Might anyone have a photo of their roadster with the turtle deck simply removed ... like, before a pickup bed might be attached? Mine's a '24 roadster.
I've pulled mine off, and would just like to compare notes, to see what state the 'rear end' should be, before a pickup bed is built up .. or attached. From what I've seen and read .. that's all you do ... but seems like the heavy wood framing that is still there, makes the bed UN-necessarilly high.
The turtle deck removed will just leave the wood boards, that really isn't tall. The metal panel surround on the side and rear will still be there.
Just make a bed to fit the back, curving the side boards to mate with the runabout body tub. Flare boards added above the side boards are a nice touch too.
HI, Dan ...
The drawing appears to be almost exactly what I have .. save I have a battery door, I'll have to accommodate. That deck frame is a good 4" tall, and I thought of reducing that to zero and having the bottom of the pickup bed be at the lower level ... a little more like the photograph. The bottom plate there, can't be more than 2". Not much difference, actually.
BUT ... then (duh) .. I looked underneath, and the rear springs hump up into that void area, and the 4" sides, covers it nicely. So .. of COURSE there was a reason for such a thickness. But then again .. back to the photo ... the visible bottom rails seem to be the pickup bed floor .. not the 4" sides and deck I see on mine.
Great photo, and drawing however ... very helpfull. I'll stick with what I have. Zooming in on the drawing, I actually see a battery cover on the deck.
Dennis
There are plans the vendor sell. Or this one from FordOwner magazine, do-it-yourself runabout pickup bed.
And some 'samples' for encouragement
Oops .. guess I dumped my post before sending ...
The color photo with the slightly maroon colored body is very much like what I'm going after ... mine is even a similar color, with black fenders and running boards.
I ordered plans Monday night .. along with a book on the hardware and forging. Most all the hardware is bar stock, so that's not a problem, as well as the rear latch assemblies. It would be nice to find those graceful rear braces, though!
Thanks for the incentive!
Dennis, those neat rear braces are almost universally used on horse drawn vehicles which have a tray. The are usually part of a flat piece which follows the side board too. You may have to adjust them for length to fit. I will try to get photos of two sets I have used.
Don't hold your breath waiting.
Allan from down under.
LOL ... thanks for the tip, Allan! ... I can look a little bit for those. I think there are a couple blacksmiths in the area, I could take some photos to and they could build them up. It shouldn't be rocket science ... the do seem to be tapered a bit, though... They need a little challange!
Thanks!
Dennis
I'm doing the same thing to my '24 this winter. After going on a couple of small tours I've found out you can't pack noth'in in a roadster. I've got my lawn chairs strapped on the running board but the "trunk" is too small for an ice chest and I really need my ice cold refreshments!. Don.
hope this helps
Scott, thats a really nice piece of work. Well done.
Allan from down under.
Scott, I had a closer look at your photos. Are those rear corners dovetailed? You have certainly made a great job of it.
I love to see a workshop with lots of stuff going on, and lots of stuff in the background. Yours looks like a workshop rather than a showpiece. I too have trouble finding room to move, and finding time to clean up and stow as I go.
Allan from down under.
Dennis,
I know of an original steel pickup box of a '25 roadster pickup that might be available. Any interest?
Rick
Can this be done to a Touring car also?
Dennis, sometimes I amaze myself. Photos as promised, from my latest project. These irons came from a two wheeled box dray. Usually the irons are vertical and the round stay is forge welded at the top to make the iron a one piece affair. Because of the angle I built into this body, the two pieces had to be split in this application and bolted together at the top.
The nice part of this find was getting the forward stays as well. This gave me the flat iron to make the hinges to match. The steel is branded with the manufacturers name and a crown, indicating that the material came from England.
For your interest.
Allan from down under.
Scott ... PERfect! Thanks! ... and nice, clean work, also! And that's just the underdeck! Thanks!
Rick ... certainly have interest .... but probably not the $$. The wood bed I can purchase board by board. :-) Have photos and price??
Fred ... Yes .. I've seen photos .. and even instructions somewhere, of cutting off the back seat area, along the seam right at the front seat, and doing the same.
Allen and Dennis...thanks for the kind words.
Allen, the corners are box joints...you have a very keen eye to have spotted the cuts.
the only change from original (that I'm aware of) is that I made the floor boards with a lap joint to keep water out when running through heavy rain. From either the top or the bottom, they look like they are butt joints (edge to edge like original), but even when they shrink, there will not be clearance through to the ground.
I really don't enjoy working in a mess, but my 1927 (read "small) two car garage has a disassembled car, a machine shop and a wood shop in it. I have to walk sideways to get anywhere in it and I long to have more room. For years it was organized (and I still put each tool away each night), but lately I've been starting to create "piles" as I accumulate more and more fun stuff.
Scott, an old timer had me make lap joints in my pick-up bed, not for any appearance/ originality sake but to allow for expansion if the timber got wet. They are screwed down with a space between them, and the rebates are cut just a tad deeper than half the thickness so that water can run through the tray rather than pool in it. Makes a lot of sense on an open tray.
Just for interest.
Allan from down under
Fred ..
Yep .. here's an example:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-Model-T-model-t-1923-FORD-MODEL-T-farm-picku p-Barn-find-/190713080028?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item2c6762a8dc
Allen ... wow .. I missed your photo post above! NICE job, as well! Made a good, and seemingly proper mount for the oil tail light as well. An .. under body spare tire mount. So .. your bed is long enough past the rear spring to have a spare down there, eh? How long is the bed? ... and what kind of wood is that?
Dennis, The oil tail light bracket was made by splitting a piece of 1.5" x 1/4" flat mild steel and then spreading the split with heat from a welding torch. The lamp mounting was dished on a blacksmith's swedge block so that the curved back is a neat fit. The idea was to use methods which might have been used in the era so the brackets looked right.
The body was purposely made just long enough for the spare tyre to fit under it. It needs to be more than 30" to allow it to go up past the rear timber cross member and to give the diff centre some room to move. This car has an extended chassis to fit a KC Warfod gearbox and so the extra length at the back does not look out of scale. On a normal pick-up I think the tray would look a little too long and back heavy with a spare mounted underneath.
The timber is generically called Australian Oak. It is not oak at all, rather a eucalypt hardwood. A number of species are dubbed Aussie oak, among them being Tasmanian Oak and Victorian Mountain ash, which isn't ash either. It can have a pinkish tone at times, as some of the boards I used do. It matches almost perfectly with the new American Hickory my New Zealand friend used to make my wheels. It is about the only Australian timber we can buy which would have been used in the days of model Ts. All the hoop pine more likely to have been be used for wide boards has long gone. The oak is getting really expensive too, but I love working with it.
Just for your interest.
Allan from down under.
Thanks Allen
that's what I did...there is no way that the joint will open up enough to let water splash in unopposed if the wood shrinks, and yet has enough clearance to expand, too. I think you got very good advice from that old timer.
Allan ... and you electrified the oil lamps?? ... and looks like your tail gate .. really is .. it opens to the right, rather than flop down.. Interesting design .. and like the 'keeper'.
The wood looks like something I've used here .. but don't remember the name of it. Sort of appears like a pink/orange teak, and is quite hard, and 'splintery'. I got some a few weeks ago to do some carving on..It was an 'exotic' wood .. for here, anyway. Maybe it was Australian Oak!!
Dennis, to make it easy for passengers to get into the rear seats, there being no side doors, I needed a step at the back. This precluded having a drop- down tailgate. Having no side doors makes the body considerably stronger and easier to construct.
The tail-lights are electrified, having brake and tail lights in globe holders from an early 90s Toyota Camry. These clip in without any holes being made in the lamps.
Allan from down under.
Here's the one I did. I made all the iron parts and used low cost wood from the big box store.
Bob
You can also make a trailer to match.
Scott: Your job is beautiful. You are a indeed a craftsman. However, you have a problem! There is supposed to be an 1/8 gap between each one of those boards! Refer to the illustration that Dan Treace posted, and it will verify what I just mentioned. If you don't do this, when they get wet, they will buckle.
Bob ... looks good. I don't know if the coloring is original or not, but it's a nice combination. The wood coloring appears to go nicely with the body.
Good deal on the iron parts ... I've not really found them sold separately yet ... maybe you could make a few bucks by selling some kits!!??
Dennis
I'm not into make any money, I just like to tinker. I think that I have drawings of them, need to see if I can find them. If you would like a copy send me a PM and address and I'll send a copy. It's steel ,bolts some welding( a friend dose that for me ) and some grinding and I'm happy. It's just a farm restoration.
Bob
Great looking rpu Bob. Really like the taillights!!
Bob: .. Thanks .. I'll do that! Most of this is flat stock with some bending, so that shouldn't be too hard for me. I wish I kept my acetaline (sp) tourch and equipment! If I had room for the trailer .. that would be great to make too, as I currently have a rear axle and 2 front's I could pick from.. Thanks!
Dennis,
See my profile. Touring cut-off turned pickup with a roadster top transplanted.
The stuffed horse is not original.
Steve
Gary S
The Tail light brackets are from on old T fire truck,I don't know if they were Ford , Aftermarket or from the Co that made the fire truck rear assembly. I found one in 1980 and it took 25 years to find a second one,then I had to make the ones on the trailer.
All this talk about building a box got me motivated. Been at it all weekend. I had to frame out the base in the back for the box to sit on. I'm about ready to start building the box now. I just wish I could get a decent copy of that 'You can build a slip-on body' article that Dan posted. I tried printing it but it came out blurry. I decided to throw a coat of paint on it too before I put the box on.
Thanks for the pix! I have mine off now ... looks just like that! :-)
Mine looks like above, except I there are oak fill-in boards on the deck. Did you not have a deck under your turtle deck .. or did you not have anything back there at all?
Ahh ... is this the vehicle that your 'little helper' was sanding the hood on in another post? Looks like a fire engine, and you might have had some specialty equipment on the back, eh?
Dan ...
I just realized the two trucks with the brown stained beds were different vehicles! Is the lower of the two (banner with '39' on it), a 5' or so bed? I'm trying to visualize a 5' bed .. most look shorter.
I didn't have anything at all back there. I just built that bed base this weekend. I copied what Scott did above. I didn't put the boards in the bottom yet. Still need to get them. I was thinking about just putting a sheet of plywood in there. You won't be able to see it anyhow once the box is on. Yes, this is the same vehicle that my son was helping me sand in the other post. He loves this thing. For 5 years old, he is a good worker too.
Well, I guess I should post my own here now, that I have it taken down that far:
Now, all undressed, and no where to go ... waiting for the 2 books I ordered on pickups and hardware.
Hmmmm I bet you could make a nice little dump bed out of this
Maaaaayyy beee .... :-)
Dan ...
I like that weathered maroon-black look on your pickup bed so much .. :-) .... I'm going to try and replicate it. My cab is very similar to yours as well ... a very dark, muted maroon kind-of-a-color.
One of the guys here thought it was straight weathered varnish. I thought it might have been either washed off black that was on top of a stain .. or a varnish ... or a weathered black, where the red tint in the stain 'stuck', or penetrated the wood better, and the black just is hanging around longer.
Any idea, which of the above? I'm looking at lightly staining, then rubbing off, letting it dry, light sand, then a varnish type layer .. then light sand, and then a black final rubbed on coat.
Of course, I'll have to leave it outside and USE it for 50-60 years, to get that REAL weathered 'patina'. :-)
Here is a photo of a '24 roadster p/u I just received this morning