Home fab a C-cab worth it?

[MMC757]

I'm interested in a C-cab pickup build. Not a delivery body. I love this body from Scottrods:

But with a starting price of $2K I cant help but ask myself if it's realistic to build my own C-cab onto an open body.
I don't have extensive fiberglass experience but I have enough to understand the basics and tackle a project without fear. I also know it will take 10x longer than I plan for LOL.

My question is more related to structural soundness and the technical aspects of building a cab on the top of an open body. Is it realistic? is it a bad idea? is it common? I need to feel comfortable driving this car at highway speeds.

Any input is welcome.

 

[Island Girl]

When talking about fiberglass, and laminate products in general . . . .

The one thing to keep in mind when deciding to mod something already produced to get what you want, or use something that's already produced as you want, but costs more, is that when fiberglass is layed up, there's molecular level bonding of the whole product.

When you add new glass to an already cured body, you only have the adhesive quality of the new material to the old, which is considerably less than if it was all produced at the same time in a mold.

That's why for marine repairs, most reputable outfits use Epoxy resin as opposed to polyester, which is what the product was probably made from initially, . . . . . it just has a higher adhesive strength.


If it were me, I'd opt for the Scottrods offering . . . experience has taught me that trying to save a few $$$ can come back and bite my ass if I don't make well informed choices.

 

[rbsWELDER]

Will Scottrods give you a list of happy customers to understand their experience?

 

[MMC757]

...When you add new glass to an already cured body, you only have the adhesive quality of the new material to the old, which is considerably less than if it was all produced at the same time in a mold...

Right. I don't think I would rely on a couple layers of glass for mounting. I would want to fasten the top to the bottom in some sort of positive manner. I guess I would approach it in "convertible hard top" fashion and build it totally separate with some method of mounting that puts the stress on the frame, not on the lower body. The list of ways it could go wrong just goes on and on though...I suppose its a bad idea.

 

[MMC757]

Will Scottrods give you a list of happy customers to understand their experience?

I'm not close enough to pulling the trigger to make contact yet. My best case scenario for buying a body is probably a year from now.

 

[Spanky]

Here's a creative approach . . .

 

[rbsWELDER]

Spanky - Who sells that body?

 

[Spanky]

To my knowledge it's a one-off by the builder. Someone with 'glass skills could duplicate it, though. Looks like he added a glass top to an existing bucket body.

 

[old round fart]

Spirit has videos showing process.

 

[fluidfloyd]

MMC757,
My thinking is to use a conventional body and build your car. Build the top section as a separate a piece. Add a supporting metal structure under the new top would sit. The top would need a lop would need a lip or flange that would be bolted trough the body deck and metal support piece. I would then have a full frame windshield frame that supported the front lip of that top. Even if you were to by a C-cab body I would support that front roof lip. I know a lot of those type cabs don't use full windshield frames but I can't believe high speed wind doesn't try to flex that roof to some extent. And if you install a C-roof you can just as easy uninstall it and have a roadster!
Whatever you do, Good Luck with your project and have fun!

 

[MMC757]

MMC757,
My thinking is to use a conventional body and build your car. Build the top section as a separate a piece. Add a supporting metal structure under the new top would sit. The top would need a lop would need a lip or flange that would be bolted trough the body deck and metal support piece. I would then have a full frame windshield frame that supported the front lip of that top. Even if you were to by a C-cab body I would support that front roof lip. I know a lot of those type cabs don't use full windshield frames but I can't believe high speed wind doesn't try to flex that roof to some extent. And if you install a C-roof you can just as easy uninstall it and have a roadster!
Whatever you do, Good Luck with your project and have fun!

Thanks Floyd, I agree with all of that. I've seen some cars with an opening between the windshield and the roof too, it looks like trouble waiting to happen.

 

[T-Test]

 

[old round fart]

I like that a lot.

 

[MMC757]

This one looks like a homecooked C cab to me

It sort of looks like they cut the back wall off the body and replaced it with the sheetmetal C-cab.