From Frame up #5 Fitting Fender

[Dusty]

Hello again.
Today I pulled the engine out before deciding it might be a good idea to fit one of the front fenders to the cab to see if the front wheel was going to line up in the fender opening OK.  If it didn't I could slide the cab either direction, to get everything to line up, before I welded the mounts in.  After fitting the firewall/Distributor clearence, I pulled the engine, and rolled the Cab outside before clamping the fender on.  I moved the cab either direction about an inch to see if it made any difference.....It didn't look any better so I slid it back where I started, which is where it is now.  I started with measurements from an original frame, which didn't exactly match up with the shop manual.  They were off by 1 inch.  If you measure from the center line of the solid axle to the center of the front cab mount bolt hole, it is 32".  On the S-10 frame, I measured from the Zerk fitting on the upper control arm back to the bolt hole, 32", and that is where it is now.  I center punched the frame, so when I take the cab back off I will be able to locate the spot to weld the mounting bracket.  The rear cab mount is 36' from the front cab mount....Center to Center.  It also requuires drilling a new hole through the floor mounting bracket inward about 1 1/2".   More than likely the fenders will be raised up on the side of the cab 2 to 3", which will require sectioning the hood.  This will be a fun project.   I won't be working on the truck till late next week.  I have the '38 coupe ready for primer and will try to shoot it first Sat, and then again on Sunday.  If everything goes ok, I may be able to Smoke test it Monday or Tuesday....I'll take a picture of it when it happens

[Charlie Chops 1940]

Benny,

If that's ride height I think that's where the fender oughta be. I'd section the bottom rear of the fender an couple inches...'nuff the clear larger rodents and move on...my $.02 worth.

Charlie

[GPster]

Go to Sumner's home page. He "pancaked" the hood on 1FATGMC and has some pictures. There is a slant back on the hood at the front and when you section ("pancake") it you're liable to find the hood is about an 1" to short to meet at the front edge with the lower part and reach the top of the cowl at the back. You might also check on Enjenjo's home site on putting a "G" frame-clip under one of these trucks. There seems to be a difference between where the axel centerline is stock and where it should be to fit the wheel in the wheelwell. I personally like the bottom of the cab even with the stock lower edge of the fenders front and rear so you don't need any running boards (raise the bed). Because you're going to be moving the fender mounts up on the side of the cab you might find it easy to move them back so that the "pancaked" hood is long enough. OR You could re-radius the wheel opening in the front fendersto where the wheel ends up. OR You could forget about the fenders all together. GPster

[1FATGMC]

Go to Sumner's home page. He "pancaked" the hood on 1FATGMC and has some pictures. There is a slant back on the hood at the front and when you section ("pancake") it you're liable to find the hood is about an 1" to short to meet at the front edge with the lower part and reach the top of the cowl at the back.

   

Joe my hood is cut 2 inches front and back (not a pie cut, but pancaked like you said).  When I did that it brought the top foward and outward.  That required a filler piece down the middle and a filler piece at the back to fill the new gap in front of the cowl.  I also added a piece to the front of the cowl.  If you look at the slope on the front of the hood 2 inches will bring the cut top piece quite a ways forward.

Since I sectioned my cab 6 inches I needed to take out an additional 4 inches from the frontend to match the cab.  I sectioned the fender behind the wheel wheel 2 inches and took 2 inches off the bottom of the fender.  Benny I would look into doing that.  It would be a lot easier than rasing the fender (you will have to do something about the part that curves under the cab) and sectioning the hood, unless you like that look.

I have about 6 inches of ground clearance at the bottom of the front fender behind the wheel.  I was having problems with that bottoming out at speed if I hit dips in the road that would compress the springs and shocks.  I finally overcame that with a $180 set of 50/50 Carrera shocks.  If you have low clearance at the back of the fender I would strongly suggest the 50/50 shocks to slow damping down on compression.

You've been getting a lot done Benny    and it looks good   .

c ya, Sum

[Dusty]

This is not ride height.  If the engine was in it, it would be about 1 1/2" lower.  That is a 14" wheel on the front, and I think I will be running 17" rims.  The bottom of the fender will be trimmed, and there will be no running boards.  The reason for raising the fenders, is to get wheel clearence, and while doing that it will require sectioning the hood.  If I just radised the wheel well, I think the fat hood would look out of place with the top chopped.  Some times just chopping gives a pickup the "Slabsided" look.  The main reason for posting this picture is that Frank and some of the others are watching this conversion, and I wanted to explain how I figured where the cab mount brackets should be welded on the frame.  If I don't use the 17 " wheels, the fenders will probably stay right where they are....It would sure save alot of work.  I am still considering going with the tilt front end, which is a decision I'm gonna have to make here pretty soon.  Thanks for all the tips and suggestions.....

[enjenjo]

And I'm still watching.

[1FATGMC]

This is not ride height.  If the engine was in it, it would be about 1 1/2" lower.  That is a 14" wheel on the front, and I think I will be running 17" rims.  The bottom of the fender will be trimmed, and there will be no running boards.  The reason for raising the fenders, is to get wheel clearence, and while doing that it will require sectioning the hood.  If I just radised the wheel well, I think the fat hood would look out of place with the top chopped.  Some times just chopping gives a pickup the "Slabsided" look.  The main reason for posting this picture is that Frank and some of the others are watching this conversion, and I wanted to explain how I figured where the cab mount brackets should be welded on the frame.  If I don't use the 17 " wheels, the fenders will probably stay right where they are....It would sure save alot of work.  I am still considering going with the tilt front end, which is a decision I'm gonna have to make here pretty soon.  Thanks for all the tips and suggestions.....

I'll bet it drops more than 1 1/2 inches with the motor and the rest of the frontend, plus even the front of the bed transfers some weight to the front along with all of the interior.  Now if you have the bottom A-arms close to parallel to the ground then that is probably where you will end up.

I have little 185X60X14's on the front for what it is worth.  I wish now I would have gone with some 205's or something a little larger to better fill the wheelwell.  I wasn't saying to radius the wheelwell, but section the part behind the wheel.  Cut it a couple inches and move the bottom up and forward to keep the same wheelwell opening shape.

Do the tilt.  I'm so glad that I did.  It is so easy to work on the motor and I can also pull the motor/tranny in less than an hour by myself.  Pull two bolts and disconnect the light wiring at a terminal strip and the front is out of the way.

c ya, Sum

P.S.  I need to talk to you about your video camera and Hooley's Stude.