Projects Scratch building a 26 Model T Pickup, everything starts with a buck !

Hey Guys.
I have been working out what to do with my collection of 26 Model T Parts. There are two Roadster cowls, a pitted grill shell and a pair of mismatched doors, one a tourer rear and the other a roadster front. The first cowl I found out in the bush in 2004 upside down and filled with rubbish. Pulling it out of its temporary grave I realised the only thing holding the top on was rust. Three other top cowl sections were sourced but none were quite the right fit. A month ago I was lucky enough to get a complete cowl from my local rod shop for a hundred dollars with a pitted T grill shell for an extra ten dollars. I thought all my my problems were solved until I git it home an realised that although it was more solid than the first one, it had major damage to the bottom of the fire wall. I could have made a good one out of the two but decided to go down a different path.

 

Here is what I have been working on.

 

The idea is to replicate a 26 T Pickup out of Steel and aluminium by using the buck as a guide and the original panels as patterns. When I say replicate, I mean everything except the fenders, front cross member and windscreen posts, every thing else will be fabricated as I go. With such an ambitious project, I have not set a budget or time line, it will happen as it happens, money and time will govern its progress. There are a few things that will set it apart from other T pickup builds. For one thing it will sit on a longer Model A chassis, it will be fully fendered using 28,29 Model A fenders. The grill shell will be a hybrid of Model A and 32, and the firewall will be a hybrid of 26 T and 28,29 Model A. The hood will be a combination steel and aluminium four piece and the pickup bed will be custom built to 28 to 30 Model A pickup dimensions. the similarities end there how ever. There is another twist in this build, the cab will have a lift off aluminium hard top that turns it into a closed pickup.

 

I am working out doors at the moment because my shed is full of old rusty stuff, that and the weather is pleasant at the moment, not to hot or too cool. I am hoping to have an undercover workshop before Winter pending the sale of a whole pile of surplus 34 Chev, and Oldsmobile panels. Once that's all gone I will have the space to put my tools to use, including this.

 

This will be used to make the swages around the doors, I have already started making the paper patterns. When this one is finished, it will be transferred and traced out onto very thin perspex. The perspex stencil will then be used to trace around the sheet metal to be cut.

 

In case anyone is wondering why I might be scratch building the doors.

 

^^^

 

Another view of the buck. Along with the body, bed, grill, hood and chassis, the sub rails will be fabricated as well and this buck will be extended to accommodated them. Slit in the middle is where the four peice hood will be test fitted when it is being formed.

 

This is going to be cool! Following.

 

I will follow this build also , I like the hand fabricated body threads

 

Cool sending ideas. Looking forward to the progress to see it all come together.

 

This is a cool project. Looks very creative bringing old tin back to life. Keep us posted.
And by the way, where is Batlow???

 

That's a question I get asked a lot, usually from people in Australia which is where I live. Batlow is halfway between Sydney and Melbourne and a couple of hours west of our national Capital Canberra on the east coast.

 

Thanks for the feedback guys. When I said I was going to scratch build a T pickup there were a lot of extra things that needed to be factored in. It is not enough just to create a buck and form the panels over it. There needs to be something to hold it all together. This body is being built from the inside out. Measurements were taken of the bracing that holds the firewall to the cowl. The two main brackets at the top are three mm thick steel plate with two triangular holes in each one for weight reduction. In order to re create these I will need to make cardboard templates and transfer them to 3mm plate steel.

 

This is going to be epic, I'm subscribed.
I guess halfway between Sydney and Melbourne means you won't be affected by bad bitch Debbie.
I hope all those who are in her path stay safe.

 

The A Pillars are a little more involved. There are two recesses for the hinges on each pillar. That is because there is an inner and outer skin that overlap each other for added strength. As far as the shaping for the bracing and pillars go I will be making hardwood bucks with steel reinforcing along the edges. The steel reinforcing will stop the edges from fraying when I am hammering down to turn the metal and the timber inner core will reinforce the blow allowing the steel reinforcing to keep its shape. That's the theory.

 

One thing I have not mentioned is the firewall its self. I scratch built one out of mild aluminium that is visible in the image below. I will not be using this but I may keep it as a pattern for the steel one I will be fabricating. Because this body is being mounted to Model A style chassis, it will be a two part firewall just like the 28/29 Model A. There will be as many similarities to a Model A as Model T with how this build comes together.

 

Here is another image of the MDF floor buck. this will be added to as the body is built. The slats that run along the middle allow the upper part of the buck to slot into place. The main reason I have not screwed and glued the whole thing together is because it would be to bulky to move around. the other reason is that its much easier to take apart in this form. I still have quite a bit of finishing to do on the firewall, to get it as narrow as the original. that hopefully will be done in the next few days.

 

Watching, motivated hot rodder!

 

I'm looking forward to see what's coming next!

 

chev 34, you are indeed srarting from scratch... bravo...
seems to be plenty of ARTISTS here that can help if needed...
here in maine any TEE stuff left outside is paper thin... it was tender enough from the factory...
once the paint is gone the acid rain from the middle of the US follows the jet stream east and eats whats left...

 

I built my outer skin for my 27 from flat sheet, but was able to use most of the inner structure. I too will be following along.

 

Thanks for all the positive feedback guys !
I was able to get the pattern for the bracket that connects the cowl with the firewall done today.

 

This was surprisingly easy. I recently pickup some pattern paper and magnets from my nearest craft store. This lighter paper transfers information much more responsively than regular paper

 

The magnets held the paper in place while I pushed out the edges ready for cutting.

 

This method is so efficient that I will use it for all the other framing.

 

With the pattern flattened out, I placed it over the sheet metal that I intend to cut from to see how it looks. This won't be the sheet metal used from the bracket, rather the buck that I will be shaping it from. The actual metal used will be 3mm thick plate. The buck will need to be strong enough to absorb the impacts, hence the 1mm outer sheet over a hard wood core.

 

Going back to the first image, you will notice the holes drawn out. These are where the windscreen posts mount. These will be pre drilled before I do any forming, through the buck to the other side. Bolts will be inserted and and tightly screwed into place. There will be two more at the front where the first triangular cut away will go. The purpose of these bolts is to insure no metal is wasted in the turning process. The bolts will stop the plate from shifting. The buck will be two sided as well so that the other plate will have exactly the same dimensions when it is formed. I will also be using the same technique for the A pillars and B pillars.

 

I am still working out what I will mount the buck to, but it will be solid enough that there will be no shifting and it will be easy enough to turn around so that I can do the other side. That will be the next challenge. Either way the goal will be to have these shaped so that I can move onto doing the a pillars over the weekend.

 

Thanks for all the pics great work