Manky's Pop.

[Manky Monkey]

Suddenly it looks like a proper pick-up truck. Nothing like the saloon car we started with.

[Manky Monkey]

Spurred on, we dug out the VW camper van repair panels I bought recently & clamped one in place. Loony's been unsure about these since we got 'em, but once in place, they look spot on. Just enough shape to them to be interesting, without being over fussy. They'll extend down to meet the bottom of the cab at the front & we'll cut a bit of a curve at the back to come up & meet a valance panel under the tail gate. The bottom edge of the V Dub panels curves inwards rather than being completely flat & slab sided. We'll need to extend the front by about 8 inches to meet the cab but Loony reckons that should be fairly easy to do. We also need to cut n shut the panels to reduce the arch opening. The top of the arch will be level with the underside of the chassis.
You can see here how the top tubes "roll over" the top of the panels, overhanging them. Just makes it all a bit more shapely.

[Manky Monkey]

The rear axle's several inches wider than the front. On other styles of truck, the rear wheels would be covered by arches attached to the bed itself or tucked under the bed sides, but we're going for these small cycle type guards. I think they accentuate the tall skinny 50s truck tyres & make the bed look lower.
We've decided to mount the rear indicators in the ends of the top tubes & site the stop/tail lights in the corners of the valance panel under the tail gate. Indicators should be visible from 45 degrees from the back of the vehicle so that should be fine. We also need to fit reflectors & fog & reversing lights, all of which will probably go in that valance. Loony had to admit I was right about the V Dub side panels & I admit he was right about the tail gate. We'll make our own in sheet steel & set a long regular sized numberplate into the valance panel.

[Manky Monkey]

The inside face of the bed will be skinned in flat steel sheet & the bed floor will be made in pressed ribbed sheet with the ribs running from front to back. That'll be stronger than flat sheet & look more interesting & more truck like. We may have to add sound deadening sheet to the space between the 2 skins, or even inject expanding foam, to stop the panels "drumming".

[Manky Monkey]

So that's us up to date. This is my favourite view of it -apart from the view through the screen as I cruise down the road in it of course. 
I'm really pleased with the lines of the thing now. The nose has been stretched, with the front beam axle pushed several inches further forward than standard, & the back has been extended beyond the original Pop's length, but it still looks in proportion. The stainless exhaust headers will fill the space between front wheels & cab. The extra inches in the wheel base also make the 3 inch roof chop look lower & the pick-up bed looks like an integral part of the vehicle design, not just an after thought plonked on the back.
As soon as we get a dry day I'd like to roll it outside & stand back & take a good look at it.
Can't wait to fire it up now! 

[BikerGran]

That's beginningb to look rather special!  Bet you are starting to believe it may be finished one day...

[poprodder]

hi,
lots of excellent work there, looking real good.
chris.

[gazzagood]

Andy looking great mate. . just a thought. but you say you want ribbed sheeting on the base.. then foam fill. well some new buildings.have 25mm foam filled rib panels.on the roof.only trying to help 

[Manky Monkey]

Worth a look. Got to be mild steel so it's strong enough to stand on & so we can weld it though, which would mean stripping the foam out of the edge ribs so it didn't burst into flames. Unless we could find a way of fitting the base without welding -maybe just mastic it down? I was thinking more of the 1 inch gap between inner & outer side panels.

[spanners]

looking good ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,just a thought when assembling youre ,double, skin side panels          there,s an aerosol weld through spay paint/coating that you can treat the area wher the skins/panels join that you weld through and it doesnt burn away but protects the seam so that it doesnt rust and ,bleed through at a later date i used to use it when fitting/welding in 12/14 metre long ,stretch panels on the side,s of coache,s

                            just a tip/thought
                                             mike

[Manky Monkey]

The guys rebuilding Taz's Dodge Charger use a zinc spray like that. I think Loony's actually got a can somewhere in the workshop. Yup, well worth doing Mike.

[spanners]

just wish i was still at work at boydons i kept a box of the spray cans under my bench

[Manky Monkey]

Called at Loony Central again after work today, but Mr L had other plans for the afternoon. So I just quickly tried my rear lights in place. Thanks to the magic of masking tape, here's the amber indicator sat in the end of the top tube, plus the red stop/tail light down in the bottom corner of what will be the rear valance panel. The indicator's slightly bigger than the tube diameter, so I'll have to make a large flat washer for it to sit against on the tube end. 

[Manky Monkey]

Meanwhile, PD & Loony have been messin' with the mudster, bending up a 2 inch bore tube to loop over the cab, from one rock slider to the other. Now they're adding tubes from the cab to the rear cross member. 

[Manky Monkey]

By the time I finish work & get over to Loony's place, I only get a couple of hours to work on the Pop before I have to do battle on the motorway back home again. So today's task was to knock up a frame for the tail gate. Cut from the same 25mm box section as the rest of the bed, it stands at 10 1/2 inches tall.
Would've been nice to re-use the hinges from the original Pop bootlid, but unfortunately we scrapped it when we cut the car up. Loony's got an old Mini sat outside his workshop -the boot hinges from something like that would work but I can't decide whether they should be hidden or surface mounted. I'd like to fit the rear door latch from the Sherpa van the axle came from, but I binned it a month or two ago. Bugger. The back doors of a Sherpa van have a handle on the inside that pushes bars up & down to lock the door into the frame. I'd like to fit a T handle on the inside of the tail gate, with bars locking into either side of the pick-up frame. Same way a garage door lock works. Anyone got anything suitable?   
Not even finished yet & it's carrying it's first cargo already. Skeleton pick-up bed provides somewhere to stash some of the other Pop parts.