DIY Cab - Finally decided it was time

[CBW1999]

Cause it smelled like methane for a while and it was snowing hard. Didn't want to let the snow in the cab and the heat out. I opted to sniff the fart but made me light headed.

you should plumb that gas in as a "turbo-boost"!

 

[smiley]

you should plumb that gas in as a "turbo-boost"!

I was going to be a smart ars and suggest googling "fart collector seat" and I thought , why not try it.

Great Invention Idea? Human Fart Collector -------- among others

 

[chim]

Plenty of gas in the shop today. Fortunately it's mostly oxygen, acetylene, argon and C25.

Another great day of "Staycation". Finished tacking the left door frame today. I'm glad I did the right side first because of the learning curve. The door that will be used has the benefit of some experience. I wanted "suicide doors" but wasn't able to go that route because of the shape of the cab. It could have worked but the hinges would have looked really goofy.

There's a really nifty saw I was using today. A Milwaukee rep dropped it off for us to play with. I forgot to get a picture of it. It slices through the 14 ga 1 x 1 tubing and sheet metal effortlessly. No sparks and the metal stays cool.

Picked up the paint, the amazingly nice gasket came from McM/C, a bud in the sheet metal shop bent a top today and it looks like painting could happen as early as tomorrow. Still some welding and finishing to get out of the way. So far I (actually "we" because a couple of the guys in the shop can't resist jumping in) have around 70 manhours in it and will probably have near 100 till I'm done with the wiper, heater and some revised lights.

Here's the left side with door:

 

[Cigar Face]

can any onf you guys suggest one of those donut seats? Been having problems as well where it is getting uncomfortable sitting on top of a hemroid about the size of a baseball. Any one else found a remedy besides a donut

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

I'm curious, why did you not make the roof and back separate pieces? Would that not have made for easier storage and less cumbersome piece to install?

 

[CBW1999]

can any onf you guys suggest one of those donut seats? Been having problems as well where it is getting uncomfortable sitting on top of a hemroid about the size of a baseball. Any one else found a remedy besides a donut

If there is a craft store nearby- they usually have foam in different thickness and density. You may be able to find something that you can put together in different layers with extra support where you need it and no padding where you really don't want it.

 

[BIG DOOLEY]

Looks very nice.
A more difficult design with tops of the doors angled in.
Very well executed.:thumbsup:
Just as an idea if you haven't already planned. Hidden hinges inside the doors similar to a gun safe design would look real sweet.
using a shaved pipe would offer a long hing that will support the door better with more strength and no chance of sagging with the tight seams you have. Also allows the doors to open with less chance of rubbing on frame work.
Tom

 

[chim]

I'm curious, why did you not make the roof and back separate pieces? Would that not have made for easier storage and less cumbersome piece to install?

Great idea, and I should have done that. Didn't think of it at the time and it's something I'll have to live with. The sheet metal part of the top will be bolted on because it could end up bent kuggling the large piece with it on.

Big Dooley - I'll post some pics of details when I get it all together. Hinges are 1/4" pipe wth pieces of round stock welded into bottom half so the door slides onto the pins. I did remember to make the bottom pin longer than the top pin so I could line up one at a time when installing the doors.

The tapered shape did add a degree of difficulty to the build, but I really wanted to have something that appealed to me even if it was more of a challenge to get there. The guys in the shop have been showing lots of interest and offering suggestions and help along the way. If all goes well today, I'll get the templates made for the glass and drop them off for window fab tomorrow. By this time next week I hope to load it on a trailer and bring it home.

 

[chim]

Life interfered with fab work at the end of last week. I did make a little progress, but I'm almost a week behind a self-imposed schedule. With temps nearing 70° today it doesn't look like snow will be an issue this week.

Here is a picture of the hand-held saw that was very useful. The big shop saw is an awesome machine, but the little Milwaukee "cold saw" is a better saw for what I'm doing. Fabbing the cab and door frames meant making many cuts of different angles on 1x1 and 3/4x3/4 square 14ga tube. The little saw cut through the 14ga like butter and made nice clean cuts.

The other picture is the right side panel without the door and the metal skin on it. The door will have a band of skin near the center to accomodate the latch and probably a gas liftgate cylinder to control opening.

 

[chim]

Unfortunately, the project is behind schedule. After spending all day this past Saturday and getting some assistance from the "elves" things are turning around. All the strips have been welded in for the support of the glass. I dropped the patterns (cut from 1/4" luan underlayment) with the glass guy on the way home from work today. Here's where it stands as of today. The component pieces are reassembled into something resembling a cab. They had been disassembled for welding the window support strips, metal skin, etc. There are a couple small things remaining and then it will be disassembled again for painting. Should have paint done later in the week. I'm doing the frame and skin gray and the top orange. Picked up a couple cans of gray trunk paint for the inside.

Here's a shot looking at the rear:



Here's the front. The lights are only sitting there to see how they look. They were freebies from a de-comissioned plow truck at work:



Here's the heater, also just sitting there. Need to do a little plumbing when we reassemble: