58 3100 cab rebuild

[Igotachevyor2]

looks like progress

[dwcsr]

I did a little more just need to get the top on and make the access for the distributor

[Jebb1978]

You are my hero!

[dwcsr]

calm down now its only a piece of metal.
I got the upper center and top done now I have to fill in the side panels and finish the welds and put in some bracing. I think thats it for now on this until i fit it to the other cab. it looks like an old boiler or reactor.

[Apache]

Nice. You can come do my cab next . Like they always say, you can never practice too much.

[dwcsr]

Thanks, I would come do yours but South Carolina washed of my map during Katrina or was it Rita or....... wait a minute didn't we sell it to Mexico maybe thats why its not on my map

Here are the latest. I decided that rather than weld in a brace at the top curve I would attempt to round that seam for strenght with a hammer and dolly. It actually came out ok. I split the weld hammering on ot so I had to redo it on the back side. I primed it with Bloxide the aluminum weld thru primer.

[Jebb1978]

You are quit a fabricator my friend. I am impressed!

[Igotachevyor2]

well done

[Apache]

The part of South Carolina I live it was never on the map to start with lol. And I have to agree with Jebb you are a good fabricator.

[dwcsr]

Thanks,

[CAL 58 GMC]

Man dwcsr, you do some really nice fabricating! Nice work!

[dwcsr]

I appreciate the compliments, Its finally as done as it can be for this cab. It was made with 13 cut pieces of 18 ga sheet. It wasn’t really as hard as I thought it would be and maybe I will be able to tackle the other cab corner with better results than the first one.
The rounded back pieces were bent on a wooden bar stool seat laid on the gorund and the rounded edge at the top and the rounded center were done with a hammer and dolly, which was actually the easiest part of the whole thing.

Here are the last pictures for the firewall recess project.

[dwcsr]

I got my 36" brake from Harbor Freight today. The weight was 163 lbs and they charged me $9.99 for shipping. Northern was $99.00 for shipping the same item which is closer to what it should be.

The Fedex driver was moaning about it being a freight shipment not ground shipment. I wanted to say shutup and drop off the box you get paid enough. But.... I said, no kidding heavy huh... He said ... whine, moan, whine... something freight.. wood ...nails sticking out...,I think he realized I didn't care and he left...

Anyway it is a nice heavy piece built well for the price, it bends 12 gauge up to 18" wide and 16 gauge up to 36". It seem to be fairly accurate and I don't think theres any sheet metal on this truck thicker that 18 gauge so this unit should do fine.

I want to try to make some inner fenders that are smoother than the originals. We'll see how that goes now that I have my courage up.

[Detroit3100]

any updates on this project?

[dwcsr]

I have moved to a new shop and been waiting 3 months for the power co to connect me. Every time they come to do it they find a new problem or a permit I need. I will be starting on it again as soon as they get me connected.

The cab above has been cut up and parted out. I will be working on the cab I intend to use, it needs pillars, corners and the inner roof panel in the front. I'll be sure to post as many pics as I can.

[hotrodsbyray]

awesome thread. thank you! i have been looking for a thread showing this type work and just haven't found one, i can't wait to see the hinge pillar - pocket areas. that is what i am tackling next.
the wire you use makes a huge difference. i used to use lincoln wire and it just wasnt doing the trick. i now use hobart wire and it is like night and day.

[dwcsr]

I use a wire called "Twenty Gauge". Its by JW Harris and its a .030 cored wire, not to be confused with fluxed wire. This wire has a power core rather than solid. Its really nice stuff.

I got my electric service connected today so I'm back in business and should have some pictures after the week end.

[ezekiel]

I might be misreading your welds but it looks like you are using flux core MIG wire with a MIG welder set up for gas.

If this is the case then you just have to reverse the polarity applied to the wire. Then your welds will come out looking really smooth.

What do you think?

Zeke

[dwcsr]

I use a metal powder cored wire not a flux core wire. What your seeing is shaky hand welding. Some days I can't weld anything and some days its perfect. As I remember I also used CO2 on this which is ok but leaves a taller weld bead. Usually I use C25 on it usually looks good.

[dwcsr]

I'm making the lower fender brackets that weld to the cab pillar post. Its the part that the lower fender bolts to. Below is the original and a fabricated one.

I'll post pictures of the actual process of making them incase you need to make some yourself. You will need some way of bending 14ga mild steel plate and a way to cut them out. Its a lot of hand fitting but not as complicated as they look. There are 2 pieces welded together. One piece has 3 bends and one has the rounded part. The trick is bending the top piece in the right order.

[55dude]

dude! nice work. i checked out the site for "20 gauge" welding wire and well too say the least found the site infomative. have you ever tried "E-Z GRIND" wire? the low alloy content makes welds softer and requires less grinding. friend of mine swears by it, says welds much easier to work with hammer also.

[Igotachevyor2]

great work

[dwcsr]

Originally Posted by 55dude

dude! nice work. i checked out the site for "20 gauge" welding wire and well too say the least found the site infomative. have you ever tried "E-Z GRIND" wire? the low alloy content makes welds softer and requires less grinding. friend of mine swears by it, says welds much easier to work with hammer also.

I'll have to try it thanks.

[dwcsr]

Originally Posted by Igotachevyor2

great work

thanks,

[dwcsr]

Taking an old bracket and cutting it apart I flattened it to use as a template. One benefit of flattening it out was it kept the bend lines making it that much easier to make the new bends correctly.