Truck Cab

charles4d
charles4d Expert Adviser
edited February 2013 in HUDSON
Hello all
What car model was the
1940 truck cab made from sedan?
thanks in advance
«1

Comments

  • bent metal
    bent metal Senior Contributor
    Not just 1940, but all of the trucks were made from the four door sedan. Not a two door sedan, which would be a longer door. :)
  • MikeWA
    MikeWA Senior Contributor
    And kind of a shame they didn't use the 2 door as a basis, because the main knock on the pickups is the door is too short! Hard for "plus size" folks to get in.
  • lostmind
    lostmind Expert Adviser
    There are a few out there that have been extended using coupe doors.
    I suppose you could take a coupe and mate the pickup rear section to the roof.
    Well , I guess maybe someone like bent metal could.
  • MikeWA
    MikeWA Senior Contributor
    I'm sure I could do one too, but I suppose the purists would complain about the hatchet marks and the pop rivets. Picky, picky, picky. . .
  • bent metal
    bent metal Senior Contributor
    Lostmind, I don't think a coupe door is a good idea. A better choice (IMO) is a two door sedan door. Because the top of the door matches the roof line better. A coupe swoops down in the rear. Also, you don't want to change your mind half way through, a coupe and a two door sedan door are not the same length.

    But that's an interesting idea. To use the coupe roof line. I'd like to see a drawing of that. :)
  • 48Sed
    48Sed Senior Contributor
    Does anyone know the length difference between the different doors to compare?
    would around 2" have to be added in the roof area?
  • Uncle Josh
    Uncle Josh Senior Contributor
    edited February 2013
    I happen to have a 47 truck, a 40 coupe and a 46 (2 door) Brougham around here. The doors were measured at the top of the ridge just above the handle.

    Truck - 31 1/2 in
    Brougham - 38
    Coupe - 38
    Width of the outside body on all 3 at the back of the door is 65 1/2

    The coupe doesn't start tapering in until about the middle of the back fenders

    You would need to add about 6 1/2 inches to the roof.

    By the way, the back cushion of the truck is some 6 inches thick. Reducing the back cushion to a couple of inches will give you a roomier cab. I drive my truck almost daily during the season and get along fine at 172 lbs and 6.0 in Tall Paul would have a problem.
  • lostmind
    lostmind Expert Adviser
    Here's a 37 extended door , and a 47 done a different way.
    I have seen a couple that used the bigger doors , but can't find the photos
  • bent metal
    bent metal Senior Contributor
    That '37 is really nicely done! Never seen the red truck! Do you have more pictures of that?!?!
  • lostmind
    lostmind Expert Adviser
    Bent Metal , it came off of goggle images. There are several of the 37 and I believe one more of
    the 47. Just put in Hudson truck , search images. Probably 75-100?
    I think the 37 looks as good as , or better than the Studebaker trucks from the same era.
    I think they used longer doors from the factory?
  • 48Sed
    48Sed Senior Contributor
    I love the look of that 37,would they have moved the cab back and just shorten the box,or used a big boy frame to keep the longer box?
  • bent metal
    bent metal Senior Contributor
    I think that's Glenn's '37. I believe he still comes on this forum.
  • tf442yahoocom
    tf442yahoocom Senior Contributor
    I hate to hijack this thread but I have a question. I have never seen a Hudson pickup in person. A couple months ago I ran across a picture on a Hudson pickup and I love the style. I have been looking on line for a 1946 or 1947 for sale. Now I am reading about the small doors. I am 6 ft and 240 pounds. Am I too big to enjoy a stock 46 or 47 pickup?
  • dave s
    dave s Senior Contributor, Moderator
    edited February 2013
    I used a seat from a Dodge Dakota pick up and gained abour four inches of leg/belly room in our 46 hpu anduphlstered door panels to match with material from 3 Rivers supply :-*
  • 48Sed
    48Sed Senior Contributor
    Can you post a picture of the seat?
  • dave s
    dave s Senior Contributor, Moderator
    I will not be back in PA until next month, I can do it then
  • 48Sed
    48Sed Senior Contributor
    Thanks Dave
    So with the new seat you can stretch your legs a bit more and feel more comfortable during a long drive?
  • faustmb
    faustmb Senior Contributor
    I'm 5'11 and 210lbs, mine was definitely snug with a stock seat. A long trip would be uncomfortable for me.
  • dave s
    dave s Senior Contributor, Moderator
    I don't know what you mean by long drive. Furthest I have ever driven is 275 miles one way and it wasn't too bad. I am also about your size.
  • faustmb
    faustmb Senior Contributor
    Yeah, "long trip " is very subjective I guess:)

    I was contemplating driving mine to Gettysburg last year ( 500 miles one way). If the truck were ready to drive I may have done it, but I remember thinking it would be uncomfortable. The longest I drove mine continuously was about 1.5 hours one way. That was no issue but I would have leg cramps after a few straight hours of driving I think.
  • 48Sed
    48Sed Senior Contributor
    Would the 37 cab be even tighter? from some pictures it looks smaller
  • bent metal
    bent metal Senior Contributor
    That has always been the big complaint, as everyone knows. The cab is too small. I like the way the owner had me stretch the cab on the truck I did for him. He kept the four door sized front and added a small rear door. Which was a very popular design in new trucks at the time. I also re-made both ends of the truck bed and shortened the bed by the new doors length. Which helped the proportions of the truck. Stock they look too long and the cab too small. Although it's three cars deep on my list, I'm going to do another stretch cab. First I'm going to finish the '33 T-8 Convertible, then a '36 Long wheel base Eight with some major rust issues.... But the new truck project is going to be a two door with the longer two door sedan doors. The owner wants to stretch the frame to make up the difference in length. I'm working on talking him out of that. I want to shorten the bed and keep the stock wheel base, both for looks and for the turn radius, etc.
  • RL Chilton
    RL Chilton Administrator, Member
    bent-

    Sent you an e-mail.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    So I could basically bolt on coupe doors and add six inches to the roof and I would have a stretch cab?
  • Uncle Josh
    Uncle Josh Senior Contributor
    Basically. More like 6 1/2 by my measurements. Of course, you'd have to add that much to the floor too, or it would look funny.
  • 48Sed
    48Sed Senior Contributor
    And take that amount out of the box also
  • bent metal
    bent metal Senior Contributor
    edited February 2013

    A friend gave me this photo. I love it! Anyone ever see this truck.

  • bent metal
    bent metal Senior Contributor
    edited February 2013
    On a more serious note:

    Has anyone seen anything on a "kit" that you could buy from the dealer that would convert a car into a truck? It would probably include the cab back and bed, with fenders, maybe running boards?
  • charles4d
    charles4d Expert Adviser
    Was the truck made at the factory or at the dealership ?
  • 53jetman
    53jetman Senior Contributor
    I don't know about a "Kit", but Hudson did have the rear cab section available - it was the complete rear of the cab from the rear post on the left to the rear post on the right. It was set up to fit the standard sedan front door.
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