Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)

[swamp rat]

Yea you don't need anything but a standard oil pump.

[SCHRUMGMC]

Awesome work man. Loving the progress

[sduckworth13]

Metal work looks awesome!! If you have more patches to do try out Tabco. Their panels are way better than the Key Parts or Counterparts. They still need a little tweaking, but a way better fit without all the slicing and dicing.

[GASoline71]

Thanks you'se guys!

Ugh... welder crapped the bed last night. On/off switch no worky. Welder is 8 years old and out of warranty. Part is only 6 bucks. So I need to order it and put the new switch in. I'm only assuming that's what it is as the rocker in the on/off switch feels loose. If this doesn't fix it, I'll have to take it in to the dealer for repair. Which is about a 3 to 4 week turn around time.

Gary

[jjzepplin]

Take the switch out and test it?

[GASoline71]

Will do that when I get home from work. The internal breaker wasn't tripped either. Hoping that it's just this bad switch.

Gary

[Skip44]

Well, was it the switch?

Skip

[Xeen]

You are doing some good metalwork, I'm glad to see that you are still at it, keep up the good work!

[GASoline71]

Originally Posted by jjzepplin

Take the switch out and test it?

Originally Posted by Skip44

Well, was it the switch?

Skip

I forgot to come back here to tell you guys. Yep... I had tested the switch and it indeed was bad. Got a new one today finally from my Lincoln dealer (Central Welding Supply), installed it and I'm back in business!

Originally Posted by Xeen

You are doing some good metalwork, I'm glad to see that you are still at it, keep up the good work!

Thanks dude! I will eventually conquer this old heap!

Gary

[GASoline71]

Buttoned up the oil pan and pump issue today. So I'm hopeful to have the engine and transmission in the rig soon!

Gary

[GASoline71]

Spent a day and a half removing all of the thick black overspray on the lower half of the firewall from the factory undercoating. What a PITA. Used a heat gun and some soft wooden paint sticks as scrapers. Then after I got most of the thickest stuff off, I used rags soaked in mineral spirits to get the rest off. I used a little Goof-off too, but the mineral spirits worked better. Here are a few pics of the during and after.

This week should be engine and tranny install week! Slow and steady wins the war!

Gary

[Coley]

Yeah, I have some of that on the lower cab/tunnel area of my truck too.
Was that simply overspray from the factory when they gave a couple of quick sprays from below onto the frame? or was it applied earlier and 'strategically'?

Coley

[67ChevyRedneck]

Well, if you ever want to do a perfect factory color match... there's where you take your sample from

[GASoline71]

Originally Posted by Coley

Yeah, I have some of that on the lower cab/tunnel area of my truck too.
Was that simply overspray from the factory when they gave a couple of quick sprays from below onto the frame? or was it applied earlier and 'strategically'?

Coley

Overspray from the poor sap in the pit below the assembly line spraying that slop on from below.

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

Well, if you ever want to do a perfect factory color match... there's where you take your sample from

Yup. Funny as that paint doesn't match the paint on the doors and cowl. So this truck was repainted at some point and they tried to match the factory Medium Green.

Gary

[GASoline71]

Well whaddaya know... it still fits!

Had 3 of my good buddies over last night for the reinstall of the 355 and TH350 back into the frame. What a happy day!

Gary

[knomadd]

That's awesome! Glad to see more progress.

[Low Elco]

Whoot Whoot!

[GASoline71]

Originally Posted by fecklessgadfly

Be sure to update us when you find one. I'm sure several of us are getting ready to do those repairs, and you might save us a lot of hassle.

I ended up ordering a drivers side outer rocker from Wes at Classic Heartbeat yesterday. They are made by Triplus. Looking forward to getting it so I can see the difference.

Gary

[GASoline71]

As promised... here is the skinny on the drivers side outer rocker panel. I received the panel from Wes at Classic Heartbeat lickety split. I did a trial fit and was pleased with how it was lining up. So after a few hammer shots here and there and some slight tweaking to get the front to line up, I had it fit in place with a few sheet metal screws in about a half an hour!

I lined up the fender and the door, but need to get new hinges to set it right before I drill holes for "spot welds" and do the final weld in. I, for the life of me, cannot get the hinge pins out of these rusty old hinges. Even using the biggest BFH I own. So I have new hinges on order from Wes.

Now for the particulars. The outer rocker panel I received from Wes is made by Key Parts/Tri-plus. The other I had was made by Dynacorn. After going back through some threads and doing more research, I found I had the "double sticker" panels that ended up being factory rejects that were put back into circulation. So if you get ANY panels with the double stckers from Dynacorn... avoid them like the plague! I have included some pics of the fitment of the new panel and a couple of the labels from each panel.

It took me 3 days of fab work (probably about 10 to 12 hours) to fit the Dynacorn panel on the passenger side and I'm really not all that happy with it. But it is staying in place for now. So far I have half an hour into the fitment of this new panel from Key Parts/Tri-plus. So... there ya go! Thanks for the recommendation and fast shipping Wes!

Gary

[GASoline71]

Pics of the labels.

Dynacorn = 2 labels

Key Parts/Tri-plus = 1 label

Gary

[swamp rat]

And the double labels are being sold by a number of different places, I won't mention where I got mine but lesson learned.

[Skip44]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

And the double labels are being sold by a number of different places, I won't mention where I got mine but lesson learned.

Is there a reason your not telling us where you got the bad parts?

Skip

[GASoline71]

I bought mine at Dreamers Rods and Pickups in Everett, WA. Whether they knew about it or not, I don't know. But I will buy stuff from them again if I need it. They are close enough for me to drive there. So I can now check to see if there are double labels on parts. I would also still recommend them for other parts if you live in the North Puget Sound area.

Gary

[swamp rat]

I bought floor pans from Dreamers, Dynacorn, yea not very good stuff.

[GASoline71]

So I got after the surface rust on the cab floor. Then sprayed some etching primer on the bare metal on the cab floor today. Next up will be some seam sealer and then a bit more primer. Then some paint. After that I will lay down some Fat Mat.

Gary