Penny

[FRANKENSTEINC10]

Wow. The wheels look awesome so far!

[ekgguy]

Originally Posted by FRANKENSTEINC10

Wow. The wheels look awesome so far!

Thanks. We ended up getting them trued up to within 0.010, so they should balance out pretty well. They are plug welded and seam welded so they should be strong enough...

[ekgguy]

I put the first coat of filler on the passenger bedside after pulling as much of the dents as possible.

Unfortunately, I have to work night shift 6 out of the next 7 nights, so it will have plenty of time to cure.

[ekgguy]

It has been a long couple of weeks at work... 15 out of 17 days, but I managed to carve out some time today to do some sanding and priming. That is a pretty good transformation if I do say so myself.

[Xeen]

The used bedside you picked up is a great starting point to making that side right again.

If you pick up a stud welder, a slide hammer and a box of pins you can get that bedside all straightened out to within the thickness of a dime which will make it so all you need is a skim coat of filler to make it perfect.

A few tips a friend of mine taught me about pulling dents, if you have a straight on dent make the first pull in the center and attempt to use your body weight to pull it slowly while stopping occasionally to check if it's close to flush with the original surface, once you get it close check for irregularities in the dent and place pins accordingly and pull again until you get it close everywhere.
If you have a crease start at the deepest part of the crease and work your way out to the most shallow part.
Most of the time there is no need to slam the weight into the butt stop to get the metal to move but occasionally if the dent is directly over structure you will have to do it.
It is important to get the angle right while you pull you don't want to cock your slide hammer at an off angle or you will cause more problems for yourself, always try to pull as straight and level as possible.

[picklito]

Originally Posted by ekgguy

So.... a question to the masses.... GLOSS or Matte???

Simple... His and Hers.

[ekgguy]

Originally Posted by picklito

Simple... His and Hers.

LOL... I am sure that I don't have the money for that.... and with what I am doing on this one... probably don't have the patience either

[ekgguy]

Originally Posted by Xeen

The used bedside you picked up is a great starting point to making that side right again.

If you pick up a stud welder, a slide hammer and a box of pins you can get that bedside all straightened out to within the thickness of a dime which will make it so all you need is a skim coat of filler to make it perfect.

A few tips a friend of mine taught me about pulling dents, if you have a straight on dent make the first pull in the center and attempt to use your body weight to pull it slowly while stopping occasionally to check if it's close to flush with the original surface, once you get it close check for irregularities in the dent and place pins accordingly and pull again until you get it close everywhere.
If you have a crease start at the deepest part of the crease and work your way out to the most shallow part.
Most of the time there is no need to slam the weight into the butt stop to get the metal to move but occasionally if the dent is directly over structure you will have to do it.
It is important to get the angle right while you pull you don't want to cock your slide hammer at an off angle or you will cause more problems for yourself, always try to pull as straight and level as possible.

Thanks for the advise Brian. That is the same bedside as what was on there, just a lot of bodyworking and a little bit of filler. Still some work to do.

I have the stud welder attachment for my mig welder and you are correct, it works wonders. I have already gone through a box of pins on the side you see and the other side. Best $35 ever spent.

[Xeen]

Originally Posted by ekgguy

Thanks for the advise Brian. That is the same bedside as what was on there, just a lot of bodyworking and a little bit of filler. Still some work to do.

I have the stud welder attachment for my mig welder and you are correct, it works wonders. I have already gone through a box of pins on the side you see and the other side. Best $35 ever spent.

I am relieved to hear that, I was afraid you had gone through and just filled in the dents with filler like most untrained people do.
I can only see 5 areas behind the wheel and 4 in front of it that still need some attention, it's plain to see you have done some good work on the first pass, a couple more hours and you will have it straight and ready for a skim coat of filler and some high build primer.
The damage down at the front bottom edge looks fairly nasty and is most likely beyond saving you may have to cut it out and replace it.
I'm looking forward to seeing the work as you progress.

[ekgguy]

Originally Posted by Xeen

The damage down at the front bottom edge looks fairly nasty and is most likely beyond saving you may have to cut it out and replace it.
I'm looking forward to seeing the work as you progress.

Agreed. Thanks for the encouragement.

[ekgguy]

WoooooHooo.. Vacation Time!!!!!!!!

Spent the first week of vacation with some family in Oklahoma and went to the Outlaw Armageddon drag races. Had a great time, met some interesting people.

The second week will be all truck time.... one whole week of unadulterated truck fun.....

Started out by ordering parts. Bottom portions of the bed that were unrepairable, cab corners, inner and outer rockers, lower back corner for the drivers front fender, (in talks for the front cup for the same), a new passenger fender from Elliot949. Looks like X-mas in the garage right now.

While waiting for parts, did some work on the opposite bedside, lots of little dents, so the puller came in handy. First couple of filler coats



Now for some disassembly, in honor of all the parts ordered...

Hood.... gone



Cowl.... gone



Look what was behind the fender and under the cowl...



Found this also





Gonna have to work on that

Broke A LOT of these clips while removing the fender. Had to cut some of them off



After that, called it a day. Time for dinner and a show with the wife. Back at it in the morning.

[Xeen]

I forgot to mention it earlier, make a trip down to harbor freight and pick up a couple of polycarbide disks, they strip off rust, filler and paint like it's nothing but don't remove metal.
You will love it.
Here is a link.
http://www.harborfreight.com/4-1-2-h...eel-94017.html

[ekgguy]

Originally Posted by Xeen

I forgot to mention it earlier, make a trip down to harbor freight and pick up a couple of polycarbide disks, they strip off rust, filler and paint like it's nothing but don't remove metal.
You will love it.
Here is a link.
http://www.harborfreight.com/4-1-2-h...eel-94017.html

I picked up a couple, along with a few more cut off discs and one of those swirled wire brushes for the grinder. That wire brush was my best friend today.

[ekgguy]

Yesterday, I got the first parts delivery from TABCO. Floor pan, inner and outer rockers, whatever that piece is that the fender bolts to at the bottom of the post...



Sanded and primed the second side of the bed. Still a lot of work on this side, but needed to roll it outside for a bit and it has been raining cats and dogs here for the last couple of days and didn't want the bare metal to rust.

[ekgguy]

Today, started working on replacing the rusted pieces.

I have read as many posts as I could and watched video on you tube, but I was still nervous cutting into the rockers. It was kind of like a no-turning-back-now step. It actually came off pretty easy once I figured out where the spot welds were.





The only thing holding this piece on is the bolts from the cab crossmember. Once the bolts were removed, it was completely free



Here is where I am at the current point. Inner and outer rockers are gone, whatever that piece that the fender bolts to is gone and the rust has been cut from the post, floorpan is pretty much gone. Waiting on the kick panel piece, it was shipped separately along with the fender pieces.



Makes for a long day...

[ekgguy]

Now.... I have a dilemma. I have never intended for this to be a frame-off restoration. I still don't want it to be one. My dad and nephew were over today and we were discussing the rust and rot on the cab and my dad pipes up and says "You know, it would be a lot easier if we just took the cab off the frame."

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..........

I really wanted to maintain this as a driver and only do it in bits and pieces. I have also DREADED taking the windshield out because I knew there was all kinds of rust in there. So, we took out the windshield...





There is rust in three of the four corners and all along the inside of the windshield channel, but I believe that we can fix it... and we are going to try.

I guess, we are also going to take the cab off and check the cab supports and corssmembers and get rid of whatever that awful undercoating is.

Today, it officially became undrivable and tomorrow I guess I will be joining the ranks of the FRAME-OFF restoration group.



P.S. That is Dad... supervising

[Xeen]

You are cutting away a lot of metal you need to weld a brace in between the A and B pillar so that nothing moves, you should really do it before you cut anything but it's better late than never.
Study it and make sure you understand what you are working on before you start cutting.
Measure three times and cut once. Precision!
Always make your patch piece a little oversized because you can always trim off excess material but if you make it too small initially you do nothing but cause yourself more headaches.
Take your time, be patient.

[ekgguy]

De-construction continues... going to pull the I6 and transmission out next weekend so it is up for grabs if anyone local is looking for one. I will put it in the FOR SALE section shortly...

[Layne]

I really liked the first rendering, untill I saw the second one
Awesome!

[ekgguy]

Originally Posted by Layne

I really liked the first rendering, untill I saw the second one
Awesome!

I am still undecided...

[ekgguy]

I haven't updated the build thread lately, but been quite a bit of progress:

1. I6 and 3 speed manual... pulled and sold
2. Front clip and all associated sheetmetal...... removed
3. Cab...... removed from chassis and is now attached to a big furniture dolly

Now for the picture updates:



Welded in some bracing, just in case!



Removed the firewall



Started cleaning up the inside of the cab with one of those polycarbonate stripper wheels... those things are fantastic. I have to say, there is a lot of rust in there, it just makes it more of a challenge



Remnants of the A pillar behind the firewall. Not sure how I am going to fix that yet, working on it though.



Cleaned up the lip of the cowl that the firewall attaches to, it was pretty rusty and is really eaten up, but I have a cool fix that I think will work.



Since I am going to go with the Vintage Air Gen IV setup, I think that I will cut all of this out and make it a solid piece.

[Xeen]

Good grief that cab has quite a bit of rust damage, you are brave to take that on, I can't wait to see the work as you progress.
I wish I lived closer to you I have a donor cab that has clean metal in all the sections you need to replace.

[swamp rat]

Holy moly the rust moles have done a lot of OT on that cab, watching with high interest on this one. You sir have your work cut out for you!

[ekgguy]

Originally Posted by Xeen

Good grief that cab has quite a bit of rust damage, you are brave to take that on, I can't wait to see the work as you progress.
I wish I lived closer to you I have a donor cab that has clean metal in all the sections you need to replace.

Thanks Brian... That would be great. There is another board member that lives about an hour away that has one as well, and if this gets to be to much of a PITA, I will give him a call.

My dad used to work in a metal shop when he was younger and he is pretty confident that we can neutralize the rust chemically and then fix what is missing.

We shall see.

[ekgguy]

Started putting new metal IN, instead of cutting old rusty metal out. This is the first new piece, and I am sure I will take it out several times before it is in there for good, but it is a good feeling.