A3 Cab on A2 truck

[sandcobra164]

The cabs look about the same and it should be a pretty easy swap. I see some minor differences between the two and have confirmed with Clinto and PaTracy my concerns. It looks like I'll have to beat a spot welded plate off of the hole for the clutch pedal, cut out the plug installed where the hole for the master cylinder ¨trap door¨ to be swapped and I have to reuse my transmission tunnel sheet metal from the old cab. Has anyone done this swap and encountered any problems? I'm not in a big hurry but I do have some minor upgrades in mind before October's GA Rally. I plan to dynamat the bottom and firewall of the cab and add a spray in bedliner to the floor, back wall and firewall on the inside with some additional dynamat to the interior firewall above the pedals. I also plan on routing the exhaust out the back. Cosmetically, I have decided to sand down the fenders, hood and other heavily painted areas and go back semi gloss od green with white stars, bumper numbers and registration numbers on the hood sides. I am hoping to get the truck back to 1971 standards, save for the duckcloth canvas as I'm sure it's rare as hensteeth right now and priced accordingly. We'll see if I can find some greenish brown paint to color the vinyl the right shade. I'll post pics of the progress as I go along.

 

[welldigger]

Just be sure to use a rust inhibiting base coat under where your putting the dynamat such as Por15 or Magnet Chassis Saver. The dynamat can trap water.

 

[sandcobra164]

I plan to apply ¨Phoscote¨ to every surface before painting. It's sort of like a clearcoat that bonds tightly to the surface and allows no chance for moisture or air to penetrate the metal. Once applied, the sheetmetal should outlast the drivetrain even after a repower when needed. I've decided that I'm in it for the long haul as I consider a cab swap to be quite an undertaking. Some folks might consider it minor but I consider it somewhat major and I'm going to go the extra distance now.

 

[sandcobra164]

I guess I should also add that I believe ¨our Resident Deuce Doctor¨ could probably do a better job so if you see my truck at the GA Rally, give me an A for effort. Clinto pointed out the trouble spots on my cab last year and it wasn't pretty. He about pushed the cowl panel to the floorboard. It was brutal and straight to the point and he made it clear that the cancer was deep. Funny how the rust always seems to find the same spots and there is no rust anywhere else on the truck. Clinto told me if he could look the truck over, he could repair the original cab but he'd need another cab tub to cut and paste. Long story short, it would have likely cost way more than necessary and I appreciate his honesty. For the folks that like to pick on Clint, he didn't have any blue gloves on when he looked over my truck!!!

 

[M35A2-AZ]

I put a NOS cab on a Deuce and I think it was for a A3. The only thing I had to do was punch out the holes for the clutch and brake pedal and use them to fill the holes from the pallet mount bolt holes.
The mounting holes for the bright light switch were 90 degrees off from a A2 cab, I just made little jumpers for the wires to make them longer but you could drill new holes.