1941 Ford COE
We fabricated running boards from the front fender to the rear fender.
I had those coated with 'Rhino Liner' (like they spray in pickup beds)
So we didn't use the short stubby originals.
(but we did restore them and patched some holes!) Decided the long running board would be better.
Painted Bumper and just the stainless Headlight Trim rings and the side vent emblems give it bling
The finished truck and the bed. It is long, just over 9 feet long.
Another friend who works on boats said he had some nice wood
he would give me for the bed of the truck 'Segua' a hardwood from Africa.
(found out it is very expensive wood)
We fitted the wood with stainless steel strips the ones with no holes and put on a really
shiny clear finish, an epoxy used for boats. It turned out pretty nice.
If I were to build it all over again there are some things that I would do different. I would shorten the wheel base to fit a stock F100 bed. I think I would take it to an upholsterer to do the interior. As I mentioned before the 'seats' I found nice 'original' on eBay and we sprayed them black with a vinyl coating, they actually look pretty good. That saved a lot of time and money. The 'dog house, I think I would modify, make it lower by maybe 8 or 10 inches. For the Flathead engine it was tall because of the two upper water hoses to the radiator.. The horizontal radiator the return hose is much lower and way off to one side. I might also try to find a front cross member from something else that is not as wide, maybe an Astro Van, they are narrower than the full sized van. In reality I won't be building another '40's COE unless someone pays me to take the body.
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