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| | | | Joined: Nov 2002 Posts: 48 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Nov 2002 Posts: 48 | Well I just bolted up the doors to the cab on my 53 3100 and guess what? Those beautiful 5" weld beads that I put in the corners of the door sil, over the ugly 1953 stick welds ended up bitting me in the rear!
I drilled a few tiny 1/8th" "alignment holes" in the hinges before I removed the doors. And now the doors are hitting the striker plate, AND they are too tight to the cowl! thank god I didn't spray final paint yet!
I am going out to the garage to make a "port a power" type jig with 2x4's and a scisor jack and see if I can push the hinge pillar and the lock pillar apart enough to compensate for what my purdy welds did.
It looks like I am going to be cutting the cab with a skinny wheel and hammering and rewelding to get the correct even gap all the way around the doors, do I need to take the cab off the 2x4 dolly I made and bolt it on to the frame before I do all this cutting and welding surgury?
If you need a tool and don't buy it, you will find you have paid for it and don't have it.
| | | | | Joined: Dec 2004 Posts: 425 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Dec 2004 Posts: 425 | I think it depends on how solid your cab was before you started. I've always thought if any major reconstructive surgery was required (floor pans, floor brackets, structural pieces, etc.- the body should be left on the frame, assembled. Then taken off after the welding work is done. This is especially true for convertibles, off topic, I know. The reason should be apparent, if the body isn't structurally solid, you have no reference point of where things SHOULD be while on a dolly, and it will also flex. So, at this point you probably SHOULD put the cab back on the frame, and shim it close to where you think it needs to be, before doing any more cutting and welding. | | | | | Joined: Sep 2007 Posts: 2,644 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Sep 2007 Posts: 2,644 | A straight frame is as good as any fixture... use it as such and test fit everything as you go and tack weld everything and check again before you weld.
I know it's too late for you but hopefully your situation will help someone else avoid something similar. | | | | | Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 381 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 381 | All major cab structural work should always be done while it is bolted to the frame. If the frame has been tweaked because of an accident, then the frame should be straightened first, then do your cab repairs. | | | | | Joined: Jan 2009 Posts: 16 New Guy | | New Guy Joined: Jan 2009 Posts: 16 | As Czechman said, this will help me because I am starting a frame up restore and I will be replacing the firewall and I WAS going to take the cab off first. Hope it works out for you.
| | | | | Joined: Nov 2008 Posts: 465 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Nov 2008 Posts: 465 | I also made the mistake of removing the cab to fix the floors and cab corners
I'll vouch for doing that work ,although more difficult ,on the frame. I thought having the dimensions from the shop manual would do the trick.
After recutting the floors and posts, I'm finally getting the doors close to correct and the hood actually has almost a consistent line. | | |
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