Wife's 48

[doowoppwer]

I like your progress. roger

[8man]

Thanks Roger.

On today's agenda was to replace that drivers side lower cowl. So first thing was to remove it slowly so as to not damage underlying metal. Did pretty good. Then I used two different wire wheels on die grinders to remove as much loose rust and dirt dauber nests as I could get to and then painted the inside with a rust encapsulator and the lip with weld through primer.
IMG_0478 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr

Then I checked fit and it was pretty close, so I spot welded it in place, checking my door measurement several times as I was doing it.
IMG_0479 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr

And one more thing done.

[joedoh]

nice work! I am doing the same repair this week so thanks for the how-to

[oldman3]

Robert, looks really good...Jim

[mongocanfly]

looking good

[8man]

Thanks guys!

I'm learning as I go, but I am enjoying these builds.

[dsraven]

8man, that's some serious "sound deadener" build up you have there. gotta love it when you start sanding and find that. an inch thick in places on my rear fenders. hammer/dolly and slapper with ample time and my fenders have no bondo, just some high build over a base of epoxy.
keep pluggin away, it's coming along nicely.

[8man]

Thanks Raven.

I had not thought about the sound deadening aspect of that much bondo! Still think I prefer good metal.

[8man]

The Dynacorn firewall fits pretty good, except in the corners where it meets th kick panels.

IMG_0481 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr

You can see how the kick panel is up against the support under it, but the black firewall has a "sharp" corner and not a rolled corner that is keeping it up about 3/4". I beat on the kick panel a bit, but it's not the problem.

How do I roll that "corner" to fit my kick panel?

I think if I could roll that corner to the right radius (or close) it would drop the 3/4" and fit.

[joedoh]

could slice it with a cutoff wheel every 1/2" or so and bend it a section at a time? unless I am misunderstanding the problem.

great progress!

[8man]

Thanks Joe.

I thought about it a lot and today I made a template that fit the curve of the cab. Then I drilled a hole large enough to get the blade of a small reciprocating saw through, cut the lip in to and cut out enough of the firewall to hammer the lip back up to the firewall, then I welded it up. IT FIT! I was amazed. I mean the measurements are within 1/8". So I welded up the holes for the pedals in the firewall as well. I will have to drill 2 new holes for the hood spring, as the firewall has the mounting holes about 1/4" higher than the old firewall, but that should work.

Now I'm waiting for the floor to be built so I can put it in and then weld the firewall in.

[joedoh]

woop woop! glad to hear it worked!

[dsraven]

yeah, umm,no pic, didn't happen.

haha

good you got it figured out.

[8man]

Thanks Joe and Raven, and Raven it really did happen. I'll get some pics when I go to put it in for real.

[8man]

Raven, a couple of pics

This is the paper template on top of the firewall after I had adjusted it.
IMG_0482 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr

Here is where I worked on the corner. I didn't grind down the weld as I'm going to be welding on it some more when I put it in place, and it will be covered with sound deadener and carpet.
IMG_0483 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr

I don't want to put the firewall back in until I get the floor in. As I've said I'm having a complete floor built from a sheet of 16 gauge. I've put some tape on the floor where I'm going to cut and in front of that tape gets pulled out.
IMG_0484 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr

The piece I'm leaving just in front of the upright is so there will be a lip that I can spot weld the floor too, or turn the cab up on the back and weld it up.

That brings me to the question and answer part of the program. I ask the question and you answer.

I'm having the floor cut so that if fits by measuring side to side in several places and front to back, they are to fold the back up in a 90 so it goes up against the factory upright, I'll spot weld the floor to the upright. Then at the doors it will be folded down like the original. The front will run out the front and I'll bend it to fit the firewall when I get it in. Once I set the cab on the frame I'll cut out for the tranny, so no big opening to cover.

Questions:
Am I missing anything? Will it be ok for the floor to be flat? Will I need some stiffeners added to the bottom of the floor (I'm guessing yes)?

I intend to weld the floor to the kick panel at the bottom joint. Is there any reason not to do that?

Thanks for thinking about this.

[Tempest67]

your firewall is looking good,

When I replaced my floor, I found that without the seat frame, it needed an additional floor brace, even with the rolled beads

I used a 3 x 1 steel tube, flanged the ends and welded it to the inner rockers.

[8man]

Thanks for the pics. I was thinking about stiffeners something like you did. Now to get the floor piece and see if my measurements were close or if I'm going to have to make it fit.

[8man]

First off, a big Thank You to Reaper for taking his time to talk to me today. I've been thinking about what to do with the dash and since he did that really cool dash, I PM'd him, only to have him say call and we'll talk. So I did. Nice of him to do that.

Here is what I currently have in the truck.
IMG_0489 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr
Below where there should be a radio cut out, on that cross bar, you will see 2 bolts. I cut a piece and bolted it in to keep the dash square while I work on the truck. You can see the how they cut out the whole middle part of the dash.

This is the rider's side end of the dash I got from a salvage yard, they cut it out for me, as you can see it won't go all the way to the A pillar.
IMG_0486 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr

Instead of drilling out the spot welds they used a Sawzall and cut in the windshield channel.
IMG_0487 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr

From the back side of the rider's end, you can see the 2 bolt holes where it bolts to the A pillar and how they cut it short of getting there.
IMG_0488 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr

So I've been looking and trying to figure out how to use Reaper's bolt in dash. I think I have the windshield channel worked out in my head, but I'm not there on the two ends at the A pillars. I think I could bolt this area like Reaper did, or I could cut on the windshield side of the second hump where the inside garnish will cover, I can do a weld every 4-6", it will be sturdy and the garnish will cover my work. This is the area in red.
IMG_0487 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr

That leaves the two ends. I thought I had an idea on how to bolt it together on the ends, but no. All I can figure is to try to butt weld it as close to the A pillar as I can weld and finish and hope it's good enough.

So I'm still looking for thoughts on this.

What I am planning for the new dash is a couple of AC vents. Located as shown below.
IMG_0490 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr
The two center vents would be as shown. I thought about trying to work two more in on the ends and square them up a little to get the room.

Any thoughts appreciated.

[Tinbasher]

Originally Posted by 8man

Raven, a couple of pics

This is the paper template on top of the firewall after I had adjusted it.
IMG_0482 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr

Here is where I worked on the corner. I didn't grind down the weld as I'm going to be welding on it some more when I put it in place, and it will be covered with sound deadener and carpet.
IMG_0483 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr

I don't want to put the firewall back in until I get the floor in. As I've said I'm having a complete floor built from a sheet of 16 gauge. I've put some tape on the floor where I'm going to cut and in front of that tape gets pulled out.
IMG_0484 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr

The piece I'm leaving just in front of the upright is so there will be a lip that I can spot weld the floor too, or turn the cab up on the back and weld it up.

That brings me to the question and answer part of the program. I ask the question and you answer.

I'm having the floor cut so that if fits by measuring side to side in several places and front to back, they are to fold the back up in a 90 so it goes up against the factory upright, I'll spot weld the floor to the upright. Then at the doors it will be folded down like the original. The front will run out the front and I'll bend it to fit the firewall when I get it in. Once I set the cab on the frame I'll cut out for the tranny, so no big opening to cover.

Questions:
Am I missing anything? Will it be ok for the floor to be flat? Will I need some stiffeners added to the bottom of the floor (I'm guessing yes)?

I intend to weld the floor to the kick panel at the bottom joint. Is there any reason not to do that?

Thanks for thinking about this.

Hi 8man, because the floor is wider side to side at the back than the front i would order your sheet a little longer on the ends, with that you will have the ability to slide your floor either way until your folds are tight to the rocker. Just saying it because you have folds on both sides of the sheet and if they are off by even a metal thickness or 2 (which is a very easy mistake) it might give you issues. Nice work by the way!

[8man]

Thanks Tinbasher.

I didn't' know why, but I did order it a little long and a little wide, about 1/8" for a little wiggle room. Now I'm worried that with the bends on the sides and the back done, I may still have to mess with it!

[8man]

Continuing with the dash saga, after I talked to Reaper and studied his thread again and again, I thought "if I've got to do that much work on the dash, should I at least see what I could do with the one in the truck before I do that?"

Well, Laura had talked about "it would be nice to have a back up camera" before, and I am trying to avoid having the bolt on under the dash vent/control system for the AC. So I thought - what if I patched the hole? So I took measurements, laid out 2 vents on the right and left sides of the grilled area that had been ripped out, and a double din radio, and it all fit. So, I started practicing fabricating a panel that would fill the hole.
IMG_0489 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr
The hole.

I had a large piece of a rear corner, as I only needed a small piece to fix the rear cab corner. The problem was that it was a little conical in shape. So I pulled out a dead blow hammer and started working on it.
IMG_0494 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr
This is what it looked like after some persuasion with several different hammers, dollies, pipe, round stock, etc.

I started out making some bends to fit on the back side to protect the roll at the front edge of the dash.
IMG_0492 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr

It fit in back like this.
IMG_0493 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr

I don't think I could have done this if the firewall was in. Almost all the welding was from the back. That way the front can be finished with just a little filler. It looks like this. I left the 1st rib on the right and the one on the left next to the glove box. If you all remember, the one on the right stops short because of the ashtray! So I cut up an ashtray, removed the right hand side and welded it in first to give me that rib all the way down.
IMG_0495 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr

And from the side. You can make out the two ribs if you try real hard.
IMG_0496 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr

No, it's not perfect, but once I cut holes for the 2 vents and a double din radio, I don't think it will be less noticeable. Also, once I cut those holes I can weld some stiffeners on the back side to help straighten out any curves. It has a slight curve to the piece to match the dash, but using a glove box door, I think the cover plate or lips on them will be just close enough. If not, I still have the other dash. Now to study this thing a little more.

[olcarguy]

Nice repair Sir....If you take your hammer and dolly and lightly tap the low spot it shoud come out relitivly good or at least better then you have now. it should make instaling the radio and vents easyer as well....just my thoughts....Roy

[8man]

Thanks Roy. You are correct. I saw that in the pic as I was posting, but after all the hammering, welding, hammering, repeat again and again today, I am just not up for it today. Tomorrow is another day and I'll give it a shot then.

[joedoh]

nice freakin work!

[8man]

Thanks Joe! Two days figuring and fitting, one afternoon welding and finishing. It'll definitely be "my" version of a 54!