My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”

[Kronald_70GMC]

Got my piece made up for the firewall. Accidentally cut too much off of it in one spot by about a quarter inch. But before I scrapped it and started over I thought I would try to weld a little quarter by half inch piece in there. I can't believe it actually worked.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Piece is in! On to kick panel

[Kronald_70GMC]

Made it to the local autobody supply today after work to get some rust conversion paint and ended up spending $80 by the time I walked through there... Should have known that would happen Got the kick panel patch cut down and this side actually fit without having to splice in a 1/4" strip so that was pretty sweet. Now I can prep and spray the rust conversion paint in the lower pillar and clean up the patch panel. Then drill a few holes, shoot with weld through primer and I can weld in that piece. Then it's time to fit the sloppy shaped floor pan. This side is coming together much quicker than the driver side.

[Getter-Done]

Nice work.
I will be repairing my cab soon.
I am in for the build.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by Getter-Done

Nice work.
I will be repairing my cab soon.
I am in for the build.

Thanks for tagging along and for the compliments. Do you have a build tread? I'd like to check it out. Crew cab sounds crazy cool.

[Kronald_70GMC]

I pulled my engine out of the corner in my garage today so I could put it on an engine dolly instead of the stand it was on. Now I can tuck it in closer to the wall. I also got the kick panel all cleaned up and welded in today. Today was a good day

[ryans69chevy]

Kick panel looks good! What's next?

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by ryans69chevy

Kick panel looks good! What's next?

Next I have to re create the brake at the front of the goofy aftermarket floor pan along with plenty of other mods that I'm sure I will be needing to do to it to make it fit. Then after that's done, I can do the side skirt and rear floor pan. And after that it's just a matter of cab supports and the floor will be complete!

[Kronald_70GMC]

I started trying to fit the passenger side floor pan tonight. It is quite a bit of smashing it around with a bfh to make it fit I've got it pretty close now but there is still alot of finessing to go. Hopefully tomorrow evening I can get the brake re created the the front. Here's a few crappy pics.

[Originalthor]

Ouch that's not a very good fit at all man. The toe kick piece looks great. That motor looks pretty but is going to be fast enough to beat my flintstone truck. Lol

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by Originalthor

Ouch that's not a very good fit at all man. The toe kick piece looks great. That motor looks pretty but is going to be fast enough to beat my flintstone truck. Lol

Defiantly not a good fit at all but I'm not worried about it. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve if need be. I would for sure recommend buying the whole floor pan if anyone is needing similar repairs. Unless you have a ton of time on your hands And as for the motor, we'll have to see how fast it's gonna be once I pull it apart because I have no idea what it's got in it for a cam or what heads and pistons it's got.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Well the more time I put into fitting this floor pan, the more I start to think I was quite lucky to have the driver side fit as well as it did. This floor pan has been quite interesting so far. I've had to make two "releif cuts" into this pan now. One wasn't so bad, only about 4 inches long and opening about 3/16 of an inch. The other one though... Well now that's a very different story. It is closer to 20 inches long and opens up at least an inch and 1/4. Whoo wee am I ever gonna need lots of beer to help me through this one. Here come so pretty hoffifying pics...

[Kronald_70GMC]

A little more progress to report. I've had to rework the entire length of the recess that the rocker panel sits into at the outboard edge of the floor pan. The recess was not deep enough so I pounded on that for a good 30 minutes last night. I also could not leave the dimple in the center of the pan the way it was. It was about 3/8s out of level so I made a few small incisions and made it look right. Lots of wedges to cut and weld into place now. It is finally starting to look like the factory pan, well minus all that beautiful rust.

[Kronald_70GMC]

It's starting to look like a floor pan now. I got my big splice mostly filled in and ground down. I also got my welding flange bent, just some minor tweaking on the flange and that will be ready. Now it's just a matter of trimming to fit the remaining two sides and I'll be ready to weld it home. Hoping to have this pan all welded in by Christmas then I hope the other 2 sections fit alot nicer than this train wreck!

[Getter-Done]

Looking Good.
That is going to be Solid.
So many trucks I have seen repaired
with sheetmetal screws and scab patches.
You are spending the time to make it right.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by Getter-Done

Looking Good.
That is going to be Solid.
So many trucks I have seen repaired
with sheetmetal screws and scab patches.
You are spending the time to make it right.

Thanks for the compliment. I too have seen my fair share of scabby patches. I'm far to much of a perfectionist for that.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Looks like I'm on track to have this pan finished by Christmas. Today I finished tack welding the pan into its place. Now I have one more goofey looking patch to make and I can finish the welding on this side! I also had to figure out a way to fix my own stupidity when I went to tack the edge parralel to the transmission tunnel. I must have had a few too many beers before I made that cut. So I figured, easiest way was to put a peice of 3/16 steel rod in there and weld away. That should do the trick.

[Originalthor]

Looking good man. You know what they say measure twice cut once. Or just crack another and fix away. Lol

[Kronald_70GMC]

I think a better philosophy is measure once, cut about 5 or 6 times starting about 1/4" inch big of the measurement. but when mistakes are made, the second option you listed is the only way!

[Kronald_70GMC]

OK so as you may have guessed by now, I did not get the pan in before Christmas as planned. I ended up coming down with a wicked flu the day after my last post. Then with the holidays being busy as per usual, it was suddenly next year and I hadn't got back on it. So I jumped back into the shop early this month but unfortunately it was to build a couple of shelves we have been needing for quite some time, but at least that's one item off the honey do list. So early this week I had those shelves all polished up and done so I grabbed the old air chuck to give the work bench a well needed dusting. Then as I was attempting to coil up my air hose to hang it back on the wall (what a major Pita), just gets hooked up and caught on any little corner and edge it can find) I had a sudden realization. It was time to fork out the cash for a hose reel, and wouldn't you know it, Princess Auto had a sale starting the following day and Hey! that hose reel I had my eye on finally went on sale! So when I got it home I had another realization. That aux air tank of mine hanging up on the wall sure does lack the "wow factor" I would like it to have. So one thing led to another and next thing I know I had it all cut smooth and painted up real pretty like. So now today after almost a month I'm back welding in my floor pan! Anywho enough talk right? Here come the pictures.

[chewychevy67]

Looking good. I like that tank. Looks nice!

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by chewychevy67

Looking good. I like that tank. Looks nice!

Thanks! I thought it turned out good for a quick little project.

[chewychevy67]

What paint did you use? Was that left over from one of the trucks?

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by chewychevy67

What paint did you use? Was that left over from one of the trucks?

It's actually VHT engine paint. I'm going to use it on the 396.

[chewychevy67]

That's a sweet looking colour