ClassicCar

charles4d

Hello all
What car model was the
1940 truck cab made from sedan?
thanks in advance

bent metal

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

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.

46HudsonPU

Yea, the trucks are nice - but they would have been GREAT with coupe doors and a longer cab! That 6-7 inches would make all the difference in the world - and they would have been all the more popular too.

lostmind

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

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. . .

46HudsonPU

Mike - Probably not as much as guy who's coupe I 'borrowed'... LOL! =))

bent metal

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

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

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

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

That '37 is really nicely done! Never seen the red truck! Do you have more pictures of that?!?!

lostmind

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

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

I think that's Glenn's '37. I believe he still comes on this forum.

tf442yahoocom

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

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

Can you post a picture of the seat?

dave s

I will not be back in PA until next month, I can do it then

48Sed

Thanks Dave
So with the new seat you can stretch your legs a bit more and feel more comfortable during a long drive?

faustmb

I'm 5'11 and 210lbs, mine was definitely snug with a stock seat. A long trip would be uncomfortable for me.

dave s

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

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

Would the 37 cab be even tighter? from some pictures it looks smaller

bent metal

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

bent-

Sent you an e-mail.

roy chapin

So I could basically bolt on coupe doors and add six inches to the roof and I would have a stretch cab?

Uncle Josh

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

And take that amount out of the box also

bent metal

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

bent metal

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

Was the truck made at the factory or at the dealership ?

53jetman

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.

Tallent R

Would make sense ,its probably the piece they used when they made one at the factory out of a sedan,
Roger

tf442yahoocom

This looks like it would make a great pickup, but the body looks too good to cut up.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1935-Hudson-Terraplane-/330877811612;jsessionid=739D74EB1A3007938171900DDE338431?ViewItem=&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123&item=330877811612&forcev4exp=true

dave s

That is a 1936, not 1935 as listed

bent metal

I too have only seen the back cab piece being sold. Not a "kit". But ya' never know, just thought I'd ask. As far as I know, the trucks were all produced in the factory, never by the dealer. Which makes sence because they are all pretty much the same construction, and quality of construction.

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