Now the Bed Needs a Front

I did not take any pics of the fitting process, but here is the cab wall/bed front. It is the front wall off a 1970s Dodge pick-up bed.
The bottom is welded to a a 1 inch square tube that is welded to the bed.

The space behind the seat is the same as what would be found in a Club Cab.

On this I stitched it together with short welds, like I should have done on the roof, so I had to seal it. Also, The corrugated bed floor left voids tht needed sealing.

This is the prodict I used.

And, finally, with the top back on and outside. Once the sealer has had plenty of time to cure, I will prime it and most likely bedliner the bed.

Finshing the roof.

Back to working on the top. I scrubbed the old crusty seam sealer out of the rain gutter,
This is the product I used to seal up the gutters.

Then I coated the whole exterior with Hippo Liner.

The lid is back off...

Actuall, here the roof is sitting on the back of the bed rails, Where I am trimming the outside wall level with the bed rails.

Then I clamped a 1" x 1" tin walled sqare tube between the outer and inner walls. This is a shot from below.

Another shot from below.

Now the roof is off and upside-down and the inner wall is trimmed. By welding the outer and inner to this square tube, the rear wall will gain stiffness and the thickness will form a sealable surface on top of the front bed wall, yet to be built.

Maybe a better shot.

New Top Outside

I still need to build the back wall, but I had it out of the shop for a couple of weeks. Now it is sporting its new shoes. A set of 37" Goodyear MT Military OZs. Now I can add a bit of front fender surgery to the list of "to do."
The spare in the bed is stock sized.

And a trippy to the snow with a trick, custom tailgate..

The roof gets a fit.

I set the roof on for the first time.
This here is what you call a short bed. 4 1/2 feet, almost.

It doesn't quite fit yet. It hits the roll bar. The roll bar won't let is sit down all the way.

The roof gets foamed.

Anybody who knows these dodges knows the roof is hollow and bongs like a drum. Years ago, I foamed the inside of my crewcab an it made a big difference. I rigged this copper tube to squirt the foam as far as I could into the roof. I wish I could say it worked. It blew apart. So I taped two straws together and reached in as far as I could. Then I did the rest from the dome-light hole seen in the top right of the pic.
One thing about this stuff. You find where all the holes are.

Here is a shot back up inside before it expanded completely.

While the foam was still soft, I started welding in the insert.

Here I am trimming the front lip of the new top to prep it for the front edge off the old top.

This is the old roof. The rain gutter is actually a seam of spot welds that hold the inner ceiling and the roof together. By cutting the gutter off, I can get the flange free from the roof without damaging it.

A closer view of removing the lip.

Here the bolt-up flange is free from the old roof. It will be welded to the new roof.

Here is the new top on the cradle

Hard to tell what is going on here, but the green is a section of the old ramcharger roof rail embedded in the new roof.

Another shot of the fitment.

Here it is all welded-up waiting for a little finish grinding.

Here is my donor for the new roof. It is a craigslist find of a mid 70s truck.
B.J. helped me remove the top.

A little cut-off here. A little sawsall there.

And, a cradle so I can hold it upside down without denting the roof skin.

It has been a while...

It has been a while since I updated. I have just been driving and working on other things.
Here are some picture in the winter clothes. The roof is rusted out all along the top of the windows. The plan, now, is to build a new top. I will use the roof off a an extended cab pick-up and make a removable cab-and-a-half top.

The plan is to put in a front bed wall under the new back wall. It should be cool.

Took it out for a little Sunday pull.

Got the guages in today. All hooked up except the trans temp. I still need to install the probe. Needed to go get a fitting and did not want to install it while the fluid was hot.
A closer view.

Guages

I will be wanting boost, pyro, and trans-temp guages. I also want them where I can see them. I am not happy with the pillar pods that are available for the first generation trucks, so I relocated the message center to the radio hole and opened up some prime dash real estate for the important guages.

The guages come in Thursday.

I did a write-up with pictures on the DTR site. Here is a link. http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/showthread.php?t=211964

Well, here it sits.
I've been driving it for a couple of days now.
The green is 1977. The black 1989. the engine, tranny, transfer case, wiring, and dash are 1991.5 Dodge Cummins, the axles are 1975 for now. All along, I have been calling the cummins stuff '92. COme to find out, it is 1991 1/2. It makes a difference in how some things, such as the over-drive, are wired.
I drove across some scales. 5300pounds. 3450 in the front, 1850 in the back. This shot shows the 92 dash with the 92 tilt column and heater box.
Nothing like wide open spaces.

Can you see me smiling. Some babes only a mother can love.