Project Penicillin~ 68 crewcab build up!

[Sheverlay]

Your fab skills are awesome man, looks great! One question, do you think it would have been less work to start with a clean, solid burb from scratch, or would the amount of work involved equal out in the long run?

[Rokcrln]

Originally Posted by Sheverlay

Your fab skills are awesome man, looks great! One question, do you think it would have been less work to start with a clean, solid burb from scratch, or would the amount of work involved equal out in the long run?

When you cincider it was already on a crew cab long bed frame (all custom body mounts) and already had a cab slapped on the back it would be close. I would of rather started with all good metal just from a builder stand point but this truck looked much cleaner that it turned out to be due to the PO extensive work with bondo and fiber glass.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[bagged91]

Hi Kevin, I've been following your thread here with interest. I am in the process of doing a rodstoration on my 71 Burband am now into the floors... I need to pick your brain a little...

First, I noticed a dimple in the flange on the edge of the floorpan where the lower kickpanel & the lower front door pillar meet. Is that dimple for the lower front door pillar? I need to do a repair in that area on both sides.

Second, concerning part fitment. How well does that 3rd door outer rocker fit including the fitment on the B & C pillars & the flanges where the weatherstripping will go? Is it fairly close to the original? I've noticed that my front rockers do not have a sharp bend on the flange area like the originals did and they also fit like crap at the bottom of the A pillar(a lot of hammer work needed). Do your fronts fit any better? Also, the lower front pillar, how's the fit on that?

Thanks!
Joe

[Rokcrln]

Well to start with the front dimple is for the front corner of the kick panel.

I do not expect any after market sheet metal patch part to fit right out of the box. I plan time to re-work every part. Do not think it is one company over another as they are all about the same. Some part fit great one time and not th enext and they may be from the same co. and labled the same.

As far as rocker fitment to the front A post they all fit up short. If you want a perfect fit (full show truck or somthing) you will need to by 2 rocker and section them to fit just right. Also alot of the time you will need to section the threshold area to get a factory gap along the bottom of the door. Now 95% of the time you can get one rocker to work just fine with a bit of hammer and dolly work.

Last as far as the third rocker goies I can not tell you how it fits because this truck was cut in the middle of the door opening and a truck cab was grafted on. As I am re-doing things I am working it al back to how it should have been done the first time.

Check back Saturday and Sunday and I should have the rest of the pass side done.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Rokcrln]

I was able to get the third door rocker, inner rocker and floor all finished today. The only part left is to re-hang the door and finish the cab corner. This will take some pulling force to get things all correct because when the PO put the cab section on it was not quite right. But we will fix that!

As you can see I made my own inner rocker panel to also fix the floor patch at the same time. You can also see if you just went with the inner panel that you can buy their would have been alot of extra work left. I then replaced the bottom of the B post and fit up both rockers and hung the doors to check fitment. It was all good so I removed the doors and started welding. Just a note all parts were coated with rust preventer prior to over lapping any areas! I also got the front A post bottom complete.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Palf70Step]

Wish I had you at my place today! Great job, I love watching your work come together!

[Rokcrln]

Got another hour knocked out! So now to get the pass side finished I have the rear cab corner to do a final alignment before welding at the jamb, create that door bumper mount on the pass side front rocker (burb only),finish welding in the kick panel part of the new windshield post, patch the rest of the kick panel and re-build the rain gutter above the pass side. Then smooth out the fire wall and it should be ready for blasting and body work to start!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[PBFAB.COM]

I'm impressed.

[dalbers]

this is just awesome. great work man

[bagged91]

Looks sweet... Thanks for the info. I am doing my floors similar to how you are. I had my local sheetmetal shop bend me up 2- 7' legnths of sheetmetal in the same profile(I cut a piece of my innerrocker/floorpan out to use as a template). I am going to cut/modify from there to duplicate the original parts. I was able to salvage the rear part of my pass front rocker to reuse on the new rocker. I've already cut up a rocker to duplicate the original bumper mount. It was some work but came out OK. Good luck & keep them pics coming!

[Wootdog]

Truly amazing. I can't wait for the next installment. This is better than TV. And since I am stuck away from my trucks, has the wheels spinning so to speak. Can't wait to get off the road and back on my projects. Thanks, Kerry

[ironvinnie]

That looks great. I've always been interested in body work like that, not sure how hard it is to weld the thin sheet metal though. Any tips? that is gonna look sweet when you're done.

[67chevemall]

wow o wow!!

[Rokcrln]

I started the morning off by making up the mid kick panel patch and getting that all finished. Then I moved up the post to complete the post graft for the new pass front door jamb and winshield post. Completed the front rocker door bump (burb only) and then went to hang the doors. Found one of the hinge pockets were cracked fso off it came to get repaired. Once that was done I alligned all the doors and they fit real nice to each other but the rear had some issues. When this cab back was originaly put on by the PO they did not have things set just right so we have been corecting things as we go. I had to massage the door latch area inward about 3/16" just to get the latch to close with out dragging. Got that working great but this still left the door gap at the rear of the third door to deal with. When I replaced the cab corner I took care of the problem we had with the door sticking out about 3/8" only from the lower body line down (the rest fit nice ). So not untill I was happy with all the adjusting for all other gaps did I start to hem the door edge to get the right door gap. This is were I stopped so I can grab a bit to eat and then back to the shop for more fun.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Rokcrln]

Forgot to mention I finished welding up th eback side of the rockers and braces as well!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Rokcrln]

If only the factory made them this strait! It is hard to see it in the first pic but the upper gap is 5/16" and the bottom went out to 1/2". I ended up adding a 1/8" rod tight at the top of the door and by th etime it was at the botom bottom of the door I had brought it out to 1/4". Then on the Jamb I used 1/8" rod at the bottom to just above the lower body line and then changed to 1/16" rod from their to about center of the jamb. Once they were welded up on both sides and gound smooth I then shut the door and took an .040 think cutting wheel on a diegrinder and cut the gap strait and to an 1/8" top to bottom. All it needs now is a build primmer and block sanding. I like this kind of stuff. I can't wait to get started on "Project Lemon Drop" , it is all about 1/8" gaps every where and a bunch of other cool mods. The best part is their is absolutly ZERO rust repair to do to it

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Rokcrln]

Finished the inside of the roof today and I am now starting on the drip rail on the pass side. It is real bad but not so much fromn rust just a bad install job. It curved in almost 1/2" tward the center and their was about 8" that was rusted out. The new section I am putting in is about 32" x 18ga.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Rokcrln]

Let the rains come down (after rust proofing) Drip rail is ready for rust profing and the third door is about half way done (curved window rail) and I will finish the rest after lunch. Ya I know I ate yesterday but I am still hungry

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[TugOwar]

Nice work sir, keep after it. Who needs food!?

[glock35ipsc]

That is looking sweet Kevin!! BTW, thanks for the tip on fitting the cab corner! Worked like a Swiss watch! The curve now matches the door perfectly.

Thanks again!

[subtle71]

Rokcrln, Go ahead and put me in line for a one of those fine quality crew cabs! I will start looking for the frame and everything else.

Just did the Hot Rod Power Tour. At my first gas stop, as I was stretching, I turned to my buddy and say "and for my next project, I'll be building a crew cab!"

I love watching your progress. Thanks for keeping us all posted!
Dean

[Rokcrln]

Fire wall 101

This is one of the easiest ways to smooth your fire wall for in cab AC. EXTD56 will need to tell us what brand it is. They give you a plate that is designed to mount on the fire wall to cover up all the holes and provide mounting for the heater/cool box. All I did was took that plate and recessed it into the fire wall for a cleaner look.

Here is the process.
First remove your heater and any thing inside the cab that WILL burn.
Take your fire wall plate and remove the foam from the back side of it and clean all edges that will be getting welded.
Clamp it to the fire wall and use a sharp scribe to mark the out side of it.
Now just cut right up to your mark. The cleaner your cut is the better because you do not want much if any of a gap since that will take more welding (and we know welding= heat and that = warp city) and grinding.
Once it fits good start tacking it in place making sure it is flush before welding. If it is off a bit just take your hammer and dolly (no not your kids Dolly) and work the edge to get it straite. Once you are tacked about every inch you are ready to start welding it up. Skip about 4 tack welds each time and work your way back around. I also made a plate for the fan hole and started it the same way. Once I make one turn around skipping welds I will go to the next plate giving the first plate time to cool. Repeat untill you are all welded up. Then start grinding, I like to use a 4" .040 cut off wheel for weld grinding and then I switch to an air grinder with 3" disks (50g, 80g, 120g) and you should be ready for some epoxy primer and fill primer.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Rokcrln]

Start to finish it took about 3hrs. Keep in mind I had no prep time since it was already apart. Also what I like about doing it this way is you end up with a real nice inside finish that makes it easy to seal and prevent rust. When you just fill in the stock holes you end up with that lip/edge that can catch moisture and start rusting after awhile.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Yukon Jack]

Looking great. I wish you had a tv crew documenting this - I would watch it over all other truck/car shows currently on tv!

[rodstored-72]

rokcrln,
man you have some really good skills!! it is going to be awsome to see your final work. i am assuming that when all said & done this will look similar to the cover truck in classic trucks the gold & white one from pro designs. i can't wait t osee some more pics. i do have a question or two for you though. they are to get your opinion on how to do something. i am trying to "cut" about a 1/2" from the top & bottom of the x-member that used to hold the carrier bearing on my '72 chevy 1/2 ton 2wd p/u. i am wondering if you could tell me a good tool to use (i don't have a plasma cutter or any of those fancy tools alike) i was thinking maybe a airsaw with a steel blade??? i am running a 1 pc. driveshaft & woould like a little more clearancearound there. the truck is lowered 5" rear & 4.5" fr.it is a small area & not sure what would fit around there... thanks for any input!!!!!