'50 chevy 3100

[Matt_50]

I called nearest oriellys and a reman with a warranty was 32 bucks. Figured why not, and I have a all new brake system except for the rear shoes.

[8man]

Good call on the reman.

[joedoh]

haha probably a good call to replace, i always float between the thought that the ONE Part I DONT replace will be bad, and the thought that replacing ALL the parts increases the odds of getting a defective part. its maddening to be me sometimes.

[Matt_50]

Me and my wife have been pretty busy lately with all the inservice days. New procedures, refreshers, sexual harassment, ethics, new testing... on and on.

Decided to get in some time today. Jacked up the truck and got the wheels off, put on the reman MC, and got the new flexible brake line on the rear. I'm hoping tomorrow to get the brakes bleed. I bought the little screw in piece for the proportioning valve. Does this mean I can bleed the brakes until it feels right and then pop off the little screw in piece and go?

[Matt_50]

First sorta test drive!

Just bled brakes, and tested parking brake. Had to see it go back and forth.


https://youtu.be/yVMKBX2meaw

[mongocanfly]

IT MOVES..!!!! and stops...

[Matt_50]

Yea, we couldn't help ourselves. After finishing the brakes I thought we'd check them.

Started it, brakes still felt good with booster. Thought I'd make sure I got the shifter linkage zeroed in good. Wheels spun in the right directions when they were supposed to lol.

Only thing left was to set it on the ground. I had a terrible thought of going through the fence and saying hello to the neighbor lol.

[8man]

Congrats! Big day.

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by Matt_50

I had a terrible thought of going through the fence and saying hello to the neighbor lol.

hahaha

[Matt_50]

Haven't actually done much lately. With school starting up I've been a bit tired lol 22 7 year olds are a handful!

Yesterday I moved the bed to behind the truck. Setting it up on jack stands and stuff. If you remember, the stake pockets were welded over for a smooth look by a PO. I marked the holes and drilled a hole through each one. I then used a jigsaw to make an X.

Once I had drilled the holes I noticed the metal the PO filled the holes with was twice as thick as the bed metal. So I grabbed a pair of channel locks and thought that if I bent the X pieces back and forth... that they would break on the weak point of where the thicker metal met the thinner metal.

It worked so I did them all that way! Pockets need a little touch up but not bad for 20 minutes worth of work.

[8man]

Brilliant! Especially after dealing with 7 year olds all day.

Now for a little die grinder work.

[Matt_50]

Awhile back I sanded and wire wheeled my hood. At least a 1/4 of it had bondo on it. Turned out there was a slight high spot. And a PO used a LOT of bondo and smoothed and spread it out so much that it hid the high spot and looked great. I spent half a day cleaning it off and the spot was a nice easy fix.

The driver front fender had a funny spot that was repaired with brass. Turns out the passenger fender had a brass repair in the same spot. I'm guessing this truck had those front lights added to the top of the fenders at some point. Anyways, the paint was cracking and I took a wire wheel to it and found the repair.

Ok, that spot isn't too scary but I went after other cracked paint spots. Another large area of bondo, I went all around looking at how big it was. It was a big area with bondo thick enough you could have hid penny's in. I could not feel anything on the backside so I remembered the hood and took it down to metal. I can't feel anything! It looks pretty good really. Maybe maybe a slight dent but I'll need water and a light to know for sure. WHY?? Why did someone put so much bondo on this truck!? Someone was talented, it took a lot of sculpting to get the cab corners just right but I pulled all that off too when I did cab corners.

Tomorrow I'll finish stripping the fender and then I can fix the minor little dents that there are.

[Matt_50]

It's the little things...

[joedoh]

bondo works well when you apply liberally and sand almost alllll of it off. looks like they just read the apply liberally step.

[Matt_50]

I didn't expect to sand it down this much but I got it smooth as glass. A tiny bit of bondo on a couple spots here and there and I rattle canned some paint because it was trying flash rust with wet sanding.

I didn't spray the bondo spots, I'll sand more once it sets. I decided to tackle the rusted area on the passenger rear fender. Not to bad a job. I'm getting a little bit better lol. I still need to finish it up but it's coming along.

[8man]

That fender looks better already.

[Matt_50]

After getting an electric sander, sanding the fenders has been pretty quick. The RR fender needs some TLC though, it got banged up up pretty bad but someone at some point did a pretty good job straightening it out. I worked on it a little more and now I'm adding bondo a little at a time.

I'm getting better but I know I don't have the metal skills yet like some of you. I'll get this truck painted but I'll still gave a few dings here and there. Someday when I have more experience I can revisit these areas. I'd rather leave them alone than make them worse lol.

Fenders are looking better. Doors will be ready for weatherstripping this week. I started some repairs on back of bed where a PO had cut out three areas. Not sure why, but I know it didn't have rear bumper, had a roll pan and dual exhaust. This bed came off another truck too. And I filled the fuel filler hole on cab. Well started too but both of these repairs will be finished later. Had to stop for the day.

[8man]

Keep at it. BTW, how did you do that outside up there? And in the sun! You are a better man than me.

[Matt_50]

I try to to get up early before it's hot on the weekends. And when I can I get some evening time in on the weekdays before sun goes down. This last week has been a bummer with the off and on rain.

[Matt_50]

Got a little bit done here and there. Still a lot of sanding to do before paint.

[Matt_50]

Last few days has been a lot of sanding. There are still a few dings but all the rust has been cut out and replaced. I've gotten to get some good practice with my new hammer and dolly set though. A lot of dents and other areas look a lot better than before. But I'm still a novice, not perfect but I think the truck will look pretty good.

I backed the truck up into the middle of the yard. I'll have to paint outside, as y'all know. So the less leaves and junk the better.

[dsraven]

Check out a little book called metal bumping. Old but good theory. From same era as the trucks we have.

[Matt_50]

Thanks! Should I get one of those bags instead of using a dolly? I saw a guy take a fender that had the indentation for the spare tire in it and take out that dent to make it a regular fender.

Really wish I had caught him before he did it, would have traded him lol.

Anyways he was about done when I got there. Had it on a stand, had a little leather bag and a old hammer. I couldn't believe it.

[8man]

I got the Metal Bumping book and it changed what I thought about "pounding out dents". I'm very much a novice, but that book helps.

Good looking dog!

[Matt_50]

Got a few small things ordered. Wipers, antenna, bumper bolts, tailgate chains, and a driver mirror.

I'm going to go ahead and use the old bumper that came with it. Heavy duty looking bumper. Looks like something a farmer would stick on. Who knows. Both bumpers are a bit beat up so they are going to be painted black.

Also got a new cowl vent gasket. The one from classic parts makes vent sit high instead of flush. Plus it leaks. Ordered from Steele Rubber. Fingers crossed. Also got an idea for reverse lights. B 31 tear drop type. Found one so far.