72 C10 4X4 LWB, Put Back Together

[bigsky]

So, two days ago a friend asked me if I would paint his 72 C10. Of course I would help him out. Have now painted two of my own cars, and finally comfortable painting one for someone else. He dropped it off using 2 trailers

Looking for advice on where to start, parts that should be replaced, since truck is so disassembled. What needs to be ordered for re-assembly. Kinda of over whelmed at this point. I have a hard time assembling something I have taken apart. Sure to have many questions along the way, all advice/opinions will be greatly appreciated.

C10 looks to be in overall good shape with some rust on inner fender liners, floor board, and box bed. Owner wants to go with wood, so will have some questions when the time comes. Motor looks like a GM crate, not sure on auto tranni at this point. One scary thing is that it came with 3 flywheels. Have been doing a lot of searching on the forum for ideas, and vendors. Here are some pics of what was dropped off. Owner is willing to spend some money to make it look nice, not interested in a show truck. Let the work/struggle begin.

[bigsky]

Only got to spend about 2 hrs on truck today, hate it when work interferes with a project

Got grill, trim, side markers, and battery box removed. Battery box is toast, any ideas on where to get a new one???

First 2 pics are of rust at the front of the fender liners. Is it easier to replace fender liners, or weld in a new patch, looks like rust is over a mounting brace, and might be hard/time consuming to repair. Again, looking for a preferred vendor, to check prices.

Pic 3-4 Are fenders, sanded with #80 Truck has been resprayed once. The primer over the original paint is not sticking properly. So sanded down to bare metal/factory primer. Previous painter had even sprayed some of the top coat over bare metal, no primer at all. It just flaked off, when hit with the #80

Pic 5 Hood, guessing it is an OEM hood, but previous painter had it down to bare metal, you can see where the paint/primer is peeling off in big chunks. Any guesses as to why??

When priming the bare metal should I use an etching primer? On my other car I used Omni epoxy primer 170, is an etching primer needed. Still trying to learn.

Will hopefully get fender liners removed, and better pics tomorrow.

[skyjgmc]

sub'd good to see another MT truck

[bigsky]

Originally Posted by skyjgmc

sub'd good to see another MT truck

Looking forward to trying to do one right. On the farm we just patched them up, and kept running them. After looking at the prices of some of these older chevys, we have a fortune just laying in the "bone" pile rusting.

[bigsky]

Got to spend some quality time on truck today. Front fenders/hood completely sanded. Lower trim/mirror holes welded shut. Top, and back of cab sanded. Hopefully on to stripping interior tomorrow.

Have not got any feed back on where to buy replacement front fender liners, so going to check out LSM.

Also need advice, the lower fenders, behind the tires have some rust pitting, on surface. Should I use the rust treatment shown, before applying Bondo? Or should I just Bondo over the rust. Have hot been in this situation before.

[swamp rat]

https://tabcoparts.com/pickup-trucks...1967-1972.html

Try this place?

[bigsky]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

https://tabcoparts.com/pickup-trucks...1967-1972.html

Try this place?

Thanks, these fender liners are a little cheaper than LMC, How are they in quality?

[bigsky]

Stripped interior, how bad is this floor rust? Looks like the outer 4" of the floor pan, and the outer edge of the floor sill. Is this job doable with patch panels. Have not worked with this much rust before. what would you do?????

Front clip almost ready for primer, going to go with new fender liners.

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by bigsky

Thanks, these fender liners are a little cheaper than LMC, How are they in quality?

I don't know personally, the cab corners are pretty nice.

I would call a few places that build the trucks to see what they use, a couple suggestions.

www.nsanehotrodz.com/

Or Wes at www.Classicheartbeat.com

[BlueBullet]

They make a piece that is 4" of the floor and the inner rocker included. If that is all you need.

[bigsky]

Originally Posted by BlueBullet

They make a piece that is 4" of the floor and the inner rocker included. If that is all you need.

Sounds exactly like what I need. Did not see them listed at LMC or TABCO. Do you know where I could find these patch panels?

First major screw up. Welded 6 mirror holes on each door closed. WITH the windows down.

Surprised at how pitted the windows got, guess now is a good time to replace all window seals, scrapers. Live, and hopefully learn.

[BlueBullet]

I ordered mine through Brothers. I think GMCPauls has them also. It is called the outer cab floor extension

[bigsky]

Originally Posted by BlueBullet

I ordered mine through Brothers. I think GMCPauls has them also. It is called the outer cab floor extension

Ordered outer cab floor extensions, from GMCPauls. Cab interior is completely stripped. Only rust is at the edge of cab floors, rear cab supports have been replaced at some point. Looks like it was done right.

Out side top of cab is ready for primer, going 2 tone. No rust around front or back window seals. Ordered 2 new side windows, seals, scrapers, still feeling stupid about that mistake.

Front radiator support will be ready to spray with POR-15 tomorrow. Have never used POR-15 before, so going to do a test on front radiator support. Plan is to use POR-15 on front radiator support, underneath hood, inner fender liners, and frame. Prepped with Por-15 cleaner, metal treatment, and rinsed with water. Will spray tomorrow, after drying tonight.

[bigsky]

Patch panels arrived today, now I get to try my hand at cutting, and welding.

Last couple of days spent prepping, spraying POR-15 on front radiator support, lower fenders. Really impressed with how hard the POR-15 gets, still learning how to apply properly. Found spraying a light coat of POR-15 waiting a hour, then touching up any place where it was not coated completely, with a brush. Then spraying another heavy coat worked the best for me. Not sure if this is the best way or not, but seemed to work for me. Tops of fenders will be body color. Bottom of hood, and hinges will get the POR-15 treatment.

Found some slight surface rust under front windshield seal, will remove, and spray with epoxy primer, before painting cab.

Any advice on how to unbend/remove the old lower door door skin??? Thinking of trying a chisel/hammer, but open to any suggestions.

[boynton]

As for your question about spreading bondo over rust this is a really bad idea. This is what will cause your body work to bubble after it is painted. Clean the rust off with a wire brush or grinder and then you can use some rust converter and then body work/paint. This will keep your hard work looking good for a long time.

[swamp rat]

I cant see the back side of the door but your best bet on the door skin is to just cut out corner patches rather than mess with cutting straight across and replacing the lower section, sometimes these original door skins have a tendency to bow inward after they are cut, myself and a few others have suffered lots of frustration in dealing with it, my build thread has it documented, if the skins are that bad then its probably easier to replace the entire skin.

The easiest way in dealing with the edge fold is to use a grinder to take the edge down without hitting the inner shell, then you can section the fold with a cuttoff wheel between the spot welds, then grind off the spot welds.

[bigsky]

Originally Posted by boynton

As for your question about spreading bondo over rust this is a really bad idea. This is what will cause your body work to bubble after it is painted. Clean the rust off with a wire brush or grinder and then you can use some rust converter and then body work/paint. This will keep your hard work looking good for a long time.

Used wire wheel, treated area with Permatex Rust Treatment, then applied Bondo. Hope these are the right steps. Getting a lot of work into this truck, to not do it right. Has anyone applied Bondo over POR-15???

[swamp rat]

Oh, you have in your picture inner rockers that tie into the floor, you will not be able to install them properly until you cut and remove the lower portion of the A pillar, then usually the lower portion of the inner kick panel is also replaced, have you looked at the condition of the front support yet?

You really need to read Rocker replacement 101 to see what is all involved in doing this, there is a link in the thread below, post 6 i think.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...01#post7498530

Your more than welcome to comb thru the last 4 or so pages of my build thread, i'm just finishing up with partial floor, inner/outer rocker, inner kick panel and lower A pillar and front cab support..

[bigsky]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

I cant see the back side of the door but your best bet on the door skin is to just cut out corner patches rather than mess with cutting straight across and replacing the lower section, sometimes these original door skins have a tendency to bow inward after they are cut, myself and a few others have suffered lots of frustration in dealing with it, my build thread has it documented, if the skins are that bad then its probably easier to replace the entire skin.

The easiest way in dealing with the edge fold is to use a grinder to take the edge down without hitting the inner shell, then you can section the fold with a cuttoff wheel between the spot welds, then grind off the spot welds.

Thanks, Mike Just read your thread looks like you have done a lot of the same work, as I need to do. Just hope I can do 1/2 the quality job you have done. Nice work vary informative.

Doors bottoms do not look to bad, will check out the insides for rust, and hopefully just replace the corners. Did not seem right to cut up complete patch panel, I was wondering how to keep from getting warpage welding the whole panel on.

[bigsky]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Oh, you have in your picture inner rockers that tie into the floor, you will not be able to install them properly until you cut and remove the lower portion of the A pillar, then usually the lower portion of the inner kick panel is also replaced, have you looked at the condition of the front support yet?

You really need to read Rocker replacement 101 to see what is all involved in doing this, there is a link in the thread below, post 6 i think.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...01#post7498530

Your more than welcome to comb thru the last 4 or so pages of my build thread, i'm just finishing up with partial floor, inner/outer rocker, inner kick panel and lower A pillar and front cab support..

Just read thru rocker repair 101, can see I will have to spend more time inspecting/planning before I go any farther. Rear cab corners have been replaced a one time. Looks to be done right. The front support seems to be in good shape, but will inspect closer, now that I have done some reading, and feel more informed on what/where to look. I am hoping I can get by cutting the floor extension patches, and not getting into the lower A pillar/cab support. Will get better pics of that area tomorrow, time permitting.

[swamp rat]

I was kinda apprehensive and a little overwhelmed when i first started reading about panel replacement, it took me a few years and a lot of reading, studying pictures and understanding the troubles people were running into on their builds to convince myself i could give it a try, this is my first attempt, taking forever LOL!

I have seen some people doing some quick patches and quick fixes here and there, they look good for a little while, but if you leave underlying rust it will eventually come back to the surface.

[Farm Shop]

I can't begin to explain how happy I would be to work on a truck with "that much" rust, here in salt-belt Illinois. Looks like a good project. I am in the process of replacing the same panels now on my '70 if you want to check it out. Keep the pics coming.

[bigsky]

Dug deeper in underside of cab, front cab supports are bad. Removed half of drivers side, front support to see how bad rust is. Ordering new door sills, supports right now. Will not be able to use floor/sill extensions as intended, but will still use parts of them. Great advice on not cutting all the way across door, and replacing complete lower door patch. Even just patching the two small rust spots, I got pretty bad metal "Warping". Guess I welded to fast, and got it to hot. Spent several hours with hammers/dolly, and got them decent.

[bigsky]

Update, knew summer was a bad time to take on such a project. Work has been crazy, but have to make money up here when one can. Have only been able to spend several hours a week on project. Here is a list of what has been done
1: Have both replacement fender liners POR-15 along with all under hood brackets. Found a brush worked better than spraying it.
2: Welded all replacement panels in cab, including front cab supports. Found that replacement panels still needed quite a little bit of work to get to fit properly, but still alot quicker than fabbing all new metal.
3: Been working enough to afford a Plasma Cutter. It speeds up removing old rusted panels, and trimming new panels to fit, by at least 50%
4: Put first coat of POR-15 on inside of cab, will apply second coat tomorrow

[bigsky]

Finished welding back cab supports in. then a coat of POR-15. Tonight sprayed on 1.5 gallons of Eastwood sound deadening/temp lowering, 2 stage mix. Little disappointed with Eastwood, both quart cans of hardener, leaked in shipping. Mixed 2:1 as directions, and was short of hardener. Went to HF and got a drywall gun for $28, did not use Eastwoods $70 gun. Seemed to work good, will not be able to say for sure until truck is on road