Getting started on the choptop truck...

[FORDification]

The outside door handles and key cylinders were removed and the holes welded up by the previous owner. I'll be installing some remote-control door poppers to actuate the door release from outside the truck.

[FORDification]

Oh, I forgot to mention...I ordered 4 cases (6 cans/case) of Krylon Flat Black enamel from the hardware store, they came in today. The bill on that came to $101, at $3.99/can. Hopefully 24 cans will do the job!

[layedout72]

Oh, I forgot to mention...I ordered 4 cases (6 cans/case) of Krylon Flat Black enamel from the hardware store, they came in today. The bill on that came to $101, at $3.99/can. Hopefully 24 cans will do the job!

Could you not of bought a gallon of Hot Rod Flatz for that give or take 10 bucks? We have done a car the way you are talking. For a garage job with some friends and a lot of beer it came out decent. Maybe being drunk played a part in not being "good".

[jzjames]

Kieth, you are pretty good at spray-can painting by now. Spraying your specific panels will be a breeze, one at a time. It takes on a life of its own on after a while:

As you know this is how I got paint on my Flairside.

[FORDification]

Yeah, I checked into the Flatz black, and have also been following that very long thread at hotrodders.com on the Blitz black...but after much consideration, I decided that to go with the Krylon, if for no other reason than easy future touchups and better color match when I do. I did think very hard about the Blitz black, even though it wasn't flat. I might have been able to live with the semi-gloss...but I've always wanted a truck in all flat-black, so I just decided this one's gonna be it. I also seriously considered using the Hi-Temp barbeque black paint, since it's got more of a satin sheen to it that I thought would look really neat, but at nearly $20 per can, that got vetoed pretty quickly.

Actually, the truck might not remain all flat black. The past few days I've been toying around with the idea of painting the whole truck flat black, and then putting several coats of the blue/purple Rustoleum that I bought a while back when I was going to try out the $50 paint job (from the thread in the Body and Paint forum). The Rustoleum goes on very thin, and even 3-4 coats (or more) still allow some of the base color to show through....and if I were to put a half-dozen coats of the Rustoleum on and then sand about half of it away, I would end up basically with a black truck with blue/purple streaks, which I think would almost blend in. I'm actually going to try this on a body panel first and see if I like the results, but if it turns out as well as I think it might, it's gonna make for a very interesting-looking paint job.

[rjewkes]

Hey if you like it at first and decide you don't later you can always sand and repaint. Great progres Keith.

And a guy i knew once estimated 24 cans to do my truck.

[jzjames]

And Ive been wondering if youve decided on a plan for the glass yet?

[layedout72]

I may be wrong here, but I believe the stock side glass works. The rear could easily be cut from lexan or similar. The front is going to be the major concern.

Correct me if I am wrong, I might of been reading this on the volkswagon forums.

[FORDification]

Yeah, there won't be any changes in the side glass...it's still the same, just won't roll up as far. I WILL have to get new vent window glass cut.

As for the windshield, I'll be attempting to cut my own from a stock piece. We were discussing this in another thread, based on what we learned from these two threads at the H.A.M.B. forums:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/show ... p?t=141657
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/show ... p?t=143623

I've got 3 or 4 spare windshield to practice on first, hopefully I won't need any more than that!

[tazzman68]

Just a quick chime in, Kieth we love your choptop, and I couldn't stop reading that post you liked. I may actually try a chop in the future now.

[purple71]

Hey Kieth,
Just my 2cents worth from the newbie-If you havent done anything with the gas tank situation try this: take the stock tank and mount it to the forward section of the box-the filler will exit slightly over the right rail-with a tonneau cover you will never see it-OR drill that corner of the tonneau cover and buy one of them 50.00 custom gas filler doors from the local parts store.The tank fits perfectly to the bed and will bolt(after drilling holes) nicely.Just my opinion,Thanks,Rob

[FORDification]

Well actually, I've already installed a fuel tank, it's a late-'70s aft-axle tank from a Super Camper Special. Unfortunately, I'll have to cut an access hole in the floor of the box, since the tank's so tall, but I'm just using whatever spare parts I have on-hand to build this thing.

Here's a link to some pics on the installation:

http://www.fordification.com/mychoptop-p06.htm

[FORDification]

Well, the plans to construct an apparatus to bend the I-beams myself just went on hold. As I was coming home from the KC, MO swap meet on Sunday, I was driving through a small town about 27 miles away from home that I rarely go through, past a truck alignment and suspension shop. Even though they're normally closed on the weekend, the owner and his wife had the bay doors open while they were working on their cabin cruiser. On a whim I flipped a U-turn and went in and talked to him, and it turns out he's very knowledgeable about the Twin I-beam setup on these trucks. I described to him what I was doing and what I wanted, and he said it would be no problem. They used to do a lot of these but not so much anymore, but they still had all the necessary hardware to properly cold-bend them.

And the good part? He said it would run me about $20 per axle. Not bad, huh? Heck, I couldn't build something for that, and at least this way I'll have the opportunity to see it done properly at least once.

He also mentioned that when cutting the coils to drop the front suspension like that, it will also affect the kingpin inclination angle, something I'd never really thought of before, but it does make sense. He said he would need to install some special offset radius arm bushings to get everything back to factory specs.

So when I get to the point where the truck is ready to hit the street, I'll be taking it over to this shop to have the job done. I'm definitely planning on bringing the camera along to document the process for another tech tutorial.

[ezernut9mm]

Well, the plans to construct an apparatus to bend the I-beams myself just went on hold. As I was coming home from the KC, MO swap meet on Sunday, I was driving through a small town about 27 miles away from home that I rarely go through, past a truck alignment and suspension shop. Even though they're normally closed on the weekend, the owner and his wife had the bay doors open while they were working on their cabin cruiser. On a whim I flipped a U-turn and went in and talked to him, and it turns out he's very knowledgeable about the Twin I-beam setup on these trucks. I described to him what I was doing and what I wanted, and he said it would be no problem. They used to do a lot of these but not so much anymore, but they still had all the necessary hardware to properly cold-bend them.

And the good part? He said it would run me about $20 per axle. Not bad, huh? Heck, I couldn't build something for that, and at least this way I'll have the opportunity to see it done properly at least once.

He also mentioned that when cutting the coils to drop the front suspension like that, it will also affect the kingpin inclination angle, something I'd never really thought of before, but it does make sense. He said he would need to install some special offset radius arm bushings to get everything back to factory specs.



So when I get to the point where the truck is ready to hit the street, I'll be taking it over to this shop to have the job done. I'm definitely planning on bringing the camera along to document the process for another tech tutorial.

will he do two? have lowered bump, will travel.

[FORDification]

Well, I'm sure he would...but I would sure think that with a little digging you could find someone in the KC area who could also do it for you.

You know, we should start a listing of alignment/suspension shops around the country who can and will properly cold-bend these I-beam setups. It would sure help others out I'm sure, and sure beats the heck out of spending 10 times that for the drop beams.