Project - '69 4x4 named "Patches"

[198plus]

Nice work as usual

[sdailey]

Originally Posted by msgross

wish my neighbor had cool tools like that!

The best part is that he knows how to use them.

Originally Posted by 198plus

Nice work as usual

[sdailey]

We're on a roll now, 3 consecutive nights working on the truck.


Started out by trimming off the last little bit of the floor pan so the new panels could be tacked in. Everything seemed to fall right in place.





Next was cutting and repairing the lower door pillar.

Out with the old.




And in with the new.



We mocked up the outer rocker again and so far so good.




So far these aftermarket panels aren't as bad as I had anticipated them to be. I'm sure my luck will run out though once we hang the repop doors.

I'm rebuilding the door hinges now and ordering some weatherstripping getting ready for the doors.


For those that have rebuilt their door hinges, what do you do on the upper hinges as far as the friction pad and stop goes? Just blast and paint them or can you actually rebuild them?

[my67chevytruck]

Nice work guys!

[sdailey]

We're still making progress here. Alan's on vacation this week so I took a couple of days off as well so we could dedicate some full days to my cab repair.

Today was a good day. I finished welding up the front half of the floor patch and the kick panel. We test fit the "a" pillar and outer rocker for the thousandth time and got them tacked in.







Then it was time to dig into the parts stash. This was the first time that I've ever had it out of the box since I bought the parts lot 2 years ago from a guy off craigslist. At first glance it looks pretty good.







After about 30 minutes of trying to get it lined up and to clear the rocker we ended up with this at the end of the day.






The body lines matched up pretty good. The window frame is going to need a little massaging, but I was kinda expecting that already.


Once again, today was a good day.

Stay tuned.....

[msgross]

nice...

[Alan's Classic]

Get the kink worked out of your neck. We have to take the rocker off another 500 times. we getting biscuits in the morning?

[sdailey]

Originally Posted by Alan's Classic

Get the kink worked out of your neck. We have to take the rocker off another 500 times. we getting biscuits in the morning?

Wow, only 500 more times.

Mmmmmm biscuits. Sure, my treat. We'll head up to the little joint that I go to. Just call when you get ready.

[my67chevytruck]

Someone say biscuits? Nice work gentlemen!

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice work guys!

[j_3pete]

SDaily that is gonna b one beautiful truck when finished!

[sdailey]

Originally Posted by msgross

nice...

Thanks Mike. When do you expect to get started back on yours?

Originally Posted by my67chevytruck

Someone say biscuits? Nice work gentlemen!

Thanks Heath. We're making some good progress now.

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Nice work guys!

Thanks Diesel.

Originally Posted by j_3pete

SDaily that is gonna b one beautiful truck when finished!

Thank you Sir.

[msgross]

well, that's a good question. I have two more classes for my Masters degree (actually three but I am working on my final paper for that class right now, when i'm not on the site of course!) and that would make me a semi-free man around Thanksgiving. Outside of the 10 hour work days and kids sports I should be able to touch it again!

[sdailey]

After our trip to town for biscuits this morning we picked up where we left off yesterday.


The day started with us mounting the front fender to see if it would line up with the door at all.






For the most part it lined up pretty good.



We then decided to get the new drip rail installed to see what effect it would have on the door.






With the drip rail in place we focused on the door to check the alignment with rocker and the overall gaps around the door frame.








With all of the good luck we were having with the good gaps all around and the body lines matching up there had to be a problem or two in the mix, right?


The first issue we had was the rocker had a bow in it. It actually curved in toward the front of the door. After a little head scratching we decided to split the rocker so it would follow the same line as the door.





With the rocker split the bottom gap was the same the entire length of the door. Alan sprayed a little primer on the edges of the new sheetmetal to help see the lines/edges better. It was a neat trick that worked.





The other "issue" was with the radius bend on the door frame. The door was lined up perfect all around, except for this one area. Oh well, you can't win them all.





We ended up cutting the spots welds on the back of the widow frame trying to get the frame lower in the corner. It helped a little, but it didn't totally solve the problem. After some more head scratching we just moved back to the fender.





We mocked up the cowl to see how it lined up with the door and fender. The fender had to be shimmed out a little, but they all came together. The top of the fender is a little low, but it's something we can work with.






And this is where we called it quits for the day. Not bad for two days of work, huh?

And when I left Alan's shop this afternoon his digital thermometer read 99.9 degrees.

[msgross]

not bad at all... I've seen guys slice the door hoop all the way through in order to close the radius inward.

Chevy's factory body lines weren't that close either...

[sdailey]

Originally Posted by msgross

not bad at all... I've seen guys slice the door hoop all the way through in order to close the radius inward.

Chevy's factory body lines weren't that close either...

Mike,

Good luck getting your Master's Degree. I can only imagine how little time you must have now. The truck will be there waiting on you when you get caught up.

I saw another thread that was started today asking about the door hoop problem and there is some good info in there on how to fix the problem.

[msgross]

thanks, I also moved to a new position and now have ten times the headaches at work...

[Alan's Classic]

That was 99.9 inside the shop.

It's still confusing me why the rocker had that bow. I wonder if the other is like that? When we put the rocker up there it wasn't in any bind. It clamped up pretty well. The door lines up good with the cab so I know there isn't an issue with the "A" post.

[198plus]

Really great work guys, give yourself a pat on the back !!!!!!!

[65Custom]

Wow I haven't stopped by in a quite awhile but your making great progress and it is looking great. Keep up the great work guys.

[sdailey]

Originally Posted by msgross

thanks, I also moved to a new position and now have ten times the headaches at work...

Let me guess, 10 times the work and stress, but no increase in pay. Are you pinning on an oak leaf soon?

Originally Posted by Alan's Classic

That was 99.9 inside the shop.

It's still confusing me why the rocker had that bow. I wonder if the other is like that? When we put the rocker up there it wasn't in any bind. It clamped up pretty well. The door lines up good with the cab so I know there isn't an issue with the "A" post.

It was hottttt! That's for sure. Remind me again why I waited until it got this hot before I decided to work on my truck?

Originally Posted by 198plus

Really great work guys, give yourself a pat on the back !!!!!!!

Thanks Ronnie. It's easy to stay motivated with progress like this. The only drawback is for every one big accomplishment, like hanging a door, there are a million little things behind the scenes that have to be done to make it happen. And those things are the really crappy, time consuming details. It'll be worth it in the end though.

Originally Posted by 65Custom

Wow I haven't stopped by in a quite awhile but your making great progress and it is looking great. Keep up the great work guys.

Thanks. See, you need to check in more often. What's the latest on your truck?

[VA72C10]

looking good!

[65Custom]

Thanks. See, you need to check in more often. What's the latest on your truck?

She's sitting right now, I have the roof panel off all rust holes welded up, waiting for a third brake light as my other brake light plan is going to be bigger task than I think I want to tackle now although it would be cool.
Ohhh and it is freaking hot this year too! lol

[daverod]

Nice work looking good.

[msgross]

I'm all ready for the promotion, just waiting for PA to get their act together. Only allowed to have x amount of Majors in the state so even though i'm eligible, in the spot and doing the job I can't get promoted until they have the "control grade" as they call it... Only costs me about $900 a month for their mis-management in the past.

I have seen a few of those rockers split like that to fit...