52 Project

[tylordurben]

definitely nice work! im glad these panels are available.

[pgf545]

Hey I had a pretty good day today. I got the panel fully welded and ground. Actually looks good. I understand now why body work is so expensive. I am getting pretty close to finishing the metal work, then start the body working and painting. I also set the cab back on the frame to check for clearance around the distributor. I knew it was going to be close but we needed to get the final dist and motor location before I made the panel for that. Now that we have everything bought for that I can make the panel and weld it in. Maybe next weekend I can work on that. Here are a couple of pictures of the completed panel.

Bernie

[pgf545]

Hey I actually got quite a bit done today despite the heat...lol. I got the firewall cut out for the distributor clearance, built a panel and got it welded in. I still have a little grinding and a couple of spots to weld but for the most part it is in. I think this is last big thing that I need to do to the cab. Of course I still need to figure a few things out but I think other than a little bit of clean up welding I am done with the heavy work on the cab. Here are a few pictures from today.

Enjoy Bernie

[GRIMSS]

Nice work.

[Daniel U]

Coming along nicely!

[CAL 58 GMC]

Nice job Bernie on the patch panel & firewall.

[renegade8720]

Any new progress pics?

Renegade

[pgf545]

Renegade, nothing new to post right now. I took the past 2 weekends off to do other things and it has been really hot so I haven't felt like messing with it. Other than that I have been doing some finish welding and getting ready to send it to the blasters. Kinda boring picture wise so I haven't even been taking many pictures. I talked to dad yesterday and we are going to load it up on the trailer in the next week or so and then get it blasted. I am sure when it gets back from there I will have plenty to do so I will start posting pictures again. Thanks for asking.


Bernie

[pgf545]

Well we decided against getting it blasted so dad is now in the process of mechanically stripping it. That was the way he wanted to do it cause he didn't really trust the local blaster. He found some different types of things that are working well at getting the old paint off so it doesn't look like it is going to be that bad. It has been crazy around here and we haven't gotten a lot done for the past two months but we are back on it now. Here are a couple of pictures that I took today of the firewall in epoxy primer. He told me today that he ordered the steering column and is going to get some cab corners to replace the rusty ones so there will be a little more body work before we can put some paint on it. Now if I could just find some more time......

Bernie

[CAL 58 GMC]

Man, that looks good Bernie!

[Daniel U]

Thanks for the update. Glad to hear you guys are back at it.

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Looking good.

[nuke1]

i belive i am gonna have to do a smooth firewall on the 58 now, made me jealous

[pgf545]

Thanks guys I just didn't want you to think that I had disappeared...lol. It has been a crazy past couple of months and I think things are finally settling down so back to the truck. I know it doesn't look like much but body work is boring and labor intensive and pretty much sucks. I wish we had the money to send it somewhere but...well you know. Hopefully it will start to take shape quickly and I can get busting on the Camaro, but I have to wait until my kids get out of college before I can get to much done on it. Until then I am planning on getting this truck done and posting pictures so you guys can enjoy.

Bernie

[CAL 58 GMC]

Did Hurricane Ike hit you hard?

[pgf545]

Cal, It wasn't too bad at our house. I lost a few shingles and a big tree in the yard. The yard looked like a bomb went off though with all the limbs and trash that was blowing around. I feel pretty lucky that I didn't have more damage. Mostly things are back to normal around here but there is still a lot of damage in Galveston and around the bay.

Bernie

[pgf545]

Here is my worst damage. Take a look at the first picture and you can see the tailgate from my sons truck, but what you can't see is the Firebird under there too. Some how the truck survived with nothing more than a broken antenna and the Firebird had some scratches and the antenna got punched through the fender so that will need some body work. All in all I was really lucky. The insurance adjuster is going to come look at the roof and some other minor things but I don't know how much they are going to pay if anything. I really don't expect them to pay anything but I did want them to check it out just in case. Here are a few pictures.

Bernie

[50adrod]

glad you made it ok, that scene is way to familiar to me here in southwest Louisiana. scary how those big trees have so little roots. mine that are around my house are all geting cut.

[tobins 52 gmc]

Hi Bernie ,Very nice work ,been reading your post for a while now .When you did the boxing of the frame did you grined it flush or just left the whole weild ,could not see from the pictures ,Thanks Robert

[pgf545]

Hey Robert, sorry I haven't gotten back with you but this is the first time in a couple of days I have been on here. What I did with the boxing plates was to grind a little bit of an angle on the edge that I was going to be welding. This way I could make a solid weld and then grind it down without loosing the strength. And actually the only area that I ground flush was from the front to where the frame starts to turn up to go over the rear axle. The area back around the rear axle was a little tricky and I had to actually bring it inside the frame a little so I couldn't get in there to grind. Hope this makes since if not I will look for some more pictures for you.

Not much going on lately other than all the fun stuff like cleaning the underside so that we can paint an undercoat. This stuff is boring and a pain in the A. I do have some pictures but I don't have them downloaded yet. Maybe tomorrow I can do that and post a few.

Bernie

[pgf545]

Ok I know how you guys like pictures so here are a few from last weekend. These are the boring cleanup pictures but what the heck....everyone has to so it sometime in the project..... The first one one is of my dad cleaning the bottom and the other two are of me touching up some of the welds on the bottom that I missed when I was installing the floor.

Bernie

[63 & 64 Bowties]

those gas cans are empty, right?

[pgf545]

Originally Posted by 63 & 64 Bowties

those gas cans are empty, right?

I noticed them in the picture after I posted the picture. Yes they are empty and probably have been for years. Those were the cans that we used when we were racing. Or I could have come with a good excuse like I am living on the edge

Bernie

[solidaxel]

.............. Your dad does some nice work !!!!
How come you made him do all the dirty work !!

[pgf545]

Solid, I busted out laughing at that one.....

Two reasons, one he can't see so he gets all the fun stuff and two it is his truck!!!!!!!!!!

Bernie