Here is the panel i got. It was sold to the Turnagain Childrens Home in 1954 as a used vehicle and I have that used title. The names off the sides have been cut off and will hang in my shop.
New cab mounted. Roof and back of the cab skins removed.
Back of the cab mounted 10" back.
Doors back on to check fit.
The back window marked out for the 4 1/2 inch chop.
I had to empty my cabinets on the back wall of the shop and move them so the water can be hooked up in the hotrod bathroom my wife has been working on. Progress was on hold until the magazines, etc. were off the truck and back where they belong.
I was too impatient, so everything was moved off the truck and back enough to continue working.
The windshield and door frames were removed.
The hinge pillars are almost identical to the latch pillars. In preparation for the suicide doors, an extra set of hinge pillars have been relocated. The driver's side to the passenger side and vice versa. Later, the door skins will be cut off 3/4 of an inch into the door jamb portion of the door shell. The inside portion of the drivers door (containing the hinge mounts etc.) will be swapped to the passenger side and vice versa. You then weld these inner sections of the door shell back onto the outer skins and you have suicide doors in about 3 hours. The inner portions of the door shell are only about a 1/4 inch different from side to side. It's an easy adjustment.
Sorry it's sideways. Everytime I loaded it onto photo bucket it did that.
Time to remove everything above the belt line!!
Before....
After the use of a saw blade 4 1/2 inches wide.
Here's a before shot of the windshield.
And after hitting it with an axe 6 1/2 times.
The window sections of the door frames were layed forward a few inches. Due to this new angle, the upper section of the back of the cab looked wrong standing straight up. This section was cut off at the body line and tipped down at the leading edge where the new quarter window will be to match the angle of the door. I forgot to get a photo before cutting it off.
Here are a few shots to show how much the door frame has changed.
Hung the nose to get a better over all view. It's starting to have the attitude I was looking for.
I sold the power glide transmission off the 348 for parts and am going with a turbo 350.
When I separated it from the motor, I found one of the torque converter bolts was missing. Here is a shot of where it was supposed to be.
Once separated, the flywheel showed signs of similar issues from a prior instance.
I'll bet it had a serious vibration!
To create some extra floor space, we dropped the 348 under the hood.
