Roostre's 1967 C20

[HO455]

It's good to see progress. The truck is looking good!

Back when I was working at the body shop I was amazed how new car were just glued together and how difficultit was to tear them apart to make repairs.

[Roostre]

Originally Posted by HO455

It's good to see progress. The truck is looking good!

Back when I was working at the body shop I was amazed how new car were just glued together and how difficultit was to tear them apart to make repairs.

Thanks, it feels good to be back working on it. My biggest concern was messing something up and then trying to figure out how to get the adhesive apart and off the parts to start over.

I took my clamps off this afternoon. Everything looks good, so I think I can move on to patching the lower A and B pillars and installing new rockers. I'm very excited about that!

[Roostre]

I have the day off today because I had to do some running around with my son. I had a couple of hours available after the errands, so I decided to tackle the left lower door pillar patch. This cab was so rotten that the lower part of this pillar was completely missing before I started the floor project. So I cleaned up the bottom of what was there, installed the new floor, and fit the lower pillar patch the best I could. I'm not very worried about how it looks because it will be completely covered by the rocker panel.

First thing was to cut the patch panel to size. Then I found out that the flange where the weld nuts go was not wide enough. So I cut a strip off of the unused part of the patch panel and welded it on.

After that, I held the patch panel in place and marked the weld nut holes. After welding them in place, I bolted the patch panel in place and welded it to the bottom of the door pillar. I ground my welds flush, and hit everything with some primer to keep it from flash rusting.

I held the rocker panel in place, and it looks like it will fit pretty well. This may not be a big panel replacement, but it feels great to be done with it anyway. Up next is the lower part of the front left door pillar. That patch will be a little more tricky because it doesn't lend itself to a nice, straight cut.

I also managed to remember pictures while I was going.

[HO455]

Looking good! I'd say you've passed the halfway point, There's more nice new good metal than there are rusty places to repair.

[Roostre]

Originally Posted by HO455

Looking good! I'd say you've passed the halfway point, There's more nice new good metal than there are rusty places to repair.

Thanks, it definitely feels like I've turned the corner on this project. Getting the floor back in was huge, and I'm really looking forward to re-hanging the doors so I can get the rocker panels in the right spot.

[raggedjim]

You've come a long way from where you started. I agree, you have the tough stuff behind you. Now all you've got left is everything else!

Good luck, Rg

[Roostre]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

You've come a long way from where you started. I agree, you have the tough stuff behind you. Now all you've got left is everything else!

Good luck, Rg

Thanks. I was looking back through this thread and it is pretty amazing what I've done to the truck.

[Roostre]

I've made more progress. First up is the left front door pillar bottom replacement. If it is not obvious by now, I am not a professional and really don't recommend doing what I do. That being said, those who are doing this repair, absolutely do not cut the bottom of the front door pillars where I cut this one. It is a terrible place to try to get a patch panel to line up, and by the time I realized that I had cut the patch panel and was stuck with what I had. I ended up making a filler plate which worked, but was extra time that was not necessary. The door pillars on the left side are now patched, and look good enough for where they are at. I held the rocker panel up there, and while it will take a little adjustment, it looks like it should fit pretty well. Now I need to rehang the door and see if it still works.

Here are a few pictures and again, don't cut the lower front door pillars where I did on this side!

[Roostre]

After I wrapped up the left side, I moved onto the right rear door pillar. It was basically the same as the left rear with one glaring difference. The patch panel for the right rear was galvanized. So this means that I had to be especially vigilant to grind the galvanizing off wherever I was welding. It went pretty well, and was actually quicker than the left side, even with the extra grinding.

Now I'm on to the lower right front door pillar. This one will be a little different because the rust damage goes up into the area where the bottom door hinge bolts in. I have a patch panel with the holes and captured nuts already attached, so it will be interesting placing it. Stay tuned.

Only a couple of pictures this time.

[basketcase]

You are doing some nice work. What I had to do looks like child's play compared to your project. When I pulled my old weatherstrip off of the driver side, the weatherstrip spline and about a 1–2-inch piece of the top of the rocker came with it. The floor turn-down that forms the weatherstrip channel was gone too. I also had to do a patch along the bottom of the kick panel to the floor like yours. I was able to fabricate what I needed to repair this from flat sheet steel. The rear cab supports still need to be repaired. I bought replacements for that job. They were full of hard mud and rusted through. These trucks are definitely an education.

Tom

[Roostre]

Originally Posted by basketcase

You are doing some nice work. What I had to do looks like child's play compared to your project. When I pulled my old weatherstrip off of the driver side, the weatherstrip spline and about a 1–2-inch piece of the top of the rocker came with it. The floor turn-down that forms the weatherstrip channel was gone too. I also had to do a patch along the bottom of the kick panel to the floor like yours. I was able to fabricate what I needed to repair this from flat sheet steel. The rear cab supports still need to be repaired. I bought replacements for that job. They were full of hard mud and rusted through. These trucks are definitely an education.

Tom

Thanks. I originally bought this truck many years ago to teach myself rust repair so I could eventually restore a 1970 Challenger. Apparently, it's a more thorough teacher than I thought and the car is still in the shed. That's OK though, the car doesn't have nearly as much rust as the truck is turning out to have.

[dagnabbitt]

You're doing great! Seems like you have turned a corner and it might get easier from here on in!

[Roostre]

Originally Posted by dagnabbitt

You're doing great! Seems like you have turned a corner and it might get easier from here on in!

Thanks. It does feel like I've turned the corner on this project. Now I just need to keep up the momentum.

[Roostre]

I started on the front right lower door pillar last night. It did not go as smoothly as I could hope. As seen in the picture, the rust went up into where the door hinge mounts to the pillar, so I needed to cut more out than the left one. I bought a patch panel that had all of the threaded inserts already in it. I figured that the most important features on this panel were the threaded inserts that the hinge bolts to, so I made myself a gage to mount them off the upper hinge mounting point. Unfortunately, I stripped out one of the threads on the patch panel's floating insert. Luckily, the original insert I took out of the truck was fine, so I cut it out of the new panel and replaced it with the original one. Using my gage, I fit the patch in place and had to adjust the mounting holes in the new floor to make them fit. I cut the patch panel, and somehow managed to make a terrible cut of it. I guess I'll be welding in another filler strip. I'm not sure how that cut got so messed up, maybe I was more tired than I thought I was last night doing this. After I got the panel in the best shape I could, I took everything back apart, cleaned up my welds, and sprayed where the panel goes with primer, except for where the patch panel meets the kick panel. I decided rather than spotwelds, I would use some left over panel adhesive in these seams. After the primer kind of dried, I took off my masking tape, applied adhesive, and bolted and clamped the patch panel in place. I ran a couple of self tapping screws into the one side of the patch panel to clamp it in place while the adhesive cures.

I haven't been out there this morning to check on it yet, but as I was laying in bed, I realized that I forgot to grind the e-coat off of the patch panel where the adhesive was, so I may have screwed that up. At least it's not structural, so I may get lucky and it will stick well enough.

Anyway, here are a few pictures. After I weld in the filler strip, I'll be able to remount the doors and do the rocker panels. Getting closer!

[Chevys4life]

Great work on your cab. You are doing an excellent job aligning everything up.

[Roostre]

Originally Posted by Chevys4life

Great work on your cab. You are doing an excellent job aligning everything up.

Thanks, I'm trying. The real telling thing will be if I can get the rocker panels to look decent.

[Roostre]

I ran out and removed my clamps and self tappers from the adhesive area on my patch panel. I pried gently on it and it didn't move, so I think I'm good. Hopefully I'll have some time to burn the patch in tonight.

[Roostre]

I had a couple of hours today, so I cut a filler strip and welded in the right lower door pillar patch. It turned out pretty good.

Since all of the door pillars are done and bolted to the new floor, I was comfortable cutting the supports out of the cab that I welded in to hold it in place while I replaced the floor. That felt like a huge step.

Now I'm on to hanging the doors and installing the rockers. I held the right one up, and it fits really well. I do need some help though. Can someone tell me how the top of the rocker mates to the floor? Mine was so rotten that I couldn't tell, and the aftermarket parts don't make it obvious. I'd love a picture or two if someone could snap them.

Here are a couple of pictures of the right lower pillar patch.

[Roostre]

I had a big day today. I got the driver's door bolted back on the cab and adjusted so the body lines are pretty well aligned. They aren't perfect, but they are good enough for this old driver of a truck. I had intended to stop at that point, but couldn't resist fiddling with the rocker. It actually fit fairly well, with only a little re-shaping of the front part of it necessary. The door closes really nicely.

What's left of the old floor is still in my scrap pile, so I went out and inspected it. Luckily, I was able to find the remnants of a spotweld where the rocker would sit on the floor, so I think I know how they attach across the top.

The rocker is currently sitting as shown in the pictures, and will stay that way until tomorrow night. I've decided that since I've had good luck with it so far, I will try using 3M panel bond to attach the rockers. The cab has been marked where the rocker will go, so I will take the rocker off, sand away the paint and primer on both cab and rocker, and glue it back on. I'll again use a few self-tapping screws where I can't get clamps and hope everything turns out right. We'll have to see.

I also remembered that like everything else on this cab, the doors below the lower body line are basically rust and bondo. I could re-skin them or patch them, but I'm not going to. Doors are easy to remove and can either be fixed or replaced down the road, so for now I'm just going to scuff and spray them.

Here are the pictures.

[Roostre]

More progress tonight. I glued the left rocker into my cab. First, I took the door back off to give me enough room. I had marked where the rocker was so I got it back in the same spot. Then I scuffed off the e-coat from the cab and rocker panel where they met with some 60 grit sandpaper. After that, I cleaned everything up with some acetone. I applied the 3M 08115 panel bond to the cab and spread it around a little with a new Flux brush, making sure that I didn't put any adhesive where the drain holes are on the bottom seam. Then I put the rocker panel back on, clamping the lower seam and securing the sides and top seams with some self taping screws. I'll go back later and grind the heads off and patch them with a little bondo.

Here are a few pictures of the sanded areas and the rocker back in place.

I also hung the right door in preparation to install the right rocker. I can't get the door to shift back far enough to get the rear body line to look right. I have to look at it and think about how I'm going to fix that for a bit.

[Roostre]

Clamps are off and the left rocker is permanently in place. All in all, it went really well and looks pretty good. Now I need to pull the self-tappers out, spread a little Bondo, and that rocker will be wrapped up.

Last night I was working on the right side. As I said, the door didn't adjust far enough back, so I ended up putting some spacers between the door and the hinge. It pushed the door back about 1/4 inch, so now it's acceptable. The right door is in worse shape than the left door, and it looks like the whole door is tweaked such that the bottom of it flares out to the point that I can't get it adjusted in. I decided to get it as close as I could and will just live with it. That being said, the rocker is now clamped in place. I ran out of time last night and didn't glue it in, but it's ready for when I have some time to sand off the primer and get the adhesive back out.

[raggedjim]

I know it's a pain to get everything lined up the way we think they should be, but we are a lot more critical than the factory was!

I just get everything as close as I can at the time I'm focused on it. Sometimes when you come back a few weeks later it doesn't look as bad as you originally thought! Most people will never notice the things that drive you crazy.

Good luck, Rg

[Roostre]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

I know it's a pain to get everything lined up the way we think they should be, but we are a lot more critical than the factory was!

I just get everything as close as I can at the time I'm focused on it. Sometimes when you come back a few weeks later it doesn't look as bad as you originally thought! Most people will never notice the things that drive you crazy.

Good luck, Rg

I keep reminding myself that the truck came from the factory with body lines that didn't line up all that well, and now it has 58 years of wear and tear of being a truck on it, I'm lucky the doors close at all! I did have to do something with the right door, the rear gap was a half inch and the latch was catching really bad. It looks good enough, and is fine to place the rocker.

I'm getting to the point with the cab that I'm eagerly looking forward to installing it back on the frame and seeing how the bed lines up with it.

[Roostre]

I had some time this evening after work so I glued the right hand rocker on my cab. It went exactly the same as the left one, so I won't repeat myself, and I only have a couple of pictures of the finished product. I also removed the self tapping screws from the left rocker and filled the holes with a little adhesive. I figured it would stick well in there and not introduce heat like welding them shut would. We'll see how it turns out.

With that, the patch work on my cab is done. I need to do some grinding on welds and a little bondo, and then it's ready for the next step. I'm really happy to be at this point, it has been a long journey for me!

Next step is to smooth the weld seams from the cab corner replacements. Then I'll put in some seam sealer where it needs it. Then I'm going to scuff and paint the inside of the floor, the back and bottom of the cab, and the outside of the firewall before I put the cab back on the frame. It will almost be a truck again!

[tim_mc]

Wow! Great job...having recollections of when I did the same to my cab. Good stuff!