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Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
My last project was this V8 Pontiac Firefly (Chevy Sprint). It takes over two hours to change spark plugs - half come out the top, and half come out the bottom (but it CAN be done - some of them require a stubby wrench on the spark plug socket hex). The distributor can actually physically be removed in car, as long as you take the cap AND rotor off.
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Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
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All your stuff is good reading & sound info. Your students are lucky to have someone educate them on 'thought' as part of the mechanics/wrenching. |
Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
Cab mount fitted, but not welded yet. Years of collected muck rusted out the cab floor support. Also added a crush tube for the cab mount, as you're -supposed- to do that when you run a bolt through tubing.
At this point, I significantly less inclined to strip it all down and do a thorough paint job. I'm not enjoying this as much as I thought I would. There is something to be said about just keeping it "good enough." https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...6s-672x378.jpg https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...8s-672x378.jpg https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...7s-672x378.jpg |
Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
I take it all back. I thoroughly enjoyed blasting the cab today.
For the best repair, the inside should be epoxy primed. For the best application of primer, that meant blasting. Since I -bought- a pressure-pot sand blaster, I figured I would blast and prime in convenient piece-meal portions. Today I dealt with the area I am dealing with. Once the front cab support is in, I'll likely drag it outside again to blast the rear cab support area, then put the floor in. I'm dealing with each cab support individually to (in my mind) minimize any movement of the cab as metal is cut out. Why not farm out the blasting? I was quoted $1000 to $1800 to blast everything in the truck. And I'd still need to get parts blasted again as I open them up. My labour is free. Pictures in no particular order: https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...9s-672x378.jpg https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...3s-672x378.jpg https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...2s-672x378.jpg https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...0s-672x378.jpg https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...1s-672x378.jpg https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...4s-672x378.jpg https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...0s-672x378.jpg https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...st-672x378.jpg |
Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
I changed my tactic a bit. I think I was over-thinking things a bit, and trying to do things to 1/1000" of perfection that the machinist side of my head wants, and over-looking the 3/16" perfection that Chevy had back in 1961. And that might be pretty generous on the 3/16".
I ended up cutting out the rear cab support, trimmed the rest of the floor to fit the patch panel, and then spent probably three hours making the rear cab support fit. And the inner-rocker/floor-section needed some love at the firewall. No aftermarket panels fit correctly, you just have to accept that going in. Should be ready for some blasting at the rear cab support tomorrow, some epoxy primer, and then weld it all together. |
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Enjoying your adventure here. We are close to the same place in build, rust repair .... so much fun.....
Looking good! |
Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
This just in:
A heat gun and an oscillating saw with a scraper peel undercoating off just like the dubious meat stick at the Donair shop. |
Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
Fitted the passenger side inner-rocker/floor-section, also fitted the front and rear cab supports.
https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...7s-672x378.jpg The panels needed the toe part cut and re-welded to fit the truck, as well as behind the seat to line up with the existing floor. The cab support holes needed to be moved as well. You need to just accept that the panels don't fit "out of the box," but it's still easier than fabricating your own from scratch. At least, that's what I keep telling myself. https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...0s-672x378.jpg https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...9s-672x378.jpg Tomorrow, if it doesn't rain, I'll blast all the exposed metal so I can reassemble everything. If it does rain, I'll just epoxy prime the mounts and parts get get hidden in assembly. You can see the one I painted the other day - on it I also welded up the 63+ cab mounting hole, and added a bigger drain at the small end. I added a sleeve to the cab mount bolt hole, so it doesn't crush. https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...4s-672x378.jpg |
Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
Ok, so I forgot another patch. But I did get blasted what I wanted to get blasted. Epoxy primer tomorrow. I learned watching "(female-dog)in' Boot Camp" that it's a good idea to have rounded corners on patches, so I thought I'd do that.
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Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
Nice!
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Did the rounded corners work better for you? I'll probably have to try that when I get back on my rust repair if it works better. One day I'll have enough practice to get my patches looking as good as yours :metal:
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Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
I am too inexperienced to really notice a difference.
They say 90° corners really mess up the panel, might have been focusing the heat to a point, or the panel shrinking to a pucker, or something. Whatever the reasoning was, it made sense to me at the time. Figured I'd try it. |
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Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
I patched a section of the Toe board, as it was far more pitted than i wanted. The passenger side inner rocker and cab supports got installed, and now that all that structure is back in and located, the A pillar bottom and kick is being replaced. I was a horrible judge of how long this would take. OMG.
https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...0s-672x378.jpg https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...1s-672x378.jpg https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...3s-672x378.jpg |
Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
Handy tip - use the appropriate sized end mill in a hand drill (lightly) to clean out your epoxy primer or weld-through primer prior to plug welding.
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Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
Handy tip - use sheet metal screws to suck the cab supports up to the floor for welding, then just plug weld the holes.
Driver's side rocker and floor done, and A-pillar bottoms are epoxy primered and drying, ready for welding tomorrow. This side was just as annoying to do as the other side. I am losing my patience too easily. https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...4s-672x378.jpg |
Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
I like that idea about the screws. I'll have to use it when I finally get to that point on my truck. The progress is looking great!
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Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
I hung the door to fit the outer rocker, which (after some significant adjustment) fit with gargantuan door gaps. The door already had the hinges as high as they would go, and the guide on the door also adjusted as high as it could go, and the gaps are freaking drunk. The build quality of these trucks betrays the golden age of no seatbelts, and bottle openers on the dashboard.
Since it appears that the door bottoms in and out should be replaced, I may "adjust" the gap at that time. Or ignore it completely. https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...5s-672x378.jpg https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...6s-672x378.jpg https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...7s-672x378.jpg https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...8s-672x378.jpg |
Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
Oh My Gosh - the body panel gods must be smiling. The back of this rocker panel fit perfectly, the front only needed two slits.
https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...9s-672x378.jpg https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...0s-672x378.jpg And two coats of epoxy primer, and that's it for my summer. Back to work tomorrow. My projects usually stall for close to two months at the start of the school year because work sucks all my energy away. https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...1s-672x378.jpg |
Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
Boy that makes things easier.
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Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
Good looking progress.
Good luck w/the school year start-up! |
Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
Excellent fabbing! Well done.
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Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
Rockers are welded in, and I welded a "tab" I bent back for the rear cab supports.
Hopefully, cab corners tomorrow. https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...4s-672x378.jpg https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...3s-672x378.jpg https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...8s-672x378.jpg |
Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
Thanks for all the progress pictures, looking good.
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Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
Both cab corners are fitted. They both needed tweaking as the curve didn't match, and the beading at the bottom didn't match. Good think I have hammers.
The passenger cab corner was actually very solid. But I cut as little of it as I figured I could get away with, just to make sure that ALL the rust in the nooks and crannies are gone. I want to do my best to make this repair last as long as possible. Sprayed epoxy over the rockers, and in and on the cab corners in preparation for welding whenever I get to them. Oh, also filled the hole in the cowl. https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/...0s-672x378.jpg |
Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
Lookin' good as always! What are you using to spray the epoxy?
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Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
I'm actually using a wee touch-up HVLP gun from Princess Auto (the CDN equivalent of Harbor Freight). It sprays REALLY nice for me, and the size really minimizes overspray.
When I am ready to do the whole body, I will use one of my bigger guns for sure. |
Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
I guess, at this point, I could spray some Orange, and then a light spray of green lacquer, and rock the patina....
It would save me HOURS of bodywork. |
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Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
Eastwood sells 2K primer in a spray bomb, but it gets pricey real fast.
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Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
Epoxy primer, hands down, no question.
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Etch primer could be a good second, but given the choice, I'd go Epoxy. And I did.
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Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
Thanks, I'll be going epoxy from here out. Your thread is going to be one of my references on how to do metalworking
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Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
If I were to do it again, I -think- I would....
Kinda outside-to-in, instead of the way I did it inside-to-out. I did careful measurement, and put everything back reasonably well, but I -think- it could be better. On one hand, I couldn't improve the bottom door gap because I couldn't raise the rocker because it was set by the placement of the kick panels and floor panels. On the other hand, no matter how awesome you think you can be in doing the rust repair, the patch panels (and heck, the original assembly) are so sloppy, it would still be a lot of work to "perfect" it. All that extra work is not worth it to me. |
Re: SkinnyG's '61 Apache
Won these on eBay.
Can't legally run them, but pretty cool nonetheless. https://www.gwellwood.com/wordpress/.../09/plates.png |
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