1942 dodge ambulance resto

[jack neville]

Time to fit the front doors. We didn't have any front hinges so i borrowed a set from Ray Edsel and made some. The tops of the each door half of the hinge were a little too flogged out to take the original size pin so I drill all the tops out to 3/8 and made the pins from 3/8 bolts. I left the bottom hole a size under as they were less worn and it was easy to step down to 1/4". So the pins are bigger than standard but I turned the top and bottom so they look correct externally.

[jack neville]

After bolting the body to the chassis I hung the doors on to see how they fitted after having the entire cab disassembled and rebuilt. The right side door required a slight bend to the lower hinge and shut perfectly with very good alignment and gaps. The left side required a little more persuasion with the porta power to push the front windscreen forwards before but it too aligned very satisfactorily.

[super dave]

Looking good, Was waiting for some updates

[jack neville]

In post 89 i showed the condition of the inserts that go above the front doors.
I was considering how I was going to fabricate replacements as they curved in both directions and would have required a fair amount of work to get the shape right. Luckily that was avoided and we managed to obtain a pair that had been salvaged from wrecked bodies. Sandblasted they are perfect. There is a series of corresponding holes that run along the top of this piece that the guttering over the door screws into. It is ideal for positioning the insert in place. I got a cleco pin in the front of the left insert but could not get the rest to come together to add more clecos. I placed small bolts gradually doing them up as I went along and it all came together nicely. A couple of clamps and then it could all be welded in place.

[jack neville]

both front door inserts have now been added. The body reconstruction is now completed and just requires some cosmetic work to tidy it up, tap out a few remaining dents and then paint it. All the ribs and framework inside the rear body and under the floor make it a real pain to paint and get proper coverage 100 %. The height means I would have to do a lot of work on a ladder or planks which I hate as it restricts movement and makes it more tiring. So I welded up some scrap using the inside frame for support and fashioned a rotisserie which I can use in conjunction with my over head gantry. This will also allow me to lower the body to floor level for easier work height. Once in place I lifted the body and rolled the chassis out. I put back the timber trolley set up Jake originally had the body on for interim support between other movements.

[jack neville]

As I could not go through the body in a straight line because of the windscreen level I lowered the angle of the main spar at the rear to hopefully get some weight distribution and balance. I was lucky and got it so close I can spin it around without any assistance.

[super dave]

Looking good, That body has come a long way since you have started this resto. Keep up the great work as you can see light at the end of the tunnel now .