Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step

[lolife99]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Thanks for the info, never considered doing a disc swap and keeping the six lugs. I definitely need to read your disc brake conversion thread.

It's easy.
They are just blank 5-lug rotors that have been drilled to the 6-lug pattern.
Piece of cake swap.
I have ECE rotors on my '69,...

[bguild]

Vic, I was actually going back through your build thread trying to find some motivation. I have actually started working on my doors first before i start welding on the cab.. I figure if i mess up a door so bad it is unuseable then i can get another fiarly easy. This is probably better to start with. I am going to be putting the inner lowers on atleast the first door and probably both but I had a question for you.

In this picture I was curious how you manage the fold over from the outside side of the door.. I cant really tell from the picture. It looks like you actually cut out the fold over. Can you point me in the right directions on this so I know how to cut mine out and also add the new patch panel.

[Vic1947]

I've never had any luck straightening out the factory clamshell lip that holds the doorskin to the inner panel. They make tools (cheap and expensive) that are supposed to be the hot tip, but I've never found one that truly works. Every time I've tried to work the lip back up to a 90 like you get on a new doorskin, I end up damaging the edge and making more work for myself than it's worth. Anytime you bend metal, it work hardens. Just take a piece of scrap, put a 90 degree bend in it and then try to flatten it back out. You have to beat it into submission.

So the approach I use is to take a cutoff wheel and remove all but about a quarter of an inch of the folded over lip. Cut all the way thru the lip and the inner panel structure, but not thru the outer skin. Remove the lower part of the inner door panel you're going to replace to give you better access. Then carefully pry up a corner to expose the trapped strip of sheet metal left behind. I grab it tight with a pair of vise grips, then start tapping the grips with a small brass hammer to work the strip out of the recess. It will take several attempts to remove the entire strip and I usually reset the grips every few inches. Once it's out, I use a thin cutoff wheel in my Dremel tool to gently clean out the rust and debris from the groove.

You end up with a small recess around the perimeter of the door that, from the outside, doesn't look like it was ever disturbed. On the backside, I then trim the replacement panel to slip into what is left of the recess. Once the rest of the panel is fitted into place, I tack weld the lip to the replacement panel every few inches and then use seam sealer to finish up. Welding it solid may warp the skin, so I try to avoid that.

[jlsanborn]

Great write up on that process!

[Vic1947]

OK, back in the shop from a week in Houston, TX and early Christmas get togethers. Two down, two to go. We were late returning to KC from Houston due to all the ice in Dallas. Called best bud, Jay, a week ago Saturday and he said he had 1.5" of ice on his driveway in Granbury and they were iced in. So we had to skip a much desired visit to see his Chevy truck project. Definitely plan to reschedule, though.

Posted some photos earlier of the center caps I had CNC'd while in TX. Still haven't finished them up as I've been shaking off a bad cold. While we were in Sedalia this past weekend, I was able to sneak away from the Christmas mayhem and get Keith Daleen to punch some louvers for me in the heat shield. Turned out pretty nice.

Also managed to get over to Eagle and pick up the wheels, firewall and etc. last week. Threw the f/w up on the cowl to see how it matched up to the floor pinch weld flange. Don't know why I was so hopeful this would be an easy deal. As you can see from the photos below, between the frame supports the shape of the firewall and floor couldn't be much different. Outboard of the frame supports, the two panels fit fairly well but it will take major surgery to get the rest to fit.

I know because I trial fit the floor to the frame that all of work will have to be done to the firewall. Because I set the small block back in the six cylinder motor mount holes, the floor is already very close to the transmission case. So that means I can't move the floor down to meet the f/w. Time for the Sawsall.

[jlsanborn]

That looks like a challenge to me but I bet you make snappy work out of it. Heat shields look slick man! Still anxious to see how you get the POR clear coat sorted out too.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

That looks like a challenge to me but I bet you make snappy work out of it. Heat shields look slick man! Still anxious to see how you get the POR clear coat sorted out too.

Thx! I think the trick to making the POR15 work is thinning it with xylene. It's too cold for me to paint outside and since I don't want the mess inside the shop where it's warm, I'll probably haul it over to Mike at Precision Collision and see if they can squirt it in their heated booth.

Meanwhile, I have a ton of prep work to do before anything goes on the wheels. They came back from Eagle with the worst of the clear powdercoat removed. But in the lugnut recesses, the large openings and around the bolt heads, a fair amount of residual coating remains. To clean it up, I have to run a four flute mill down the recessed areas and turn it by hand to shave off what I can. Then I use a small flap disc to get the rest. Afterwards, I put the wheel in the blast cabinet to get the finish back to a satin look. I have some 2.5" flap wheels coming that I will use to clean up the large openings. Only thing that seems to work around the bolt heads is an Xacto knife. Taken together, it's very slow going. Wish now I'd never gone with the clear powder. Live and learn.

[knomadd]

sounds like an xacto knife would be a PITA... What about something like a dremel tool with some sort of sanding attachment? Or would that be too rough?

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by knomadd

sounds like an xacto knife would be a PITA... What about something like a dremel tool with some sort of sanding attachment? Or would that be too rough?

That's not a bad idea. I have several possible attachments for the Dremel that might work. Will give it a try and report back …tomorrow. Headed out for yet another family gathering in a few minutes.

[jlsanborn]

I'm hoping that fresh powder was a bunch tougher than an old OEM clear coat and I'll be able to blast - shoot with noooo touchy! I feel your pain on the meticulous scratchy/scrapy/sandy you've got ahead. At least you have the end mill to get at the lug nut cavities! Thanks for the updates and sand on!

[jaros44sr]

In post 505, IIRC, I had to do several pie cuts to get that area to lay flat....

Build looks great, enjoying your posts and pics.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

I'm hoping that fresh powder was a bunch tougher than an old OEM clear coat and I'll be able to blast - shoot with noooo touchy!

The first time I had the wheels blasted, they came back very clean. The OEM finish gave up a lot easier than the clear powder coat did the second time around. I'd bet you'll have very little cleanup if you're only removing the original finish.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jaros44sr

In post 505, IIRC, I had to do several pie cuts to get that area to lay flat....

Build looks great, enjoying your posts and pics.

Thanks, Jim. Do you have a link to the post you mentioned? I always like to look at what others have done to resolve a problem.

[jaros44sr]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Thanks, Jim. Do you have a link to the post you mentioned? I always like to look at what others have done to resolve a problem.

Sorry Bud, but that was a long time ago, put the proto type in tri pro's pickup truck....may be able to dig real deep to find something. Ill try

If you clamp the center ofthe trans cover, then work your way around, i think alot of that will pull in

[jaros44sr]

Try searching under tri-pro gpw build, back around 2008, page 6....dont know how to do a link

[sduckworth13]

Here is a floor pan install link Vic, not sure if this helps . Everything is looking great.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=311224&page=2

[sduckworth13]

Here is jaros44sr build he was talking about.
http://www.67-72chevytrucks.com/vboa...ighlight=Floor

[Low Elco]

Feelin' ya on the cold, Vic... I'm on the backside of round 2. Good lookin' work, can't wait to see what's next!

[jaros44sr]

Originally Posted by sduckworth13

Here is jaros44sr build he was talking about.
http://www.67-72chevytrucks.com/vboa...ighlight=Floor

Yep, thats the one....thank you

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by sduckworth13

Here is jaros44sr build he was talking about.
http://www.67-72chevytrucks.com/vboa...ighlight=Floor

Thanks for pointing the way to the link Jim was referencing, Scott! Went thru the build but couldn't find any mention of pie cutting the f/w to make it fit. Looked like they screwed the f/w and floor pinch welds together and then fit the entire unit to the shell of the cab. They then attached the frame subs to the f/w after it was fastened to the cowl. The one photo I saw where the rear of the floor met the cab looked like they dispensed with the two, wide L-shaped plates. On mine, those plates have four bolts that attach to the floor and serve as locating points. They also have the captive nuts that the body mount bolts thread into. It's possible that by getting rid of those plates, it made it easier to install the floor and f/w as a unit. However, just looking at how their f/w and floor fit together makes me think they had a better initial line-up than I have. I'm going to scout out the forum a little more to see if some poor fella has run into the same situation as me.

[Low Elco]

I think HF has a flap wheel that expands radially with a 1/4" shaft, for what it's worth. About an inch long.

[Vic1947]

Remodeling (basement this time) has once again cut into the truck build, so not a lot has been happening on that front. I did manage to finish cleaning the clear powdercoat from around the rivet heads on the wheels. I tried several things such as tiny sanding drums, mini carbide burrs, Cratex abrasives and etc., but nothing worked as well as the Xacto knife. So I painstakingly scraped every one of the 80 rivet heads and then hit them with the glass beads to remove the shiny places. I bought some 2.5" flap wheels from CGW and they work great in the big holes. Despite all of this, I'm still considering painting the wheel centers the Toxic Orange Pearl color to match the body. I'd leave the outer rims the aluminum finish with a coat of the Glisten PC over all of it. There are still a lot of warts on the wheels despite all the prep work. Painting the centers would hide a lot of evil.

I also did a bit of work on the floor. Pie cut the ends where they angled down and welded in some tapered material. The ends now go out straight and match the ends of the firewall. The rest of the f/w is another matter. I've laid out the cut lines I'll need to make to bring it in line with the floor. I'll have to remove a center section of the f/w completely, reform the bottom lip to match the floor and then weld it back in. Removing it will also allow me access to pull down and straighten the section that kicks up as it gets close to the tunnel.

As they say down in TX ...all that stands between me and the finish line is fear and thin air.

[jlsanborn]

That's a ton of fiddling around on the floor but you're making it look easy! Wheels look sharp too. I think you could pull off the painted centers. It'd be cool if you could leave the big holes natural. Wonder what'd take to polish the outers? It'd be cool if you could drill them phony rivets out, polish, then mash something custom back in to the rivet holes (polished SHCS or something)??? Just thinking out loud, no doubt about it, whatever you finish with is going to be trick and sanitary.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

That's a ton of fiddling around on the floor but you're making it look easy! Wheels look sharp too. I think you could pull off the painted centers. It'd be cool if you could leave the big holes natural. Wonder what'd take to polish the outers? It'd be cool if you could drill them phony rivets out, polish, then mash something custom back in to the rivet holes (polished SHCS or something)??? Just thinking out loud, no doubt about it, whatever you finish with is going to be trick and sanitary.

It would be easy enough to mask the big holes. In fact, it might look better with the center caps which I'd planned to have clear anodized. As for the fake rivets, they're actually pressed in bolts with half round heads. During the cleanup operation, I removed the nut and washer off the backside of one and tried to drive it out. Did not budge even a whisker. So, drilling would be the only option if a person wanted to swap them out. I'm thinking doing 80 of them would make me crazy(er).

[Vic1947]

Today was slice and dice time. After laying out the cut lines, I made the two vertical cuts on each side as well as a short horizontal cut at the top. Turns out the horizontal cuts were not really needed. I was able to move the firewall pinchweld edges into position with just a few light taps from a rubber mallet. At this point, I could tell the area around the curve of the tunnel would need some serious hammer and dolly work to get it to fit the floor. I started by flattening the pinchweld lip and then folding it back opposite how it was originally formed. I then laid down some tape on the roughed in edge as a guide for the final lip.