Working Man's Burbon

[HO455]

Originally Posted by BAD1916

That came out looking great. I need to do the same repair on mine as well.

Thank you. Here's a shot after some clean up and paint. Black wasn't the best color for the camera. I didn't grind I completely flat for fear of weakening the welds.

The other weld task was to tack weld the nuts to the back of the plates that hold the 2nd row seat back latches. When I built the plates I hadn't thought the whole assembly process through completely. Adding the wood side panels prevented me from reaching the nuts that attach the latches to plates.

I did think to put some insulation in the void space behind the wood panels. It's 1/2" (I think) Styrofoam with foil backing. I hope the foil will help keep the truck cooler inside. And maybe it will help quiet some of the roar. With no panels or carpet in the back It's not exactly quiet inside.

And a BIG shout of thanks to all around good guy Richard2717 for hooking me up with the brackets that the wood panels will attach to. (Yellow arrows in last photo point to a pair of them) Most of mine were missing.

['68OrangeSunshine]

I need to score a pair of those Squarebody Burban #2 Seat lockback latches as seen in Post #1101, pix #2 + 3.
I have the split back folding seats, just need to find a way to set them up in White Fang. 2'' Body Lift and drop the rear seat area floor pan 2'' so it rides flush.

[HO455]

Although the squarebody Burban's are getting harder to find in the wrecking yards those rear seat latches are almost always still in them. Which good for you.

Here's a picture of the rest of the brackets Richard2717 provided me and a shot of the insulation installation.

I delayed installing the lock sets as I wanted to replace them at the same time as I recovered the door panels. The fabric installed on the door panels was showing its age. I wanted to just replace it same for same but that fabric was no longer available. So after much looking I finally settled on some fabric which is supposed to be rated for use on outdoor furniture. Thus UF resistant and water proof. We'll see.

I also went with a 1/4 inch foam for padding instead of the polyester batting the PO used. The batting worked ok but it every time you removed the screws on the bottom there was always long threads of it wrapped around the screws and sometimes when installing the screws the threads would get jammed up with the material and you had to remove them and cut the batting off and start again.

When I stripped the old fabric off the panels I found the batting had been glued down with contact cement and was difficult to clean off. (Photo #2) I'm by no means an expert on upholstery but I don't recommend the use of batting in this application. Where's Grumpy when you need him? I used 1/4" foam padding when I reassembled the panels.

Once the panels were cleaned up I wire brushed the small areas of rust and treated those areas with Ospho. Once treated and neutralized I spot painted the areas and it was time to start in with the new.

Once again to be clear I am not an upholstery person and only know what I think I know from a book the wife has and from things on the interweb. This video was really helpful for me. I liked the lack of narration and to just watch the technics used was great for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCT86sd37g4

Used a commercial upholstery spray contact cement (Tensorgrip P300) to glue the panels together it was expensive but it was really nice to work with. Very controllable when spraying compared to the regular 3M hardware store stuff. Which was nice as I was able to keep from getting glue on things I didn't want glue on.

The process for me was to cut the foam slightly oversized (1/4 to 3/8") as I found that it was easier to trim the foam on an angle with an Exacto knife when I had that extra bit of foam to pull on as I slid the knife on the foam. I discovered that it took a new blade on each panel as the foam takes the edge off the blade and the foam starts to rip and not cut cleanly. (Photo #3) I would spray glue on the panel and the foam and lay foam on the panel followed by triming the foam to the exact size, as well as cutting the holes for the door handles and window regulators. I used a different technique to make the holes for the mount screws which I will cover later.

['68OrangeSunshine]

Is your rear bed planked with that plastic lumber? Mine still has the 3/8'' MDX or some pressed pulpwood synthetic plywood. Whatever was stock. Panel trucks got planked with wood decks IIRC.

Is there a solvent that dissolves polyester? Like gasoline on styrofoam.

[HO455]

I replaced the factory plywood with some marine plywood that comes with a non-skid coating on both sides.(I'm afraid I don't recall the brand name) It is a product made for docks and other areas that are continually exposed to water and have people walking on the area. I scored it on Craigslist for about 50% off. Even then it was over $200 for 2 sheets. But I figured it would never de-laminate and absorb moisture like most other wood products would and that would be a good thing.

There maybe something that dissolves the polyester but I didn't find anything (I didn't try gasoline) I did try denatured alcohol, acetone, mineral spirits, and Goof Off Pro. The Goof Off did the best job of dissolving the contact cement but it also removed the paint on panel. So I used it lightly and then scuffed the panels with a flexible putty knife and a red Scotchbrite pad and called it good enough as the new glue seemed to reactivate the old glue on a test area.

Next up it was to cut the fabric. I didn't mention it earlier but the layout of the foam (and the fabric too!) was the trickiest part of this project for me. Making sure I had the correct side of the foam or fabric up when I marked the cut lines so I didn't end up with a mirror image of what I needed!

I sort of got cocky on the last piece and marked it out and started cutting when I realized I had marked the wrong side of the fabric! I got really lucky as I had started cutting in an area that wasn't critical when I flipped the fabric over. The last panel was also the largest one and I may not of had enough fabric for a second try.

I cut the fabric 1-1/2 inches oversize on all sides of each panel. (Photo #2) Then a coat of spray glue on the foam and the backside of the fabric. Then carefully placing the panel on the fabric. I made guide marks on the backside of the fabric to allow me to get the panel centered correctly.

Once the fabric was smoothed out and secure I flipped the panel over and sprayed a coat of glue on the back of the panel so the fabric would be secure on the back side. (The white overspray looking areas in photo #2 )

Using the techniques shown in the video I linked above I cut and folded the corners over. (Photo #3) As to the holes for the handles I didn't find any specific information on the interweb about how to do them so I used a variation of one of the things I saw in the video. This involved cutting the fabric in the holes into 8 or so pie slices (As shown in photo #4). Then I pulled each pie slice tight and stuck it down securely on the backside. It doesn't look very secure in the photo but on the first panel I did a fair bit of tugging and rubbing on the fabric and it stayed put. Time will tell of course.

For the small screw holes at the bottom I roughly cut the back side with an Exacto knife (Photo #5)to locate the hole and then sealed the edges with a soldering iron.

['68OrangeSunshine]

My Door Panels are nicely painted original Fawn, and I don't intend on fixing what ain't broke. But I do like the idea of the silver mylar bubblewrap stuff inside. A PO panelled the lower interior sides with luan. I may retrace those on fresh luan for an interior skin.
The wheel wells are boxed over and carpeted, but ages ago.

Lots of future speculation on my part for what is virtually a home for unwed packrats.

Insulating the sides of my '71 Jimmy would be a fruitful endeavor, if I plan on an A/C in future.
But the ressurrection of White Fang is a favorite pipe dream...

[HO455]

I didn't think about putting mylar bubble wrap behind the panels. I used it above the headliner when I did that project. Hmm... I wonder if I still have some of that stuff.

Keep dreaming my friend. Dreams do come true.

Back to my current dream. As stated in earlier I melted the edges of the fabric around the holes to prevent the fabric from catching on the screws and winding up in the threads.

In addition I used the hot iron to poke the holes through the front of the fabric from the backside. This worked really well as it made nice neat holes. I used the iron to melt all the frayed or cut edges of the fabric where it was on the edge of the panel or a panel hole. As shown by yellow circle and arrows indicating black areas of melted fabric in photo #3. I used the same technique to make the holes for the arm rests as seen in the 4th photo.

The first panel I did was the false door on the drivers side rear. The idea being it would be less noticeable if things didn't work out as planned. Fortunately it came out presentable and I didn't have to start over on it. The edges on it came out a bit bumpy mostly due to me not pulling the fabric over the edge of the panel evenly and I hadn't learned to cut the foam properly.

On the first one I had cut the foam to size with scissors and I found that that wasn't giving me a nice smooth cut on the foam and the lack of a smooth surface showed the fabric. If you look closely at the last photo you can see what I'm trying to describe. Cutting the foam at an angle with the Exacto knife pretty much solved that problem.

You may have noticed the fabric looks to be a different color in every photo. Actually the color is pretty close to correct in the 2nd photo.

['68OrangeSunshine]

The ''False Door'' I call Door Number Four, because the Passenger Rear door is ''Door Number Three'' as is famous in game shows. If you pick wrong there's a goat behind it and not the New Maserati.
I have thought of electric windows-only on the rear windows. Be cool to push a button and get System 240 upgraded to System 440. But my '03 Tahoe has electric windows all around and they never work right. Also the A/C is a perfect summer heater. It needs a $125.00 8-Button switch. If I could convert that truck to Manual Windows, I'd do it.

[HO455]

I've had the same idea from time to time about having power windows on the rear windows on the rear doors but I need the exercise rolling them up and down. And it kind of goes against my thoughts about not turning a vintage vehicle into a modern vehicle. I wasn't operating the window on the on the passenger side door enoughand this spring it refused to go down any more, so part of this project was to repair that issue.

In took about 15 minutes of coaxing and spraying Fluid Film on everything that I could get at that was supposed to move. I like using Fluid Film for this application as the overspray helps with rust prevention over the long term.

I got the regulator down and out of door but in the process the metal track or guide on the bottom of the glass detached from the glass. Grrr.... More work.

Fortunately the regulator wasn't frozen up and problem was that 2 of the 3 rollers were frozen and starting to flat spot. I had replaced the rollers back when the truck was in the bodyshop but I have no recollection as to whether I greased them or not. This time the new ones were well greased. I got luck in that I was able to get new rollers on a Sunday from Super Chevy here locally as they are the same as 64-65 Chevelle rollers. Photo #1 shows the regulator with new rollers. Notice the RS's, I marked them clearly as to which side the roller needed to be on. Been there done that wrong before!

I blasted and painted the roller guide but I was unable to locate any glass shop in town that carried, let alone knew what butyl glass setting tape was. That meant I had to use urethane glass adhesive. I was able to get some locally at an O'Reilly auto parts house. Lots of folks on the interweb said that the urethane was really messy so I planned for the worst and clamped the roller guide to my outside work bench so if this turned into a disaster it would not be all over the shop. Photo #2

Also in photo #2 the arrows point to the double sided tape I used to mimic the factory setting tape. (Photo #3) The tape was just slightly undersized compared to the setting tape but it centered the glass in the channel nicely. I was also worried the urethane would run out the ends of the glass channel so the double sided tape also made good dams on each end of the channel.

Fortunately the urethane was not as messy as my imagination made it out to be. I squirted enough urethane to fill the channel halfway then set the glass into it. Then I clamped a piece of wood to hold the glass in line with the guide part of the roller guide. (Left side of photo #2) Then I squirted a small bead on each side to the glass to completely fill the channel with urethane then wiped it as smooth as I could.

One side came out nice but due to how I clamped the guide and glass I was unable to smooth it as well. Photos 4 and 5 show the differences. I was able to clean up the one side by careful scraping with a razor blade.

Once cured I lubed the channel on the glass and the one inside the door. I cleaned up the door channel as well as possible with a small wire brush and Scotchbrite pads before greasing the channel. Once all was installed it was back to working like new! Woo Hoo!

['68OrangeSunshine]

Yeah, the 'old injun trick' of using Butyl Rubber, painting it with common 30 weight oil and letting it set up, almost instantly, is a lost art. There are some old salts that still have some rubber sheets or know what to substitute, but they hide.
In 2006, I was in the PHX area working on a big production with a lot of exploding cars. The Shoot had a local glass company that did all their auto glass. I was running the '71 Jimmy as my vehicle for that location. [I live in Tucson.] I got a Repair Order from the Chandler PD for a cracked windshield, so I called them. They were delighted to fix the windshield for my insurance, and even comped me a $50 gift card. The PO had included the uninstalled stainless DeLuxe windshield trim. These guys took two attempts [first time with the wrong rubber gasket] but once they found a 71/72 Precision gasket their install was flawless. One or two guys -- right there at the Chandler location hard-set I was working at.
So two weeks later my Drivers Side window cranking broke. There was a Classic Truck parts store in Phoenix, called Grumpy's [no relation to our Departed Brother] and I got a LH Window Regulator over the counter. About the same money as LMC. Same quality too. I did the install myself. [Knuckle scraper as I recall.] Then the Window glass fell out. I called the Glass Shop for rubber sheets. They told me nobody did the Oiled Rubber trick anymore, but they had a glass team on standby at the Mill where the production was modifying picture cars, and to ask them. I taxied over to that part of the production [Different operations were dotted all over the Phoenix valley] and those guys gave me a tube of putty colored glue. ''Tape the window in the UP position for 24 hours'' was their command. So I glued the base of the Drivers window glass into the bracket strip, and taped the top of the glass with 2'' blue 3M masking, and didn't move it for 24 hours.
Thing was, it was Friday, and I had Saturday off but in Phoenix in August with 116*. I went to visit a college buddy in West Phoenix -- I was based in Mesa -- and even on the freeway, it was excruciating.
With the Rubber/Oil it would have set up immediately, and I could have rolled my near window down.
Now the driver side Vent Window on the Jimmy just flops. I think the compression nut fell off the tensioning spring inside, but I'd have to tear it apart just to check.
For the interim, I use the Hill Billy expediant of hooking a bunji cord around the latch handle and hooks in the window channel. Only a hassle when you have to fully secure the truck. But those ''refreshed'' vent windows are running about $300 a pop. And you need two.

[HO455]

I replaced the rubber seals on my Burban's wing windows about the same time I did the roller replacement. So far they are still working but, I rarely open them. It wasn't too bad of a job to do just took some time. Definitely worth doing if the repops are $300 a side.

Since I had the door panels off I decided to take my earlier water migration steps a bit farther. Here is a link for more information on that.

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...d.php?t=798102

The first photo shows where I left the doors back then. What I did this time is to seal the rest of the smaller holes with waterproof sealing tape which has held up well on the holes I previously used it on back in 2019. Photo #2 shows the hole covered by the tape from the inside of the door.

In addition I have taped a piece of 8mil plastic over the big hole and left it loose on the bottom edge but tucked inside the door. The plastic's lower edge is about 1-1/2" below the bottom of the hole. This should prevent the majority of moisture from getting between the door and door panel. Any moisture that does get past then should be channeled back inside and not overwhelm the factory drain holes.

When I reinstalled the panels I repeated the process used last time and put a bead of latex caulking on the factory seal just give me peace of mind that the seal was water tight.

That pretty much sums up the door panel and rear interior panel renovation. I'm sure I forgot to mention something and I know I forgot to get photos of the covering of the rear panels. I don't believe that mentioned that I painted the wood before covering.

[HO455]

Some more photos of the installed panels. Now I really need to get some thing to cover those wheel wells! And repaint the latches something other than Detroit Diesel green!

[LockDoc]

-
That all looks good. Glad to see you are keeping the motivation level up...
.

['68OrangeSunshine]

One thing I don't have to worry about in Arizona is Vapor Barrier Liners. The sun would bake them to flakes and then you'd have to vacuum out the interior door spaces.

[HO455]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

-
That all looks good. Glad to see you are keeping the motivation level up...
.

Thanks Doc! Every time I see a new truck I'm motivated to keep working the WMB!

[HO455]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

One thin I don't have to worry about in Arizona is Vapor Barrier Liners. The sun would bake them to flakes and then you'd have to vacuum out the interior door spaces.

I'm hoping it will take at least a decade before that happens here.

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by HO455

I'm hoping it will take at least a decade before that happens here.

Hope the rain doesn't dissolve the sheet metal first.

[HO455]

That's my worst nightmare.

I just noticed this thread has had over 250k views. I'm overwhelmed! I thank you all for taking time from your day to check up on my latest ramblings. As I've stated before it keeps me motivated to get things done on the WMB.

I've got some more projects in the pipeline for the truck. Hopefully I can get some of them done before the weather gets bad again.

Thanks again everyone.

[CG]

I cant tell if your wood deck is stained. If not are you going to stain it or paint it?

[HO455]

Sorry I took so long with a reply. I was up in your neck of the woods (Fall City near Snoqualmie) this week. I wanted to get some photos for the answer and the wood was back home.

The floor is not painted but it is a kind of plastic non-skid surface. The wood is a type of marine plywood used for docks and decks in a marine application. There is a layer of the plastic surface on each side of the plywood core. Last photo shows the layers.

I haven't decided if I want to paint it or not. I can't for the life of me remember the brand name of the product which would help I I decide to paint it. But I'm sure staining it is out of the question.