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

[ibrown50]

Originally Posted by MacQuigley

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!

Just trial fitted the cab corner, not a disaster but certainly not as good as the other side

Originally Posted by Modges'66

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

Thank you, kind of you to say so

Originally Posted by 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 .
Posted via Mobile Device

Thanks Martin, definitely the longest race in history

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Impressive as always Ian.

Just headed out to a bootfair.

Feels like my life is coming back together.

Great to hear that Rian, you'll be back on your truck when the time is right

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Very nice Ian

Thanks Bill,

I love this forum, unlike so many others it's always very positive and encouraging



I've been on vacation for the past week in Halkidiki - Greece, so I missed a whole weekend. I got a couple of hours truck time today but it appears I'm not the only one to have taken a vacation, my welding mask has gone on a " Permanent Vacation" so I will not be able to finish the rocker panel and floor repair until my new one arrives , (it seems to be a problem with these solar powered masks if you don't leave them somewhere light the batteries die.)

But you know these old trucks, there's always something else to be getting on with so I've stripped the front fender to see what I've got to work with.

It's unbelievably similar to the passenger side (if you look at the pictures earlier in my thread you'd swear they were the same only flipped )



Paint stripper revealed bondo front and rear, the bondo in the front is just dents which will work out pretty well with a hammer and dolly.



The rear revealed the all to familiar "snot" welded patch over the top of the rust !! the PO must have thought the repair patch was like a bandaid and the rust underneath would heal up





I've cut the rust back and cleaned up the stiffner, it's not great but is all repairable and I know it will fit when it goes back on so I think I'll repair it rather than buy a re-pop fender.

[jimmythompson1964]

Just read your entire build page, you are doing good work Ian, you are making that truck new again. I can tell this isn't your first rodeo, keep up the good work you will be back on the road in no time.

[MacQuigley]

Originally Posted by ibrown50

I love this forum, unlike so many others it's always very positive and encouraging

Couldnt agree more Ian. Posted on a C3 site last week and while the 100 or so who replied were all excellent there was 1 who frankly should be deleted from he gene pool! Makes you want to give up in disgust.

No matter how stupid a question Ive posted here or how dumb Ive been I get nothing but positive replies (Unless its from you, Martin or Rian of course!)

Anyway your getting there. Maybe in a couple of years we can hold our own C10 event - the 4 of us!

BTW and before I dump them are my old inner fenders of any use to you?

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by MacQuigley

Couldnt agree more Ian. Posted on a C3 site last week and while the 100 or so who replied were all excellent there was 1 who frankly should be deleted from he gene pool! Makes you want to give up in disgust.

No matter how stupid a question Ive posted here or how dumb Ive been I get nothing but positive replies (Unless its from you, Martin or Rian of course!)

Anyway your getting there. Maybe in a couple of years we can hold our own C10 event - the 4 of us!

BTW and before I dump them are my old inner fenders of any use to you?

Needs a Like button.

[ibrown50]

Originally Posted by jimmythompson1964

Just read your entire build page, you are doing good work Ian, you are making that truck new again. I can tell this isn't your first rodeo, keep up the good work you will be back on the road in no time.

Thanks Jimmy that's much appreciated, I've not been to Greenville, but have worked in the US a couple of times quite near to you, at the Nissan plant in Smyrna, which I guess is a couple of hundred mile west of you and in Charlotte NC which I guess is about 100 miles south east? I have to say Tennessee in spring time might the the prettiest place on earth.......... It's a small world as my mum would say

Originally Posted by MacQuigley

Couldnt agree more Ian. Posted on a C3 site last week and while the 100 or so who replied were all excellent there was 1 who frankly should be deleted from he gene pool! Makes you want to give up in disgust.

No matter how stupid a question Ive posted here or how dumb Ive been I get nothing but positive replies (Unless its from you, Martin or Rian of course!)

Anyway your getting there. Maybe in a couple of years we can hold our own C10 event - the 4 of us!

BTW and before I dump them are my old inner fenders of any use to you?

Thanks Bill sent you a PM

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Needs a Like button.

Thanks Rian, I guess we do what we can to help each other

[mjh1965]

Ian what I don't understand is , that the cost of repair panels in the USA are so reasonably priced . Why anybody would weld (and I use that word lightly ) patches over rust .

As for Bill wanting our own C10 event . He better start saving for the cost of the fuel to meet us half way , with that 454 he's installed . Mind you at our present rate of progress he'll have a long time to do it .

[jimmythompson1964]

[QUOTE=ibrown50;8275544]Thanks Jimmy that's much appreciated, I've not been to Greenville, but have worked in the US a couple of times quite near to you, at the Nissan plant in Smyrna, which I guess is a couple of hundred mile west of you and in Charlotte NC which I guess is about 100 miles south east? I have to say Tennessee in spring time might the the prettiest place on earth.......... It's a small world as my mum would say

I moved to Tennessee a little over 5 years ago, I was working in this area and thought the same thing so I moved here. If you end up in TN again in the future we will have to meet and swap truck stories

[ibrown50]

Originally Posted by jimmythompson1964

I moved to Tennessee a little over 5 years ago, I was working in this area and thought the same thing so I moved here. If you end up in TN again in the future we will have to meet and swap truck stories

That sounds like a plan

I have an update on the truck to do shortly but realised I haven't told you about the steering column I bought,

I have been looking for a chevy steering column since I bought the truck, a couple of reasons, I want to fit a collapsible section for safety reasons, I want a tilt and I want to go back to a column shift, I currently have a floor shift and the column mechanism was stripped out of the column by a PO.

In the UK they aren't that common, they tend to make £150-£200 ($200 - $250) and are always hundreds of miles away and sell quickly.

I mentioned that I had a vacation in Halkidiki, Greece a few weeks ago. Well I was sat in the taxi that was taking us from the airport to the hotel looking on at the various UK forums I subscribe to and guess what. There's a Chevy column for sale.....wait it gets better, I know the guy who has it for sale and his shop is about 5 miles from me, and ....(i'm not finished yet ) it was £40 (about $50).

The only problem....I'm 2000 miles and three timezones away. However, thanks to those modern miracles the internet and the smart phone, I managed to contact him agree the sale and pay him for it before we arrived at the hotel.

I picked it up last week, it's a bit scruffy and needs tidying up but is complete right down to the ignition key and (in the UK at least) an absolute bargain





I was told it came out of a late 70's Blazer?

[Palf70Step]

That is a kool find. Congrats. That will work well in your truck.

[Grizz1963]

Great stuff Ian.

I managed to buy an original from Clem too.

Rare they are over here.

[ibrown50]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

That is a kool find. Congrats. That will work well in your truck.

Thanks Bill, if there's one benefit of my build taking a while it's that there's plenty of time for stuff to turn up

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Great stuff Ian.

I managed to buy an original from Clem too.

Rare they are over here.

Who ever fits their's first can "trail blaze" for the other


My new welding helmet arrived so "I'll be back" on with the rust repairs.




So far I’ve been pretty lucky with my repair panels, most have fit reasonably well…..until now, I’m fairly sure the left hand cab corner was for a different vehicle and probably not even a truck. Everything about it was wrong.

I have this habit, I don’t throw out the old panels until I have the new ones fitting ok, that payed off for me this time as I was able to compare the original with the re-pop.




I had to alter the angle on the rear section. This was cut, stretched and a sliver of steel welded in.

[ibrown50]

The curve was also a mile out I had to use sheet metal clamps to pull it and push it a half inch at a time. I literally spent hours getting it to fit.



It’s now fitted and the door gap and general alignment are great (if I do say so myself).







I’ve finished all of the welding on the floor repair. The repair panel is seamed up and all of the welds to the floor supports and rocker are done and dressed too. Time for the fender repairs

[Grizz1963]

PROGRESS !!!!


Awesome work Ian, as always.

[ibrown50]

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

PROGRESS !!!!


Awesome work Ian, as always.

Thanks mate......don't you sleep either

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by ibrown50

Thanks mate......don't you sleep either

My back is now so buggered that I get an average of 5 hrs sleep. Once I wake up, that’s it.

I hate waking at 04.00 etc.

Then just roll around and stress about the day job.

Guess I should go weld or grind then

[ibrown50]

The fender brace had some heavy pitting which a drilled out and welded and there was one fairly straight forward repair, if they were easily available in the UK I would have definitely fitted a new fender brace.





I had fender repair panel, which unlike the cab corners is a remarkably nice fit…… but there’s that law of the universe again, the rot always goes beyond the repair panel.






I repaired the hole before fully welding the repair panel and knocking over the flange. I had terrible issues with porosity in the welds on the small repair, I had painted some rust inhibitor on the inside of the brace, I can only assume this was the cause.
This is where I left things tonight, there’s a bit of hammer and dolly work to do before I finish up the welds, I need to test fit for the gap too. I even managed to avoid the holes for the fender badge

[Palf70Step]

Nice work.

[MacQuigley]

Nice Ian. I took the shortcut and just bought new fenders. They are a crap fit! Should have done what your doing.

[ibrown50]

I’ve not had much truck time recently but I have been busy.

If you follow Grizz’s build thread (or any of the UK threads) you may know we’ve been having a bit of a heatwave in the UK. Well a heatwave means only one thing, competition for space in the refrigerator, I need beer, the kids need soda’s and we all need food.

Being the selfless kind of bloke that I am I volunteered to buy one of these.




No, it’s not what you think, it’s a fridge




This is one of those slippery slope purchases.

Firstly I decided it was a little low, so I built another Marshall style speaker to stand it on






Then I decided the room needed a make-over, so exposed brick wall, walnut floor and general re-decoration and I’m finally finished.



Now back to the truck

[Grizz1963]

Impressive

That is all.

Love the thinking behind the fridge and result must make even you smile.

[Palf70Step]

Fridge is very neat and room looks great!

[ibrown50]

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Impressive

That is all.

Love the thinking behind the fridge and result must make even you smile.

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Fridge is very neat and room looks great!

Thank you gentlemen for your kind comments


With the repair on the rear section of the fender done (for now) I needed to tackle the front, the first job was to deal with the front fender lip. The hole in the lip had been filled with "something". I wish I had taken the time to photograph before I’d thrown it in the trash, it wasn’t even bondo, it was like chewing gum only green ( it may have been a giant bogey ).



After cutting out the rotten section I used a piece of the fender I'd cut from the rear to make a repair piece.




It’s a little tricky getting the shape right but it worked out well in the end.

[ibrown50]

With that done and a couple of random holes welded there was only the front lower section of the fender to do,



I find the easiest way to tackle repairs like this one is to start by removing everything that’s rotten, but don’t throw it away until you’re finished, you never know when you’ll need it for a measurement or pattern.



Make your repair piece from cardboard first, then when you’re happy with the fit, make one out of metal





There still a couple of pin holes to do and the I have the flange to fabricate and re-attach, unfortunately that will be the end of my truck time for a couple of weeks, I'm off around Europe, Spain France and Italy (not forgetting Monaco) .....Did I really just say unfortunately

[mjh1965]

Looking good Ian , those things called holidays , do seem to get in the way . l have only just got back from mine a short while ago . I worked on my truck today though, Getting the cab back off and putting it in my garage . Ready to start on the drivers side inner and outer rocker . Enjoy your holiday and come back refreshed ready to start on the truck

[MacQuigley]

Nice work Ian. You want my old fenders to repair next? Practice makes perfect!

Once found holes in the upper bulkhead of a Lightweight Land Rover that had been filled with Tinfoil and then painted over. I guess it was better than news paper!