One Piece Floor - Any recent updates on Quality or Installation?

[The Rocknrod]

Wow nice work kxmotox247.

[joesscamaro]

Good to see updates on this...thanks! Look forward to following this process through to the end with you.

[rbruno68]

kxmotox247, Did you get the panel above the windshield from GMC Paul too? I will eventually have to make some small patches in that spot on my 63 as well. I don't need the entire length, but will need to make some repairs. I have also got some things from GMC Paul and would like to continue to support his business.

[Braunschweiger]

Good Progress, looking good.

[kxmotox247]

Originally Posted by rbruno68

kxmotox247, Did you get the panel above the windshield from GMC Paul too? I will eventually have to make some small patches in that spot on my 63 as well. I don't need the entire length, but will need to make some repairs. I have also got some things from GMC Paul and would like to continue to support his business.

I believe the windshield header panel came from Insane Hot Rods and is a Tri-Plus product. We would have ordered it from GMC pauls but I don't think it was available from them at the time. It was a decent piece. It was kind of hard to hold in place so I welded about 5 or 6 tabs behind the joint.

[kxmotox247]

Backwall in primer. Removed as much as the factory mounts for the in-cab gas tank as I could. Man I was tired of jacking myself in the back with those things.

[kxmotox247]

Stripping the dash and front floor. A tree had fallen on this truck and a branch broke thru the windshield and mauled the speaker grill. Made some repairs there.

[kxmotox247]

Almost ready for primer.

[kxmotox247]

Primed. The on to the firewall next.

Sure seems like a lot of work just for a new floor, huh?

[kxmotox247]

A little color on the roof. Ready for sealer... then basecoat... then clear.

[cwcarpenter98]

Sure, it might be a lot of work just for a floor, but you'll have a better end product this way. Looks great so far!

[Braunschweiger]

Fantastic Work, great Paint.

[rbruno68]

Originally Posted by kxmotox247

I believe the windshield header panel came from Insane Hot Rods and is a Tri-Plus product. We would have ordered it from GMC pauls but I don't think it was available from them at the time. It was a decent piece. It was kind of hard to hold in place so I welded about 5 or 6 tabs behind the joint.

I will take a look at Insane Hot Rods. Your work looks great. I need to remember to find this thread when I start working on my cab. I don't need an entire floor, but a few small patches on the floor and the work above the windshield. But, I do want to paint it all up the way you are doing. My windshield is broke and needs to come out anyway.

[joesscamaro]

You're really getting in there and doing it right. Your progress looks good! Thanks for posting all the pictures too!

[kxmotox247]

Thanks for the compliments. None of it's perfect but it doesn't have to be either. Especially stuff like the cowl vent patch or toe-boards. The kick panels are in now. They seemed decent but the curves aren't all correct. I had to do both sides and almost the whole patches. These 60-66 trucks are curved in this area where the 67-72's are closer to straight vertical.
The cowl panel patch was grossly oversized compared to the original. I only used a small section though and it'll be just fine.
I didn't see any commercial toe board patches so I made my own. They are simple enough. I did not recreate the headlight dimmer pocket and will likely use a flate style dimmer that sits proud of the floor like the 67-72's.

[kxmotox247]

Toe boards.

[kxmotox247]

Toe boards and cowl patch are primed. I also scuffed off the EDP coating on the new floor flanges and sprayed them with weld thru primer. Almost ready to put the floor in for good.

[rbruno68]

My toe board on the driver side will need a small patch too. But, I think I can save the dimmer switch spot. I think I can work just to the right of it for the patch and save it. Following this thread with great interest.

[Bears63]

That cab is looking fantastic. You are doing a great job on it.

[Braunschweiger]

Great job, the cab looks fantastic.

[kxmotox247]

Thanks again guys. I appreciate the compliments. Hopefully sharing the pictures and info will help the next guy that needs to do these repairs. It seems like if you need a new floor... then you probably need everything else that I've had to do as well. I was a little disappointed that the cab mount holes were not correct for 1960-63 but GMC Pauls did take care of me on that issue.

My overall rating on this floor is that it is a very good product. Compared to the floor I did in a 67-72 this is a much better product. It's much more accurate. Maybe the tooling was starting to wear out on the 67-72 floor I got?

For ongoing reference I took a lot of measurements before I cut it apart. A lot of that was due to the issues I had with the 67-72 floor. I'd strongly suggest anyone doing this to take plenty of measurments to double check as you cut and repair. That way you know if the cab has moved.

The floor to rear wall threaded holes fit well. I didn't have to round any holes out. I had to replace the driver's side A-pillar and the holes did not line up... but I think that's a combination of aftermarket slop. I fixed that with a drill.

I had to fabricate the lower flange on the back of the cab. I wish I had seen the aftermarket one early into this. That would have made life easier. I lowered the cab over the floor and kinda felt where the repro floor was going to sit in relation to the flange. Then I marked where it would sit...raised the floor up and drilled holes for plug welding. I'd say the repro floor flange was pretty close to where the original sat.

The 'shelf' where the outer rocker sits was too high on the 67-72 floor. This floor is pretty much within 1/8" based on my measurements taken beforehand. Close enough.

The aftermarket kick panels seemed to fit the floor well. They did not on the 67-72. There was a large odd gap with the 67-72 so I paid closer attention to the fit of these. No problems. Again I usually trial fit everything a few times before actually welding stuff in. A little extra work but I didn't want to discover that later. Nobody else would notice but me...but I want it to look right.

The bolt pattern for the tunnel seems to be off a little but the tunnel for this truck is pretty beat up. I'll know more about that later. It may just need a little finese.

It sure is nice to see all that fresh metal in the truck. I contemplated painting the underside of the floor before installing it but I'll do that later since there is still welding to do. I've used rattle can bed liner before and it gives it a very nice appearance/texture. It's really nice to see the bracing removed! I made all of the bracing a bolt in deal for two reasons. I didn't want to disturb the patina up high on the truck. I also thought maybe someone else could use this bracing if they were doing the same job. The design allowed me to be able to still work in the interior while the floor was out. That was nice.

Cab corners up next. Then rockers.

[Warrens69GMC]

Wow!

[kxmotox247]

Lots of pencil marks and a makeshift scale along the doorjamb for reference. Used only what I needed to replace the rust. The passenger side was worse and the back panel was pretty beat up. They seemed like they were decent pieces.

I would strongly advise hanging the doors before doing the corners and rockers. I made lots of measurements beforehand but you really need to go off the gaps to get it right at this point. The gap on the driver's side factory rocker varied from 1/4" to 1/2". A huge and unacceptable difference. I've set the doors and evened the gaps all of the way around. During the process of installing your cab corners you will need to be able to see where the outer rocker is going to sit. Gotta line up that bottom contour and you want a consistent gap.

[The Rocknrod]

Impressive work.

[Braunschweiger]

Wow, what an impressive work.