New project! The "Red Herring"

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Good fitting on the patches. Great looking Wildcat you have there too. Did you get it painted yet?

I wish! The Wildcat is in suspended status at the moment, I reached a point where I concluded that the body needs to come off the frame to fix it correctly and I decided to focus on getting this truck done so I can get it out of the garage and have more space for the Buick.

[JJorgensen52]

Page two - this means I've made it as a project, right??

I had the day off work - spent most of the morning cutting out the floor pan I tacked in last night, making some fit adjustments, and resetting it. I just couldn't get things to line up to my satisfaction. Glad I caught it now!

Once that was set, I made a patch for the upper floor and firewall at the kick panel:

Planning to use a Vintage Air unit so I don't need the outer heater hole.

All tacked in:


Fully welded the upper portion and ground mostly flush (going to be behind the firewall insulator and I didn't think I'd be able to do it with the kick panel in - in fact I could hardly do it with the kick panel out!)


Kick panel tacked in:


Overall shot, with the rocker and cab mount set in place for positioning and line-up:


Final parting shot:


Just two pieces left to make for this side!

[JJorgensen52]

A little more progress tonight.

Drilled for spot welds on the kick panel


Spot welds done


Fitted and tacked in the bottom of the kick panel. Other than finishing up the seams, not much left to do here.

[Advanced Design]

Nice, that is looking like a solid truck floor now!

[JJorgensen52]

Thanks AD!

I spent a bunch of time today fighting with the inner cowl filler panel. If I'd just come on here and searched, I'd have found out that I need to cut it apart to make it fit ... Ah well, live and learn .

Got the front cab mount spot welded in, seam welded the bottom of the kick panel to the floorpan, and welded in the front of the rocker panel. Fitment is good, very happy.



Tomorrow I'm going to start de-constructing the driver's side. I'm hoping to get both parts of the front floor patched up, then I will switch gears and install the rear floor pan kit I got from Absolute Sheetmetal.

[JJorgensen52]

Also apparently I haven't mentioned I've had a change of direction as far as the chassis for the truck goes:



I picked that up yesterday for a song. The more I looked at the S10 swap setup the less happy I was with it. I'm now going to be doing a frame swap for a hybrid - 67-72 2WD short rear frame with coils with the G-body front clip. The G-body uses the same control arms, spindles, and springs as the 2WD S10, but the track width and engine cradle are 4" wider which makes for no front wheel spacers and an easier install for the LS engine. Plus it should get the steering box (which is a quick ratio like the ZQ8) out of the way of my radiator

[Advanced Design]

Nice work on the right side of the cab! G body front clip swap with the 72 rear frame section will be interesting. The steering box won't get into the inner fender?

[oldman3]

J52, I've heard guy use the G body front end with good results. The rear of the 67-72 frame is different. Why couldn't you use the components of this system and just mount to the existing rear section of frame?...Jim

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by oldman3

J52, I've heard guy use the G body front end with good results. The rear of the 67-72 frame is different. Why couldn't you use the components of this system and just mount to the existing rear section of frame?...Jim

In this case, the rear of the frame on this truck is BEAT. Rusty, cracked and bent.

That said, I saw a thread on here (which I can't find at the moment of course ) where they installed a 67-72 rear trailing arm setup into an AD frame and it worked out pretty well - my reasoning was, since I'm already going to have to reposition the cab with the front clip anyway, and since all the stepside beds are close in design, it should not be terribly difficult.

I also have access to a 67-72 frame with bent frame horns up front, so that helped make the decision. I've taken a whole slew of measurements off my trucks and a few others I've looked at, and it seems like everything should line up nicely. How far I get, we shall see...

[oldman3]

Seems you've done your homework on the fit, I'm along for the build, so I'll keep watching, best of luck...Jim

[flashed]

That Cutlass nose if in good shape should bring in some extra cash ,kind of hard to find them.

[iowaboynca]

Originally Posted by JJorgensen52

I saw a thread on here (which I can't find at the moment of course ) where they installed a 67-72 rear trailing arm setup into an AD frame and it worked out pretty well - my reasoning was, since I'm already going to have to reposition the cab with the front clip anyway, and since all the stepside beds are close in design, it should not be terribly difficult.

Sound's like Leevon's "Popeye" build, love that build.

I have a 83 cutlass wagon and some quick measurements seem to be the same wheelbase. if my frame was sketchy I was going to use it. Will be interested to watch how you do.

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by oldman3

Seems you've done your homework on the fit, I'm along for the build, so I'll keep watching, best of luck...Jim

Thanks! I can use all the luck I can get

Originally Posted by flashed

That Cutlass nose if in good shape should bring in some extra cash ,kind of hard to find them.

Well this is nice to know. Other than the grills being cracked everything on this car is pretty nice.

Originally Posted by iowaboynca

Sound's like Leevon's "Popeye" build, love that build.

That's not the one I was thinking of, but that is one sweet truck I hadn't seen before!

Today I had a day of unexpected warm, sunny weather. Which meant I did an outdoor project I've been holding off on - I made the fence between my house and my garage "swing away" so I could get the part storage trailer and my parts car into the back yard (and actually park my daily in the driveway )



But I did start tearing down the driver's side



This side will need more repairs in the pillars. I have a patch for the rear pillar and I'm going to fab up the lower section below the hinge pocket (which is in fine shape)

Other news, there was a baseball sized dent in this pillar, which I'm working on massaging out. I've never done hammer and dolly work before, so slow going here and being careful. A tap here, a tap there!


I should have a pretty easy week at work this week so stay tuned for updates!

[JJorgensen52]

I've been distracted doing research these past few days - got the wiring harness off the 4.8L and am sending it out tomorrow or Thursday for standalone conversion and reflash. Keeping the VVT features, EVAP purge function, but deleting the rest of the emissions stuff.

I also got on the horn with MAR-K and ordered a bed. A pleasure to deal with those folks!

First off, rust repair. Apparently the PO thought bondo was a substitute for structural steel?


So out with the bad bit


Clamp up the patch panel


and wala!


That's the second round of tacks. Still have a little more to do. I wanted to get this repair done before I cut the rockers free, so I had a good solid reference to get the height and angle correct.

Second: Who can guess A. What this is / where it's from and B. What I'm going to be doing with it?

[Advanced Design]

Nice patching! Hate to say it, I am striking out on the part....should know what it is.

[JJorgensen52]

I'll give you a hint on the origin... it's at the fringe of what I would classify as a pickup truck ...

Forgot my camera tonight, and didn't spend much time but I finished welding the pillar patch and fixed the radio opening ... the bottom of the opening was bent down about 5/8", just like someone had cut the corners and folded it to install an oversized radio. No idea. Straightened it up, welded the edges, a little dolly work and it's done.

[JJorgensen52]

More progress on the driver's side. Did a lot of metal removal, and started reconstructing the bottom of the front pillar:


Other than that, spent a lot of time today at/on the phone with the DMV working on some troubles related to the title on this truck - looks like that is finally in the clear, as long as the VIN inspecting official doesn't have a problem with the phillips screws holding the plate on (the original ones which appear to be unique to 49-50 GMC from what I have found).

More progress tomorrow!

[Advanced Design]

You will have the left side knocked out in no time.

The part above...ElCamino part?

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

You will have the left side knocked out in no time.

The part above...ElCamino part?

You are correct, good sir. It is a 4th gen ElCamino tailgate latch assembly. Maybe if y'all are curious enough I'll post the sketch of what I'm planning

And you are correct again, because I am happy to report the left side is 90% done.

First, finished the bottom of the pillar:




Then cleared out all the old metal


Got everything lined up and marked


And then I tried a technique I saw in a build thread from one of our members in Holland, welding the rocker, mount and pan together prior to install like the factory did:



Then dropped it in, clamped the pillars down and tacked the pan in place


I still have to make the top edge of the toe-board, fit the new kick panel, and then I'll locate and weld the front pillar for the final time.
And THEN, I'll make the 7/8" long filler piece between the two new front floor pans ... Why don't they make them full width???

Anyways. A good day!

[oldman3]

Nice repairs...Jim

[Advanced Design]

I agree, very nice repairs. Yep, I am curious about the ElCamino part. Going to use it on your tail gate?

[JJorgensen52]

Thanks guys! I am glad to be learning

Being a Patriots fan, didn't get a whole lot done today

Made the upper toeboard patch and tacked in the driver's kick panel



I still need to 100% confirm my pillar is set in the right place, then I will do the spot welds at the rear of the kick panel, fit the lower curved bit and weld it all up solid. Then rear floors!

Here's the sketch for my idea. Hopefully my chicken scratch is clear enough


I've ordered my new tailgate from MAR-K without the chain eyes, and based on measuring the gate on my '69 step I *should* be able to get the latches and linkage to fit entirely inside the upper curl of the gate. The handle assembly is going to require a raised section at the center of the gate, but the El Camino latch is the very smallest one I could find (less than 2" tall and about 3/8" thick) and should require only a minimal boxed section.

The idea is to make it look as if the factory did it this way. As long as it fits the splines, I'm using this handle:


It is a reasonable match to the size and the shape of the door handles. We will see how happy I am with it in the long run.

[Advanced Design]

Cool idea! Looking forward to seeing it.

[JJorgensen52]

For a whole lot of work, not a whole lot of visual:

Driver's front pillar fully welded


And the money shot. Front floor pans are done. The little gap at the back of the trans opening was a real pain to make a patch for.


Sorry if my pictures are a little wonky, I bought a new "rugged" Panasonic camera and it broke the 3rd time I used it. Of course they tell me I was "mishandling" it so they voided the warranty. Long way of saying I'm using a camera with a broken view screen, so it's a little hard to tell what I'm shooting at

[Advanced Design]

Good progress. If you can, throw up another pic of the tranny tunnel please.