My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”

[Kronald_70GMC]

Has anyone else noticed that the view counter appears to have stopped quite some time ago or is it just something on my end?

[chewychevy67]

Originally Posted by Kronald_70GMC

Has anyone else noticed that the view counter appears to have stopped quite some time ago or is it just something on my end?

Nope it don't work. Been a few months now.

[mr48chev]

Wow, I don't think I would have ever taken one on in that shape. I've primarily got to weld up the 50 something holes that my uncle drilled in the 71 I have that he had for years. I think my dad gave him that electric drill for his Birthday one year too. You sure are doing a nice job on it though.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

Wow, I don't think I would have ever taken one on in that shape. I've primarily got to weld up the 50 something holes that my uncle drilled in the 71 I have that he had for years. I think my dad gave him that electric drill for his Birthday one year too. You sure are doing a nice job on it though.

Thanks for the compliments. I just keep telling myself that all this work will pay off in the end.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Cab corner has nearly been finish welded. I had to cut it back off in order it weld all the bottom stuff. For some reason my welder is trash at welding from underneath. Its all good though as I had to remove it for weld through primer and to finish cutting the back to fit. It turned out to be alot easier than expected to remove the lip around the bottom of the cab corner. Im hoping to possibly get it tacked into position tomorrow. We'll see if I have enough time.

[Kronald_70GMC]

All welded up. Just need to check for pinholes in the welds, clean up the back side, shoot with weld through and it will be ready for the final install!

[Kronald_70GMC]

I'm hoping that someone who has installed vintage air might be able to chime in on this. Im still trying to figure out how I can mount the unit as clean as possible but I can't afford the unit as of yet. I would like to have the fasteners hidden from the engine bay to stick with my clean firewall theme. So my question is, if I were to weld in two vertical channels on the inner firewall that were just wider that the overall unit, would I then be able to build a mounting plate that I could bolt to the unit, and then to the channels? Im fairly sure that it would work, my only concern is that I would be then mounting the unit, Im guessing around 3/4" further into the cab. Does anyone know if this would work? Thanks in advance for any help on this.

[cornerstone]

Originally Posted by Kronald_70GMC

I'm hoping that someone who has installed vintage air might be able to chime in on this. Im still trying to figure out how I can mount the unit as clean as possible but I can't afford the unit as of yet. I would like to have the fasteners hidden from the engine bay to stick with my clean firewall theme. So my question is, if I were to weld in two vertical channels on the inner firewall that were just wider that the overall unit, would I then be able to build a mounting plate that I could bolt to the unit, and then to the channels? Im fairly sure that it would work, my only concern is that I would be then mounting the unit, Im guessing around 3/4" further into the cab. Does anyone know if this would work? Thanks in advance for any help on this.

I can't give a direct answer, but I'll be glad to try to help you figure it out. I want the same look, I mean we went through the work of getting the wall clean and it just feels wrong to have to have the head of a bolt mess it up. Currently I have the VA unit hanging on the the inside firewall. It's not bolted in yet, but held in place by the aluminum lines that attach to the unit. My thought was to get the evaporator in it's proper place, and make marks on the firewall where threaded mounting studs could be welded. It is a very tight fit just to get it up there, and will be even harder to get enough clearance to fit the unit on the studs, but where there is a will there is a way. I'll try to get some decent pics up so we can solve the problem.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by cornerstone

I can't give a direct answer, but I'll be glad to try to help you figure it out. I want the same look, I mean we went through the work of getting the wall clean and it just feels wrong to have to have the head of a bolt mess it up. Currently I have the VA unit hanging on the the inside firewall. It's not bolted in yet, but held in place by the aluminum lines that attach to the unit. My thought was to get the evaporator in it's proper place, and make marks on the firewall where threaded mounting studs could be welded. It is a very tight fit just to get it up there, and will be even harder to get enough clearance to fit the unit on the studs, but where there is a will there is a way. I'll try to get some decent pics up so we can solve the problem.

Thank you sir!

[curtisb]

beautiful work, thanks for the pictures. this will help me when i start my restoration

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by curtisb

beautiful work, thanks for the pictures. this will help me when i start my restoration

Right on. Glad I can help out in any way. Lots of what I've done was found on this forum.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Nothing ever seems to work out in what I think i can get done in an evening. There is always something unforseen that slows me down. Tonight It was my rear floor patch. It looked like it was pretty close from the bottom which is where I've been viewing it from. I should have looked from inside the cab as well but of course, I didn't. Oh well its all fixed up now. I had to slice it along the top edge and twist the top out towards the back of the cab to get it to where it needed to be to work with cab corner. After all that fun, I even managed to get it tacked into position.

[TA_C10]

very nice work sir.

[gmc684x4]

Very nice looking truck

What are you using for a mig ?

I had a mig pak 10 from Ct i hated it and sold it even a welder i know had a hard time with it

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

very nice work sir.

Thank you sir.

Originally Posted by gmc684x4

Very nice looking truck

What are you using for a mig ?

I had a mig pak 10 from Ct i hated it and sold it even a welder i know had a hard time with it

Thanks for the positive input! Always a huge help for getting my motivation up.
My mig is an old Hobart Handler probably from the 80's. My dad has a hobart Handler 140 and it is a great machine. Thats what I started welding with back when I lived at home.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Well I did manage to get on the truck for about 30 minutes today. I have been sidetracked on a different project for my quad. It turned out so much better than I expected so I just have to share it here. I did managed to correct the rear door gap. It was quite tight near the body line and for anyone who has the same issue, it seems that correcting it with the cab corner tacked on seems to be the best way. I had tried to correct it several times pre cab corner and it always went back. I guess it just needed something to hold it in place.

[TA_C10]

Great idea axe holder on the quad ��

And doing a great job on the cab corner.

.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

Great idea axe holder on the quad ��

And doing a great job on the cab corner.

.

Thanks man! I'm hoping to get out there later today to make some more progress.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Wooo weee is that alot of welding. I got 2 hours in tonight and have the rest of the plug welds done and I also finished up the butt weld on the outboard side. It is all ground down and cleaned up. So shiny

[Kronald_70GMC]

Cab corner is in! It fought me pretty good on the back so it will definitely need some decent filler but im pretty happy all things considered.

[cornerstone]

You're a true craftsman Kyle! It may take long time to do it right, but you'll know exactly what you're driving and have pride in it at the same time.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by cornerstone

You're a true craftsman Kyle! It may take long time to do it right, but you'll know exactly what you're driving and have pride in it at the same time.

You sure know how to make a guy feel good about his work. Thanks! It's comments like this that keep me motivated.

[TA_C10]

Agreed. Such great work here. That corner looks really nice.

.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

Agreed. Such great work here. That corner looks really nice.

.

Thanks man! I appreciate the kind words

[gmc684x4]

Nice work

I have seen cardboard as backer for bondo on rusty trucks seen a bronco where the fellow rivited the patch panels over the rust spots

My aim will be after i get a mig to make my work look close to yours
Practice will help

I seen a trick one fellow showed me make the patch and the panel trimmed close to same size tack the two together use zip disk cut at a 45 degree angle back tack the fresh cut flush make the next cut and continue until you have the patch completely flush fit finish welding and watch how much heat you drive into the panel