Build: I've never done bodywork...but I can change if I have to! (bagged '67 SWB BBC)

[smoknbarrels]

Haha!! Title pretty much sums it up! - bit of history, bought this truck off ebay about 5 years ago, started on it right away, tore it all down but couldn't find anyone willing to touch the body/paint for less then 20K !! So needless to say it sat for at least 3 years. I was not willing to spend over 20K for bodywork.

So the epic journey begins, I was fed up with it just sitting there with that massive 675hp 496cu.in. mill sitting in the frame rails not even lumping its huge cam once. Time to do something about it, did a few days of research on the forum, read all the FAQ items about bodywork..."hey I can handle this!" (convincing myself) I've got all the tools and space I need, time to hit this project up! and what ever happens... happens!

Clearly as a first timer doing bodywork and paint, this is not gonna be a show winner, but at least I can be proud of it, saying I did absolutely everything myself on this truck!
I am hoping some of you will follow this build, giving me a few suggestions along the way, I will need all the help I can get! My son is turning 0 in June (our first kid too!) so I really wanna push hard and have it ready for his arrival. wow! ambitious guy you are thinking - as its March 1st already! Lucky for me I am a grain farmer, so I have a lot of time which I can donate to it during the off season. Clever me already ordered nearly all the parts I need, so there is nothing holding me back from the build but skills and common sense!

So welcome to my thread!! and please, subscribe and comment, I need all the pointers I can get! <---what I should of said was Painters!


seems normal enough...found out the only thing '67 on this truck was the cab and frame! actually it belonged to a stepside, too bad I found out just recently or I would have bought the right box for it!

gotta luv the conflicting tail gate! also comes with matching steel floor.

drool...

well this is what it is supposed to look similar too, I borrowed this image from another forum member (from Bowtie468) , but how many ways can you skin a cat, right? well I already knew it was gonna look like this 5 years ago, but I am not computer literate enough to change the colour to Galaxy Blue and knock off the side markers.

[CharlesUFarley]

I'll be following along.

[BuiltwithIvy]

looks pretty clean for a canada truck, keep up the build!

[smoknbarrels]

Just my luck!! I am already on my third engine and I haven't even started it up yet! these two blocks were found to be toast after being fluxed, both had previously spun a bearing and cracked the core along the mains, such a shame, they were both 4 bolt virgins. Thanks a lot Bargain Finder newspaper!

ok... wheres the bodyman!? I'm ready!

it's actually not in too bad of shape!

blasted and primmed the frame

I was originally going to go with a rear coil-over set-up and use this truck more for drag racing, but changed my mind as I wanted to go lower... so I have a direct bolt on bracket, if anyone wants coilovers! I designed it to get maximum travel and still fit under the bed.

[smoknbarrels]

I used some sort of special frame paint, directions said to keep it out of direct sunlight..?

took forever to weld in cups.. did this right as porterbuilt stuff was coming out, too bad I didn't buy his whole front end set up...next time I guess! so far with just engine in, my arms are about 3/4 inch off the ground.

had to make a few notches for the big block mounts

thats a Tremec TKO 600 she's mated up to, also stuffed a 12 inch DF clutch in there for good measure. the stats show that tranny is awesome! low close ratio 4 speed, with a really tall over drive, so I will be running a 4.44 rear. of course this thing is gonna be tubbed and will be running stickyest/ widest/lowest profile tire I can find!

like my trans crossmember? I figure it the bed is wood, why not!?

[smoknbarrels]

after a quick blast, the cancer shows up really quick, but the floor pans were much better then I expected. I never thought the ventwell was going to punch through so bad, I guess it rusted from the inside out, there were a ton of leaves and even some glass was in there.

did some cutting

finding out those aftermarket floor pans are really poor, they don't fit worth a darn and sure need a lot of massaging

had a few dents in the cab

things seem to look good so far...

[smoknbarrels]

now this is where things go really snakey! and boy am I pissed off! I got a guy to help me out with the truck, said he was a real veteran autobody guy, so I paid him $60/hr to help me out on this... well this is one way he helps me out! I could not believe it!? how do you destroy such an easy fill job?? I even bought the little filler plate for the nozzle hole, so it would be a sinch to fit and weld in and smooth out.
needless to say I stopped him on the project just after a few hours of helping, heck I've never done bodywork before and even I can do better then that!!

this guy just created a big job for me! not happy!

so I tried to cut a patch panel from an old door skin, since it has the same curve as this spot, in this photo I fit it just perfect... but to no avail, he used a file on the whole area so the metal is paper thin, there is nothing to weld to, I'm sure a paint sprayer would even blow holes through it! so after trying to weld in the patch panel and still blowing holes I decided to give up, and am going to have to find a donor cab and cut off the whole filler area from the door to the back of the cab.. this is gonna suck, because I am a novice and this is a big detailed job, where everyone is going to be looking - this I did not need!!

here is my welded in floor and rocker panel, the floor was my very first attempt at welding sheet metal in my life... i noticed the heat was too low so I didn't get very good penetration and had to do lots of touch-ups.

I did a lot better on the front cab mount, well, at least I think I did pretty good.

[smoknbarrels]

well I fitted the newly skinned door and welded in the cab corner(after I welded in the rocker).. it got a little wavey on the back of the cab, not sure why? perhaps I was laying to long of a bead at once? i am not sure how I will straighten it out, but at least its hidden by the box, so it's not devistating, but still would like to get the weld area straight without filler.

is it just me..? those cab corners sure are hard to fit in.

just preping the passenger door for a new skin job tomorrow, the door was actually in great shape, but it had so many holes in it from several mirror installations, I figured this would be cleaner, the previous owner also drilled out the nuts for the inner door panel for some sort of retrofit clips that never worked anyway, so this gives me a good view to weld in some nuts.


I should have more updates tomorrow, as I will be hacking away at the passenger side, but I am really nervous about the gas filler job I will have to contend with soon.. I am hoping that if I leave it till last I will have gained some experience from the floors and cab corners, and you guys will maybe have some advice for me!

I am glad the box and fenders is all new reproduction metal, so I should hopefully not have to do so much cosmetic metal work.

[JRBECK64]

Wow, for never doing bodywork your doing a great job. Thats going to be one nice truck. Are you going to Get a short bed or are you going to cut down the one you have? Keep the pictures coming.

JRBECK64

[smoknbarrels]

Originally Posted by JRBECK64

Wow, for never doing bodywork your doing a great job. Thats going to be one nice truck. Are you going to Get a short bed or are you going to cut down the one you have? Keep the pictures coming.

JRBECK64

Thanks! well actually you can't tell in the photos, but the frame is already shortened, and I have a new reproduction box waiting to be put together.

I need to take more updated photos of the frame as I have more work completed on it, but as it's been sitting ready for the body to be placed on it, it has stuff piled all over it! I only started working on the body about a week ago.

[formikaus]

looking great. i can't believe how good the cab was/is. nice solid truck, great progress.

[YBNORML]

Looking good!
I know all about "bodywork helpers", the first time around on my truck I had a buddies dad help me weld in rockers/corners. He f'd it up so bad that I had to buy another cab.

[chevy88]

I know what your saying I hate autobody work also, but I had no choice either and am doing it myself so far. It looks like your coming along good. They way I figure it in the end just before paint if it doesn't look good enough then I will pay them to do the finishing touches. Good luck with your build.

[shawno72]

Subscribed.
Posted via Mobile Device

[smoknbarrels]

Originally Posted by formikaus

looking great. i can't believe how good the cab was/is. nice solid truck, great progress.

Thanks, I'll try be politically correct, but yea, the guy I bought the truck off of was from an Indian reserve near Calgary, so there are actually a lot of good truck bodies coming out of those places as they don't see the road for very long.

Originally Posted by YBNORML

Looking good!
I know all about "bodywork helpers", the first time around on my truck I had a buddies dad help me weld in rockers/corners. He f'd it up so bad that I had to buy another cab.

Now that is scary! I would have been growing horns if that were me!

Originally Posted by chevy88

Good luck with your build.

Thanks!


I got some updates, but first funny story time!

I was working on my truck again today, the usual 10hr day and getting near the end of tonight I was putting the finishing cut into my cab support. Then all of a sudden... Bang!! so loud, right beside my head! I figured my homade saw horse cracked or something!? darn scared for 1.5seconds I tell ya!
Anyway, what happened was the air line was resting right up against a halogen light I was working with under the cab, the hot light actually melted a hole right through the air line and blew out!
I think even the dog was laughing at me after that one..

well I had about 7 minutes of grinding left, so I pulled a Red Green and did a little Duct Tape/Tye Wrap mod to allow me to finish.

[smoknbarrels]

Well I had some pretty good progress today! I am hoping to have good progress for the next few weeks as I am all alone here and can work without any interuptions, normally my dad will find a lot of other work for me to do, but as he is on holidays, I can go full bore on my own stuff!



Skill testing question: Try spot the truck! I tell ya... leave a project for a few years and people start using it as storage area.

made some necessary cuts...

figured I had all the metal cut, bent up, and bashed out just as I wanted it...

now this is the second time this has happend!? I did the same thing on the Drivers side! This time I was watching for it, but still seemed to leave this little triangle, for some reason I can't seem to get the panel to fit in properly when I go to mark it, eventhough I leave extra material, I still come up short?

well, what else can I do? getting good practise with welding these little triangle pieces, I did a much better job with this floor pan, it almost makes me want to go back and re-do the drivers side..

[y5mgisi]

Subscribed! Really like everything about the build so far! And your writing style works too! LOL!

[VA72C10]

Nice work so far. Getting ready to buy myself a welder too. I have a friend who helps but it's a pain going back and forth and more than anything else I hate feeling like I'm using someone...

Engine and frame look great! (or they did when I could see them )

[shawno72]

Keep it up. Looks like your moving at a pretty quick pace.

[duallyjams]

What make welder are you using , what gauge wire at what speed and what heat range ? We can all learn as you go.

[smoknbarrels]

Originally Posted by y5mgisi

Subscribed! Really like everything about the build so far! And your writing style works too! LOL!

Thanks! I was dreading the bodywork, but I am actually having a lot of fun so far.

Originally Posted by VA72C10

Nice work so far...Engine and frame look great! (or they did when I could see them )

Thanks a lot!

Originally Posted by shawno72

Keep it up. Looks like your moving at a pretty quick pace.

Thanks, yea, keep checking this thread each day or so if you want to follow along, I pound out 10-12hr days everyday on this thing, so I get a lot done in a week!

Originally Posted by duallyjams

What make welder are you using , what gauge wire at what speed and what heat range ? We can all learn as you go.

I am using a Miller 212 mig Welder, I did a lot of research when looking for a welder, this thing is awesome! it's overkill for sheet metal jobs as it can weld 3/8 in a single pass and has a duty cycle of 60%. But I wanted it because it can also do aluminum, and heavier stuff on the farm too.
I can't remember what my wire thickness is, I can check on that for you if you like, but normally I am on heat setting #2 and wire speed is about 30...


here are the front passenger side photos ... she's all sewn up, just needs grinding now, I tell ya, I never knew what a Roloc Disc was until a week ago... and now I can't imagine a life without them!!!

[67cheby]

looking good !

[smoknbarrels]

Originally Posted by 67cheby

looking good !

Thanks, I am following your build closely! that thing is gonna be sweet!

Originally Posted by MJs69CST

Looking nice!

Thanks, and likewise, both of you have awesome builds, which I am keeping an eye on! I am jealous how yours is getting the Porter goodies!


well now I got a few updates from today, didn't get so much work done, only about 6 hours or so had to replace the air hose reel I toasted yesterday (funny thing is I actually had a second one sitting in a box here - was 50% off) the recoil spring was broke from last summer anyway.

prepping for surgery

this is my method of knocking out spot welds

klang! kling klang!!

those back floors are much easier to work on then the fronts with those darn pilliars in the way.

[shawno72]

Nice progress. Looks like you got a big ole shop to work in, that's cool.
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[smoknbarrels]

there is a lot of tin that has come off this truck so far, I should have thrown those door skins on top of all that!

and this is as far as I got today. Hopefully I have a reasonable day tomorrow. I can't wait to start moving onto something else soon, I'm not going to miss this cutting, welding, and grinding too much. I really wanna get the cab on the truck, then I will actually feel like I am moving forward!