^interesting.
please explain to me how the sheetmetal can distort over time. there needs to be something acting on the molecules of the metal to make it change shape, such as a large force or heat. it is not going to distort just sitting there. the reason you don’t see the factory welding the braces to the body panels is because the brace is put in place first, and then the roof skin is put on after. all they do is put down an adhesive on the braces and glue the roof in, spotwelding and brazing where necessary to hold it in place. it is cheaper and less work than welding it, being more efficient. not to mention it was assembly line workers, not guys that do bodywork. would you trust a guy fresh out of highschool with a welder and thin sheetmetal on a brand new car?
dont like the bracing? well the other option is to overlap the sheetmetal a good 3-4 inches and tac weld it on both sides to support it. or, get another roof, cut the outside sections out and overlap that a few inches and tac weld it in place. any way you look at it you are still overlapping the metal to support it and welding it where it would be seen. i used the square tubing and did it this way so i could have something to mount a headliner to because i want a full interior in this truck, which it never had.
i looked at a good 30-40 chop builds before doing this and spoke with a body man/co owner of a reputable hotrod shop that has been around a long time. he told me that “theres really no rules when doing this stuff, do what works best for you to make it work” he said he did not see anything wrong with doing the bracing. all i need to do is avoid warping the sheetmetal while stitching it back together, otherwise i do risk “oilcanning” the sheetmetal as with any other sheetmetal work. everyone that has been over and looked at this truck has not had anything negative about the bracing, and i am not worried about it. including those that have been in it longer then ive been alive.
on a side note, i wasnt able to work on this the last week because i messed up a finger, but i will be back at it this week to finish the chop so i can get started on fitting the '32 grill to the hood as i expect that to come in this weekend.
well the brookville '32 grill shell came in today. very happy with the quality. i decided to put the hood on and prop it all up to get an idea for what the truck is gonna look like. so far, i am VERY HAPPY!
enjoy.
I’ve seen the bracing like that on a couple projects. As long as it didn’t warp when you welded it… you’re fine. The biggest risk you run is too much heat for the sheet metal or too little heat for the tube. It all comes out in the body work anyway.
:tup:
Bangin. I like it.
When you chop it like that how will you adjust the glass? Can glass shops measure your opening and adjust the glass…? I’ve never really dug into how this is done.
Awesome build thus far…:tup:
nice, any thoughts on removing the vents from the side of the hood and putting louvers on the top?
LOL - i noticed the edition of the naked women with her ta-ta’s hanging out.
pic 3 doesn’t have it - but come pic 16… HOLY!!!
I guess you can say I pay attention to the detail 
Fixed.
Topless chick not found…she is wearing a top. Still good eye to notice.
I liked them on the side. I thought they had a nice flow with the body lines.
This will be killer. Awesome work!
lol, yea youll notice the back bay of the garage has been changing through the pictures…i had been paneling/painting in there and was still working on putting the signs and such up. as for the poster of the chick, shes not topless, shes a pinup in a corset out of a rebel rodz magazine or something. i <3 pinups, i want to marry her. LOL.
luke, all the glass panels are flat, the front windshield is actually a two piece with a metal trim down the middle. i have the original glass, but will probably just have new glass measured and cut instead of the originals being cut down.
as for the vents on the hood, they are staying. no louvers on top. the vent on the side flows really well with the body style, louvers are more of a 20’s/early 30’s thing where those body styles were more boxy. yes the grill shell is a '32, however its curves match this cab really well and it will flow really well after its stretched and fitted to the hood. i plan to have panels below to enclose the engine bay which will not have any vents, and aside from a '48 that was done similar to this, i have not seen it done before…which is what i want.
and you also like me, so you have something wrong with you 
idk, i think it was put there for function, not lines. If it was a swept look or tear drop, I would agree with you. I like it when people scale down the chops, to add to the flare. looks good. i will have a roll back some day with an old cab on it.
^^gotcha. Yea this truck would’ve been perfect for a rollback, was a 1.5ton stakebed…pretty long. Still have the chassis if you want to find another cab haha
:tup: Truck looks mean, much much better with the chop I think. Always loved the chopped look when done right. And who doesn’t want a pinup girl!
been pretty busy with racing the sled and working on other cars lately, but i still managed to make some progress. got chop pretty much done and started working on chassis stuff. ill be getting steel for the frame within the week. also got alot done for my front suspension. split the wishbone and put heim ends in, put in a superglide reverse eye spring, mr roadster spring perches, shackles, and lower shock mounts. also flipped axle around so i can run the steering crosslink infront. basically its all i need to setup the frame. will figure out after frame is built how much i will have to drop the axle but im excited to start on the chassis now.
Too cool. What are the flathead plans? Ages ago Southtowns27 was building a stovebolt-six for his 50’s Chevy, it was one of the coolest looking engines I’ve seen in a while. Exposed copper and brass tubing looks amazing polished.
Very cool! I will be checking this often.
the flathead is going to get a full rebuild, and will be staying its original dark blue color. will have some stainless/polished/copper, and some amber clear fuel lines. i’m trying to locate a manifold to run 3 single barrel carbs on it and will build my own custom headers. i saw a build online where they put together a ~291ci stroker, but i wont know the extent of how much i will build it until i take it apart. the engine needs to stay in tact right now until i get the chassis together.
speaking of chassis, i picked up the steel i ordered the other day. went a little over kill, i got 2"x4"x3/16" rectangle tubing. now to just cordinate getting a frame jig home so i can start putting the frame together(its more just a table, two big ibeams tied together with cross bracing with levelers so its perfectly straight and level). going to rosette weld plates on the inside of the tubes, as well as fishplate the outside of the tubes at all joints. i plan to make then a little fancy with some holes on the outside reinforcement plates to add some character, will be showing more of that later.
More pics!!!
Do you have any reference pics of other trucks that this will somewhat resemble? You seem to have departed so far from the day you brought it home (this isn’t a neg comment) …it’s hard to get a feel for where you’re headed!