The cab on this truck is what makes it pretty rare. Only 275 WC40 closed cabs were made and even less WC41's. The giveaway to them is the round, standardized gauges instead of Dodges normally odd rectangular ones.
I went to great pains not to modify this cab and have a total of less than 15 holes that weren't factory. I researched them and filled all the holes that people had added over the years. I did add a passenger side wiper that isn't correct for the Military as they only came with a drivers side. seat belts and seat base are the other holes added. I centered the steering column to the gauges without adding any holes, that took a while to plan out.
I was lucky to find this truck as it was rust free. It came out of Colorado and was amazing to me here in Ohio. Stuff is gone here in less than 10 years sometimes due to salt and humidity. Blew me away to be able to unbolt stuff nearly 70 years old and it not twist off.
I knew I had to do a lot of work because this thing had dents everywhere, Top of cab looked like the hauled telephone poles up there across a plowed field.. I had 12 layers of paint on it and at least 2 were brushed on.
The best thing I've found to strip off paint is Brite Strip wheels from Standard Abrasives. They are plastic and eat it right off with very little heat plus they cut the same from start to finish unlike gumming up sandpaper. Trust me, I tried a lot of different things. I strip the flat surfaces with the discs, then sandblast the nooks and crannies before doing the body work.
I made up a spinning jig that also doubles as a lift to install the cab. It mounts on the door hinges and latch area and is EXTREMELY nice to have when doing this. It enabled me to completely finish the bottom of the cab to the same standard as the outside.
This was another learn as you go thing as I had never done some of this before and was open to others ideas and suggestions. Learned a lot here.
Album by Kevin Foust. Photos by Kevin Foust. 1 - 30 of 30 Total. 3639 Visits.
1 I had roughed in most of the dents and such so I could get my alignment issues settled for fit and finish. Final bodywork would start after sand blasting but started here with the hacked out wiper holes someone did.
2 Stripped the area the be worked on and cleaned the edges with a die grinder + carbide end mill. Small hole was filled with MIG by placing a copper backer and just welding to that in slow bursts. Letting it cool down between each burst to prevent warpage. Metal plug for the big hole and Tig welded in..
3 Welded in and ground flush. Note the centering marks. I made a pattern from another truck for hole placement. I'll just lay it on and centerpunch the location.
4 I drilled the hole then used a small round file to file the locating slot like originals. All better now and inside was ground smooth as well.
5 Threw in Wiper to make sure it was okay.
6 This is the top of the cab above the rear window. Hit it with a 9 inch sanding disc and this gives you an idea how wavy this is. It was flattened above the factory top weld and VERY dented here. Going to take a LOT of dolly work.
7 Came up with this out of desperation. To pinpoint a dent I use a rare earth magnet and put it on the low(center) of the dent. These things are so strong that if you throw metal dust on the inside you'll see an outline where the shaving attach to the magnet. I mark it with a magic marker and you can hit it exact, EVERY time. It saves a lot of double hitting.
8 If you look in the center of the pic you can see the outline of the magnet. Previous hit spot are evident as well.
9 Here it is marked ready to be bumped out.
10 Here is the same area after some work. When I want to check my progress I spray the area with sprayable lay out die. Dykem is what I use and it's blue in color. Ultra thin and doesn't clog up file and dries in seconds. Better than cheap paint. I rub a fine mill file over it and it shows highs and lows.
11 Top of cab "ghosted out" as I call it and ready to move on. repeated this process till whole cab was done and took me about a month and a half. Once it was all done it was all sandblasted again prior to Slick Sand application. I'll start on the under side of cab, paint that, and do the rest in another session.
12 Here is the cab spinner so I can work on the underside. You can see how it attaches and allows nice access to all areas.
13 Spent about a week sanding/Blocking Slicksand and sandable primer for top coat. Yes, the fingers were feeling it with all the nooks and crannies. I used a paint stick for a backer on a lot of it.
14 Everything was finished under here. and you can see how nice it looks now.
15 Painted and happy about that!
16 Really nice to be able to position it for painting in this way.
17 This shows the spinner side and how bolts allow locking in any position.
18 After a LOT more sanding and blocking doors and cab ready for painting.
19 Cab on the roller with longer rods to raise it higher for easier painting. This is great for transporting/moving/storing cabs.
20 Door holder I made for painting. Allows all sides to be sprayed in one session without too many obstacles.
21 Here's a close up of the hinge mount on the door holder. Door is ready for sealer primer and top coats.
22 All the little pieces hanging and ready...FINALLY.
23 Part 2 of 3 red painting sessions done.
24 Doors are nice and straight and reflect great. Will be even better when cut and buffed.
25 Cab looks a lot nicer now and all those hours show.
26 I painted the dash at the same time as well. I crawled in from underneath to do that. I was beat after this painting session.
27 Here is how I do cut and buffing. Again, I'M NO EXPERT. This is what worked for me and I'll let results speak for themselves. I tried sanding with 1000 grit on earlier stuff but it was just too coarse for me. I now wet sand with 2000 grit to start with a wood paint stick backer. Wipe dry to see if all shine is gone. Once it is you know you are flat and smooth. The whole back is ready to start buffing.
28 Trying to show here the even dullness you need to have. It has to be dry to see this.
29 Buffed out. I use only a foam pad with Surefinish compound. Works well for me.
