Project "Jezebel"

[sgaylord]

Update::::

I was able to complete the repair to the drivers side "A" pillar last night. It was in worse shape than the passenger side. This time I had to rebuild a portion of the windshield track as well. Not too hard. I will say having a shrinker and stretcher made that job easier.

Here are some pics. Let me know what you think. My welding experience is limited. This job definately gives me the opportunity to get more welding time under my belt...


This is where I started. As you can see the outer lip where the cowl and the inner kick panel weld to is pretty much missing...


A closeup view of the rot in the windshield track


This shows how far back I had to cut the "A" pillar to get to some solid metal. I cut the upper section with a 4 1/2 grinder with a 1/16 cutoff wheel (Because of the brace in the middle), and lower section with the plasma cutter


This is about the best angle I could find for a view to show the new section welded in. I guess I am about as good a photographer as I am a welder huh?


This shows the windshield section repaired. I am holding off the top lip till I get the dash and cowl back in.


That's it for this week. Going camping this weekend with the family. Hope to get back on this next week. Let me know what you think of the work so far.

Steve

[heidesign]

Damb.

I hope I dont get into all that with my cab. Taking out the seat, removing tank, and front clip next weekend.

I just hate to put 1000's in a 300.00 truck.

But it was cheap. I will be subscribing to this one.

Will you post sources for parts for panel replacements, and document like you been doing for the rest of the cab?

I dont know alot about whats called what on these trucks, and will be getting into alot of the same things.

Thanks,

Bill

P.S.

Can people start showing sources for panels other than LMC. They are close to me, about 30 miles, so shipping would be free, but they sure seam HIGH for most of there parts.

BILL

[VA72C10]

Nice work...having all the right tools would make all the difference in the world...

[nuke1]

She sure is coming along nicely, you have a great deal of patience so a big kudos to you my friend.

[STOCKISH]

Great work so far. Cant wait to see the cab all back together. Good job.

[Sinister]

Nice work, a lot of people would have passed on that cab, me included.

[sgaylord]

Update::

Camping was great. I got home in the early afternoon on Sunday and after taking the wife to dinner for Mothers Day I found some time afterwards to work on the truck.

I had originally removed a section of the firewall thinking I only needed to repair that corner of the cowl. Well things were worse than previously thought so I had to remove the entire front (firewall, Cowl, Kick panels, and all). One good thing about doing it this way is I can spread the parts out to weld them better...

This is where I started. Aligned the section I removed to where it was originally. Clamped it in place and used the hammer and dolly to make sure the edges were all ligned up before spot welding.


Spot welded it every 6" or so to get it all in place and not to create too much heat that would warp the panel and cause more bodywork. (Lower half)



Upper half of the firewall spot welded


I continued spot welding skipping around till I filled it completely from top to bottom. Im afraid that if I would have run a bead it would surely have warped. This worked well. It wasnt pretty before grinding flat and took longer but it's the nice looking outcome we are looking for right?

Then using angle grinder with a 50 grit ROLOC and lots of patience to "only grind the welds" I smoothed out the spot welds. (Lower half)


All ground flat.
Attachment 460838

[VA72C10]

Nice and smooth...how far are you going with the smoothing of the firewall?

[sgaylord]

I am going to fill the holes where the A/C evap was attached. As well as a few others here and there that I am not going to use. Here are a couple pics of how I did it on my 69 Camaro. I plan to run the A/C and heater hoses differently though. I am thinking about running them between the inner and outer passenger fender and in under the cowl like 68 Short Step did on his Incredible Hulk project.

[mycool72]

Hat's off to you for replacing all that rust! I would've replaced the cab! Good save though.

[sgaylord]

Thanks. I think I am going after it for more of the challenge than anything. I have never tackled such a task before. I see some great work done on this board by some very talented people. I want to see how I stack up.... :-)

[sgaylord]

UPDATE::

Replaced a part of the edge where the firewall meets the floor pan on the drivers side. I first removed the bad section then bent a new piece using a metal brake to mimic the section removed. All in all it came out well. I left the section on the right edge unwelded because I need to replace a a piece above it. Here is how it turned out.

This is where I started. The section in the lower right of this picture is what I was working on.


This is the section cut out and preped for the new section to be welded in.


This pic shows the section welded in and an ajoining section that needed replaced as well. I did not notice this section needed to be replaced till I had already welded in the first piece. I am not the most observant person sometimes.


This is how I welded in the second piece. I wanted to show how the welds looked before I ground them down.


This is the finished piece. I also had to shape the bottom edge to make it match the original. My pieces were a little long compared to the rest of that edge.

[sgaylord]

Update: long time coming......

I have not posted a reply in a while. I have been looking for a donor cab with a good firewall and cowl. I did not think it was going to be that hard. Well, I tell you, I have looked at over 10 cabs/trucks and all seemed to have the same issue. The seam above the ebrake where the center section of the cowl joins the right and left sides were all full of cancer.

I finally found a 71 GMC LWB that had exactly what I needed. At first I thought I would just use that cab to replace mine but the more i looked at the patch work quilt the cab was I decided that the best part was just the cowl, firewall, and roof. I decided to buy the truck anyway and part out what I don't need which is basically everything but pieces just mentioned. Anyway, here are some pics. If you see something you need let me know, odds are I don't need it.

This is what I started with.





This is what I needed from the truck. Man that was a lot of work.....

[sgaylord]

Update:

My plan is to remove the spot welds from the donor section and separate it into 3 pieces. Firewall, upper cowl, and lower cowl & kick panels. I will then repair any minor parts that need attention and spot weld them into Jezebel following the same procedure GM used in the day. There probably was a better way of doing this by leaving it all together and installing it in one chunk. I was just worried with door alignment as well as I did not know what shape the "A" pillars were in. This way I can apply attention to any area that needs it, it's just going to take a little more work to get there. In the end I will know what I have, unlike before.

Here are some pics peeling the onion so to speak.




This is the section that was totally rusted in Jezebel. This section will make her water tight again.. :-)

[bigguy69]

man that thing is going to be nice. the work you are doing looks great.

[idonutn0]

Im really impressed!! Keep the pictures coming please.

[sgaylord]

Thanks guys. The way I look at it is, I got burned once, I don't want it to repeat itself by me not taking the time to do it right this time.

[texanidiot25]

You are one amazingly tenacious fabricator.

[packrat42]

Hows it goin steve? that really sucks about the truck. I remember that truck lookin pretty damn good. looks like your gonna fix it right this time. take it easy

[sgaylord]

Hey Derrick! How's it going? Navy treating you well? Are you home yet or still floating around...

Yes, this truck really looked good when you saw it in Daytona. Finding the rust that I found I could only come up with one name for it.... Jezebel seemed to fit so well considering the deception... Anyway, take care and when you get back come to the cruise, it would be good seeing you again.

Take care
Steve

[sgaylord]

UPDATE:::::

I was able to drill out all of the spot welds that needed removed in order to separate the panels and reinstall them on the truck. I fit the lower cowl w/kick panels, and the upper cowl to the "A" pillars. The fit was pretty good, I was a little worried that the edges I recreated on the "A" pillars would cause a fitment issue. I did have to make a few adjustments with a hammer and dolly but overall it went in pretty easily.

After taking a few pics I took it all apart again to POR-15 the "A" pillars and inside of the kick panels. I only applied the POR-15 to limited areas. I wanted to only apply POR-15 to areas that 1) were exposed to water, and 2) were not areas that would be welded in the future. I will use weld through primer in any area being welded. Then I will apply seam sealer over all seams when it cools down.

The next step will be to install it all again, clamp it together, then one last check to make sure the doors and fenders align then I will burn it all in for good.

Let me know what you think. Am I taking the right approach?

This is just one side of the kick panel showing how many spot welds actually hold them together.


This is the Dr. side "A" pillar coated with POR-15


This is the side of the kick panel where it will attach to the "A" pillar coated with POR-15.


Upper and lower cowl installed.


Passenger side of the same pic above.

[my67chevytruck]

nice work.

[*Dylan]

What engine was in the parts truck? I'd be interested if it ran and was in a decent condition.

[sgaylord]

Update:::::

After the POR-15 and the weld thru primer have dried I placed the lower cowl/kick panel section in place and lined it up using the bolts where the dash is bolted in. After moving it around till I was satisfied it was in the correct place I welded it in place and ground down the welds. I have some pics of the section before I welded it in place but none afterwards. I will take some and post them in the next update.

I removed the gas tank and rear window. Once I finish the cowl and firewall I will remove the cab and place it on the dolly to finish the lower "A" pillar's, partial floor sections and cab corners. More fun.....

Short post today for lots of work completed last night.

[howard_m18]

I'm in the process of redoing a 67 C10 the same way. I bought the 2 1/2" & the 4" drop but I ordered a 5 lug without thinking too much. I resent the rotors back & will use 6 lug instead. Can't post pics yet,BUT will ASAP. What range of tires can go on this truck? Thanks in advance! Howard