1968 C20 Build

[dagnabbitt]

Originally Posted by 68Gold/white

Put the front 67 tenders on it and drive it!! Who cares!!!??? Your other pickup has a diesel unit, who cares!!

Well, you have a point, there.

[68 C10 Driver]

Originally Posted by dagnabbitt

Arriving this week is the cheapest NOS part I have ever bought, this handbrake boot on ebay which was $12, and another $12 in shipping. Some time ago I picked up a NOS retainer for it, in hopes that I would find the boot. I am sure I paid a hundred Canuck bucks for that one, so good deal for me, finally.

It is possible that it was cheap because it is so old and brittle that it will fall apart in my hands, I will be looking into ways to preserve that rubber. I am afraid to use tire conditioners on it cause many of those just make the rubber look nice for a week while leeching the moisture out.

There is a way to preserve this boot, I think it is a mix of mint oil and mineral spirits (not absolutely sure about the mineral spirits), or something like that...hopefully someone will chime in as I remember reading that on one of the threads here.

Cheers-

[dagnabbitt]

Using a 3/4 inch impact gun I removed the cab bolts and shimmied the mounts out of the passenger side, while using a floor jack and a 2x4 to hold the cab up.

I have no idea how a person without shop tools could possibly do this, each bolt took forever to get out and my arms were on fire the whole time: for the front two I was holding a vibrating forty pound gun with one hand and simultaneously reaching up into the cab with the other hand to capture the bolt with a wrench. The rear bolts of course have a cage nut and were a little easier.

I then stuck some wood between the frame and the floor to keep the cab suspended, somewhat, a couple inches above the height where it would be with mounts. The floor of this truck is actually not bad, just holes in the corners near the kick panels.

At that point I dug into the outer rocker, and then the inner. Ironically, although it appeared to be completely falling apart, it didn't want to come off all that easily. I owe my buddy a box of cutting discs.

Inside the rocker there seemed to be an almost impossible amount of rust and dirt, and more fell out as I was shaking the truck with the impact. I have no idea where it all comes from, but this truck definitely has about 50 pounds less of it than when I started on it.

I am hoping that this weekend I can clean it up some more and then... maybe tackle or at least mock up the repair. I have to replace the inner and outer rockers, the cab corner, and the two cab supports on each side. That's a lot of work for an amateur.

I've read many threads and watched a lot of videos, so I am going to go completely out of character and just get started on it. I expect I will learn a lot along the way, that seems to be the best process for me. I know it will not be perfect and I will make some mistakes, but I figure that I will be doing this a few more times on my other trucks in the next few years, so I will get better at it.

[dagnabbitt]

It is easy to feel, sometimes, like you are not making any progress on your project. But occasionally I feel like I am going backwards. This happened when I was surveying the cab corners and coming to the realization that the box was going to have to come off: when it seemed like I just put it on yesterday.

Instead, I removed the bumper - I don't like it, it has been tweaked at some point and I want a nicer one - along with the rear wheels. I put the truck on jackstands and removed the bed bolts, then slid the box back 6-8 inches. At that point I taped off what I wanted to remove from the cab corners and cut them out. The corners might have suffered some erosion over the years, but they surprised me by how flimsy the metal was. I think my patch panels are actually a thicker gauge.

Underneath the cab, the supports are in bad shape. I have the right front one in place - just in place, not affixed in any way - and I am working on getting the right rear one in. Surprisingly (to me) it is not very long and unlike the front one it does not incorporate the cab mount in its design. But the makers must be aware that the rear cab mounts seldom rust, so this one I just have to french into the area where I cut the old one off. What it does have is the housing where the seatbelts bolts in, and an unwelcome surprise was that it will not accept the original bolt. So I have to take the new support in to my nut and bolt place and get a couple that fit.

Although 95% of the supports are rusted away, the other 5% does not want to go. They are a real pain to remove, and I can understand why some people opt for the slip over design support. I scoffed at the idea of using a slip on but it might have been best in my application. There would be basically no harm in it if you removed as much of the rotten material as possible.

I only get a day a week to work on this so it is going slow, but it keeps me interested.

[68Gold/white]

2 words..............

Oh boy!!!

[dagnabbitt]

I haven’t gotten much done over the summer but now it’s winter and am getting back at it. I have dry fitted inner and outer rockers as well as cab corners and am ready to try to make them permanent. I don’t really know what I’m doing but I’m willing to try. This is the truck I will learn on so I expect to make lots of mistakes.

[dagnabbitt]

Been making some progress, lately. All inner and outer rockers, cab supports, cab corners are welded in. I am not a very good welder, but I am learning, I think.

I also have the body mounts in, but left them loose for now. I have read that the position of these cabs are pretty adjustable and that it is possible to have them bolted in too far to either side if you are not careful, so I will wait to tighten them up.

Working on one of the fenders, now. I also have the box pulled back another foot and am going to test out some paint colors to see what works. I have this one shade of blue that I really like but it only comes in a gloss. I don't think my bodywork skills extend further than a satin finish.

[clay68c10]

It looks good and solid. It’s nice to have that part done.
You don’t have to be a great welder if you’re a good grinder

[dagnabbitt]

I am a world-class grinder at this point!

Definitely learning some things for when I do this to the next truck.

It was originally the plan to glue the corners in with 3-M, but I thought what the heck I'll challenge myself.

[dagnabbitt]

Here are some more pics, I just happened to have the exact right scrap wood to place between the rails. This rig was already nailed together and leaning against the corner of the shop, no assembly required. Forget what it was for but it now has "bed remover" written on it in Sharpie.

I first tried this from the side of the bed as I have seen others do, but I found that to be cumbersome as the hoist does not want to move sideways. When I positioned it behind the tailgate it worked better than expected despite the lack of reach: because all the junk I had in the bed allowed it to balance.

The blue that I like is a Rustoleum/Tremclad color called Harbour Blue, but it only comes in a gloss finish. I know that I can get paint mixed up and put in cans, I just like the idea of an off the shelf color that I can get easily and is always exactly the same.

I am also leaning toward French Blue, which does come in Satin. For the roof and the grill and the bumpers, Ivory Bisque.

[68Gold/white]

Originally Posted by dagnabbitt

I am a world-class grinder at this point!

Definitely learning some things for when I do this to the next truck.

It was originally the plan to glue the corners in with 3-M, but I thought what the heck I'll challenge myself.

Knowing how to weld sheet metal is a good thing. The skill will help down the road. I am learning, also...patience helps. There's a guy in Saskatchewan that I would call a metal artist. His Utube channel is called Carter Auto Restyling. You need to check it out. He gives instructions on all his videos, explaining the hows and whys of what he is doing. It is well worth checking out!!!

[dagnabbitt]

I found that youtube account: I'm watching him fix a fender right now. Pretty interesting, I like how instead of pausing all the time to explain, he says that you should just watch him work. I also like his sense of humour: it is pretty, well, Canadian. Right now he is frustrated and mad at himself for a mistake he made and is saying he is going to give up welding because he is terrible at it, and that he will just put Bushwacker fender flares on the car, since that is what guys from Saskatchewan do with all their vehicles, even 1940 sedans. Sounds like me.

The big development which I think counts as an actual leap forward for this project: a friend of mine who has been a professional welder for 40+ years stopped by yesterday to show me a few things about welding. He's been looking at my work whenever he comes by, and he has up until now given me some general advice ("you should maybe learn how to weld"), but this time he actually gave me some coaching, set up my welder properly, and worked with me on some practice welds.

What I really appreciated was him watching me operate the welder and making adjustments to the speed and heat while I ran a bead. He didn't tell me he would do this... I was wearing a mask and welding away and had my back to him while he did it: so the effect was like I suddenly had magical welding powers. I would start a bead and it would be terrible, but by the end it was puddling and penetrating like I'd never seen it. After a lot of practice and me watching him like a hawk, my welding improved with each attempt. When he left his parting advice was "get the thinnest wire you can and run that machine as hot as you can just shy of burning through". Seems obvious, I know.

He would sometimes weld without a mask... "I just position the gun to block my view" he said. Well I won't be trying that.

Unsurprisingly, I learned more from him in 20 minutes that I did on my own for the last two years. The next day on his advice I bought some regular mild steel welding wire and a can of C25, and reversed the polarity of the machine. So I am now welding with gas, which is helpful since I no longer have to clean up my welds before going over them. I thought that a set up like that was for experts, it is not, apparently. As an amateur I would recommend this, I go over my welds often.

Anyway I am pretty pleased with today's welding. Not perfect but better than most I have done, and it took hardly any time. I am resisting the urge to redo some of my older, previous welds. Might take a quick look next weekend anyway.

I decided to make patch panels to cover up the entire floor in the cab corners: that is, all the way into the cab corners. I have seen others do this and I think as long as I leave some drain holes and make sure the underside is correct it will be fine. In the area where my little floor patches meets the insides (contours) of the cab corner I plan to just tack it in place, and then seam seal. I want to quit while I am ahead with these cab corners, I don't want to burn through or warp them. And since these floor patches aren't factory I don't think it is against the rules.

I've really learned a lot from this build: I can guarantee that there are a lot of things I will do differently next time.

[Roostre]

Originally Posted by dagnabbitt

I found that youtube account: I'm watching him fix a fender right now. Pretty interesting, I like how instead of pausing all the time to explain, he says that you should just watch him work. I also like his sense of humour: it is pretty, well, Canadian. Right now he is frustrated and mad at himself for a mistake he made and is saying he is going to give up welding because he is terrible at it, and that he will just put Bushwacker fender flares on the car, since that is what guys from Saskatchewan do with all their vehicles, even 1940 sedans. Sounds like me.

The big development which I think counts as an actual leap forward for this project: a friend of mine who has been a professional welder for 40+ years stopped by yesterday to show me a few things about welding. He's been looking at my work whenever he comes by, and he has up until now given me some general advice ("you should maybe learn how to weld"), but this time he actually gave me some coaching, set up my welder properly, and worked with me on some practice welds.

What I really appreciated was him watching me operate the welder and making adjustments to the speed and heat while I ran a bead. He didn't tell me he would do this... I was wearing a mask and welding away and had my back to him while he did it: so the effect was like I suddenly had magical welding powers. I would start a bead and it would be terrible, but by the end it was puddling and penetrating like I'd never seen it. After a lot of practice and me watching him like a hawk, my welding improved with each attempt. When he left his parting advice was "get the thinnest wire you can and run that machine as hot as you can just shy of burning through". Seems obvious, I know.

He would sometimes weld without a mask... "I just position the gun to block my view" he said. Well I won't be trying that.

Unsurprisingly, I learned more from him in 20 minutes that I did on my own for the last two years. The next day on his advice I bought some regular mild steel welding wire and a can of C25, and reversed the polarity of the machine. So I am now welding with gas, which is helpful since I no longer have to clean up my welds before going over them. I thought that a set up like that was for experts, it is not, apparently. As an amateur I would recommend this, I go over my welds often.

Anyway I am pretty pleased with today's welding. Not perfect but better than most I have done, and it took hardly any time. I am resisting the urge to redo some of my older, previous welds. Might take a quick look next weekend anyway.

I decided to make patch panels to cover up the entire floor in the cab corners: that is, all the way into the cab corners. I have seen others do this and I think as long as I leave some drain holes and make sure the underside is correct it will be fine. In the area where my little floor patches meets the insides (contours) of the cab corner I plan to just tack it in place, and then seam seal. I want to quit while I am ahead with these cab corners, I don't want to burn through or warp them. And since these floor patches aren't factory I don't think it is against the rules.

I've really learned a lot from this build: I can guarantee that there are a lot of things I will do differently next time.

Great work! I think your project has passed mine, I've been stuck with the floor out lately. I really like your patch panels in the rear corners. I've been trying to decide what to do there on mine, and I may have to copy your idea.

[dagnabbitt]

Originally Posted by Roostre

Great work! I think your project has passed mine, I've been stuck with the floor out lately. I really like your patch panels in the rear corners. I've been trying to decide what to do there on mine, and I may have to copy your idea.

Many times over the course of the "work" I have been doing have I thought that a complete floor would be easier, and ultimately cheaper than the route I took. I think you are saving yourself some headaches doing it the way you are doing it.

Every video or tutorial I have read stresses that you should keep as much of the original metal as possible: I suppose an experienced bodyman knows where to start and stop, but I am not an experienced bodyman. Every time I think that the existing metal is fine, I later discover that it is not.

As to the corner patches, I think it cleans up the interior a bit. I have angled them so that they lean down into the cab corner, and I have left a tiny hole there in case - for some reason - water gets in the cab and needs to escape.

[dagnabbitt]

Well, today I installed an upper hinge on my driver's side door that I found at the junkyard, since the stopper on the original was broken. During installation, though, it was apparent that the hinge needed rebuilding. It was too loose, allowing for up and down motion. I was fiddling with it for days and never found it to be loose... but it's the kind of thing that you might not notice until you install it: these doors are really heavy.

Since the original was nice and tight - but had a broken stopper - I ended up punching out the pin in the junkyard hinge that held the (mint) stopper and friction pads, in order to install it in the original hinge. It was a satisfying little task. Long story short I have a complete upper driver's side door hinge that works great. I really hate the door itself though, it is going to need some work. Maybe I will get lucky and find another light blue one.

Then, while attempting to reinstall the door I discovered that two of the lower hinge capture nuts on the inside of the pillar - I know, it is just a plate with all three nuts - were stripped. I am going to take a tap to them and enlarge them to 5/8, or whatever will work. Maybe I will have pics of that.

I did finally find a solution for my parking brake handle: the one that I had installed was from a 60-66, and when it was unengaged it wanted to bang on the bottom of the dash. I have never figured out if this is because of the difference in dash height on that generation of truck, or if the handle is from a C60 or some other bigger truck. Regardless, I have been eying an aftermarket Lokar trans brake for quite a while. I just couldn't bring myself to spend the money on one though - brand new, this part is about twice what I paid for the truck - but finally I found a used but complete one on ebay for less than half the price of new. It looks like the box has been opened and that is it, it's complete.

I am hoping to have it installed soon, it is a little shiny for this old truck but it will work. It might need a little modification but it appears to fit really well.

[raggedjim]

Nice work on this so far. As a self-taught welder I hate looking at projects I did when I first started! Good luck, Rg

[dagnabbitt]

I ended up tapping those two stripped hinge capture nuts to 7/16 fine thread. I was worried that whatever I was tapping in that pillar would be too thin for this upgrade, or too shallow. But it seems fine.

I bought a couple of bolts and washers for it, and was pleasantly surprised that my scheme worked. I dunno why but I just expected there to be another problem to deal with.

Even better, the position I had the doors in was already perfect and they needed no adjustment. They close like a charm.

I am officially turning a corner, sort of. From now on I will not remove anything from this truck: I will only put things back where they belong. This is important as I may be losing the lease on this place.

I'll clean up that rust, I just was checking the fitment.

[dagnabbitt]

A few body filler applications later and I think the cab corners look pretty good. Among other things I am a former housepainter, so applying filler and sanding over and over is kind of my thing.

I keep reminding myself that this is the truck I am learning on, and it isn't going to be perfect. But, these doors look pretty lousy. I am going to start working on them, but if a 507 Blue door comes up for sale somewhere, I sure would buy it.

I also wire wheeled and rock guarded the underside of the floorboards. I will eventually do that for the entire underside, if I can get a hoist free.

[dagnabbitt]

Yesterday I was looking at the front end, and I decided that this was probably the best time to clean it up and paint it. That led to me removing the alternator and pulleys, etc, since I also want to paint the engine in situ.

I like cleaning and detailing things so it was kind of fun and not at all a chore to clean up the metal wherever I could find it. I took a putty knife to some areas and scraped yet more grime and dirt off - it is seemingly never ending how much of God's Earth is attached to this truck - and let the wheel do the rest.

I made the steering box look really nice and new, and found the VIN number on the frame as well. Yes, it does match, and that first digit is an "8".

I think someone added that tow hook. I myself added the rad support mount, the other one was broken off, probably for a similar reason. I think that towing stuff from the front of the vehicle was a big part of this truck's past life, there is a lot of evidence of it.

I was contemplating replacing this voltage regulator because it looks so terrible but after some research I have ultimately decided that if it works, I will simply clean it up.

[68Gold/white]

Clean up the 4 blades on the regulator, and re-install it!!!

[dagnabbitt]

I did just that: I also wire wheeled and painted the cover. Painted some other things from under the hood, too.

I am absolutely blown away by how pristine it was inside the case. I am sure that this is a 56 year-old part and it looks like new in there.

[dagnabbitt]

Yesterday I put on my respirator, ear muffs, faceshield and a thick coat and spent several hours cleaning up the front end of the truck. At one point I also opened the garage door, despite our Canadian winter: there were clouds of rust and dust forming their own weather system.

I had a wire wheel on an airtool, and when I needed to let the compressor catch up, I switched to the two grinders I had set up with a flapper wheel and another, thicker wire wheel. It was fun. Afterwards I coated mostly everything with POR-15. I will be likely putting a topcoat of this stuff on it when it dries, it has a nice satin finish that you can wash or wipe, but it's not too shiny.

[dagnabbitt]

I'm also cleaning up the engine itself as best I can with a wire brush and Brakleen. I crawled under the truck and wirewheeled the oil pan, etc.

I have removed some accessories and will probably remove more before I paint.

My decision to not simply dissemble the truck is one that I look back on as a likely mistake, but that is how you learn, I guess.