Ian's Tennessee Honey '64 Short Box Step-side - England

[ibrown50]

Well it’s just no good (as my mum would say) I’ve not really had much truck time for the last 6 months and the other UK contributors to this forum have been fairly quiet (from a truck building point of view) too.

Luckily for me there are many threads on here which provide the necessary inspiration when needed, I’ve just re-read Rocknrods 64 stepper thread (that truck is soooo clean) and Bill is almost finished his C3 so it’s time to crack on.

My next job is the last of my rust repairs and I’ve been putting it off for longer than I ought to, so this weekend I’ve completed the tear down. With this truck I have learned to expect that beneath every tiny paint blister is 7lbs of bondo and a rusty hole.


This is what it looked like when I began





I hoped that the drivers side would be better than the passenger side, passenger sides are often worse as they are "in the gutter" but if anything it's actually worse



And when I was finished

[ibrown50]

The inner footwell was another "work of art" beautifully crafted from bondo and fibreglass



It's in the trash now



One of the floor supports needed a repair but I have a section that got from Martin so that was a relatively quick fix







I have the fender to strip next, once I know how bad it is I'll decide whether to repair or replace.

Still not a bad days work

[Grizz1963]

Ian, at this point my silence indicates only my respect for the members of this forum.
Inside my head the Pirate is swearing at the artists of your repairs.

You are a brave man, but we know it will be good.

[MacQuigley]

We having a race to the finish line now we have both started again? :-) :-) :-)

Would be the longest race in history!

[Palf70Step]

Glad to see you back at it. Love seeing your quality work.

[ibrown50]

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Ian, at this point my silence indicates only my respect for the members of this forum.
Inside my head the Pirate is swearing at the artists of your repairs.

You are a brave man, but we know it will be good.

Thanks Rian, I don't know about brave, more probably too dumb to know any better

Originally Posted by MacQuigley

We having a race to the finish line now we have both started again? :-) :-) :-)

Would be the longest race in history!

Yes Bill I agree, most races need a stop watch, our need calendars

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Glad to see you back at it. Love seeing your quality work.

Thanks Bill, that's very kind of you to say so, like most of us on here we do our best with the skills we have

[ibrown50]

Progress update,

On first fitting I discovered the floor / inner rocker repair panel had been mis-hit, it looked as though there had been in-sufficient set on the finish die so effectively it was too short on one corner, this meant the floor would not line up, it wasn’t a lot, but it was enough to be a problem. The simplest fix was to “stretch” it, so I cut it with a plasma disc, pulled it apart slightly and then welded up the gap.






With this done the floor fit was remarkably good and it was soon clamped and then tacked in place,






I have to replace the bottom 6 inches of the A post which is welded to the inner footwell. I find it useful sometimes to trial fit parts (especially re-pops) as a process of elimination. I trial fitted the inner footwell before I cut off the remainder of the A post. It fits perfectly so now if there are any fit-up problems after I repair the A post, I know it’s not this panel.

[Palf70Step]

Great looking work Ian!

[ibrown50]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Great looking work Ian!

Thanks Bill

Onwards and upwards (as they say). Today was a national holiday in the UK so I took the opportunity to make a bit more progress, the bottom of the A post was completely rusted out. I would normally try to replace below the swage for the outer rocker to preserve the original position, however, although it wasn’t rusted through it was so thin you couldn’t have welded it.



First job was to remove the hinge, I marked the hinge and bolt positions so that when I re-fit it, it’s going to be broadly in the right place.



Next job was to mark and cut the pillar, my preferred method is masking tape and a pencil. You can see from the picture below just how crooked the crop was on the repair panel I had to grind it square before using it, don't forget the two spot welds that hold the cage for the hinge plate






the fit was quite poor too, I had to tack the best fit areas and then work the others before welding them. Top tip use a hinge bolt to keep the cage drawn up tight against the pillar, it's impossible to weld up otherwise

[ibrown50]

After that it was just a case of working the panel to improve the fit and then tack, grind - repeat,





When doing this kind of job it's easy to get weld spatter in the hinge threads and to weld up the hinge plate so it doesn't move (not good when it comes to fitting the door) take your time and put a couple of old bolts in the threads if you have them



I got the spot welds from the pillar to the footwell done too,

there's still some finishing off to do on the welds but I'll leave that until I've
done a test fit on the door and outer rocker. This is definitely one of those jobs that take hours and looks like next to nothing when it's finished

[jchav62]

Great work!!!!

[ibrown50]

Originally Posted by jchav62

Great work!!!!

Thank you Joseph, that's much appreciated.

A quick update,

Most of know that the universe is governed by certain laws, no not that Stephen Hawking physics stuff, the real laws. Things like why when you drop a piece of toast on the carpet it always lands buttered side down, (a phenomenon increased by a factor of 10 if there is peanut butter or jelly involved), or why when you’re in a traffic jam the other lane always moves more quickly, until you switch lanes and the one you were in starts moving more quickly and the law of repairing trucks……..why does the rot always go further than the repair panel.

Well such was the case with the inner rocker/floor repair panel, the rust went about 2” further.



Actually it's easy to fix as there's plenty of access,

I made a repair piece to match the existing panels as closely as possible (I do hate patches that look like patches.)





and welded in place



The inner welds need tidying up but should be fine once that's done



Next job is to put the door back on before I test fit the outer rocker

[realvc]

Very nice repair panel. Your metal skills are impressive. As a matter of fact your whole truck build is impressive.

[Palf70Step]

Great inspiration there. Wiser words have never been spoke. Great work Ian.

[89muscletruck]

I just read through your whole thread. I gotta say that your dedication to correcting the *ahem* repairs of the previous owners and your searches for replacement parts in the UK is inspirational. Good job!

[Grizz1963]

Great work Ian.

You are right about not making repair panels look right.

Your work always makes me smile in approval, not that you need my approval.

[MacQuigley]

Originally Posted by ibrown50

Next job is to put the door back on before I test fit the outer rocker

Wish Id done that Ian. I refit my rockers from the measurements Id taken rather than with the doors back on. That was partly because the doors were so bad I had no faith fitting them would give me any better a fit and don't get me wrong I don't thing I'm far out but I think Id have been batter repairing the doors first then the rockers.

Nice to see your getting back into the repairs though.

I hope your outer rockers are better made than the ones I bought. Ended up having to cope up the front on one and the front and back on the other just to get them to fit.

[ibrown50]

Originally Posted by realvc

Very nice repair panel. Your metal skills are impressive. As a matter of fact your whole truck build is impressive.

Thank you Vince

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Great inspiration there. Wiser words have never been spoke. Great work Ian.

Thanks Bill

Originally Posted by 89muscletruck

I just read through your whole thread. I gotta say that your dedication to correcting the *ahem* repairs of the previous owners and your searches for replacement parts in the UK is inspirational. Good job!

Thank you for your kind words, with this truck there's never a dull moment

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Great work Ian.

You are right about not making repair panels look right.

Your work always makes me smile in approval, not that you need my approval.

Thanks Rain, I maybe don't need it but it's nice to get it all the same

Originally Posted by MacQuigley

Wish Id done that Ian. I refit my rockers from the measurements Id taken rather than with the doors back on. That was partly because the doors were so bad I had no faith fitting them would give me any better a fit and don't get me wrong I don't thing I'm far out but I think Id have been batter repairing the doors first then the rockers.

Nice to see your getting back into the repairs though.

I hope your outer rockers are better made than the ones I bought. Ended up having to cope up the front on one and the front and back on the other just to get them to fit.

You spoke to soon Bill the right hand one was fine but the left hand is diabolical

[ibrown50]

For anyone who has been on a different planet recently (and you would have to have missed this news) there was a wedding today in Windsor. Now I think it's great when folks get married, I'm married myself and very happy with it...........but I'd no great desire to watch the wedding on TV, my wife on the other hand was glued to the TV with box of Kleenex at the ready. This mean't only one thing.....Truck time

First job today was to refit the bottom of the B pillar. I'd removed it for 2 reasons, fiting the inner rocker is much easier with it out of the way and it needed a repair which was easier to do on the bench.







Next job was to re-hang the door but I decided to strip it before hanging it, it makes it much lighter to handle and it's going to have to be stripped anyway to do the repairs (I can hardly wait to see what I find ) . I'd marked the bolt positions before I removed it so it went back pretty much in exactly the right position, door gap wise.

I made a gauge for the hole positions using a piece of aluminium angle bar, with a spring loaded punch this makes quick work of marking the holes.



They were pilot drilled at 1/8" and finish drilled at 1/4".



After much grunting and cursing I have it fitting pretty good, the door gap is nice but there's a bit of work to do to get the inner part fitting as good as I want it to. It's in place with a couple of spot welds, next job is to take the door back off and finish fitting and welding



A decent days work, I wish there was a Royal wedding every Saturday

[MacQuigley]

Originally Posted by ibrown50

You spoke to soon Bill the right hand one was fine but the left hand is diabolical

Strangely enough it was the left hand one on mine that was the issue! It must be easier to make repo parts accurately than this!

[MacQuigley]

Originally Posted by ibrown50

For anyone who has been on a different planet recently (and you would have to have missed this news) there was a wedding today in Windsor. Now I think it's great when folks get married, I'm married myself and very happy with it...........but I'd no great desire to watch the wedding on TV, my wife on the other hand was glued to the TV with box of Kleenex at the ready. This mean't only one thing.....Truck time

Oh How I hear that Ian! My wife who hates driving more than 5 miles, drove the 100 miles to her sisters and the 100 miles back just to watch that damn wedding!

Now despite being a Scot, I guess I'm a Royalist (they may cost us a lot but I believe they bring us in more that the cost) but come on! And no I'm not just upset because she took my car and there is zero chance of me ever seeing the fuel replaced............

So Like you I chose to get on with some motoring tasks.

Much better use of our time if you ask me!

[Modges'66]

Very nice work!
Always nice to see a job being done well!

[mjh1965]

Looking good Ian . Looks like the race is back on , but you always seem to be a few steps ahead, with Bill a few steps behind. Mind you at least I won’t come last , as it’s now a three horse race . One of us ( you know who you are ) has put his back in the stable and put a blanket over it .
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[Grizz1963]

Impressive as always Ian.

Just headed out to a bootfair.

Feels like my life is coming back together.

[Palf70Step]

Very nice Ian