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chopping a postal top

seam4.JPGmore seam. Rust around torx head bolts that attach top to side panels looks to be caused by gasket failure and not rust through outside of panel. Rust does not appear to be fatal deep. These bolts were not possible to remove with the tools at hand so ground the heads off.
 
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Yes, the gasket is insanely long. I am always amazed how nice and pliable it is.
 
having second thoughts about cutting this apart. Will be cutting cardboard template to check clearance; just eyeballing I don't see clearance on the diagonal for top through the barndoor and the rollbar looks to diminish clearance even more.
 
The good news is that I may not have to cut the top after all. The bad news is that even separated at the seam the top will not clear either the door or the rollbar. Cut a piece of blueboard the width of top and well, the pics tell the story. So I'm not doing anything with this top until an executive decision is made. no1.JPGno2.JPG
 
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Why is this one LHD or am i missing a bit of the story here?
Still makes me want to be a mailman in early 80s Alaska though....
 
Dave The Sparky said:
Why is this one LHD or am i missing a bit of the story here?
Still makes me want to be a mailman in early 80s Alaska though....
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Like most of them here, converted to LHD after the auction. The guy who I got it from said conversion had been done when he bought it. Miller Salvage used to sell all the parts you needed to do conversion for a few years after these rigs were auctioned off by the post office. Picture will show pop-riveted panel behind battery; this covers former steering column exit. Picture will also show "DOT Brake Fluid Only" stencil over battery where the power brake used to bolt up. re: delivering mail in one of these meant wearing bunny boots and probably Refridgerwear brand coveralls. They needed every inch of that urethane foam what with the weak AMC heater. brakefluid.JPG
 
Yep definitely a summer only mail man for me thanks! Would of looked like this at one time....

bulkhead.jpg
 
:rotfl: Ive just converted that to Celsius thinking its not that cold surely and its only near enough the same minus number :rotfl:

Ive deffo changed my mind, Caribbean Postal Jeeps anyone??
 
brrrrrrrrr and over here we just got hit with a crazy heat wave.. i dont know which one is better!!!
 
40below said:
Like most of them here, converted to LHD after the auction.
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Interesting, first I've heard anyone say that many were converted to LHD. I had heard of many folks quickly trashing the hard top though. Guy I got mine from still had another that had a 10a half top (full top was long gone) and it was RHD.
 
Here's an interesting diagram I found of the whole cab. It will help with all the parts and the way it went together. I didn't realize the side panels are listed as separate pieces for the curved part and the flat part

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1409799066.316745.jpg
 
40below said:
Like most of them here, converted to LHD after the auction. The guy who I got it from said conversion had been done when he bought it. Miller Salvage used to sell all the parts you needed to do conversion for a few years after these rigs were auctioned off by the post office.
Click to expand...

I've only seen a small handful converted to LHD. :shrug: Mine are both RHD, my buddy's is RHD, and probably every postal I've run into (in real life) in the last 10 years has been RHD.
 
great find on that diagram.. it should be pasted on the front page of this site for future reference :headbang:
 
guys, I'm off to the hospital for a stress test of the heart; will address concerns later today if they let me out.
 
Good luck with that 40below i can get the same effect by lending my credit card to the wife for a day...
 
We are moving forward on this, after many hurdles with shipping companies not wanting to ship it do to the weak brakes even when paying as a "non-op", another company giving the run around, etc, the other top is getting cut up to the extent that it will fit inside. So I owe 40below a diagram of how I think it can be done, which I will get posted up here within a few hours. I think the only way to do it is to cut the roof panel in four sections and Ill just have to weld it back together. But my thoughts are to preserve the postal and then one day create a LHD Overlander with troop seats with the spare top. Since the original windows will likely never be found, maybe because it will have to be welded together ill do some other mods or ideas with it too. There was no way around this, the shipping company understandably would not allow the roof panel to be strapped on top of the roof, and freight makes the deal completely ridiculous in price.
 
I thought about this a few dif ways but this I think is best. The idea was to prevent cuts near any strengthened / recessed areas, and not through the whole underneath support where possible. There really isn't one great way to do this but this is my thought. I'd be ok with 3 cuts across was also from side to side. Thoughts ?

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1410271477.446926.jpg
 
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