Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

Boy, I feel stupid I meant I was 90 miles west and Iowa City is East of me.
Good luck on the Dentist School, We'll keep in contact and try to get a chance for a beer!

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

So a fairly minor update with too many details, consider yourself warned. We modified the firewall today to take care of the clearance issue with the valve covers. I had considered moving the engine forward instead but realized this morning I would have to disassemble the front suspension to be able to move the lower engine perch bolts. More than I wanted.

Since Don has the same issue with his valve covers I decided to post more photos than normal.

At first we tried to just cut a "T" and bend back the firewall to create a pocket.

Attachment 1133566

The "T" cut would not bend out easily so we made it an "I" cut
Attachment 1133569

As you can see we were able to create enough clearance with the valve covers

Attachment 1133570

Attachment 1133571

One thing we learned after cutting both sides is we went to short on the vertical cut and had to cut again. Will be more welding when we pull the cab off and get to it but am just needed the extra space. We did round the outside of the cuts so that when we do weld it it will be more of a semi-circle.
Attachment 1133572

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

Thanks for the info on the breather and the Clearance Cuts... :metal:
Hope to finish the fender grinding soon, then get the puppy primed. Life keeps getting in the way...:waah:

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

While your at the cutting stage....... is there enough room to allow for the engine (((vibration side to side))) when its running.

Past experience made me ask.:D

Making progress looking good

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

Actually I thought about your comment on spacing from my original post when I made my second cuts. I did not allow enough up and down rotation space on my shorter cuts which is why I ended up cutting both sides longer on the vertical axis. I had clearance to get the valve covers off on the first cut but was not comfortable that I had enough for engine rotation. I cut higher on the drivers side and lower on the passenger side to allow for vibration and rotation.

Thanks for the advice!:metal:

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

Life seems to keep intruding on time working on the truck. Once I took the front end apart I got my new inner fenders. My old ones just had too much cancer, thin metal and ripples in the metal. Got my new ones and while they are cancer free, they too had ripples in them. Guessing that stamping the metal in all the different directions that you have to for the inner fenders just puts some ripples in them. Being a bit anal, I decided I had to fix them so am in process of smoothing them out.

Attachment 1136543

I also got my hood out and started to work on it as well. There was rust in the front lower portion of the hood so I had bought a repair panel from LMC. I started cutting the metal out to get to the spot welds for the front of the hood and found a lot more rust than I realized. There were 5-6 areas that I would have had to cut out the supports, replace the metal and then get to the patch panel. I also had some oil can affect going on with the hood plus cancer spots on both sides. So, got on line and found a place in Arizona with a replacement hood so I bought it. The new hood is much more sound than my old one but will need some work. Here is old hood first. (Due to the current picture limits, I will post the new hood in the next post).


Attachment 1136545

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

Part II post

Here is the new to me hood:
Attachment 1136546

One thing that did take time away from the truck last week was I had to move my son out of his college party house :barn:. I get to move him into his apartment in a couple of weeks.

The positive out of this was that I had given him my old home theater amp and speakers. He told me that nothing worked except for 2 speakers but I decided to bring home those speakers and the amp and subwoofer. After some tinkering around, I got it all to work. Well, since this was going to be something he was going to leave/pitch I told him it was mine now. So the great news is, the shop now has a great sound system. Of course the wife tells me its too loud, me - I am trying to figure out how to make it louder:metal: Amp, subwoffer and speakers are circled:

Attachment 1136547

Now back out to filing and sanding.

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

Nice!
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Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

Woo Hoo :metal: on the "new to me hood".
Bad news on the wifey though......... if its too loud, you're too old:lol:jk

Rock on and keep buildin' that truck.

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

Thanks Don! Was good talking with you yesterday.

Thanks Bomp! Guess the wifey is too old, glad I'm not.:lol:

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

Thanks again for the Eastwood tip...:metal:
2 Qts of the Rust Encapsulator at $34.99 per Qt...:metal::metal:
The Friends I've met out here make this site PRICELESS!!!:metal::metal::metal:

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

Nice addition to the man cave, gotta have good tunes. I used my old surround in my garage and it rocks. :metal::metal: Now where to put a flat screen

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

Haha I have a surround sound and powered sun in my garage for jammin out. My friends get a kick out of it whenever they come by to hang out! Another reason I like having a detached garage. I've been trying to expain to my girlfriend why a detached garage is so important....anything truck related will be too loud to be attached to the house paint grinding welding smoke all that....loud music is a must too almost forgot that one:metal:
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Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

I agree about this forum! Never expected to be making friends when I joined.:metal:

Amazing how tunes help the time go by when blocking and grinding.

Detached is nice when the garage becomes the shop. I have had to towel the door into the house and have gotten the noisy complaint. I have managed to teach the family to use the front door instead of the garage door when its too noisy.:lol:

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

I also have Bose surround sound speakers, and 2 big 3 way speakers run by a Yamaha Sound System in the shop. The wifey says the same thing, "Turn it down" I also have a TV in the shop, and want to hook the speakers up to it. My shop is my happy place. :metal:

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

I think if I put a TV in the shop my wife would just tell me to put a bed out there too.:lol:

Maybe worth a thread on the main forum to see what everyone has in their shops........

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

Hahaha yeah my shop is my happy place too! Not so happy place for my girlfriend:lol:
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Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

Same here, my wife just walks by and shakes her head. She also seems to have an aversion to the brown truck showing up with big boxes.:lol:

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

Start it, and I'll post pictures. But let us know if you do. If you don't want to start a new thread I will. Let m know :metal:

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

[QUOTE=da_bears_da1;6201298]I think if I put a TV in the shop my wife would just tell me to put a bed out there too QUOTE]
I slept in the bed of my truck a couple times, guess that counts as a bed.:lol:

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

Started it yesterday afternoon. Some good responses already!

Here is the link:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=591083

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

[quote=WhippinSaw;6202786]:lol::lol::lol: Glad my wife doesn't read this forum, she might get ideas and put some blankets in the bed of the truck.....wait a minute, I don't have a bed on the truck.

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

Thanks. I just posted some pictures :metal::metal:

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

Thread Hijack...:sumo:

Hey Jeff....Thanks for the tip on the Eastwood Rust Encapsulator!:metal:
http://imageshack.us/a/img841/6264/jtfl.jpg



DA BEARS!!!:hot:

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

Don, you can hijack my thread anytime. Hoping the Rust Encapsulator works as well for you as it did me.

Da Bears!!!!

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

As you can tell, I have not had much time to work on the truck. The summer has been busy but its now back to the truck.

I had to order new inner fenders, mine were in bad shape and had been cut off by the steering column. Got them in, had to fix some waves and bad welds (seems a common theme on repop parts). Got it all primed and was able to get it back together. It did take a lot of sweat, some blood and a fair amount of swearing but the repop parts went together. Almost all of the front end is repop including radiator and grill supports, front lower fenders and inner fenders. Only the upper fenders are original. As you can see below it turned out pretty good.

Attachment 1143713
Attachment 1143714
Attachment 1143715

I did have a heck of a time getting the grill support to line up with the front fenders on the very top point. As you all know, getting those bolts to line up and then tightening down while keeping them in place can be tough.

Attachment 1143716

Last but not least, I did go ahead and buy a sandblasting cabinet. I know a number of members made their own but HF had a sale on theirs and with the 20% off coupon it took it down to $170. Spent a fun day putting it together. Directions from Asia are always fun...............:banghead:

Attachment 1143717

The hood is off to the sandblaster so hopefully it does not take the 2 weeks they said it might.

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

That motor looks sweet nestled in there!!!:metal:

Rock on Brother!:clap::hot:

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

I find my small SB cabinet to be very useful. I added a light so I could see what I was doing. One tip I learned that was terrific - put on a pair of nitrile or other thin surgical rubber gloves before you stick your hands inside the cabinet gloves. It will prevent the sweat from your hands from creating a swamp inside the gloves. Then the gloves stay dry and won't stink.

Did you see my homemade redneck jumbo backyard blast cabinet? LOL!!!

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

Your attention to detail is spot on.
Copied one of your pics, pasted it on Bompenstein for motivation.
Momentarily fixin on Blondies car to get her back on the road.

Your truck is lookin Saweeeet:metal:

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

Thanks Don! Hopefully I will get to hear the motor run sometime in the next year.

Thanks for the tip. Sound like a good idea. Gonna have to go look at your backyard blast cabinet.

Thanks Bomp. It's funny how when you go to put things together you start obsessing with panel lines. I spent over 2 hours playing around with the driver's side lower and upper fenders. I keep reminding myself of the factory tolerances but seem to still fret over how the lines look.

Now I have to go look at your thread!:metal:

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

Ever since I assembled my front end I have been concerned with how the inner fender matches up with the fender on the driver's side. When I first tried to assemble them I had a problem getting those two to line up. The fender did not line up with the inner fender at all to start with. I could only get one bolt in.

So I drilled new holes in the inner fender to make them more towards the outer edge. I then assembled and got them together. The fender does line up with the door and radiator support and grill support but what bothered me was the gap between the vertical inner edge on the fender and the inner fender. Pictures probably tell the story

Here is the passenger's side which turned out well.

Attachment 1145445

Here is the driver's side which did not look good.

Attachment 1145446

I hate throwing away a new part I just bought but every time I looked at the truck I would frown seeing how the driver's side looked.:cuss: Thanks to Don, I realized that Top Banana sells the inner fenders and given their good reputation on this forum I decided to order a new inner fender from them. The ones I bought were from Classic Industries and this was the first "bad" part I got from them. Keeping my fingers crossed and hope the Top Banana part is better.

Now I get to take the front end apart, again (thanks Forrest Gump), and try to get it to look better with the new part.:waah:

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

From blocking to "Let's rip it back apart and get some quality metal."
Wow, Lovin' your dedication Brother!:metal:

Diggin', the Forrest Gump reference too...:thumbs:

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

Quick Thread HiJack...:sumo:

http://imageshack.com/a/img585/2293/grng.jpg

Sorry Bro, couldn't resist...:metal:

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

Very cool!

Way too long!!
 

First, the story behind not posting any updates for almost two months. It probably will not be a short story so feel free to skip to the next paragaraph.:blah: My wife took my nephew to the airport in mid-August and as she was driving she saw a place called Mathnasium. Being the math lover she is a couple of days later she googled Mathnasium and found out its a franchise business that focuses on helping kids with math. Well, this struck a cord with her since she had tutored our kids and their friends in math and they all made it into the advanced math curriculum in jr. high and high school. She then started checking and there are no franchises close and with her retiring in December you can only guess where this goes. Of course it was then my job to check out the opportunities, deal with the Mathnasium folks, look for territories, etc. So this does not become a book, I will cut to the chase. We bought two territories from Mathnasium about 3 weeks ago. I have been searching for suitable locations, looking at a lot of sites and have found what we want in both territories. I am not down to the paperwork and dealing with lawyers:waah: but should be close to getting through that phase. As we have gone through this process, I have assured her that I am not quitting on the truck and will get at least two days a week of truck time once we get our spots nailed down. In the past six weeks I have gotten one day to work on the truck besides today. Believe me, I am NOT going to stop until the truck is shiny and loud!

I did get the Top Banana inner fender and finally got it smoothed out and primed. Hoping to reassemble, again, the front end tomorrow but it may end up being next week. Here is my feeble update picture:

Attachment 1163718

One other thing that did happen during my distracted period was I did get to visit my parents in Arkansas. They live 30 minutes from Ta2Don so I was able to sneak away and visit with Don. Gotta say he is one of the nicest guys I have met. I even got a couple of very nice cigars from him. Here is Don in front of his shop:
Attachment 1163724

While I was in Arkansas I did get to take pictures of my next two projects once the truck is done. The next project will be working on my Dad's 1928 Chevy National AB series. Dad bought this in 1969 for $400 and the guy threw in a great Boxer puppy. Dad has had this in storage since then and always planned on working on it but.... Dad is now 81 years young so when he heard about what I am doing with the truck he asked if I would redo his 28. How can you pass that up!:metal: I can already see him driving around in it while Mom complains :lol:. The car is very solid, no rust I can find anywhere. Of course the wood in the floorboard and firewall will need to be replaced and the interior has hosted a bunch of mice over the years.

Attachment 1163730

Finally, here is my 3rd project. Gotta tell the story behind this since Don told me he hated me when I told him the story. When I was 15 I went down the street to a guy who had an old Toyota Mark II sitting in his driveway. It had been there for over 5 years. I asked if he wanted to sell it (wanted a car for when I was 16). He said no. Dad told me to go to the bank and take out what money I had and go back to him with cash and ask again. So I rode my bike to the bank, took out $130 and rode to the guys house. Knocked on the door and he came out and asked what I wanted this time. I showed him a one hundred dollar bill along with a $20 and $10 and asked again if he wanted to sell. He said he would be right back with the title. So we towed it home, aired up the tires, put in a new battery and cleaned the carb and gas tank and she fired right up. Drove it for 6 months and then got rear ended and the car was totaled. The insurance company offered me $200 for the car and we said no. We had looked and other Toyota Mark IIs in the area were going for $800. I also missed three weeks of work with whip lash (guy rear ended me doing 40 mph and there were no head rests). So I ended up getting $800 for the car and $700 for missing work. We then head to Arkansas for a family visit and to look for me a car. We found a 1957 Chevy post less Bel Aire with a factory continental kit installed. Bought if for $500 and paid my uncle $300 for a early 60s Vette 327 with 325 hp. Drove the car home and used the rest of my money to get it painted. Drove my 57 for one year in high school and put it away. It has been stored since 1976. I am the third owner and it was an Arkansas car so there is no rust anywhere. Guess you can tell I am kind of proud of this one. :bowtie: Here she is:
Attachment 1163736
Attachment 1163737

Sorry for being so long winded! Guess I need to post more often.

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

Those look to be two great cars. The 57 looks like it could be a great driver just as it is!

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

Welcome Back Brother!!!:metal:
Thoroughly enjoyed the visit, next time we will have more time...;)

As for the 57, yes I still hate you...:haha:
New inner fender looks sweet... Anxiously awaiting updates...:uhmk:

Bear Down BEARS!!!

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

Thanks! It was a great daily driver when we put it away. Dad takes it out every couple of months just to keep her going. It still is a nice daily driver but I just gotta restore it. The 57 was originally pearl white and being a dumb a@@ junior in high school I had to paint it black and put slots on it. Of course I put air shocks on the back to jack it up; they still hold air today.

My plan is to go back original on the color and replace the fabric on the interior. There were only 200 post less 4 doors with the continental kit so I have to go frame up on this. It even has the factory installed Kleenex holder. Here is a picture of the interior:

Attachment 1163769

Thanks Don! It sure is nice to get some truck time in. Glad to see your updates as well.

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

These are some cool updates:metal:

Re: [B]65 Stepside Frame off Resto[/B]
 

Just to clarify...
Yes, Jeff deserves hatred or envy or a myriad of other emotions due to the fact he has a SWEET '57 for $130...:devil:

I actually love the story behind the '57...:metal:
I have a similar story, I ended up getting a '71 Super Beetle that I had to get a carb off fleaBay for $50 to get it running... traded that for my '90 Silverado DD which in the end cost me $50...:uhmk: