1971 K10 Stepside - Getting a Roller Roadworthy

[pjmoreland]

Cleaned up and painted the replacement hub. There is a slight difference between the new and old. The inner seal depth is not as deep on the replacement. The seals I removed from my originals were thin (.25") even though the hubs appear to be made for the .31" wide seals everyone sells. I have been looking all over the place, and I can't find any .25" wide seals. The old thin seal I've got says, "Made in Singapore" and "UF 0215E" on it, but searching for that goes nowhere. The wider seals will probably work just fine.

[pjmoreland]

I found a seal that should be the correct dimensions. It's SKF 24904. The I.D. and O.D. are the same as seal 442380, but it is .25" wide. It's what's spec'd for a 1974 Dodge W100. I ordered a pair of them.

[loudchevy]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

Haha. Yep! Seems like there are more trucks with speaker holes in the doors than without.

I got lucky and the PO cut them out above the kick panel closer to the window crank. Didn't bother to patch them since new door panels would cover them up. Never seen (2) speaker holes cut in a door, that was a first.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by loudchevy

I got lucky and the PO cut them out above the kick panel closer to the window crank. Didn't bother to patch them since new door panels would cover them up. Never seen (2) speaker holes cut in a door, that was a first.

That was convenient. Two speaker holes per door is a first for me, too. My '68 had a round speaker hole cut down low on both doors. I bought a replacement door on one side due to exterior damage, and the replacement had a speaker hole, too.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by loudchevy

I love the consistent progress! What's next on the list to tackle?

I missed your post a couple of weeks ago. Sorry about that! Here's my rough to-do list at this point:

Reassemble front hubs
Finish patching door speaker holes
Replace the center section of the dash to fix a butchered radio hole
Replace rocker panels
Replace rear window
Clean and paint frame rails
Rebuild entire brake system (new hard lines, booster, master cylinder, etc.)
Install parking brake cables
Convert 2WD NV4500 transmission to 4WD by replacing output shaft & tail housing
Replace NP205 long input shaft with a short one
Install engine, transmission & transfer case
Measure for rear driveshaft and get ordered
Clutch linkage
Go through entire electrical system and make repairs as needed
Build a tach gauge cluster
New bed wood
Reupholster seat

Those are the big items at this point.

[68bowtie]

You’re doing quite a bit more than I expected! Very cool.

Looking great, keep it up.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by 68bowtie

You’re doing quite a bit more than I expected! Very cool.

Looking great, keep it up.

A few of the items on my list aren't strictly necessary, but they are easier to do now than later when everything is assembled.

[pjmoreland]

I have all of the parts now to put the front hubs back together. I installed the bearing races, pressed in the studs and installed the inner bearing seal. One of the hubs has a deeper bore for the seal, but the hub is taller overall, so the seals on both hubs are at the same depth relative to the bearing.

[pjmoreland]

Spent the evening attempting to reassemble the front hubs. Discovered three more bad parts though, so I only got one hub back together.

[pjmoreland]

Spent the evening working on the passenger side door. Started by taking the interior panel off. One of the screws didn't want to come loose, so I had to drill it out. The threads in the square nut survived the ordeal.

This truck was outfitted with power locks at some point. Those are going bye-bye.

[pjmoreland]

Cleaned out the inside of the door and then removed it and brought it into the garage for some repairs. Welded up the two speaker holes and some extra mirror holes. Also replaced some slotted screws holding the window regulator in with factory screws.

[pjmoreland]

Found some rust in the interior bottom front corner of the door, so I fabricated a little patch panel.

[pjmoreland]

Then I welded in the patch panel. I've got lots of grinding to do now.

[clay68c10]

Man, you nailed that curve. Nice work.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by clay68c10

Man, you nailed that curve. Nice work.

Thanks! I cut two thick pieces of steel to match the curve and then clamped the sheet metal between them and hammered it over to form the curve. I shaped the little squiggly part with a combination of pliers and hammering.

[loudchevy]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

Thanks! I cut two thick pieces of steel to match the curve and then clamped the sheet metal between them and hammered it over to form the curve. I shaped the little squiggly part with a combination of pliers and hammering.

That's a nice trick. I'm banking that one in the vault.

[clay68c10]

Slick!

[pjmoreland]

Worked on the doors and the passenger side rocker panel today. Smoothed out the welds on the passenger door and covered them with primer for now. Also filled in some extra mirror holes on the driver door.

[pjmoreland]

Spent the rest of the day replacing the passenger side rocker panel. Started by drilling out the spot welds.

[pjmoreland]

More drilling. I cut the bulk if the rocker off once the bottom edge was the only remaining attached portion. Then I discovered that the bottom lip only had one spot weld in it. That would explain why the driver side rocker is split open along the bottom edge. There was a rust hole back near the cab corner, so I welded a patch over it.

[pjmoreland]

Cleaned up the metal with a wire wheel and then primed and painted it. I drilled holes in the ends of the new rocker panel and along the bottom edge of the floor. I then set the rocker in place and used a scribe to mark the locations of the holes. I removed the paint in the hole locations to prepare for welding. Welded the new rocker in place by filling the holes with rosette welds. Still need to smooth out the welds. I will apply seam sealer around the perimeter of the new rocker. Ran out of daylight.

['68OrangeSunshine]

Two questions, Pat:
What plant did that Stepside roll out of?
What kinda mirrors will you be using?

[1970cstblazer]

Amazing the inner rockers were intact. Definitely not from the salt belt. Nice fitment on the new rocker.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

Two questions, Pat:
What plant did that Stepside roll out of?
What kinda mirrors will you be using?

This truck was built in St. Louis.

I will be installing these stock mirrors. Thankfully, the stock holes are still there.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by 1970cstblazer

Amazing the inner rockers were intact. Definitely not from the salt belt. Nice fitment on the new rocker.

It's fairly common around here. Rust in the roof is common here. I believe I'm good there though because someone resealed the drip rails at some point.