Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

Sprayed it black under dash area. Nice and shiny and clean looking now.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

Very Nice. Thats the most dreaded part. My dash had a million pinholes of rust. Then i wire wheeled them and the pinholes grew a lot bigger. Cut out a lot of it and made new peices. Then POR it.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

I was worried about that, but so far I haven't found any surprise rust. I found a tiny spot near dome light but it's small.

I've got some rubbery stuff used to spray under vehicles. It's thick, like rhino liner once it dries. I worked at dodge for a few years and sometimes the techs would undercoat certain areas under the trucks with it. Would you guys suggest or think it would be good to coat floor before carpet?

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

Theres tons of threads on putting down dynomat or different types of insulation and sound deadening. Its a good idea to. I know i will.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

Got a little done. I cut pieces from donor trucks hood for firewall cover a while back and I tacked it on today. Little bondo.. and some paint. Kinda ugly... still learning... but it came out ok.


Also ficxing up wheel, started filing the cracks.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

Ive been slacking keeping this build thread updated.

Another bed trade was done. No more GMC tailgate And I have better rear fenders.

I got a steering column from a 70ish Chevy truck. Solved some of the problems I was facing with the older column. Also using 1950 steering wheel, just modifying it to fit.

I also got a wiring kit in a while back and I have a separate thread on it and I'll post in that thread for my electrical adventure in wiring this up.

Inside of cab is cleaning up pretty good, got dash holes fixed up too. I've also gotten a few of the old holes in floor taken care of.

Lastly, I ditched my cut up trans member and bought a nice kit one.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

Cab cleaning up nice.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

New bed and I also got a radiator too, needed to see what clearance I had for cooling stuff.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

I just got new trans crossmember in and getting angle figured out.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

Trans crossmember.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

I've been filling the holes in the floor and firewall. Man my welds look ugly, but it's penetrating. I can grind them down and see I did ok. Ran out of wire, hit the metal with some primer to protect it until I get more.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

Grab a piece of scrap metal the same thickness and run a couple lines adjusting your wire speed higher or lower to see what's comfortable for you and change your hand speed accordingly.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

nice job on the repairs, rust repair is the worst

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

Thanks, I still have a long way to go. I have done some practice, latest practice piece...

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

Are you using flux core wire? Looks pretty slaggy. I would also recommend stitch welding, it takes longer but it leaves a cleaner finish and less chance of warping panels.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

Yea flux core, I know, not the most recommended. Inside I have stuck to stitching. A friend then comes in over mine and he's fast, makes longer stitches until its all nice.

He made sure it was all structurally good. I've been on my own for small stuff.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

Got some bed sills couple days ago. They are from a 54 or 55 but they fit inside just fine. From what I've found, it looks like the difference in the years is sill height, and maybe board widths. Width difference is fine with me, height can be adjusted with the blocks. And it didn't cost me anything!

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

Free is for me!

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

I spent a few minutes on the "new" sills. For my bed I needed to drill holes in the new front sill to mount to the bed. The bed sits much better now, still need proper blocks, using 2x4 pieces now. I'm not mounting the bed yet, but I'm doing the odd thing or two here and there in between the bigger things.

Tomorrow I'll buy some seam sealer for the interior! I only have one more hole to patch, for old E brake.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

It's coming along nicely! Congrats.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

Well, I wanted to work on the truck a bit.. but it was 100 degrees and I just wasn't feelin it lol just one more reason I need a shop.

Got the seam sealer though. Dynatron 550.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

I decided to flatten all my welds as much as possible. I spent the free time of two days grinding metal and welding spots that needed attention. Flux core welding may be economical for a beginner but it sucks. I used a whole tube of dynatron, I think I went a bit much and I tried to clean it up and feather it out... I'll have to sand a little more than I wanted but it's all good.

All the patching and welding has really taught me how to weld better. Or it's taught me period. Next time I have a project I'm buying full replacement pieces though, less welding. At least this is solid and will be covered with carpet.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

You are right. It is a learning experience. I didn't weld before I started my truck. I've learned a bunch. I'm now f beginner!

Keep at it. Your floor looks in pretty good shape from the pics.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

Thanks, maybe on my next project I'll have a non flux core welder and have more experience by then. I decided to prime over the seam sealer, and then roll on bedliner. I know not everyone here was for it but I like it and I think it'll work until I can eventually carpet the truck. The first coat is covering up all the seam sealer lines fairly good too.

Between primer drying and then first bedliner coat drying... I decided to continue sanding my hood, and both driver side fenders. I had to remove a lot of bondo, and you'd think there would be huge dings or craters, but there was small spots that had bondo feathered out for several inches. I went ahead and primered all three to get a good look at the imperfections i still needed to do. Overall im fairly happy so far.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

looks great. remember that carpet on a floor like that takes maybe 20 minutes to install. dont even try to take the door edge strips out (screws usually rusted), you can usually just tuck the carpet under them with a screwdriver. there are pegs along the firewall to hold the carpet, just a slit in the carpet and it slides over.

for carpet, you can find remnants big enough at boat shops, but really buying carpet isnt more expensive than bedliner, I bet its cheaper actually. the bedliner will probably seal any holes you missed though.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

Those screws did break! I removed them to replace the floor. Fill holes and stuff was part of my justification lol I actually think I did ok but between the sealer and the liner I think it is worry free. I've had this can of bedliner for forever, I called company to make sure it was still good before I opened it.

Next issue is addressing my driver door. Started a thread on it for advice, I'm a beginner in dent removal so my fingers are crossed I don't mess it up.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

Some updates. We had several days of 100+ weather lately and I've gotten very little done.

I've been seeing brown interiors in a lot of trucks in the projects here and I've been really thinking about going the same route. So I got a couple different shades. I got passenger side door painted and I think I'm definitely leaning towards brown.

A tad more black paint and I'll call the floor and firewall done!

I think I may be painting dash brown before I start to run wires. And I'm finally going to set up my steering linkage in a few days.

Anyone know of any truck pics with a brown interior and green exterior?

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

I had to see the dash brown and I love it!

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

As I said in another thread, I changed my mind on using the c10 suspension. It works and is super easy to install, and if you buy the right stuff you can suck the wheels in, but I decided to spend money on stock suspension instead. I will get power steering, keeping the c10 gearbox, and disc brakes.

I installed the suspension this morning. I think it will be easy to work on hanging off the frame than in the grass.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

This morning I decided to bolt the trans crossmember. Until now it had just been sitting in the frame, so the drivetrain could kinda rotate. I've been real worried about getting the angle perfect. Yesterday I came across instructions for installing this type of crossmember by drilling through and using bolts to hold it all instead of welding. So I did just that once I bolted it to the frame. Top of carb is level, I know base should be but I have a flat top carb, and trans is 3 or 4 degrees down. When I'm ready for driveshaft, if it needs adjustment, a more experienced person can weld the tube ends on and take the bolts out.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

I also started this a little while ago. I hope to get the patch on in the morning.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

I like the bolted crossmember, but was wondering how you got the truck to roll over for you. :lol: I was thinking about bolting the cross member in when I get that far.

I have replaced that piece on the 48 cab, luckily the 54 doesn't need it. It wasn't too bad. Good luck.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

Lol I didn't notice the picture flipped. This repair has turned into more than I thought. I've got quite a bit of rust in this corner. Driver side is fairly solid so I guess that's something.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

I had the same structural rust out, so I patched it by cutting out just the rusted out area, welded in a new patch and then primed and covered. I thought about cutting off the end of the structural, but it was mostly good, like yours and so since it is "out of sight" I just patched it and then put the new skin on the outside. I'll be watching to see how you do it.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

Since I'm rolling cab over to get to the floor support, I'm going to fix that back area then. I was going to try now but there's no way I could fit inbthere and weld anything.

Got patch on, spent more time getting the folded door jam area to fit and matchbthe truck than anything else.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

I had the same problem, which is why I just patched it.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

A little bondo and some primer and it doesn't look bad for my first body patch area aside from the floor. I think I pressed to hard on the bondo squeegee scraper thing, I didn't fill in the weld area to good and had to sand off a lot all around. I see where I need to clean it up though, I'll fix it up when I'm ready to prime everything.

I'll start on driver side in a day or so. I'm hoping I can patch in a piece I had left over from cowl patch. I'll need to see how far the rust goes.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

It takes practice, or so I've been told. I'm learning after 40 years behind a desk, this is my "meditation". Just remember, my 86 year old dad has told me so many times, "it's just metal, if you don't like what you did, cut it out and do it again." In fact, some of the guys on this forum have told me the same thing.

There are different "fillers". I'm going to use Evercoat Quantum 1 for a finish filler, and Evercoat Everglass as the "filler" for the larger spots. I've been researching them and they seem to be pretty good.

Also, remember to prime before filler. Filler will trap water. Just a thought.

Keep up the good work.

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

looking good! I have some repairs in the same area, thanks for such great photos of the work

Re: '50 chevy 3100
 

Thanks, I used a spot weld drill bit on the floor, well I tried. For this piece I used a regular drill bit and went slow and didn't go through all the way. I probably took 3 times longer than an experienced person but I was real worried about messing up on the body. I wasn't as worried with the floor.