper door hinge holes and door latch striker holes to fasten it to the rotisserie. We used two different sized round steel pipe to make it adjustable for each individual door. One just slid inside the other. We welded plates on the ends and drilled holes to match each of the bolt holes, we were using. You can see from the one picture that there is a new cowl panel on my cab. A previous owner had hyperextented the door, which put a fairly large vertical crease in the orignal cowl panel. After taking off the original panel, we had to pull the hinge portion of the door 3/4 of an inch towards the back of the cab. It then matched the door opening on the passenger side. We did not augment the metal at all. Perhaps I was just fortunate, but my cab didn't seem to suffer any distortion from using the rotisserie. As I mentioned in my previous post, my friend that designed it and built it is a mechanical engineer. The building in which the pictures were taken is his business. He has built a very successful business designing and manufacturing machinery for everything from making a much for efficient riveting machine for Boing Aircraft to machinery that manufactures bottles. Let's say that I trust his expertise. With all of that said, we are all still human beings and are not perfect. It was perhaps a little over built. But, it was sure nice to be able to stand there and work on the underside of the cab. I was able to work on every side of it with that side vertical to me. Made it much more comfortable. Was really nice to paint it also. We painted one vertical surface and turned the rotisserie to the next side and so on. Hope that clears a few things up.

Rugo

Well Steve....I for one, think that's a cool way to access the
cab from any angle without having to work of the floor on your
hands and knee's. As far as it being overkill, probably is,
if your intention is to buy one truck, fix up one truck, then
drive one truck and that's it. Deve can speak to us about
overkill, he's our resident expert on overkill. Overkill is
part of the hobby, rather than doing something that is "good
enough", I often overkill the projects I'm working on. Heck,
I've worked thousands of hours and spent untold amounts of
money on machine tools, welding equipment, painting facilities
and tools when it would have been much easier to just work a
little side job at what I'm best at for a few hours and pay
some expert to do the work for me.
But if you're aim is restoring these trucks as a hobby,
looking toward the future I can see this coming in handy
with the next one and the next. With a different set of
adapter arms and a longer tie bar it will also swing a frame.
Gosh, when you think about it, it does resemble a professionally
built frame rotisserie which I've seen on the market with
those tall bottle jacks to adjust the height. It doesn't
look like there is all that much material involved in making
it. A weekend of cutting welding and drilling for anyone with
any fabricating skills orta do it. Now finding room for it
next to the engine test stand, universal welding jig and
portable spray booth in a two car attached garage is
another story.

As far as the strength and rigidity of a Stovebolt cab, it's
a unit body type construction and certainly should support its
400 lb. weight just fine jigged the way Steve has it in any
position. If bending of the door hinge mounts, which we
encounter often is where Deve is directing his concern, yes,
with a door cantilevered off the hinge pocket is a concern
because of the leverage. But with the cab supported at the
hinge pocket, and at the rear latch point on both sides it
would give me no worry. I'd probably opt to mount it at both
front hinge points to aid in locating the CG, but then again,
I normally overkill any task I take on anyway.
Nice job Steve.
dg

Yup. This is the kind of discussion that's useful. I am wondering about a 5 ft or so long piece of angle iron or something between the two door latch mounting points to help distribute the energy from various directional forces. Then I also wonder about beefing up that entire latch area with a clamp-on plate or something maybe even the entire length of the door as well. Interesting topic for sure. Thanks again Steve. With your background, I am sure it's just fine the way it is. Doesn't stop me from overthinking it!

Deve,

In all fairness, it isn't my background that you should trust. I don't know anything. My friend that built it is the one with the background that you trust. My job was to go to steel yard, with a list of steel we needed. Cut all of the steel into the proper lengths and track down the tall hydraulic jacks. Pehaps, I had a few suggestions for the design. Oh, and I also contributed the first cab. I am also the king of over thinking things. I understand exactly. When I build something it is usually way over built. When a nuclear halocaust occures, I am sure that everthing that I have built, Keith Richards and cockroaches will be the only things left. Good luck with the your project. Keep us posted on any kind of alterations and improvements that you come up with.

Rugo

You forgot to include twinkies along with the cock roaches, keith richards and the things we all over engineer, yeah.

Joe

Hmmm. I'm thinking a piece of C channel mounted to the hinge and latch in each door attached to a pair of engine hoists. The cab would be the center member.