New project! The "Red Herring"

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by JJorgensen52

Jim's got it! '55-'56 Bel Air specifically (chrome rings). I'm going to have to modify the dash a bit around the ignition switch, but other than that it should be a walk in the park.

Thought they looked familiar...how did I miss it?

[JJorgensen52]

Progress! I was obliged to quit working on the truck a little early tonight, so I didn't quite get where I wanted to, but the first portion of the center brace is in:



As well as the passenger center floor pan.

[oldman3]

Moving along and looks good...Jim

[FarmerSid]

Nice work!

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by FarmerSid

Nice work!

Thanks! I am glad to see you here, I've been using your project thread as a reference a LOT as I go through this build

I'm on the road visiting family this weekend, but I did get a chance to get the driver's side pan burned in today. So minus some touch up welds and grinding - floor is done!

[JJorgensen52]

Long time no posts! Between snow this week (which as it turns out, totally shuts down southern VA ) and my having a fever, I actually have not done much at all.

However, I'm feeling better today and got the doors hung and lined up (outer cowl just mocked up for door gaps at this point)



I'm going to have to rebuild the hinges and the driver's side hinges are both bent (which makes sense, the old cowl had the "door swung open too far" dent in it), but I'm reasonably satisfied with the fit.

Also welded the rear pillars in place. Which means, officially, the cab is structurally sound for the first time in probably 25 years!

(Some reason I did not take a picture of passenger's side. Looks just like this but facing the other way )

[Advanced Design]

That looks really good! Snow...we lived in Warrenton Va in 1992 and it snowed 18 inches. I drove to DC the next day and I wondered where all the other commuters were. City shut down for a week.

What's next?

[flashed]

Here in Georgia a very small amount of snow turns quickly to ice and cripples us for days and our DOT is never prepared for it .I just spent 26 hours on call at our university campus spreading ice melt everywhere trying to keep our residents safe and sound .One of our students was not very smart out on the ice at 4 AM ,he was playing and smashed into several parked cars ,I would not want to be in his shoes explaining that to his parents .

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by flashed

Here in Georgia a very small amount of snow turns quickly to ice and cripples us for days and our DOT is never prepared for it .I just spent 26 hours on call at our university campus spreading ice melt everywhere trying to keep our residents safe and sound .One of our students was not very smart out on the ice at 4 AM ,he was playing and smashed into several parked cars ,I would not want to be in his shoes explaining that to his parents .

Yikes! I like sliding around in the snow but not near parked cars!

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

That looks really good! Snow...we lived in Warrenton Va in 1992 and it snowed 18 inches. I drove to DC the next day and I wondered where all the other commuters were. City shut down for a week.

What's next?

I'm thinking the next logical step is to do the inner-outer cowl fillers, which I am going to have to hack up the patches a bit to make them fit. Once that's done, I'm going to roll the truck out of the garage and get it turned around in preparation for pulling the old chassis out from under the cab (can't get enough clearance to get it out from underneath in it's current orientation)

[chuckmc8]

Nice metal work!

[Sim6]

Looks great, nice pace too!

[Hawkerdriver]

I'm in! my 52 will be here in 2 weeks some great fab skills..

[JJorgensen52]

As always, thanks for the kind words guys! Y'all better be cautious with that stuff or I might be liable to think I know what I'm doing

For lack of a better term for them I made the "wings" for the kick panels - you know, where they wrap around onto the firewall (which is missing from the patch panels).

First, welded up all the screw and spot weld holes in the driver's side of the firewall



Cut out, bent up and drilled the "wings" - I used the intact driver's side as a template


Clamped 'em up


And viola! No cleanup done other than a quick scuff with a wire brush just to take off the burn marks



Can you guys tell I'm stalling on doing the inner-outer cowls??

I've spent a bunch of time this past week working on the layout for the wiring harness - I've determined at this point I have 51 wires passing through the firewall to have everything set-up using the underhood fuse/relay center I'm planning to use. Delphi makes a metri-pack 30 terminal bulkhead pass-through (HERE) which at this point I am planning to use two of - one to cover engine management and gauge related things (26 wires) and the other for power accessories and lighting (25 wires). I think it will look very clean (if non-original) when done.

I also spent a bit of time yesterday just staring at the rusty parts of the windshield frame which I have been dreading, but I have a plan now and I think once I get over my initial squeamishness of cutting into the frame, it should be pretty easy.

Stay tuned!

[JJorgensen52]

I've not been looking forward to this one, but it is time to begin.

After I fitted up the outer cowl, I fitted the inner-outer cowl filler and marked where it did not fit. I dealt with the outside edge tonight. I cut it free from the center portion where it did not fit, and shimmed it out to match

About 3/8" in the worst places

Then I welded in a strip of scrap steel


Ground it all down


And it fits nicely now on the outside


Those with sharp eyes can see that the gap at the kick panel gets progressively larger as it approaches the bottom - it's nearly a 1/2" at the curve where it meets the floor. I'm hoping to deal with that tomorrow. Expecting 8"+ of snow here in south VA overnight!

[Advanced Design]

Nice work getting the panel to fit. Good luck with the snow.

[JJorgensen52]

Progress!

Cut the inside off the inner fender filler


Bent, tweaked, and trimmed it until it fit


And got it welded back together and welded to the truck


The driver's side is proving to be more troublesome. It does not fit as well, and also the cowl (firewall to door) is a 1/4" shorter on that side, which means I have to section the outer cowl and shorten it to make it fit properly

Checked hood gaps now that I have both outer cowls clamped up:



Overall happy with that. I wish my door gaps were even though. The driver's side are nice and tight, but the rear one on passenger's is wider than I would like.

I've also decided I'm going to go with the Altman bear-claw kit. It makes adding power locks much easier, and I've been experiencing problems with both latches that don't inspire confidence in me.

[JJorgensen52]

Today I spent the afternoon helping a friend salvage some parts for one of his projects at the junkyard - I did a little idea shopping while I was there, grabbed an air box I may use for this truck, and scored a four note "Freight Train" horn setup off an older Cadillac

In other news, this evening it was cold so I colorized my first round cab wiring harness sketch


I'm hoping to be back on the truck tomorrow, driver's side inner cowl filler

[JJorgensen52]

Tough crowd!

Today I was otherwise occupied outside due to the weather unexpectedly turning warm, but I did get a chance to section the driver's lower cowl to fit properly:


In this shot, you can see both how much I shortened it (about 1/4", the lip sticking out at the front edge) and how much that improved my door gap on this side. It's now nice and consistent from the pillar all the way down


Last shot - I grabbed these out of a late model truck at the junkyard - adjustable shoulder anchors for shoulder belts. The truck will definitely be getting three point belts, but not sure if I will use these. Seemed like a good part to grab since they were cheap!


Next task, now that I have the outer cowl properly fitted, is to section the driver's side inner - outer cowl filler

[Advanced Design]

Nice work on the cowl. Seems the replacement panels take a lot of work to make them fit!

[oldman3]

yes nice job on the cowl, always good to grab parts when you can...Jim

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Nice work on the cowl. Seems the replacement panels take a lot of work to make them fit!

Originally Posted by oldman3

yes nice job on the cowl, always good to grab parts when you can...Jim

Thanks for the kind words!

Overall, I've actually been quite happy with the way the panels fit. I had to reshape the kick panels a little, to be sure, but that was just a matter of bending and it was easier to do in two pieces. This outer cowl, my truck is actually asymmetric, I had to measure it about four times before I believed it, but the driver's side of the cowl/firewall assembly (which is all original metal) is about 5/16" shorter than the driver's side - the passenger's outer cowl fit spot on, no issues. Chalk it up to 65 years of hard work

The inner cowl fillers ... well, those just straight up don't seem to fit. Maybe I got a bad batch, who knows. I can make it work, so that's all that matters!

[JJorgensen52]

Still plugging along, slow and steady.

Driver's inner cowl filler with part of the extension welded in - I had to use a 5/8" chisel to space this one out to where it fit properly.


And test fitted. It actually fits to the shape of the outer cowl now, so it'll work out reasonably well.


I did not get a chance to finish welding/smoothing the portion I added, and I've still got to do the inside portion (planning to do that a different way than I did the other side, I was not happy with how that looks after all was said and done).

I've also discovered that I've installed the rocker about 5/8" too far back on this side, somehow , so I'm going to have to make an extension for the end of it so that the parking brake brace will bolt on properly. I'm sure I measured this about five times before I welded it in ... ah well

[FarmerSid]

I had to do the same to my inner to outer cowls. Mine came from LMC.

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by FarmerSid

I had to do the same to my inner to outer cowls. Mine came from LMC.

Mine came from Classic Industries - you don't happen to know who made them? These were Counterpart, I believe.

Some of you all may remember, wayyy back in August I was having some issues with the title for this truck. Happy to report, I had a DMV inspector from the State Police out to the house this morning, and it looks like I should have a good, clean title for the cab in the next week. I've probably jinxed it now

[7dee2]

That's a bad nightmare knock on wood! I've got several projects I've put too much work into that are not titled to me yet.

Very cool build I'm in Jim.