1942 dodge ambulance resto

[jack neville]

Using my gantry I picked up the floor Jake built and fed it in via the rear. A little trimming of the front right corner and it dropped into place. The right side looked correct so I tacked it in place just enough to secure it. It needed a little persuasion to square it up and the left side lined up. A bit of pushing in each side to eliminate a bulge on each side and once tacked in place it is all square and lines up perfectly.

[jack neville]

Just for a look I picked up the cab and put it in position. The cab floor sits about 30mm lower than the rear body floor and there are a couple of folds to weld into place to join the two floors. The determining factor on knowing everything is in correct position is the roof mating up to the top of the windscreen. Once that is done we know whether these floor pieces are accurate. So this all goes together after the roof is repaired and fitted. There is still are few little niggles in the rear box to sort out but they can wait.

Roof next.

[jack neville]

Jake dropped around with the roof still in the crate we knocked up to keep it supported and intact when it was sandblasted. Jake had primed it also still crated. The roof is very flimsy and difficult to handle unsupported. You can see by the daylight showing through indicating the rust damage to contend with.

[jack neville]

the rear box has been put aside so I can use the trestle to work on the roof.
A few photos of the corrosion and dents to knock out. The worst is a large one where it looks like something has been dropped on the front part of the roof.

[jack neville]

A few more.

[jack neville]

aside from where I drilled around the roof welds to remove it, the remaining metal on the edges in many places is very thin or pin holed with rust. I decided to add a patch all the way around the edge to both fill the holes and reinforce the weak and thin areas. I want to avoid as much filler as possible as the drumming and vibration effect on these large panels will make any filler prone to cracking if it is excessive. I decided to press some raised areas in a metal strip so the finished surfaces will be level. I decided on a small patch and a larger one where required. A template was cut from a piece of metal and the applicable areas scribed and cut out.

[jack neville]

The template also forms part of a tool I made from scrap. A 60mm strip of metal is marked on the side of the roof where the pressing is relevent. The tool s assembled around the scribed area and then pressed to form a depression 1 mm deep to match the gap in the side of the roof.