Trying to make Junky perhaps just a little bit Funky...

[DD1]

Forgot to mention, I adjusted and bolted in the door pillar. I had forgotten to do this, and it helped me get rid of the gap between the pillar and the floor.





No more gap:


I am not happy about this gap between the top of the pillar and the floor, but there does not seem to be much I can do about it. The pillar seems to be at about the right height, and I really don't want to move the back of the floor any higher.

I don't think there is any issue leaving it the way it is, but would like to hear what anyone else thinks. The gap is on both sides of the cab.

[Xeen]

All that matters is getting the gaps as close to perfect as possible so whatever you have to do to accomplish that within reason is the right thing to do.
A lot of times guys will add metal to the door to close the gaps instead of messing with the cab structure, so get the cab as close as you can and do the rest of the adjustment with the doors.
Here's an example during the mod and after.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=674
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=675

[DD1]

Originally Posted by Xeen

All that matters is getting the gaps as close to perfect as possible so whatever you have to do to accomplish that within reason is the right thing to do.
A lot of times guys will add metal to the door to close the gaps instead of messing with the cab structure, so get the cab as close as you can and do the rest of the adjustment with the doors.
Here's an example during the mod and after.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=674
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=675

Thanks for sharing that Brian. I am looking at it on my phone, and want to look later on a normal size screen.

So I understand this properly, he added a string of welding wire to the edge of the door. Then he welds it in? Trying to wrap my mind around the process. I don't know if I need to do it yet, but it seems interesting.

[Xeen]

Originally Posted by DD1

Thanks for sharing that Brian. I am looking at it on my phone, and want to look later on a normal size screen.

So I understand this properly, he added a string of welding wire to the edge of the door. Then he welds it in? Trying to wrap my mind around the process. I don't know if I need to do it yet, but it seems interesting.

I'm not a welder so I can't really tell you how to do it, all I really know about it is that the wire is about the thickness of the rolled edge of the door, I have seen lots of guys use this trick and thought it could be useful for you.

[DD1]

Originally Posted by Xeen

I'm not a welder so I can't really tell you how to do it, all I really know about it is that the wire is about the thickness of the rolled edge of the door, I have seen lots of guys use this trick and thought it could be useful for you.

It might be useful. thanks. I looked at the full page from that thread. It's an interesting way to close the gap between the door and the cab. I am more concerned right now with making sure the door lines up with the cab corner. Dealing with the door gap will be another thing giving me anxiety later on.

I am by no means a welder either. Not sure I have the skill to pull off the trick he did.

[swamp rat]

If a gap is too wide I have seen a couple times welding a length of welding rod onto the edge of the door to fill the gap, welded on both sides of the rod, a lengthy process and you must control your heat. its a pretty common thing to do but I think it may be better accomplished with a tig welder.

I believe that gap from the floor on bottom picture 401 (2 arrows) is normal.

[DD1]

Today was actually a productive day, although it may not seem like it from this post. I continued working on the D/S cab corner, and it's almost done. I think this side has gone better than the P/S side did.

I started to weld the cab corner, then realized I forgot to drill holes and prep the metal for the spot welds in the back. Fortunately 2 quick cuts with a Dremel and I was able to take care of it.

It took a little finessing and some patching to get the pieces together - the cab corner is one of the more difficult pieces to hold, clamp, and position in my opinion.



A friend came over to show me how to fill gaps without a patch or welding spoon. Then we wasted 2 hours BSing when another friend stopped by. This is more or less how I left the cab corner at the end of the day. It's not the most recent pic, so it actually looks a bit better than that.



I took a break from the cab corner and decided to work on the A pillar (the front one, I always get them confused). It's in bad shape since I had to remove it after installing it so I could fit the inner cowl panel.

I decided to cut a portion of it off and use part of the piece I cut as an extension patch. I think I cut it pretty straight, and it was going well. Then it got caught in the wire wheel on the bench grinder and got mangled. I might be able to bang it into shape, but I don't think it will be exactly the same as it was.

I think I am going to get another pillar patch panel use it with the extra one I have to make this work.

I cut the piece between the tape as a patch. Then cut the piece on the cab (I did cut it straight across, just no finished pic).



Then it got mangled. Sucked into the wire wheel, bounced off my chest, and thrown across the room.


I'll decide tomorrow whether to repair the piece or but another panel. The extra panel I have is a Goodmark panel from Rock Auto. I am not thrilled with it, and don't mind using it to cut up.

[DD1]

Very quick update.

Decided to order another Goodmark door pillar from Rock Auto. It actually lines up to the original door post better than the one from Classic Parts. I will cut the top part off one to make an extension, then use the lower part of the extra piece.

Can't beat the price; with shipping it's still less than the part from CP. I think I was biased because I was comparing the two parts, and like the look and feel of the CP one better.

Did not do much on Sunday. A little more welding on the cab corner, installed the transmission cooler to the radiator. Otherwise spent most of the day doing work outside, prepping my motorcycle for the season, or helping the in-laws.

[DD1]

Last night I ordered the extra front door pillar from Rock Auto. I wanted to order it in time to hopefully get it by the weekend. They shipped it out today and I should have it by Friday.

A little while ago, I was in my basement and notice a rocker panel leaning against a box. I looked in the box to see if there was another rocker panel. Of course I also found this - a L/S door pillar.


So now, I will have 3 door pillars, 4 if you count the one I already destroyed. Of course for me it's probably not a bad thing. I can't guarantee I won't damage all 3 of them and need to order a 5th door pillar.

On the bright side, at least I did not order new rocker panels (never mind that I have about 7 used ones in my garage). I do not remember ordering these parts at all. I guess that's what happens when you work on something, get annoyed and walk away for 6 months or so.

I took the new rocker panel and lined it up to the R/S of the cab. It looks like it lines up pretty well in the back. The front side has an obstruction; I think it's just the piece of metal sticking out to far. Hopefully an easy fix. These pics are just with me holding it in place, but hopefully it looks promising.

Should I try and make that gap on the back of the rocker panel smaller? It might just be there because the front is not installed.

[Xeen]

You won't be able to judge the fitment of the rocker until you trim off the extra metal that is preventing it from aligning properly.

[DD1]

Originally Posted by Xeen

You won't be able to judge the fitment of the rocker until you trim off the extra metal that is preventing it from aligning properly.

Yeah, I know. I'll do it later this week or this weekend.

[swamp rat]

Per the first pic, make certain that you get that rocker as close to the rear cab corner as possible.

[DD1]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Per the first pic, make certain that you get that rocker as close to the rear cab corner as possible.

Good to know. Thanks, Mike.
Posted via Mobile Device

[DD1]

I cut some of the piece off the rocker panel to see if I could get a better fit.

First, I don't know what kind of brain fart I had, and I'm pretty sure I was not smoking anything, but for some reason I decided to cut off the round end where the arrow is pointed in this pic. Doing so serves no purpose, and I did not even realize what I did until I was done.


I cut this part down a bit; I may need to cut it vertically a bit further down to get it in properly.


There is a large gap on either side of the rocker panel.


For the back I am thinking I can just bang the metal in to make it meet the rear door pillar. I am wondering if I did not line up the door pillar properly. When I look at it straight on, I see a slight difference, but it could be my mind playing tricks on me. Don't know if you can see it in the image.


I need to look at Mike's posts again to see how it's supposed to line up.

[DD1]

Messed around with the rocker panel some more today. Got it to go a bit further back after realizing that it was hitting the bottom sheet metal screw I had in the cab corner (last pic on last post).

It still has a decent gap on the front pillar. Not sure what to do about that.




I was looking around for a not too pricey hood because I don't like mine. I found a guy in NJ on Craigslist selling one for $75. Had no easy way to pick it up, and the only was I could get him to deliver it to me was if I also bought a door I don't need for another $75. Gonna try and sell my hood and the door to make up for the extra expense. Although I might hold on to the door for a little while, just in case it fits better than my door.

[DD1]

Did not work on the cab much so far this weekend. Mostly been doing research on this site for the rocker panel fitment issue. I have decided that I am going to go with it being the rocker panel is the problem, and not my installation of the door pillars.

I having been looking at Mike's experience with the rocker panel, and think I might try some relief cuts to make the panel fit against the pillars. Wish me luck; hopefully I won't screw this up. Getting tired of buying multiple parts.

I also can't find the nut cage for the A pillar on the D/S. I can't finish the A pillar without it. I wonder if it's in the bed of the cab, although I don't know why I would put it there.

Finally I decided I will use the A pillar I got from Classic Parts. I was comparing the two pillars, and the Goodmark one does not have enough metal on the right to cover the bolt holes on the inner rocker panel (see pic below). I guess that's what I get for trying to go the cheap way. It will still be good to cut for an extension piece.



Tomorrow I am going to HF with the 25% off coupon to get a Chop Saw to cut small pieces in a straight line. If I had to cut a straight line to save my life, I'd be dead.

[DD1]

Ok, so I learned something important today - I'm an idiot.

I mentioned in the last post that I can't find the nut cage for the D/S door pillar. I've been looking all over for it. Turns out the cage that I thought was for the P/S is actually for the driver's side. I was putting it in the bracket backwards.

The question I should have asked myself is how would the nuts stay in place from the wrong side of the pillar.

On the progress side of things, I can move forward now with the D/S A pillar. I went to HF today with a 25% coupon and picked up a Chop Saw.


I used it to make a straight cut on the Goodmark A pillar I had. I should mention that I almost cut the wrong pillar - the one I got from Classic Parts.

I took the piece I cut from the pillar and created an extension of the A pillar.
I have not finished welding it up yet, but I think it came out okay.




I originally intended to make the extension just long enough to use the full patch panel below it. I will still need to cut the Classic Parts piece a bit, which is not a bad thing.

I always thought that I was making a mistake when I cut the parts or the cab, and that caused a gap at the right side. Several door pillars later, I finally realized that the part slants down at the right top.


The plan is now to figure out how much of this part to cut to bring it to the right size. I am going to drill the holes for the hinge bolts in the extension I welded, and use that as a guide to figure out how much to cut off.

[DD1]

Worked on the truck for a few hours today. I don't feel like I accomplished a lot, but I am trying to be patient and take my time. I don't want to rush and forget something or screw something up. I did almost damage the door pillar by rushing to remove the brace between the door (upper right corner of 1st pic).

Finished welding the door pillar extension, cut the new pillar down to size, and sized it up. Seems to be about right, although I could be slightly off on the 7.5" from the center of the top bolt. Not sure how much leeway I have with it. I might bring it slightly down. I have a cut piece of metal I can use as a spacer. I also put weld primer anywhere that was attached to or covered by another part.

One thing I am curious about is that the part barely covers the bottom right screw hole on the inner rocker / cab brace. The other side has more space for the screw, but then again my rocker does not fit well, so maybe I should not judge it by that.

I don't think I finished welding when I took this pick, in case you still see some holes.


I had to shave the pillar down a little to get it to fit where the red mark is.


Overall I think I am happy with where everything lines up. Next I want to tack weld in the inner panel, and re-fit the pillar over it. I like the fit of the panel; for once the gap at the top is not super big.

[DD1]

After many distractions and issues, I took the day off from work today and spent some time on the cab. About a month ago, I had to move the bed floor from against the back of my garage, and seriously tore a calf muscle. That's the 2nd injury I have gotten from the bed floor.

I think I must have some point decided to go for the World's Record of longest time spent working on a singe Cab Corner.

Today the D/S Cab Corner is just about done. I have patched it up, welded it up (mostly), and grinded it to the best of my ability. The rest is up to Bondo and some luck. I am not trying to make a show truck, just trying to get it done.

The next step is to spot weld the back of the cab corner to the back of the floor, which I am nervous about.

Here's what I did today... I will post in a while about what I did today. There seems to be some issues with Shutterfly - all my albums disappeared. They are still on my phone app which is weird.

[DD1]

It looks like Shutterfly resolved the issue with the site and I can access my photos again.

Like I said, I am just about finished with the D/S cab corner. It's not pretty by any means, but I'm not trying to make a show truck, and for someone who does not know what he's doing, it works.

I was really happy to see that my spot welder fits across the door pillar to the edge of the cab corner.



I filled up all the little holes I missed when welding, including making a patch at the bottom.



This is what I am left with. Just need to spot weld the back to the floor. This is what I am nervous about as I have not done this before. Going to re-read the tips people have given me on this site before messing with it.



I also started welding the cowl panel in place. Hopefully will finish it up this weekend.

[DD1]

Did a little more patch work on the cab corner; worked on the P/S side a bit. Decided to try my luck at plug welding. Don't think I did too bad. Please let me know your thoughts on how I did.

I realized I need to bring myself down to the part I'm welding - I was sitting above it - so I can make sure I get the weld around the entire circle. I had to redo part of the edges afterwards.

[DD1]

I think I FINALLY finished the P/S cab corner!

It's UGLY, buy it's done.

Filled in the small gap I had at the edge of the cab corner. Again it's ugly, but done.


Of course I made the job longer and harder than it had to be by drilling holes to plug weld areas that did not need to be plug welded, and drilling holes to plug weld an area that my spot welder could have reached.

Here is the back of the cab corner plug welded to the floor. I checked the floor side to make sure the welds were going through. I used a self tapping screw to get the metal to touch; I did 1-2 holes at a time and just kept moving the screw. I gave a quick weld to the screw hole and grinded it down with the flap disc.



These are the holes that I did not need to drill at all.


And this is the front that I could have just used my spot welder on. I used the spot welder in between the holes I made, and then plug welded the holes as best I could. Some did not have much metal behind them and were just filled in.


Tomorrow I will try and get the other side done and the back of the cab, but if I can get the wife to help me move the sheetrock from on top of the bed and onto the wall, that takes priority.

[DD1]

I found a place about 20 minutes from me that does sand blasting and painting; it's never showed up in any of my Google searches before. I met up with the guy and his prices are pretty reasonable compared to other places I contacted.

He will sandblast the top of the bed floor, one bed side, and the front panel of the bed for $600. If I buy the paint, he will paint all for $150.

I am going to have him paint them with Chassis Saver. I ordered a gallon can from JB Tools.


After selecting the paint and reducer, I was a few dollars away from free shipping, so I ordered a can of seam sealer figuring I will hopefully need it soon, or at the very least I will need it eventually.

I got a quart of the Dominion Sure Seal PBGQ Brushable Seam Sealer. Don't know if it's any good, but it has great reviews on Amazon. Has anyone ever used or heard of this brand?

[swamp rat]

Glad to see some progress! I'm sure the seam sealer will work fine.

[DD1]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Glad to see some progress! I'm sure the seam sealer will work fine.

Thanks, Mike. I finally feel like I am actually getting somewhere. The next challenge will be getting the front door pillar done. But I want to finish the cab corners and the back, then work on the front of the cab.