720 Crewcab - 4 doors, 4x4, and a huge freaking headache

[the510keeper]

This is awesome I had a 720 thing back in the day and thought of this but never did it and from the pictures now I know why

[Charlie69]

Looks like you are having fun making it all fit together!

[Lockleaf]

I have been picking fights with the upper half of the door frame (front side of rear door).

 

 

That part ^^^.

 

I'm not happy with how it's working out. What I'm doing isn't coming together. Anybody out there parting out a 720? Feel like cutting some chunks out of the cab?

 

I need some door frame bits. I don't have the skills to build these pieces. Compound curves and whatnot. I do know a professional body guy who is intrigued by my insanity and claims he will help me. Maybe it's time to call in some big guns...

Edited February 13, 2020 by Lockleaf

[The Engine Room]

This build makes me want to burn myself with a cigarette.

[LTJ]

Wow, this is a huge job!

All I am thinking is what are you going to use for rear windows?

Shame shipping is so expensive, a rear cut from double cab from over here in Australia would sure make things easy for you...

 

Luke.

[]2eDeYe]

A whole double cab would be even better :rofl: 

[Fast720]

Holy Shit !!!! I thought I was retarded !!!!! you know they have these 4 door 720's in Mexico right ? ether way I think the best solution if it were me , would be trim the roof off the red cab at the back the same as you did on the black King Cab and along the sides where the bump line ( step in the roof ) is , ditch both sun roofs and reskin it with some new sheet metal one piece , here is a tip for you before you cut out parts that are going to be reattached sand or grind the paint off first !!! this way the cut edge is a consistent thickness , when you grind a part on its own you will make a bunch of thin spots on the edge , makes it super hard to weld paper thin areas. Take a look at how I did my roof it might help.

I thought about adding the half doors on my truck and I was going to leave the front doors regular and the rears suicide , you need four good doors to make two little doors .

Any way I hope this helps good luck , I know where your at ............still there

Cheers Fast720

[Lockleaf]

Wow, this is a huge job!

All I am thinking is what are you going to use for rear windows?

Shame shipping is so expensive, a rear cut from double cab from over here in Australia would sure make things easy for you...

 

Luke.

Yes, this would have been easier, looked better, gone faster. Where is the fun in that?

 

 

 

 

Apparently I'm a masochist. :)

[q-tip]

A whole double cab would be even better :rofl:

With one facing each direction.

[Lockleaf]

Holy Shit !!!! I thought I was retarded !!!!! you know they have these 4 door 720's in Mexico right ? ether way I think the best solution if it were me , would be trim the roof off the red cab at the back the same as you did on the black King Cab and along the sides where the bump line ( step in the roof ) is , ditch both sun roofs and reskin it with some new sheet metal one piece , here is a tip for you before you cut out parts that are going to be reattached sand or grind the paint off first !!! this way the cut edge is a consistent thickness , when you grind a part on its own you will make a bunch of thin spots on the edge , makes it super hard to weld paper thin areas. Take a look at how I did my roof it might help.

I thought about adding the half doors on my truck and I was going to leave the front doors regular and the rears suicide , you need four good doors to make two little doors .

Any way I hope this helps good luck , I know where your at ............still there

Cheers Fast720

Thanks. I've been following your build for a while now. I'm really interested in the d21 stuff you're doing right now.

 

I actually spent a couple of years surfing classified ads in Mexico looking at 4 doors. I even asked a coupe of forum members from Mexico to keep an eye out for a reasonably priced one. But they start around $4000 US. Add in price to go get one and it's not something I could afford anytime soon. :( so instead I took a trip I could afford. I went crazy.

 

Thanks for the grinding tip. I hadn't thought about that.

 

I've seriously considered redoing the roof how you said. A 4 door 72 Chevy build I followed had to section the edges of his roofline and lower the roof, which is where I got the idea.

 

And yes, 4 doors are necessary to build 2. Those I have.

 

This project is very far from dead, but I'm still waiting for dibs on the welder I share. Soon....

[Charlie69]

Keep at it!  The best learning is doing it!

[Lockleaf]

I dibsed (dibssed? Dibmafied? Laid dibs upon?) the welder. Did a little tinkering. I think I can get it work pretty well.

 

I smashed the upper door frame (this red/blue piece)

 

 

chunk flat with a press and started over. It just wasn't fitting.

 

New bends made. But there is no curve from top to bottom, which I must have.

 

 

I tacked a rod to it to give it some structure while I got angry with it. This may have caused me more grief than it offered help.

 

 

Pic blows but I made a bunch of cuts so I could bend it into shape.

 

 

Then I clamped it to the door edge and slowly worked my way down it clamping and tacking.

 

 

 

Then i binkied up this bad ride.

 

 

I think I need to modify one bend slightly, making it more vertical. But the pics make it look more wonky than it actually is.

 

 

 

Then I managed to start figuring out another piece of this silly puzzle before I had to head to work.

 

Not much, but it's hours of work invested to do it :)

[LTJ]

Pure fabrication at this point, love it!

[]2eDeYe]

Really should be prepping the metal before welding. At least cleaning off the paint at the joints to avoid contamination. 

Gonna be a long strange trip to the finish line :D

[Lockleaf]

Yeah, I made the cuts before removing the paint, at which point it became a joke to strip it. Since I was experimenting anyway and wasn't confident it would even work I just ignored it. Not the best call by any means, but it will all get really cleaned before it actually becomes part of the truck.

[Fast720]

Hi again , I will take some pic of the cab mounts when I can , I shortened the box yesterday and placed it on the chassis , more headache's , box sits about 3 inches higher than the cab !!!!!!.

Now a suggestion for your situation , I would find another cab and cut the rear section where the door closes and put them in instead of what your doing , this way when you splice your doors ( you should have two backs together to make the door )the door will fit and seal properly , make the back doors open the other way. Buy a suicide kit for the back doors.

then in between the two doors where the vent is you make a closing plate .I will try to find a pic of what I mean if that helps.

Don't get me wrong just trying to offer an easy way , just remember the way your doing it you have to repeat all that pain in the ass for the other side.

cheers fast720

[Charlie69]

You are definitely in the scratch build phase of this build.  Keep at it you are getting there.

[Lockleaf]

Nothing ever just lines up :). Just have to relocate the mounts, or more serious than that?

 

I've repeatedly thought about using the upper half of the door frame, but for whatever reason, it never occurred to me to use the whole side and then build the door the same way. This calls for some new thinking. It wouldn't work to just install it as is, but I don't think the necessary modifications would be terrible.

 

Suicide door kits usually cost more than I have invested in the whole build as of now. But I keep thinking about junkyarding up a set of Titan extended cab suicide hinges. 160° opening, and the top and bottom hinges are welded together on a bar, so I can't get them out of square to each other.

 

I think I get what you're saying about the filler panel but pics help.

 

I appreciate the ideas. I don't always have the desire or means to do what is suggested, but ideas are always useful. This build is as much about learning sheet metal for fun as it is actually building the truck, so I really don't mind all the piece meal work in that regard. But your suggestion would likely give me a better overall finished piece.

 

I have actually between keeping my eye out for another 720 (whole or cab) that I can afford for months, but nothing has come up.

[Charlie69]

Keep in touch with Wayno he uses the chassis and scraps or sells the rest. 

[Fast720]

Hi here is a link to a truck with home made 4 door

http://www.trucktrend.com/cool-trucks/1404-1985-ford-ranger-draggin-range/

You will see what I was talking about ,hope this helps

[Lockleaf]

Thanks. One downside to the 720 in comparison is the window frame design. On that ranger, the windows taper and become narrower at the top. The 720 window frame tapers the other way. Putting two of them together would result in a window that gets wider as you get to the top. So my plan is to have them all have identical slants, pointed toward the back of the truck. That change is one of the two major changes that would be necessary.

 

The other is that the door frame also slopes just slightly downward from front to back, so the upper corner of the door frame will need to be cut and spread out to a slightly greater angle to get things to meet up and look right.

 

Still less work than I've been considering.

[Fast720]

Hi again , it's way easier to put two door jams back to back , you take a drivers side jamb ( not the hinge jamb ) and cut it down the middle vertically and then on the cab that your building on the you cut the jamb on the passenger side in the middle the same , then put the two back to back, if you do it right the long vent cover will fit between the doors.

The doors are square at the back and so is the window frame , so when you put them together they will be square at both ends and you we have two door handle holes on each door to choose from , so it will be east to make them suicide , I would have been scouting SUV's and 4 door cars for some glass before I started, then you could make the door's to fit the glass first and then build the opening to suit .................anyway that's just how I would have done it .

Also the cabs are different at the back the king cab has an angle forward and the regular cab is more straight up.........

Cheers

[Charlie69]

The way I planned to do my 520 crew cab is to use 4 doors to make 2.  Just like Fast720 is saying and making them suicide.  By doing it this way I will have a rectangle window and I planned on having glass cut to fit my windows.  I am planning on electric windows and door locks.also.

 

 

Here is a Photo Chop I did for Wayno's 66 NL520

 

 

Wayno's 66 NL 520 before the Photo Chop

 

[toylet]

Whats the price on scrap metal per ton nowadays?

[Lockleaf]

The doors are square, but the window frames are not. Put a carpenter's square to the window frame, the frame drops about 3/4 of an inch over 16 inches. Its more like 86° or so instead of 90° square.

 

I understand the build method you reference. I had two cabs and wanted to see if it would work. The method you reference requires 3 cabs, and I just haven't found a third worth the effort or money.

 

I've been scouting windows for 2 years, and specifically decided to go a different way. No window gave me what I wanted. So I chose a different path. I will be using a wd21 or R50 rear door window and filling the remaining area with a small lexan window or something.