Shortbed Stepside 4x4 Build

[Jakes-66-K10]

Sorry all, progress has been slow lately. Have had alot going on requiring my attention, I have made small steps but not much. I ended up cutting all of the floor panel out, not all of it was rusty but the old floor would have needed dent repair too - so I'm just throwing in the new panel in as a whole. (picture 1). I cut the opening where the new panel will go in a little undersized so I can cut/size to fit the panel exactly.

I'm going to soon start on fabricating the "lip" for the front of the panel (picture 2). I'm not really sure what to do on the other areas though. I have rust forming between the seam where the cab floor meets the the cab wall (picture 3). Also unsure what to do with the rust near the middle hump of the cab. Thinking of just using POR15 over it or something to seal it in, but I'm not sure I'll get very good welds trying to get the floor pan to weld up to it.

[Jakes-66-K10]

Made a little progress on the '66. Fabricated a replacement piece for the floor, and was able to blend it pretty well (kinda fun learning how this all works!). I've trimmed the floorboard and getting it ready to set in... hopefully in the next few days.

[Jakes-66-K10]

The floor is in! Still grinding and smoothing welds, but still a major step...

[Jakes-66-K10]

Tonight I did a lot of test fitting, trimming, and cutting to get the lower cowl panel to line up. Part of that required cutting and trimming the outer edge of the floor board. Pics don't show it, but I have this all welded up and I'll grind the welds tomorrow.

[chevy_man5]

Looks great Jake!

Just a heads up, before you get too much further, make sure to check the placement of the cab mount hole, if you haven't already. I have read several threads about people having to cut them out, and move them to line up, after the fact. A couple of them after paint.

Keep up the good work!

[Jakes-66-K10]

Originally Posted by chevy_man5

Looks great Jake!

Just a heads up, before you get too much further, make sure to check the placement of the cab mount hole, if you haven't already. I have read several threads about people having to cut them out, and move them to line up, after the fact. A couple of them after paint.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks Chevy_Man, I did notice this before the floor pan went in. Mine will also need to be moved; I plan to cut this out and line it up correctly using my old floor pan as a template for the proper location of the mount.

I figure I can do this later, even after the outer rocker is in place. Any concerns in waiting to do it, that I'm not aware of?

[Jakes-66-K10]

On that note... I'm stuck....

I've been working on the lower cowl panel repair, and have it pretty much ready to weld in. I had to do a lot of work to the patch panel, leaving quite a bit of bare metal on it. Even the floor pan where the other patch will touch has some bare metal meaning the two would go together with bare metal touching. I can see this being a major problem down the road, unless I prime/paint these areas first.

How does everyone take care of bare metal on patch panels (without painting equipment). I've done research on the board about buying aerosol primer to do small areas like these, but if I prime only and don't use paint wouldn't the primer just attract moisture and create a bigger problem later?

[chevy_man5]

Originally Posted by Jakes-66-K10

I figure I can do this later, even after the outer rocker is in place. Any concerns in waiting to do it, that I'm not aware of?

I personally don't know, other than as long as it is done before paint.

[Captainfab]

If you have overlapping metal pieces, you will want to use what is called weld thru primer. Autobody specialty suppliers will have it. It is basically a spray on zinc galvanizing coating in a spray can. It is kind of nasty when you weld on it, but it doesn't totally burn away, and leaves the joint somewhat protected

[Jakes-66-K10]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

If you have overlapping metal pieces, you will want to use what is called weld thru primer. Autobody specialty suppliers will have it. It is basically a spray on zinc galvanizing coating in a spray can. It is kind of nasty when you weld on it, but it doesn't totally burn away, and leaves the joint somewhat protected

Thanks Captainfab, grabbed some of this primer so the project is marching along! Was able to line up and weld in the lower panel that's been giving me fits (it took quite a while to get it to fit) so it feels like a major accomplishment to have this done.

Welded in tonight and will grind tomorrow.

[McMurphy]

That last photo is the kickpanel patch I just did on mine last weekend too.
You are coming along, thanks for the updates! Hang in there, they say it gets better

[msgross]

nice project... my next one, if there ever is a next one, will be from arizona...

[Jakes-66-K10]

I'm stuck again, this time more discouraged than ever… I'm worried that the floor pan and lower cowl piece I've installed are incorrectly aligned. I had to do some cutting and reshaping just to get them to match up with each other. Now I am finding that when test fitting other pieces that connect to these, something is way off.

First, is the lower A pillar patch, which I've been trimming away to get to fit. If I align the top to the A pillar, the bottom sticks out half an inch.

[Jakes-66-K10]

If I align the bottom half of this piece, then the top half sticks out by a half inch.

[Jakes-66-K10]

These pics shows the alignment of the bottom floor brace (which was left alone, and in factory position) with the floor pan and lower cowl in position. You can also see where I've been trimming away at the patch piece in an attempt to get it to fit better.

[Jakes-66-K10]

Lastly, I did mount the right side fender for a test fit to the lower fender brace. I can't tell if the brace I have is bent or if it's because the brace connects to the floor pan - but something is out of alignment here too.

[argonaut]

Boy oh boy, I'm seeing your trouble with these patch panels and its making me scared to get to that phase on my pickup. I'll be watching to see what you figure out.
Best of luck!

[Jakes-66-K10]

Yeah... if anyone can help I would really appreciate it. Here is a pic showing how well things line up inside the cab.

[Jakes-66-K10]

Does this look correct? Does this piece need to be trimmed to fit flush with the floor pan, seems my old one sat overtop of the floorpan - so I'm at a loss why things are so off...

[Jakes-66-K10]

Another reason why I think something is off - the replacement piece doesn't match up with the other sheet metal on the firewall. I think I can cut and bend this to point it where it needs to go, but I could really use some input on if the rest of the piece looks like it should.

[66Gilbert]

Any updates Jakes-66-K10?

[Jakes-66-K10]

I'm back. Sorry for going MIA for months. Life gets busy, but I'm back on the project in full swing now. Hoping to get the cab patches done and in soon, so I can take the cab in to have it primed. I also need to have a shop put in the big back window panel to make sure it's done correctly.

I was able to FINALLY get the lower A pillar figured out. Had to recruit some help to cut, reshape, and then forcibly clamp the misfit piece in. Now that it's welded it seems to fit great. John if you're reading this... THANK YOU AGAIN!

I've also moved on to the rear passenger floor. Learned the hard way that the patches you buy for this are worthless, and it's best just to have sheet metal bent to fit the shape of the floor. On the bright side I'm quite proud of myself for hand bending the rear curved area... thought it turned out well.

[Jakes-66-K10]

I also found time to repair the cut dash:

[Jakes-66-K10]

I could use some help on how to properly repair the drivers side door skin. It's pretty badly dented, as shown in these first 2 pics.

The last 2 pics show the replacement skin I've taken off another door. It isn't perfect but I'm thinking of just using say the middle part to replace the left half of the damaged doors. I'm a little worried there could be a noticeable seam down the middle though, if I decided to do it this way.

What do you suggest?

[Jakes-66-K10]

Ooh, and last question of the night is how to prep this area for the outer rocker. I have a compressor but no paint gun. I can get one if it is best to spray my own epoxy primer down on this first.

A local auto paint supply store suggested 3M's Rust Fighter. From what I've read it's some form of body wax that protects against corrosion. However I never read about people using this on the inner rocker. How's the best way to prep this so I can button up my passenger side?