warthog : Cab floor work

Re: Cab floor work
Post by warthog on Jun 8, 2006, 8:04pm

Out of all of it, the hardest was doing the curved portions where it bends for the doors.

Harder than that was the front ones where I had to get small indent for the hinge to fit and keep the bolt hole lined up. This ended up being 3 pieces that I shaped and then welded together w/ lots of grinding and rewelding. I found (the hard way a couple times) it was easier to make pieces and weld together than trying to make it out of a whole piece. I made tons of cardboard mock-ups (all the desktop calendars at work don't have cardboard backs anymore).

Re: Cab floor work
Post by angrytruck on Jun 12, 2006, 10:45pm

Warthog - Great work.
All of those pictures look really familar because I am going through the same process on my truck. Looks like I am fabricating most of the same parts you are.

Regarding the beading on the floors, I thought I might share a tool I made with the rest of the Zone. I got my panels from JPP but discovered the beads were not where I wanted them and they were not as deep as I would like. I made a poor man's bead roller/smasher as shown below.
http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/3...tool0015ks.jpg
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/5...tool0025db.jpg
Basically, I took a bolt, cut the head and threads off, leaving just about 1" of the shank. I then cut the shank in half lengthwise to create a bead shape. I then welded that onto a small (approx 1"x2.5"x.5") piece of steel with a good fillet weld. After some grinding and some rounding of the ends, I had the male portion of my bead smasher. I then made the die (female) portion on another piece of steel. It took a little time grinding and filing but I soon had the two halves matched.
Next, I took a piece of flat stock and folded it in half to make a set of tongs. After that, I welded the dies onto the end of the tongs.
To use the smasher, I drew a bead centerline on the panel. Then, clamped a couple of boards on the panel as a set of fences to keep the bead smasher going straight. I put the panel in between the 2 halves of the dies, and supported the underside with a sturdy wood block. With the help of my dad swinging a hammer, we were able to strike the upper die and slowly walk the smasher along the centerline, making the bead deeper and smoother with each pass.
With a small amount of finishing work, I should be able to achieve a really smooth bead.
http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/2388/dsc012188zw.jpg

-Brian

Re: Cab floor work
Post by jeepistdougiowa on Jun 13, 2006, 12:22am

Warthog, angrytruck, impressive work by both of ya!

Re: Cab floor work
Post by warthog on Jun 13, 2006, 8:44am

Awesome idea for the bead, very functional, yet simple.