New to site! Looking for a 1950 cab.

[cstoddard]

Hi everyone, just joined the site. I bought a truck that I'll be restoring with my uncle who has quite a bit experience doing restorations. I'm brand new to it. We have a solid 1950 1/2 ton frame to work with but we realized the cab needs too much work. Does anyone have any thoughts on the best place to find a cab? I am also looking for advice on upgrading the suspension and brakes. Thanks for all your help!

Chris

[joedoh]

find a grain truck 1 1/2 ton or a big truck 2 ton and larger, usually they are shedded and the floor is so high up off the ground they dont rust from grass and weeds rubbing the bottom. the only thing you can use on a 1/2 ton is the cab and engine though, so dont get attached to the fenders and hood and grille.

I bought a 47 grain truck 1 ton (the fenders and hood and grille are the same as 1/2 ton) and turned it into a 1/2 ton, the cab was in dynamite shape compared to the 49 I have replaced the floors and windshield frame, something I am not inclined to do again.





good luck!

[Rude Dude]

Craigslist or Ebay if you want a nice cab might have to take a trip to western states in your part of the country salt roads don't help

[mongocanfly]

I was reading this and thinking the exact things joedoh and rude dude are saying..

[Jemezcrusher]

I needed to replace the cab on my 50. Found a relatively rust free cab and front end off a 4000 series dump truck in the TX panhandle. Not even the corners were rotted out. Couple of spots in the floors but other than that, a perfect replacement. Found it on CL. Paid 900.00 for it. Sold the front end off of it for 425.00 and the number plate for 100.00. Will be able to get 2-300 for my old cab and unneeded parts off my old cab so my final cost only a couple hundred bucks plus the cost of going to get it

[Flysocal]

Craigslist. You are going to want to stay local. My 49 needed too much work so I scrapped it when I found a 54 cab on Craigslist for $350. It had minimal rust. Then I realized the 54 has a different hood, fenders, grill and it was on....

[cstoddard]

Thank you guys, very helpful. I've been looking at Craigslist constantly. You guys are right, in this area it's hard to find ones in good shape because of the salt and the weather. I never thought of expanding my search to other trucks where the cab will fit. There are plenty available to have shipped, but I really feel like I should see it in person so I don't end up junking it. If something comes up that you guys come across, let me know.

[Advanced Design]

The cab on my truck came from a Kansas grain truck. It was the most solid one we've ever seen. It took a lot of hours (years) of work to track all the rust free parts down.

Do you have the Craigspro application so you can program in searches for specific cities? It searches constantly and will alert you when a match is made.

And, you may need to travel to find solid iron. Can always make an adventure out of it. We drove from IL to ElPaso TX for the 48 Burb. Pretty solid piece overall, and had a great road trip getting it.

[cstoddard]

I don't have that program, I'll have to get it. That's a great idea. Yeah, I almost resorted to rat rodding the truck, but I really want to stick to my original plan of restoring it. It's just going to take some patience. Thanks for the info, I really appreciate it. I live in a big farm area in MA, hopefully I can tap into contacts and find something.

[mongocanfly]

To add to what Doug suggested give searchtempest a shot if you havnt..you can put in a distance from your zip and it covers all craigslist in that area..

[tetfemal]

Just so I'm clear... if you buy a 2 ton or 1 1/2 truck, you can only use the cab?

[mongocanfly]

Yes...only the cab if your doing a 1/2,, 3/4 or 1 ton truck..the 11/2 and 2 ton firewall foward is longer and wider with bigger wheel openings...cabs are all the same

[Jemezcrusher]

I was a little hesitant to buy the front along with my cab, but only took me a couple of months to sell off the metal I did not want. A guy from OK picked it up while on an AZ trip. Keep the number plate in mind as those can be worth a couple hundred to someone that does not have one.. X2 on the searchtempest site. Looks at all of CL and EBay

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by tetfemal

Just so I'm clear... if you buy a 2 ton or 1 1/2 truck, you can only use the cab?

yes, IF your goal is a 1/2 ton. check the projects, lower50s used the big truck front end on his diesel dually.

this plan works best when you already have a complete 1/2 ton, because the price of shortbeds with fenders and short running boards has gone up about double in the past two years.

its a great solution for the problem cstoddard has, where the original cab is rotted. I did about 200 hrs of rust repair to my 49, never again, I will pay more for less rust.

also, having a complete truck to take apart and put back together with a replacement cab is light years easier than buying a disconnected cab, a disconnected front clip, etc. you can see how everything goes together and if you are organized taking it apart you already have the fasteners.