NorCal Cruiser
 

Ok, so im starting a build thread.
First let me introduce myself. My name is Rich and I live in Rancho Cordova, (near Sacramento) CA. I have been lurking around this forum for a wile and trying to determine what direction I want to take my truck., I can’t believe the amount of information on here.

I came upon this truck on Craigslist. It’s a California “black plate” 71 short/step with a L6 250c.i. and three speed manual column shift. This project will be a D/D typ build and I will be keeping the L6 motor. Plans are to install a static 4/6 drop, c-notch the frame, repair rust, rebuild motor and clean up the Saginaw.


projected 10 month build time.

Im looking forward to getting to know everybody and relying on your knowledge! I will be asking a lot of questions.
Stay tuned...I will update as much as I can.

Re: NorCal Cruiser
 

Welcome to the site From Bakersfield,Ca.
Great start

Re: NorCal Cruiser
 

Getting Started...

Re: NorCal Cruiser
 

Moving along...

Re: NorCal Cruiser
 

Looking for rust!
This will be my first time doing rust repair/Rocker replacement.

Re: NorCal Cruiser
 

looks clean..

Re: NorCal Cruiser
 

Not to bad

Re: NorCal Cruiser
 

Cant get more basic then this!!

Re: NorCal Cruiser
 

wow man all that in one day!! looks good. that is a base model fo sure. yeah i had a ten month plan over a year ago..

Re: NorCal Cruiser
 

Moving fast!!!!

Re: NorCal Cruiser
 

Welcome from another Rancho Cordova guy.

Re: NorCal Cruiser
 

Nice progress. Welcome from another Sacramento guy (I'm in Carmichael)

Re: NorCal Cruiser
 

Nice start..

Re: NorCal Cruiser
 

Hey thanks Jim & 67chevy. Nice to see some locals.
BTW, Amazing truck you got there SactoJim.

Re: NorCal Cruiser
 

Had a little time this past week to get the cab up on a dolly.
Made the dolly out of some scrap 2x4's. Attached some casters and lagged screwed through the cab mount holes.

The cab wasn’t as heavy as I expected. My self, my 17yr. Old son and a couple of the neighbor kids managed it.

Re: NorCal Cruiser
 

I’m getting ready to tackle my rust. So far looks like Rocker, possible inner rocker, some floor patch and small amount on the firewall.

I wire wheeled my drip seals...Looks ok.

Altogether happy with the lack of rust.

Re: NorCal Cruiser
 

Ok, so now im venturing into some rust repair. Cutting out the rust and making a patch was not to much of a problem.

Re: NorCal Cruiser
 

nice job bud....I like the basic stuff.

Re: NorCal Cruiser
 

Now this is embarrassing!:lol:
I haven’t welded in a long time and my only experience with welding is arc.
I really debated posting this but I decided to post up the good with the bad.

I ended up pulling out the patch and starting over.
I need some advice...I noticed on other post that most patch work is a multitude of spot welds as opposed to welding a continuance bead.
What is the problem? Am I to close? To hot? Just need more practice?

Re: NorCal Cruiser
 

To me it looks like you may still have weak metal on the cowl. Even though you cut out the rust holes there still could be thin/pitted metal behind what you see. If that is true it will cause the welder to burn thru very easily. You may need to cut the cowl out wider to get to solid metal. You could also have your welder turned up too high. I don't know a whole lot about welding so I am sure someone else will be able to help you much more than me.

Re: NorCal Cruiser
 

Welcome to the board I am in orangevale.

Re: NorCal Cruiser
 

You didn’t say what type of welder you’re using? MIG with gas or shield core wire, what size wire. Most welders have a chart to set up the welder for different size metal that you’re welding, this just gets you in the ball park and may need minor adjustments in wire speed or power. If I remember right that area is 18 gauge metal.

One thing that I’ve found a great help is backing up the seam with a copper backing plate. You can find some at Eastwood (hand held or magnetic) or go to the hardware store and pick up some copper tubing flatten it in a vice and have someone hold it in place when welding (make sure to wear gloves when holding it, it gets hot) You might find some additional tips on my build thread (post # 76 and more thru out the build) http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=318544&page=4

Re: NorCal Cruiser
 

Thank you Bruce and 1956cameo,
The welder is a Harbor freight purchase with shield core wire. I new when purchasing it wasn’t going to be the ideal set-up but im hoping it will get the job done. Looks like I need to read up on all the settings. Bruce, I will try the copper backing. Great idea! Thanks for the advice guys, ill let you know how the rest of the repairs turn out.

Re: NorCal Cruiser
 

Im following/followed your build threads. Amazing work bro!

Re: NorCal Cruiser
 

should not have a problem with an inexpensive mig welder....use .024 wire and just spot weld it all the way around the seam.....JUST ALTERNATE EACH SPOT WELD TO THE OTHER SIDE....THIS WILL KEEP IT FROM WARPING THE METAL.