Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

You're getting way farther along on body work than I am. Doing great work there for the first time.
Im dreading the day I start.
Sorry to see the equipment fighting you along the way. It really can get irritating when that happens.
Dig the progress, It may be slow to you but it sure motivates me.

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Aha! That's why you've been picking up the new project trucks - to distract you from getting into the body work:lol: I find that I just have to make at least some progress every week or I'd get de-motivated pretty quick. Now that I'm seeing some visible proof that it is getting there, it has the opposite effect and is motivating me to get it done. I keep telling myself that all the other parts are smaller - less work - more visible progress quicker. We'll see but it is keeping me going.

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

I like the boring parts just as much.

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Next time you need tge cab flipped buy some of that bottled motivation and invite your son and a few friends over. I am sure they could manage to flip it for you.

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

I'm glad I'm not just posting these for myself y5mgisi. And yes, boynton I should have made those arrangements, but I was ready to get it back upright right now!!! Now I get the opportunity to purchase more tools :metal: like stud welder and pull lever kind of things, and am motivated to come up with a better system for lifting the cab with a chain hoist - already have a plan!

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Stud welders are cool.
I use an A frame type set up with come-a-longs. I can get the cab on and off in about 15 min start to finish.
Like your progress!

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

awesome job, kinda wondered over here from the 67-72 board. i like those 78's nice trucks. will be a sweet truck when your done!

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Thanks for checking in Bomp. I don't have a cherry picker or room for an a-frame, so been making due with a chain hoist from the joists. Got an idea for a "cradle" to lift without contacting the roof at all. We'll see how that goes.

Thanks for checking in Dean. I appreciate the support.

I don't get excited particularly easy, and I'm surprised at how excited I am at this moment. Probably doesn't seem like much to many of you, but I FINALLY HAVE THE CAB IN ALL ONE COLOR!!! After one more patch in the driver rocker, stripping paint inside the cab where the new paint will show, scuffing the rest and cleaning it all, I finally have shot all the rest of the cab in epoxy. Start to finish this cab has taken me WAY TOO LONG.... but finally I only need to fix those dents in the roof edge and then whatever I have to do with test fits and the cab is ready for high-fill and block sanding.... uggghhhh.... well that won't be anytime soon - got the bed to work on next. Took this week off from work so I hope to get it done this week as well. BTW, shooting epoxy on the inside of the firewall up under the dash was a beoch!

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Actually I just looked back, and post #5 in Feb 2013 was when I'd just blasted the exterior of the cab to start rust repair, etc. Over 1 and 1/2 years mostly focused on the cab. Guess I'm going to have to put it into a higher gear if I ever want to finish this truck:lol:

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Big Congrats on gettin it all in one color.
Cab is lookin Reeaaaaaalll fine.

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Thanks Bomp - I appreciate the encouragement.

Ok, so I've mentioned that my old method of lifting my cab ended up putting dents in the rounded off sides of the roof. I'd been using a cable attached to the ends of a plank that ran through the cab and using my chain host attached to the cable. That forms a triangle which put pressure on the roof edge, and when the cab found a reason to bounce, it caused dents.

Well, came up with a better device. Bought two 8 foot lengths of 1x3 11-guage rectangular tube, and scrounged around for the rest of the parts. The upper beam has tabs on both ends with holes and it slides up and down the uprights. I just drilled holes for a pin in both uprights - its adjustable by just drilling new holes. I connected 10" 2x4 to the bottom beam that sit inside the door frame. I can move them if need be for a different width cab. The blocks distribute the weight and are offset to allow me to position the upper beam fairly near the front of the roof to help balance the nose-heavy cab. I cut the upper beam 1/2" less than the distance between the uprights. By removing 1 of the pins, the whole thing opens enough to slide it into place. Ended up weighing more than I hoped - probably 30-40 lbs, but 1 person can mount it up without too much difficulty.

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

The new rig worked even better than I actually expected. I did expect it to work btw, but the cab ended up hanging almost perfectly level front-to-back and side-to-side. Even better, with this rig I can lift the cab so that the bottom is almost 35" off the floor (I have 9' ceiling) which is about 1/4" higher than the back bumper with the 31" tires on the chassis. No more having to muscle the cab over the bumper and rear tires when mounting/unmounting.

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Here is one pic of the rig with one pin pulled. Shows how it opens enough to slide on/off. The next pic is just my "success" shot. "Success" because all my welds held and no new damage to the cab:lol:

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

There's no patent pending on that is there? Cause I'm stealing that idea for sure.

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

All I know is that I haven't filed for one - be my guest. Actually, it is pretty simple to make.

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Nice work Rick! I especially like the lifting apparatus. Engineered to last. I like that. I grew up with a square body and one day... will return.

Chris

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Thanks Chris. Didn't plan on a square body being my first full build, just how things worked out. I had 2 K10's early in my adult life, a 73 and a 77. When I picked up this 78 as a "donor" I decided to heck with that - I like this body style and want another one - so given title issues with the 59 and this one ready to jump on, I jumped on it. Just was clueless about how long this one would take:lol:

Anyway, a little behind schedule and about to run out of my time off. Just finished putting primer back on the areas of the roof that I needed to fix. First pic is the driver side door edge, then a pic of my new little buddies, then a done shot. I also did the passenger side, patched a spot in my rocker that I'd missed first round, and fixed the dings in the middle of my roof. The stud welder and stud lever worked like a charm, even for a first time user.

Now I need to wheel the truck bed out into the drive and start sand blasting - OH JOY. I can't think of one single chore that I dislike more!

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Man i just so badly cant wait to be at that phase of build on my 78!!!

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Looks great.
You made that Stud Lever sound so good I went and bought one.
Thanks

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Looks like you've been at this type stuff awhile yourself y5mgisi, so I'm sure you know that you just have to keep pluggin along and you'll get there. Have you started a thread on your 78?

For the price, the stud lever works pretty well Bomp. Does tend to slip a little on the studs/nails I'm using but generally at a point I am probably using too much pressure anyway.

I did manage to make some progress on my truck bed before having to go back to work. Spent 2 days blasting the inside and underside of the bed and got both in epoxy primer. Not exciting enough for pictures. I do have a few "swiss cheese" areas in the floor that I need to deal with. Didn't want to spend for a new bed floor, so will come up with a way to patch it and then cover it top and bottom with bed liner.

Thanks for checking in guys!

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

No on the 78 :( it's killing me! Gotta get stupid house projects done first! Then it's winter and I only have a small one car garage. But I did get a new bed for it that I will be straightening over the winter so that with any luck, I might have the truck all painted up and going back together around this time next year! I finally have the burb all but done so that's something. But it just makes me itch to start on the 78 so bad! Anyway, until then I take notes from threads like yours! So keep it up!

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Reckon I could start a thread on it anyway. I have done a few little things to it. And it does look pretty cool anyway. And I'm a pic whore and who doesn'tlove that!

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Go for it! I've got a 59 stepside sitting in the driveway waiting for me to finish the 78 so I can get on it, so I know just what you mean. That's the one my wife wants me to work on because (her words) "it has curves just like me!".

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Looking good Rick! I wish I wasn't stuck in fuel line fitting hell on mine LOL

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Thanks Mike! I've been following your fuel fitting saga, but have no help to offer. Have you tried putting your questions/dilemma out on the general forums?

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Just about 2 minutes ago, I stumbled upon a company called Pure Choice Motorsports that seems to have some great options for the fittings. I think I now have the resource I need to order up. We'll see :)

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

That's really good to hear Mike - I'm ready to see some progress on your build:lol:

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Got the underside of the bed done. To deal with the "swiss cheese" rust through I decided to slather kitty-hair both under and inside the bed. I had most of a gallon left, and what else are you going to do with that nasty stuff? Just used a 50-grit roloc disc to shave it down reasonably good, reshot with epoxy and then did Raptor bed liner on the underside.

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Bed turned out great Rick.

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Thanks Chris! So did the front of my shins and tops of my feet - not my best idea to shoot this in shorts and flip flops :lol:

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Been busy on it the last couple weekends. While the bed was upside down on the dolly, I took care of the filler work on a fairly big dent and where I'd patched in new metal on both fenderwell backsides. Then finished stripping the rest of the paint from the bed - damn that was a lot of sanding! Got it into epoxy primer today and placed it back on the chassis. Still have a couple dings to deal with in the upper bedsides, and still have to deal with a lot of the swiss cheese pockmarks on the inner bed floor but dang it feels good to have the 2 biggest parts of this truck done with major bodywork and into expoxy!

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

One more I like.

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Thats awesome! How did you flip the bed around?

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Thanks w5mgisi! Had a neighbor come help. We stood it on end and then carefully flipped and lowered it back onto the dolly by hand. Not too bad with 2 people. I had already built a jig to lift the bed so I used that to put it back on the truck.

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Nice! I used an engine hoist and four tie downs to lift my bed onto my work cart and it was sketch as hell! I will for sure at least be doing something similar to you your jig there when i lift it next time.

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Looking awesome Rick!!!

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Almost ready for paint!

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Do you need this emblem? I happen to have it and it is NOS! I even have NOS mounting hardware with it.

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Thanks Mike, and I've got a few more parts to get ready before paint Boynton. Thanks for the offer on the emblem - looks really nice but not sure where I'd put it on my GMC :lol:

Re: My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble
 

Ha oops I forgot. I stumbled across it and got excited.