Progress on my fight against rust
 

Just thought I'd share a few photos of the rust repair I've been doing on my new cab for my truck. I'm doing the rust repair on a cab and then doing a cab swap to cut down on the time my truck is apart, plus this one is an air cab with an uncut radio hole.

I'm only on the passenger side for now, here I'm fitting the new rocker. I welded a brace in since I'd be removing a long section of floor, I didn't know if it would move anything out of wack or not so I figured I'd play it safe and weld one in.


http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...e/000_1103.jpg


I've replaced the kick panel, lower A-pillar, and from about 4'' in from the inner rocker, from the toe board to the back of the cab. I cut the floor patch in half just to make fitting it easier for me since I'm no expert.


http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...e/000_1106.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...e/000_1105.jpg


Here's two pics of the kick panel and back of cab after final welding and metal finishing.


http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...e/000_1120.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...e/000_1121.jpg


Here's where I'm at now, a few friends came over and we flipped the cab on it's back so I could do the cab supports. I'll do all four now so we only need to flip it back one more time. I have the front in and the rear mocked up ready to weld, then I just have the outer rocker, cab corner, and the other side to do.:banghead:


http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...e/000_1119.jpg


It's amazing how time consuming this is, I work on it a few hours a week when I have time. The nice thing about doing it this way is when, not if, I get frustrated,:hm: I can go inside and forget about it and come back fresh another day. No deadline, but I don't want to drag it out either.

Re: Progress on my fight against rust
 

Gee. the fun I get to look forward to! :rolleyes: Seriously, looks like it going great! Keep at it!!!

Re: Progress on my fight against rust
 

great looking work , it looks like a very clean install.

Ray

Re: Progress on my fight against rust
 

Looks great.
I wish I had the skills to do this stuff.

Re: Progress on my fight against rust
 

Hey! Let me give you my address so you can do mine! :lol:

But seriously its looking great!

Keep us updated!

Re: Progress on my fight against rust
 

That looks like a real clean cab there Chris. Doing it this way you can take your time and still drive your truck everyday. I like it.

Re: Progress on my fight against rust
 

Very nice work.

Jeff

Re: Progress on my fight against rust
 

Nice work Chris!

Re: Progress on my fight against rust
 

Looking great. Keep at it.

Re: Progress on my fight against rust
 

Looking good!

That's about exactly what I need to do when I tear mine down for the real rebuild someday...

It looks like you used the one piece inner rocker that goes all the way from the front to the back... how did that work out for you? Fit pretty well?

Re: Progress on my fight against rust
 

exactly the same stuff i had to do.. i feel your pain.. i had rust in every spot like yours but i also had rust down in the section of the cowl

Re: Progress on my fight against rust
 

Awesome work Chris, that cab will be ready before you know it. :D

Re: Progress on my fight against rust
 

Thanks for the kind words, I'm really looking forward to having this part of the build out of the way.

I wish I did too!:lol:

Sorry, I plan to retire after I finish this one.:D

The fit on the full length outer floor panels is pretty good. It's my experience that the repop repair panels all need some finessing to fit, and these were no exception, but not bad at all. If your skill level is like mine, I'd suggest cutting them in half, it takes a little extra time to weld them back together but I thought it was easier fitting two small pieces rather than one long one.

Re: Progress on my fight against rust
 

Thanks! :D

Re: Progress on my fight against rust
 

very nice work, Chris!!!

Re: Progress on my fight against rust
 

very nice!
i'm sure it will be a nice truck when your done!

Re: Progress on my fight against rust
 

Chris, YOU ARE AN EXPERT NOW!!! NICE WELDS!

Re: Progress on my fight against rust
 

*UPDATE*

Now that summer is over and things have gotten a little less busy I've had some more time to get back on the cab. Passenger rear cab support is done, and the cab corner is done. When I flip the cab back to right side up I can weld in the outer rocker real quick and that side is done.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...e/000_1141.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...e/000_1142.jpg

Drivers front cab support is in, I have some holes that I still need to plug weld once I get the floor patch in.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...e/000_1143.jpg

I have most of the old drivers rear cab support out, I don't have one here to weld in yet though, for some reason it's the only repair panel I don't have. I need to get one coming. I wasn't too nice to the outer floor while removing this one, since I'm using the full length outer floor patch.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...e/000_1144.jpg

Hopefully I'll be updating this more, I'd like to send this thing to get blasted this summer, then off to the body shop, maybe????

Re: Progress on my fight against rust
 

Re: Progress on my fight against rust
 

You've swapped leaf frames to coils..... You've done DM installs.... Why is it you don't have the skills for this? :rolleyes:

Re: Progress on my fight against rust
 

Chris, that is some awesome work.

Out of curiousity.... what kind of welder are you using? No action shots while welding? :D

Re: Progress on my fight against rust
 

rust, cant live with it and blazers dont come without it:lol:

Re: Progress on my fight against rust
 

Chris,

I will say truthfully.

My cab looked very similar to yours on the before pictures. In fact I still have a LOT of work left to get it near perfect condition.

And should be close to pulling off the frame very soon. Just wish it was off the frame already so I could get more detailed photos such as yours.

The amount of hours spent on fixing these trucks can be very taxing. But once finished, the end product do indeed justify all the hard work thats involved.

Re: Progress on my fight against rust
 

This is actually fairly "normal" rust for this area.

It's amazing how time consuming this stuff is! Good luck with your's!

Thanks, I bought this back when I had money, (pre-morgage :lol:) it's a 220 amp.


http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...e/000_1148.jpg

I'll ask the wife if she'll shoot a pic while I'm working, but I bet I know the answer already!

Re: Progress on my fight against rust
 

That is a nice welder setup you have Chris.

Good luck on the welding action shots, as I know the answer/look all to well. :lol: