1949-50 3100

[Denee007]

Wouldn't you just love to have a sit down conversation with the folks that did all that "fine" work! Kind of like on my truck~ a "reputable shop" did all the paint/body work~ yeah!argh!

[dwcsr]

Its sad to know shops like that exist. I'm just glad he saw it prior to blasting and still painted blue he would never have believed it was his truck.

[dwcsr]

It came back late today and its not good. The blaster said he had never seen so much filler on a truck. Almost every panel has a hole in it and the door was filled half way up. What they did was used screen and a patch then poured filler on it sanded it down and sprayed the back side of the panels with bed liner so it looked good on both sides. The fenders front and back, the hood, the left bed panel, around the windows front and back in all the hard to fix spots. The belt line is cheese. I'll take pictures tomorrow and post.

He had to grind off the liner in most spots and left it in places he knew we were cutting out anyway. The total on the blasting came to $1700. If anyone is looking for a blaster in Houston www.affordableblasting.com. They do a very good job, he delivered on time and he has experience with vehicles like ours.

[dwcsr]

Here are some pics of the cab. If you look back you wouldn't think its the same one I sent to him. They bondo'd and back sprayed everything they tried to hide. None of this was visible prior to blasting.

[dwcsr]

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[dwcsr]

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[dwcsr]

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[rgunlock]

Ouch! Looks like you've got your work cut out for you on that cab - lots of hidden "fun".

[Denee007]

Well, I'd have to find another project cause there's no way I could fix all of that, at least in my lifetime! But I know you can fix it!

[dwcsr]

After thinking about this for a few days I decided that we will present to the owner that we replace the lower cowls and wheel houses, Upper cowl, outer pillar covers, roof, rear window panels inner and outer, and the lower back panel and corners.

We could fix the issues but still end up with places that may well rust through in a year or two. If we have to take some panels off to treat the existing rust then we may as well replace them entirely. The rear window and belt line will be a problem area if we don't.

[Rude Dude]

Man hours alone justifies another cab I would think that are a few in Texas

[dwcsr]

Originally Posted by Rude Dude

Man hours alone justifies another cab I would think that are a few in Texas

If I can get one at a reasonable price. They want crazy money for trucks here. I've seen $2000 for a cab that needs another 2k put into it. That certainly will be something I'll keep an eye out for one.

[dwcsr]

Got the OK to do the cab work and parts are on the way. I think by the end of next week I'll have some progress pictures to post. I also got the dolly lock welded on and they work very well. You step on the outer lever to lock it down and the inner to unlock. Not cheap, I think about$80 shipped but they work great.

[FarmerSid]

But I bet you will find that after using them for a while that they will be money very well spent.

[dwcsr]

Originally Posted by FarmerSid

But I bet you will find that after using them for a while that they will be money very well spent.

I thought so too. Last thing I want to do is chase a cab across the shop while fixing dents or worse have it roll out of the shop into a car or something else.

[donthekawguy]

I know a guy up here in North Idaho that has a few 5 window cabs that look to be in pretty good shape. I don't know what it would cost to ship one to you but it's an option. One problem will be he is in Portland OR for the huge swap meet till next week. Let me know if you want his number.

[dwcsr]

We have the roof and back off. We used a plasma torch and slit the sheet metal all around the edges to get all the big metal off. then went back and busted all the spot welds with a seam buster. So its bare from the A pillar to the back of the cab. lots of rust that needs blasting. I think now I even more convinced replacing the roof and back was the right thing to do.

[dwcsr]

Before I go further I need to pop the doors on and make some braces to the firewall and floor pan. I don't want the door opening to get out of shape during all the metal work. The doors fit very well prior to us taking this apart and we made alignment holes in the hinges and panels so they would line back up as they were exactly.

[Denee007]

Extraordinary work! I imagine the plasma cut through that in a flash!
dne'

[Kabwe]

WOW. I thought my cab was in bad shape, but man that is some work right there. The good thing is doing it right, means not having to do it again.

[Russell Ashley]

This is a very interesting thread. Please post lots of pics as you progress through this build. Calling this a build is correct, looks like you are actually building a cab, LOL.
I feel bad for the owner to have gotten ripped off like he did. It's too bad that he doesn't have some way to recover at least some of his money.

[dwcsr]

Originally Posted by Denee007

Extraordinary work! I imagine the plasma cut through that in a flash!
dne'

It cut as quickly as if you were drawing a line with a marker. This whole strip down was under 3 hrs. Most of that was busting the spot welds afterwards.

[dwcsr]

Originally Posted by Kabwe

WOW. I thought my cab was in bad shape, but man that is some work right there. The good thing is doing it right, means not having to do it again.

We are re sand blasting the areas that are now exposed. It will be 99% rust free and hopefully last until his son gives it to his son.

[dwcsr]

Originally Posted by Russell Ashley

This is a very interesting thread. Please post lots of pics as you progress through this build. Calling this a build is correct, looks like you are actually building a cab, LOL.
I feel bad for the owner to have gotten ripped off like he did. It's too bad that he doesn't have some way to recover at least some of his money.

The guy is an attorney so he may already be trying to get some back.

It is really going to be a cab build once we remove the front cowl and the side cowls and the inner panels along with the front section of floor. The only things we are not doing is the dash, Door openings, upper firewall and rear floor pan but the firewall may go as well or be heavily modified to fit the 5.3.

The rest of this week we will be making bracing from the firewall down to the dolly so when we remove the front floor and lower cowls it doesn't sag. We'll also add bracing across the floor up to the dash on each end. Across the door locks.

I going to try and document what we do as it goes incase some of you need to do portions of this. I'm thinking we are going to do just about everything you can do to a cab.

[solidaxel]

I see no reason why you should not guarantee that truck for the next 50 years!!!