55.2-59 Ol' Blue

[8man]

Raven, this is where I am.

The cab holes are filled in and I've modified the dash in some previous pictures. I think it is ready to sit on the frame and see how it all fits together.

So, I started with putting the metal part of the bed on the frame. The doors you see have been body worked and primed and are ready for paint. The fenders, bedsides and other black parts are primed with epoxy waiting for body work.

A mechanic I know is planning to come over 12/14 and hopefully we will button up the 5.3 and it will be ready to do the motor mounts on the frame, as soon as I get a tranny to go with it.

I need the cab on the frame to set the engine/tranny combo and then that cardboard box under the frame will be taped to the frame to get an idea of how big I can make the gas tank. The tank will be filled through the original filler tube behind the seat, it'll run down through the floor into the tank, once I get it located and have it built.

[dsraven]

nice cab stand/dolly
did you fit the doors to the cab already and get the gaps like you want them?
are you sure you are working in that shop? pretty clean, lol
my shop is full of metal cutoffs, grindings and shavings from carbide burrs, been doing a bunch of fitting, welding, smoothing, contouring.

[8man]

Raven, thanks for that. I made that stand for the 48, it's adjustable and of heavy enough material so that I could add in the extensions I made and fit a car body on it. I'm kind of proud of it.

The doors were fit to the cab before they were removed. The gaps were good. Then the edges were welded and finished smooth. The PO just ground the edges down and put a little Bondo on them. They are smooth now.

However, I think I want to take the hinges apart to be painted, but that worries me for the fitment of the doors. The hinges are TIGHT right now, and they don't need to be rebuilt. I know some guys just paint them all together, so I'm in a dilemma on what to do with them.

Yes, the shop was just cleaned, usually on Sunday after I've been grinding or sanding, or when I need to think about what my next step will be cleaning gives me time to think out there with the project where I can go look at it then go back to cleaning. I haven't made a dump run in months, so there is a lot of old steel to be recycled, and that will give me some more room.

[dsraven]

i find taking pics from different angles helps. leave for awhile then open up the pics and look at them. lots of times I find a flaw or a different way to get something done by looking at the pics. last time it cost me a day cuz i had to move a body lne........lol

[8man]

Thanks, I'll give that a try.

[8man]

I don't like the factory fit and finish where the A and B pillars hit the inside roof panel. Here are pics of the rider's side. The driver's side is worse, but I didn't have time to move stuff around so I could get over there and take pics.

My thought is to weld and finish as much as possible and then use All Metal or Metal to metal to finish it off. Is that crazy?

What do you do with those seams?

[dsraven]

I've seen them welded and smoothed over for the seamless look and I've seen them left factory. smooth definately looks nice but it is a whole lot of work. the gaps can be large and actually fairly deep down in there for welding. I've had the roof skin off several of these cabs and can tell you there are lots of spot welds holding things together. if you were to weld it I suppose it could be stitched every few inches instead of being fully welded. if doing any welding just be carefull of the heat affected zone as this could cause a lot of distortion and there is no way to hammer on dolly there. make sure to do short welds and allow to cool fully before adding more heat in the area.