47-55.1 Long Time Coming......

[gsinon]

I had a few hours last night and again today when I got home from work. I took the door off and welded a small patch where there were some pin holes. I also welded the door edge and then ground it to make the gaps what I wanted, an even 3/16 all the way around.

I just hung the door back up and stood back for a look. I like what I see, but I did notice the gap gets a little wide at the bottom four inches on the lower leading edge. I'll have to take it back off and fix that. Otherwise, I'm pretty much ready to tackle the same repairs on the driver's side.





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[dsraven]

will you weld a wire on the door or the body?

[gsinon]

Originally Posted by dsraven

will you weld a wire on the door or the body?

I generally weld some tig wire to the edge of the door and then shave all that down to whatever I need for the proper gaps. I have always found it easier to do it on the door then the vehicle.

[gsinon]

With the driver-side cab corner and door gaps done, I decided to remove the cab from the chassis so that I could do some detail welding. While on the chassis, this was made difficult.

I slid the chassis over to the other shop bay and unbolted the cab.



This wood bar and cherry picker sure makes easy work of removing the cab when working alone.







At this point I bolted the cab to the cart I made for it to be more mobile while also being solidly mounted.





And the chassis sitting off to the side for a little while.....





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[gsinon]

OK...... So my dad taught me to try and never change directions in a project as its a huge waste of time and money. And for the most part, I have always lived by that. Until now that is.

For a while now I have been struggling with the firewall in my truck. I have a lot of time in it, and yet still every time I looked at it I just wasn't happy with it. Add to that the fact that the opening where the engine is was so tight that the valve cover was super close to hitting. I have thought long and hard about what to do. I finally decided just to cut it all off and start over.

Here is the pattern of the new firewall that shows how much bigger the opening will be....



With the old one fully cut out and the area cleaned up.





And the new one Cleco'd in place. While this may be much more simplistic in style comparatively once I add the brake m/c and the heat/ac ports and such some of the open space will be filled up.




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[8man]

Nice modification!

[dsraven]

Looks great. I personally think simple is better for things like firewalls. Usually when the hood is open onlookers are not paying much attention to the firewall.

[vintovka]

Heres a crazy idea. How about a removable panel to access the dash from the back. Anyone who's worked under an AD dash might agree???

[dsraven]

It's funny you mention an access panel to the back side of the dash. A guy I used to work with blew a heater core in his car. It was stupid the way it was put in because the whole dash had to come out to get to the heater core. His fix was to cut a hole in the firewall and keep making it bigger until he could get the heater core out. Then he made a screw on cover panel after he had it swapped out.
Genius.lots of times I have cussed out an engineer for not thinking ahead far enough to see how a repair might be made. Like installing ghe gear clamp on a fuel line so it can't be accessed with the body on the frame. Lol.

[vintovka]

I cannot tell you how many bruises, cuts and backaches i have gotten over these 6 decades working under and behind my dash. As a engineer i think a neat 2 piece (or more) dash cover in the firewall would be neat, handy and very "steam punk" interesting if done right.

[youngrodder]

The firewall looks great.

Marc

[Jason 56]

I think you went in a great direction. You’ll be so much happier with the fit. Truck is looking great!

[gsinon]

Originally Posted by 8man

Nice modification!

Originally Posted by dsraven

Looks great. I personally think simple is better for things like firewalls. Usually when the hood is open onlookers are not paying much attention to the firewall.

Originally Posted by vintovka

Heres a crazy idea. How about a removable panel to access the dash from the back. Anyone who's worked under an AD dash might agree???

Originally Posted by dsraven

It's funny you mention an access panel to the back side of the dash. A guy I used to work with blew a heater core in his car. It was stupid the way it was put in because the whole dash had to come out to get to the heater core. His fix was to cut a hole in the firewall and keep making it bigger until he could get the heater core out. Then he made a screw on cover panel after he had it swapped out.
Genius.lots of times I have cussed out an engineer for not thinking ahead far enough to see how a repair might be made. Like installing ghe gear clamp on a fuel line so it can't be accessed with the body on the frame. Lol.

Originally Posted by vintovka

I cannot tell you how many bruises, cuts and backaches i have gotten over these 6 decades working under and behind my dash. As a engineer i think a neat 2 piece (or more) dash cover in the firewall would be neat, handy and very "steam punk" interesting if done right.

Originally Posted by youngrodder

The firewall looks great.

Marc

Originally Posted by Jason 56

I think you went in a great direction. You’ll be so much happier with the fit. Truck is looking great!

Thanks for all the feedback. I like the idea of an access panel, just not sure how I would do it. And also not sure what I would gain from it. On the passenger side is going to be the Vintage Air ac/heater box that will take up a lot of room, with nothing more to reach. I will definitely give it some more thought though.

I am off from school on spring break. As of today, there are less than two months to go, and then I will get my entire summer off. I plan to get a lot done over that 10 week break.


Yesterday I took some time to make a panel to mount the Painless wiring harness and Dakota Digital decoder box for the gauges. '


I started by making a template of what I would need and then transferred that to metal. I then welded these threaded bungs to the firewall to mount the panel.



Here is the panel with some dimple dies to help stiffen it up.




And with the firewall back in place held by Cleco's here is the panel under the dash and going around the brake support arm.



I will more then likely move the decoder box up and center it in the panel from where it is here.






I have a couple mounts to install for the Vintage Air box that I am hoping to get done today/tomorrow. When I do, I am going to take the firewall to work and prep it and spray it in full epoxy. I figure I will never have better access to the back side then with it out of the truck. I can always touch any burned areas up from welding later on with a bruch and some mixed epoxy.


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[gsinon]

My dad loved it when I added the Chevrolet script the first time around, so I decided to add it again in his honor.

As said before, I will leave the rest of the bead lines and such off for a cleaner look. Once body worked and painted it will be a smooth panel, other than the raised script lettering.

[vintovka]

Was thinking two oval panels at top with hidden hinges and steam punk type boiler round head rivet design. Thinking access to windsheild washer and instruments would be first priority.

[gsinon]

I didn't get a lot of time in the shop this weekend. What I did do, though, was to start preparing the firewall for epoxy and finally welding it on.

I decided I needed to make mounts for the Vintage Air ac/heater box. I neglected to take pics of it mounted, but here are two of the three mounts welded in place. With the three bolt it will hang nicely and solidly.


I also took a few minutes to make and weld these standoffs for the vent crank handle support arm.


Now with some detail welding left to do I can finish that and then I'll take the firewall to work and metal prep it and then epoxy it inside and out while I have good access to the back side. Then I can fully weld it to the truck.

While I had such complete access to the back of the das I did take some time this morning and after wire wheeling, sanding and metal prepping the area, I brushed on a couple coats of epoxy to protect it all. I figure no better time then now .

[gsinon]

After getting the firewall all prepped and final details taken care of I brought it to work so I could get some epoxy on it. This would be especially important on the backside for good coverage.






At the end of the day I brought it home and using my cleco pins I mounted it one last time. I also used the firewall/brake lever brace to support the firewall to make sure it is exactly where it should be before welding.

Here, it is tacked in about every half inch along the top radius. I'm hoping to get out there and have it all welded by the end of Saturday so I can finally move on to other things.

[gsinon]

Yesterday I was able to get the rest of the welding completed on the firewall. At this point I have a little welding left to do on the cab corners now that the cab is off the chassis and on the cart. Once done I will fiinish stripping the last of the paint and then bring it to school for a couple coats of epoxy both inside and out.

[-Dan-]

Looking good!

[-Dan-]

Would you explain what you did for the rear cab mounts?
I finally separated the cab from the frame this weekend and I will not be reusing the shackle type rear cab mounts.

[gsinon]

Originally Posted by -Dan-

Would you explain what you did for the rear cab mounts?
I finally separated the cab from the frame this weekend and I will not be reusing the shackle type rear cab mounts.

I bought these from Apicella Design. A little pricey, but they did a great job on the development, design and fabrication. Fit and finish was exactly what I was looking for.

https://apicelladesigns.com/shop/ols...-cab-mount-kit

[gsinon]

Originally Posted by -Dan-

Would you explain what you did for the rear cab mounts?
I finally separated the cab from the frame this weekend and I will not be reusing the shackle type rear cab mounts.

I bought these from Apicella Design. A little pricey, but they did a great job on the development, design and fabrication. Fit and finish was exactly what I was looking for.

https://apicelladesigns.com/shop/ols...-cab-mount-kit

[-Dan-]

Originally Posted by gsinon

I bought these from Apicella Design. A little pricey, but they did a great job on the development, design and fabrication. Fit and finish was exactly what I was looking for.

https://apicelladesigns.com/shop/ols...-cab-mount-kit

Got it. Thanks!

[gsinon]

A couple weeks ago I was able to get the welding finished and cleaned up. Now it was time for the next step which was get it to school for final metal prep and epoxy.

This is the first time the cab has been outside for a couple years now.
IMG_1597 by Glenn Sinon, on Flickr
IMG_1598 by Glenn Sinon, on Flickr

And then with the help of my wife we rolled it easily into my trailer for the short trip.
IMG_1600 by Glenn Sinon, on Flickr
IMG_1601 by Glenn Sinon, on Flickr


Once at school, a couple of my freshman female students have been helping me get things this far.

IMG_1608 by Glenn Sinon, on Flickr
IMG_1610 by Glenn Sinon, on Flickr
IMG_1625 by Glenn Sinon, on Flickr
IMG_1626 by Glenn Sinon, on Flickr
IMG_1627 by Glenn Sinon, on Flickr
IMG_1628 by Glenn Sinon, on Flickr

While they were working on the cab I got one door ready. I also took the time to seperate the two hood halves in order to clean out the seam. I then metal prepped the three parts. I used PPG's SX579 metal cleaner, and then SX520 conditioner.

Here are the parts after that process.
IMG_1659 by Glenn Sinon, on Flickr
IMG_1660 by Glenn Sinon, on Flickr
IMG_1661 by Glenn Sinon, on Flickr
IMG_1662 by Glenn Sinon, on Flickr

After that I sprayed two coats of PPG's F4921BK black epoxy. Here is what it looked like after an hour of dry time.

IMG_1665 by Glenn Sinon, on Flickr
IMG_1666 by Glenn Sinon, on Flickr
IMG_1667 by Glenn Sinon, on Flickr




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[8man]

Nicely done!