The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Laying a 1948 Cab on it's back.

I am in the process of prepping my cab for paint after I get rid of all the dings and put in a new rear lower panel on my 1948. I was wondering if there is clever system to roll the cab on it's back so I can clean up the bottom. I used my engine hoist to lift the cab off of the frame and it's sitting on a rolling cart that I made up so I could move it around the shop. I was thinking of just building up some lumber on the shop floor to the height of the cart and just rolling it back onto the lumber. NOt sure how much it weights. Since the rear lower panel will be replaced anyway, I won't mind if it gets scratched up. There are no rust holes in the floor, so it's solid. Just want to prime and paint it. Also any thoughts on putting on a protective coating on the bottom, like a bed liner or is that overkill?

Carl52 has suggested a method for rolling a cab. He said he bolts a couple of 2x4's to the firewall and rolls the cab forward. The cab doesn't weigh so much that 2 guys couldn't lift it, but it's a little cumbersome for just two. I'm not sure I would roll it on it's back, but it might be OK on a mattress to keep from denting the rear panel. [on edit] I see that your rear panel is slated for replacement, so rolling it on it's back would probably be OK.

Once I had my cab repaired and in primer, I sprayed undercoating on the bottom of the floor. There were remnants of undercoating on it when I removed it.

I roll mine by myself. I am 50 and not a strong guy.

I just roll it onto a pallet with casters as needed.

I am well into my 30s (have been for over 30 years) and I can roll the cab on its front by myself with 2 eight foot long 2x4s attached to the firewall by nuts and bolts going through existing firewall hole. The beauty of this is that no part of the cab ever touches the concrete floor. It is protected by the 2x4s.
If you bolt the 2x4s so that they are 4 inches shy of reaching the floor, the cab starts to roll much easier than if the ends of the 2x4s are touching the floor.
I can also lift the cab back upright. If you have a long enough lever, you can move the Earth, someone once said. Copernicus maybe, or Moe, Larry or Curly. I don't recall.

Archimedes.

Hey guys, after trying to lift it, it seemed like it wasn't that heavy, but my concern was a controlled roll. LOL> ... Anyhow I wanted it on it's back side, so I bolted a 2X3 to the fire wall as low as I could go and use my engine hoist to lift it up from the front. Once I got it hight enough I could drop it down slowly with the host. It's sitting on some 2X4s and blocks, with some foam rubber on top of the 2X4.