13 Cab rebuild

[jason meade]

Hey Guys, I am new to the CMP world and waas hoping that some of you guys could point me in the right direction.
I am rebuilding a C60 13 cab,and had to totaly rebuild the rear of the cab, my question is what are people using for the W brace, as there was nothing left to it when i removed it.
I have made all new angle iron door jams, and the peices with the curves.
Thanks Jason

[T Creighton]

Hi Jason,
The bottom sections of my braces were rusted away. I just got some strips of panel steel and folded them to the correct shape to make up the full length.
A full length piece would be difficult but you could do shorter lengths and weld them together after folding.
Cheers, Terry

[jeff davis]

When I rebuilt the Braces on My Cab 12 a local Building Supply had stakes that held the Styroform Forms in place/They were a perfect match.Unfotunatly these are out of production.

Another good source for Free Metal is the local Motorcycle Store. The Crates that Bikes and quads are shipped in have pre formed Metal in them.
Jeff

[Phil Waterman]

Jeff your comment about the braces looking like post for concrete forms. When I was redoing the my Pattern 12 and looking for cab braces I found some fence posts which were a near perfect match.

In the end I cannibalized the old cab back and used the original braces though everything else on the back was new. One funny point though the new angle iron for the top, bottom, and sides was stamped (see picture).

Finding that CMPs are made up using common off the shelf parts makes real sense, they were rushing to get into production, so making special tooling when somebody was already set up to make a similar part makes real sense. This could also explain some of the difference in CMPs which confuse dating or whats original. Things like diamond plate with different patterns. Why bumpers have different cross-sections etc.

Cheers Phil

[jason meade]

Hey Guys Thanks for the replies, I will have to go for a walk around base to see if i can come up with something.
Jason

[Bob Carriere]

For anyone needing to replace them...... it is not a standard size but can be easily ordered from fabricating shops..... I beleive 1.75 x 1.75..... they usally only stock 1.0 or 1.5 or 2 x2 .......

Note that the original was fabricated from 3 pieces..... two curved ends and a straight central piece.... which is not a bad idea as it lets you do the bends then weld the central straight piece but allowes you to make the overall dimension exactly for the width you need....... Phil has good documentaion on how to slice the angle iron... heat....bend... and fill the gaps with Mig welding..... once the flap grinder has gone over it you cannot tell the difference.

Also.... not that the angle iron piece at the bottom of the back wall is exactly the same as the angle iron located at the halfway point between top and bottom section....even the bolt holes are the same..... therefore if you have access to a spare cab ...even if the bottom section is rusted... you can salvage the midway angle iron for the bottoom of your restoration.....

So Jason...... when are we going to see "in progress pictures" of your baby.... to bad you are so far away.

Bob

[jason meade]

Hey bob thanks for the information...there's not much to see, I am looking for a frame more more than anything, we were out looking at a HUP last night that's in the area but now after looking at the photos that the frames are different.