1947 Biederman Truck Fender Repairs

Finishing up on the Biederman hood fabrications today.. That's what I told myself anyhow...



Getting the OEM hood hinge welded to the new hood side..



https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ZK...=w1274-h955-no



Factory version had spot welded angles on the inside to bolt side emblems to, we'll see if we can improve by eliminating a rust trap...



https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Gm...R=w717-h955-no



This should do..... Vise mounted jigsaw with optional pony clamp cruise control Don't try this at home..



https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/3T...=w1274-h955-no



https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/BO...=w1274-h955-no



https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/mc...=w1274-h955-no



https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/X-...O=w717-h955-no



https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ul...=w1274-h955-no



Beltline trim added.....Hey! it lines up with the cab!



https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/em...=w1274-h955-no



Hood sides added.. and Robert is done with the hood..



https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/51...=w1274-h955-no



https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Ux...=w1274-h955-no



Video Version:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTXzEPYzPxE



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Amazing piece of work Robert.
Thanks for sharing it all with us.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 34_40

Amazing piece of work Robert.
Thanks for sharing it all with us.

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X2. Really like learning your methods!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 34_40

Amazing piece of work Robert.
Thanks for sharing it all with us.

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X 3. What they said.
You make complicated appear simple.

When ability, equipment, tools, rusty steel and adequate funding come together it's a lovely thing.

That turned out better than new IMO! Very nice work. Now that you're done with that, do you want to build me a hood for a needle nose Pete? :LOL:

Thanks for all the kind words fellas, Ryan, not sure you'd want to drive the Pete all the way to MD. :LOL:


The 16 gauge was definitely a challenge, good to see my portion complete. If anyone local to Lexington KY would like to see it in person, this truck will be at the ATHS 2018 Convention in Lexington Ky, May 31 to June 2nd. I'm told it will be inside the building..

Perfect as always, thanks for taking the time to share your work.

John sent me a picture today, he picked up the front fenders from his painter and got them installed. He hopes to get the hood parts tomorrow.




https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/NQ...A=w477-h358-no

Amazing piece. Congrats on all the hard work.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 34_40

Amazing piece. Congrats on all the hard work.

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X2 - Never knew of a Biederman before, and now I know them to be a KEWL older truck!

They look great. Are these where Peterbilt got their cab and hood lines?

Thanks for the comments guys. Ryan, not sure which one came first...


John got the hood installed, and truck is loaded up for the trek to Lexington KY for the ATHS Convention.




https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/2s...=w1274-h955-no




https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/8d...=w1274-h955-no




https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/B2...=w1274-h955-no




https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ic...=w1274-h955-no

Sweet Job on the truck. The golf cart for shuttling around gives it a great size perspective. The size of that trailer gives you plenty of room to bring some goodies back!

Here's the Biederman at the show in Lexington KY last week for the 2018 ATHS Convention.




https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/fj...I=w960-h720-no



https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/E-...MnkqIU=s955-no

Now what? Will the truck go back to earning it's keep, or is it a show queen from now on?

He plans on an era correct dump body (or re-creation of one) and after that he will likely show it a couple years and find a museum home for it.

He would enjoy Bill Richardson's Transport World in Invercargill, NZ - https://www.transportworld.co.nz/

A local character is using restored antique trucks to advertise his dirt and gravel business.

He parks them around town with big signs on their dump beds.

It is a sweet advertising gig. The sign nazis (zoning laws) can't touch him.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by firebird77clone

A local character is using restored antique trucks to advertise his dirt and gravel business.

He parks them around town with big signs on their dump beds.

It is a sweet advertising gig. The sign nazis (zoning laws) can't touch him.

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Love his attitude!
Anything that gets up the nose of a bureaucrat has got to be good for the soul!

A beautiful job on that truck.

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Ditto Absolutely gorgeous!

An update on the Biederman truck, John came across a donor truck with an authentic 1947 Galion dump body, which matches his 47 Biederman perfectly.


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...erman%2000.jpg


It needed some repair work on it but it was a good one to start with. He took it to a local shop and had the tailgate rebuilt, added a cab guard and replaced the floor. It will show a few authentic dents when finished but he says he prefers that to a new edition body on an old truck.


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...erman%2002.jpg


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...erman%2001.jpg


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...erman%2003.jpg


These next pictures really show why we need to add the skirt between the cab and running board.


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...erman%2005.png


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...erman%2006.jpg


The skirt will rest on top of the running board flange, with a rubber edge trim to save some paint rubbing. Here's our sample bend that will rest on top of the flange. (it's shown upside-down...)


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...n/img_3292.jpg


The dump body and other remaining parts will be also be painted blue, he plans to paint this spring.

That was a nice score on that dump box! Side skirts will look great on it.

Been tripping over the 8’ linear slide on the Lennox for the past couple months, time to knock out these Biederman skirts so we can break the linear slide down. This will likely be the last Metalshaping done on this machine before it goes out the door and the replacement comes in.


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...n/IMG_4312.jpg


These two bends were done in the magnetic brake, the final fold for the U-shape is done in the Lennox using these dies..


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...n/IMG_4320.jpg


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...n/IMG_4311.jpg


Comparison


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...n/IMG_4313.jpg


Here's the folding process...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwpJ...ature=youtu.be




http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...n/IMG_4321.jpg


Next we took them to a local machine shop, Triton Defense, to hem the U-shape. They used a knife blade in the press brake.


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...n/IMG_4324.jpg


The only thing left for these is to fold the top flange for bolting to the underside of the cab, fit, and paint.

John stopped by the shop last night so we could fit up the running board skirts on the Biederman.



https://oi5.photobucket.com/albums/y...n/IMG_4669.jpg



I know he will be glad to close off this gaping hole.



https://oi5.photobucket.com/albums/y...n/IMG_4670.jpg



After taking some measurements we got the top flange folded over using the magnetic brake. The flange will be bolted to the underside of the cab to support the weight as we will leave about a 1/4" or so gap above the running board to allow for frame flex.



https://oi5.photobucket.com/albums/y...n/IMG_4675.jpg



https://oi5.photobucket.com/albums/y...n/IMG_4678.jpg



https://oi5.photobucket.com/albums/y...n/IMG_4677.jpg



Rivet Nuts installed under the cab...



https://oi5.photobucket.com/albums/y...n/IMG_4681.jpg



https://oi5.photobucket.com/albums/y...n/IMG_4684.jpg



The rubber edge trim is our attempt to keep the paint from rubbing off, and these are held in place using weatherstrip adhesive.



https://oi5.photobucket.com/albums/y...n/IMG_4687.jpg



The dump bed had been painted over when John bought it, but closer inspection showed where some additional layers of paint in the hand painted lettering, "Phone 60" had staved off surface rust in it's previous life and was still visible...


https://oi5.photobucket.com/albums/y...n/IMG_4673.jpg

That lower edge detail is great. should also help with rattles and noise too.

The old version had multiple parts, the lower piece formed a tray for the skirt to rest in, shown here on the right...


https://oi5.photobucket.com/albums/y...rd%20skirt.jpg


Unfortunately this design created a dirt trap from the back side, and a rain trap from the front side, and the two together combined to have most of our sample rusted away. So our main objective with the new design was to eliminate anything from catching rain/water from the outside. The back side of the hem on the new one is tight but about enough space to slide a piece of 220 paper in there to abrade. After that we plan on flooding with epoxy primer, and when that has set, seam sealer to fill in and prevent any water from laying.

Sounds like a great idea. And I think it looks better too,

To finish off the running board skirts, some epoxy primer was brushed into the hem fold, given a couple days to cure, and then seam sealer added to keep out the moisture..


https://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y1...n/IMG_4832.jpg


https://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y1...n/IMG_4834.jpg


https://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y1...n/IMG_4835.jpg



….then another dose of epoxy over the seam sealer, and everything primed.



https://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y1...n/IMG_4841.jpg


https://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y1...n/IMG_4843.jpg


https://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y1...n/IMG_4877.jpg


I didn't get pictures of spraying the blue, so the finals will have to do. John is tying up the loose ends, the running board skirts were installed the other night.....


https://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y1...n/IMG_5071.jpg


https://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y1...n/IMG_5062.jpg


https://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y1...n/IMG_5065.jpg


The dump body has been painted and he should get that installed today or tomorrow.


https://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y1...n/IMG_5084.jpg


https://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y1...n/IMG_5085.jpg


He will get it loaded up around Wednesday for the trip to Macungie PA for the truck show this coming weekend.

Stick a fork in it, we are done!!!!!!!!!!!


John has the Biederman loaded up and is headed up to Macungie PA today for the truck show this weekend.


https://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y1...n/IMG_5157.jpg


This is the "tow" vehicle with Ian Watson, who is visiting from Melbourne Australia.


https://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y1.../IMG_5158a.jpg


Anyone going to the Macungie show this weekend, stop by and check out the Biederman, a pretty rare truck..

Nice work, that was fun to watch. That would be neat to meet that truck and trailer on the road.

beautiful pair of trucks! Ya'll deserve piles of praise heaped upon ya! :3dSMILE:

Congrats.

It looks like new.

The Biederman truck we did some rust repairs and metal fabrication on found its way onto the cover of the latest issue of Wheels of Time. It has a feature article on the restoration John did on the truck, as well as a follow up article on the company history. Pretty neat to read, honored to have played a small part in helping preserve an example of this rare truck for future generations.



https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...ge_Page_01.jpg


Before:


https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...man_before.png


After:


https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...rman_after.jpg


Photo credit: ATHS Wheels of Time

Beautiful truck

Wow! I mean WOW!

That is a wonderful piece of history. congrats to all involved.

Congrats to all involved! It sure turned out great!

A slight distraction..... I've always said we should be using butt welds, and trimming panels as tightly as we can get them. Some recent shop work helps to show that process, so hopefully this will help out someone with patch panels.


The owner of the Biederman truck we had done all those rust repairs and fabrications on also has a 51 Ford F7 with a Rollback body. He was driving it down the road a few months back when the Delco Remy voltage regulator on the firewall malfunctioned and resulted in an electrical fire. The heat caused some of the filler on the outside of the hood above the fire to delaminate, showing up as circles in the paint. As we sanded these defects out it was noticed that an abundance of filler (+1/4") had been used. The more we looked, the more filler we found all over the hood. In an effort to yield some weight savings, the entire outside of the hood was stripped..

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...8/IMG_6543.JPG


In order to have free access for planishing out the Atlantic Ocean defects, the hood brace was removed from the inside...


https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...8/IMG_6513.JPG


https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...8/IMG_6542.JPG


This revealed more defects that the last shop saw as fixes, but they won't leave my shop like that....
Rather than butt weld in the proper thickness metal, a piece of about 16 gauge is slipped behind the rust hole area (from dirt accumulating between brace and hood skin) and MIG welded around the perimeter. I think we can improve on that..


https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...8/IMG_6538.JPG


https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...8/IMG_6537.JPG


In addition to that, the brace had lost it's structural integrity, so we will remake the ends..


https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...8/IMG_6535.JPG


https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...8/IMG_6536.JPG


To start our repairs, a body sweep is used to capture the lower flange profile. Note that a profile cut out of construction paper/cardboard works as well.


https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...8/IMG_6571.JPG


Verifying the panel thickness. Despite this being an early 50's truck, despite this being a BIG truck, yes, the outer sheet metal here is STILL only 19 gauge.


https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...8/IMG_6573.JPG


The affected area was cut out using an air body saw, use what you have available. Note we have no corners in the cut to help improve consistency in weld shrinkage on either side.


https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...8/IMG_6575.JPG


The flange bend line is traced from our profile template/body sweep, and bent using tipping wheel on the bead roller (since it's not a straight bend). Here test fitted to the hood..


https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...8/IMG_6591.JPG


An Ice Pick (something everyone should have if doing this type of work) is used to mark the area of the cut and more importantly, the cuts for the flanges.


https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...8/IMG_6596.JPG


Next we trim the panel on the band saw leaving 1/4" extra around our marks. Next, we use offset snips and trim the flanges to the lines scribed. And ONLY the flanges.. Then the panel is re-fitted with the flanges flush with the original, and RE-scribe the round line, this time with more force to see the mark better.

Note the scribe line has moved closer toward the flange as we located the panel correctly with flanges flush..


https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...8/IMG_6597.JPG


Fitted... panel should be as tight as you can get it to minimize any shrinking/pulling.


https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...8/IMG_6598.JPG


Flanges and outer surface are both aligned to the original first and I use TIG to tack on the exact corner on both ends to maintain this alignment.. Side note.... tacking only one end and working around to the other may shrink as you go, pulling other end down where it no longer aligns. So in this case, align both ends, tack both ends, and then progressively work your tacks side to side toward the bottom of the circle.


https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...8/IMG_6600.JPG


Note here the flange was left long on our replacement. Trying to weld it in place already trimmed to fit will invariably cause the edge to burn back, making it more difficult to weld this seam all the way to the edge. Leaving the flange on our patch long makes the outer part serve as a heat sink where this burn back effect is less of an issue. Once the welds are dressed, trim the excess using offset snips..


https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...8/IMG_6601.JPG