Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Thanks, guys, most of my misery is self inflicted. Starts with, "Here, hold my beer and watch this." ;)

Few more progress shots below. The hole is slowly closing, but the hard part still lies ahead. I'll need to trim some off the bumper where it curves around the end to make the sheetmetal patches look less severe. What I've noticed as I stare endlessly at the bumper corner from various angles is that the factory contour seems to droop, sag or look bulbous over the lower half. (See red arrows.) From straight on, it's not noticeable, but is from almost any other viewpoint. Close examination of the truck I'm using as a pattern reveals the same issue on it. I'm leaning toward making several vertical slices around the lower half of the corner and drawing the slices back and up to excise the fat. Or then again, maybe it's just me.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Vic, just when I think you've quit cutting things up , look what you've done!!!!
It's going to look awesome man, keep at it. I really enjoy reading and watching your build on here.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Looks good! I stumbled across this pic in my axalta calendar. You can get one at the paint stores.
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Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

I hadn't really noticed it until you pointed it out. But now that you say it.... :lol: I have a feeling you're going to be opening a major can of worms if you go that route. Or, maybe you've already opened it, but now you're realizing just how big that can is. You're doing great, keep it up!

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Thanks, Jason. Hope your big block and new tranny are still operating smoothly.
Thanks, Chip, this is the exact same truck I'm using as a guide. There are several differences between what they did and my approach, though.
1. They raised the bumper up about an inch and the ledge they built comes straight off the grille shell below the bottom molding. (red arrow)
2. They cut about an inch more off the side of the bumper end than I did. (green arrow)
3. They extended the bumper out a bit farther than I did and built out the fender to meet it which results in a tapered body line versus the parallel line that's stock. (yellow arrows)

Their mods look great in the overall context of the build which was highly customized, but I was dealing with a stock setup and didn't want to modify the frame horns to lift the bumper up. So plan B was to rob as much of the idea as I could without the extensive relocations. This means I have a different problem to solve, which is how to make the transition below the corner of the headlight roll back under and follow the edge of the bumper at the same time. That's my next hurdle.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Nope, haven't made that commitment yet, Duane. Still deciding whether it's worth the effort. I've probably said it before, but years ago when I was fretting about some detail on a project car, an east TX chassis builder buddy told me, "Nobody looks at your sh!t more closely than you do." Sometimes I have to remind myself of that. ;)

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

More piecework yesterday and today sandwiched between errands and phone calls. The guy doing the ceramic on my exhaust won't return phone calls, so I guess I need to go over there one day this week to see what the heck is going on. Hopefully it will be done and I won't waste a trip.

The hole is steadily closing up. I need to do some trimming and remake the short upper curved piece out of wider material so I don't have to scab extra metal on it. In order to fit the bumper up and make more measurements, I had to put some of the clecos in from the backside... regular barrel of laughs trying to locate 1/8" holes while flying blind.

Still thinking on how to handle the area where the fender overhangs the curved piece. Kathy seems to think Bondo would work great, plus it would speed things along. ;)

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

That is working out nicely...

I would think about running the "vertical lip all the way down that way the curve of the bumper is easier to work in the front piece and the side piece...

Just a thought...

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Nice work Vic! That looks slick!

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Thanks, Dan, I did extend the vertical sheetmetal on the front of the fender down to the curved piece. Not sure if this is what you meant, but it filled the gap about as well as could be expected. ;)
Thanks, Scott, now I need to tack everything up real good and move on to the other side.

I switched out wire in the MIG machine today to silicon bronze. Whole new learning curve. If you slow the wire speed down, it balls up on the end and if you speed it up, it welds great but spatters like crazy. The anti-spatter spray I use doesn't seem to work all that well with the SB. May have to lay my leather leggings adjacent to the weld area to help alleviate the problem.

The powder coater called today and said my stuff was ready so Dad, the dog and I went over to get it. Looks like pearlescent aluminum paint right now. They cure it in the oven at 750 degrees, so we'll see what it looks like when the engine fires up and it gets some real heat on it.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

That exhaust is killer...

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Look like they did a real nice job on the exhaust!

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

I did some reading on silicon bronze MIG welding wire. What was the benefit to using it here?

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Well, my personal observation about it is that it has a lower melting point which translates into less shrinkage in the weld area. It's softer than steel, which makes it easier to grind so you remove less of the adjacent material. On thin sheetmetal, that can make a big difference.

The downsides are that it can be finicky and ugly to weld. With the TIG, it doesn't like to bridge gaps very much. Both sides of the gap have to be wet before the weld puddle will form correctly. I noticed with the MIG (after just a few test welds to determine wire speed and amperage) it leaves a lot of smut and spatter. I'm using pure argon which is recommended, but some say a mix of helium and argon also works if the material is thicker. Too much wire speed is probably the issue with the spatter, but if you slow it down, you don't get a smooth puddle. Looks a lot like a cold solder joint.

At this point, I can't honestly weigh in on the cost/benefit of using it. I like it for applications where strength is less a consideration than cosmetics. Not much I hate worse than trying to be as careful as possible, only to have whoop-de-do's in the panel when everything cools off. MIG with EZ grind wire is not far behind, though.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Thanks for the detailed explanation! The positives sound great because grinding a newly welded sheet metal seam is a pain, and like you mentioned, less heat is better on thin metal when burn though is a possibility. You list a number of drawbacks which are important. For my own work I will probably stick with regular wire and C25 gas, but I'm glad to have learned about the existence of this other wire.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

I'm diggin' it! I'm a big flag-waver for EZ-grind. (See Vic rolling his eyes.... look, there he goes...;)) It's soo much easier and more workable on sheet stuff. Vic did the guy in KCK do your Coating? Eric was gonna use him, but it was more than he wanted to spend. Keep it up, this is coming out neat!

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Looks like you've finally figured out a solid game plan for your bumper now. I'm taking the easy route with mine instead. I'm just bringing mine in closer to the grill (shortening the support brackets) and tucking the ends by taking a cut out of both sides

keep up the good work :metal:

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

I'd also say that the EZ grind is more predictable about how it lays down than the SB when using the MIG. I now have 2 lbs. of the .035 SB wire which I can also use with the TIG for ticky tacks and better filler control than the 1/16" rods I typically use. So the experiment won't be a total loss.
I ain't throwing away the EZ grind just yet. :lol: You're correct that I used the guy in KCK on Kaw Drive. I got a quote from Jet Hot before I went to him and he actually came in $200 under them. If you factor in the additional cost of shipping, it was way better. When I picked the parts up yesterday, though, his wife said they were on the hunt for a new building and would be closing up the current location very soon. Phone will be the same so they can update callers with the new address when they find a place.
I believe I'm on the downhill run now. If I hadn't seen that other truck with the frenched in look, I'd have done exactly what you plan to do. I did the same thing with the front and rear bumpers on my 57 Ford and they looked great. Much more straightforward mod. Good luck!

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Took the plunge today and tacked all the fender pieces together. Looks good enough to finally move to the driver side. I'll do some more hammer and dolly work and weld out the seams once I have the fender off the truck. Right now the core support and inner fenderwell are interfering with my access to the back of the altered area. Once the welding is finished, I'll set all the gaps and smooth everything out with plastic filler.

I keep forgetting to call the folks at Alternative Chrome Creations to see what they recommend for prepping the pieces. Given how long it's taking me to do this "minor mod" I'm sure I've got plenty of time. ;)

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Great job on that front bumper. I use the esab ezgrind in .023 wire and I really like it. The .030 was too much for me to use on sheet metal.

Keep up the good work. Rg

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

I'm a bit afraid of that now too. :lol:

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

That's what I typically use in my MIG also, but figured I'd give the SB a try. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
I know, I know. I hate it when I see cool stuff like a hidden gas filler neck behind the taillight, electric e-brakes, almost anything Porterbuilt and etc. I think I gotta have it, but I'm doing what I can to wean myself off those impulses. ;)

Moving over to the driver side on the bumper project, I'd hoped the experience I'd collected on the other side would speed things up and for the most part it has. The one mistake I made was taking out a bit too big a section. When I tacked it up and test fit the bumper, I ended up having to put a .200" patch back in it. Other than that things have been pretty good.

I started by making a template of the profile on the passenger side. If you lay out several layers of masking tape over the area you want to duplicate and nail it down real well with a squeegee, when you pull it up you have a mirror image of what you need. Pop it inside out so the sticky part is now on the outside and tape it in place. This got me close enough to make some initial cuts without all the trial and error. Made a similar pattern for the end of the bumper and trimmed it also.

One thing I did have to do on the driver side fender was to relieve it with a horizontal slice (yellow arrow). It was bellied out a lot more than the passenger side and this was the easiest way to get the curve to match. Just one more thing to weld out.

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

All that is looking squeaky clean Vic!

Re: Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step
 

Always a joy to see your work Vic.

Hope you dad is doing well and you're seeing good.