Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Very nice progress on the cab. I just finished restoring my hinge bolts as well as all my other fasteners. I blasted them, acid dipped them blued them with Casey's gun blue. This was just to protect the threads. Then blasted the heads again, then epoxy primered, top coated the black ones, all my door bolts will be painted just like the truck. LINK. I will end soaking the threads in oil before I can install them.
Very time consuming to say the least. I will be using your plastic bag liner to protect the heads on mine too. Thanks for sharing it.

Thanks, Mike ...good trick on the gun bluing, never thought of that.

[jeh]

Very nice metal work!! The trouble your going thru now will pay off down the road. Will be a super nice truck when you're finished.

[jlsanborn]

Love watching your work Vic. Just super clean and looks like buttah when you're done.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jeh

Very nice metal work!! The trouble your going thru now will pay off down the road. Will be a super nice truck when you're finished.

Thanks, Jason. Your truck is looking slick. I traveled a lot for my job also, so I know how hard it is to make progress on a project. Always seems like other stuff demands your attention.

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

Love watching your work Vic. Just super clean and looks like buttah when you're done.

Appreciate it, John. I'm watching your build very closely. I'm a few weeks behind you WRT cutting down a long bed. I'm particularly interested in how you're doing the rear lower panels. On my passenger side, I went ahead and picked up the large short fleet patch panel because of prior damage. [Only Chip (Low Elco) would be nuts enough to attempt a repair.] But I'm going the same route as you on the driver side, so keep those photos coming.

[jlsanborn]

Honestly, I sure wish you had taken it on first. The lower rear lines up pretty well but I cut my tacks plenty of times and wound up with a pretty good gap to weld up once I was satisfied. I'll throw up some better photos. The toughest part for me was the area above the belt line. It wasn't pretty when I butted the sections together. I did what I could and tried to skip weld it really slow but there was still a good amount of shrink. I don't know if you'd settle with what I'm going to. My front panel is peppered with dings and has a good "belly" to it towards the cab. I won't know where to start making that flat again! I'm thinking LMC?

[Vic1947]

With 10" of fresh powder outside, I'm bangin' away in the workshop. Moved to the driver side to install the cab corner and lower rear door pillar. A PO had chopped too much off the cab in a previous attempt at scabbing on the cab corner. When I cut the old cab corner off, I saved a sliver of it to patch the gap. The new corner is now tacked in place and the pillar welded out.

[Vic1947]

This morning after a stint with the snow blower, I decided to treat myself to a fun project. Clamped my freshly acquired, homemade English wheel in the vise and grabbed up a piece of scrap sheetmetal. Rolled a curve into it to (more or less) match the cab where the gas filler neck hole is. Trimmed it to within about 3/16" and doped the inside edge with Dykem layout fluid. Set the patch on the cab over the filler neck hole and rotated it until I had the best fit then scribed a line around the perimeter from the inside. Snipped off the excess and welded it on. Voila! Hole filled.

[Vic1947]

More pics of the filler neck patch... Not inclined to break out the grinder today so will knock it down later.

Also took the door back off and cut out the front lower door pillar and kick panel. Getting the patch panels all trimmed and ready to reinstall. Not sure if I can match the PO's welding skills but I'll do my best.

[sduckworth13]

Looks like you've been pretty busy Vic, it's looking good.

[jlsanborn]

I've seen a few of them filler holes patched around here but none as slick as that! Could you make me some new bed sides?

Nice work on that cab corner too. That was a big patch!

[jeh]

Vic, has anybody told you that You Do Some Awesome Metal Work. Looks Great!!!

[Xeen]

Originally Posted by jeh

Vic, has anybody told you that You Do Some Awesome Metal Work. Looks Great!!!

I know right? The best part about it is this is his "beater" LOL!

[Low Elco]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

[Only Chip (Low Elco) would be nuts enough to attempt a repair.]

I appreciate the compliment.

Nice job on the cab back. It's hard to hit a target when-there ain't no target!

How'd you like the Eng. wheel? I know you've got that sucker cut into about 8 pieces and wholly redesigned in your head. That's what we like about you.

[mcbassin]

Awesome work on the cab Vic. You are really doing a good job on this thing. I like the English wheel, need to get one myself someday.
Keep the pictures coming.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by sduckworth13

Looks like you've been pretty busy Vic, it's looking good.

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

I've seen a few of them filler holes patched around here but none as slick as that! Could you make me some new bed sides?
Nice work on that cab corner too. That was a big patch!

Originally Posted by jeh

Vic, has anybody told you that You Do Some Awesome Metal Work. Looks Great!!!

Originally Posted by Xeen

I know right? The best part about it is this is his "beater" LOL!

Originally Posted by Low Elco

I appreciate the compliment. Nice job on the cab back. It's hard to hit a target when-there ain't no target!
How'd you like the Eng. wheel? I know you've got that sucker cut into about 8 pieces and wholly redesigned in your head. That's what we like about you.

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Awesome work on the cab Vic. You are really doing a good job on this thing. I like the English wheel, need to get one myself someday. Keep the pictures coming.

Nachos garcias, todos mi amigos!

The E-wheel will get gussets in both back corners, welds ground and properly TiG'd and maybe a bottom die with a bit less curve. Other than that, nada, nada, nada, limonada!

Slung more snow today and scored two bottles of Boulevard Chocolate Ale at the grocery store. At $15 a bottle it had better be as good as they say. Yo, Brian, you need to get that home brew operation in full swing. It could finance the rest of your build.

This afternoon I hacked up the driver side kick panel and lower front door pillar. I'd noticed I was right at the limit of the adjustment to move the bottom of the door inward and the position of the kick panel relative to the floor convinced me the upper part of the pillar needed some persuasion. This setup moved it in nearly 1/4" which let the patch panels fit much better. More pics tomorrow after I get the patches permanently affixed.

[jlsanborn]

What in the world is that attachment you've got going there senor? I'm always looking into the background of your pics and admire how organized and clean you can be with all that metal work going on in the space you have, then every day a new or different tool is in the news. Where do you store the myriad of tools and equipment you've collected? Can you imagine having two boys, 18 and 19 that rifle through your *hit like a free-for-all? Seems like half of my build time is clean up / find tools time!

[Vic1947]

Hey, John! That little dealy bobber is called a Porter Ferguson Bite Tite Clamp. I mainly use it for grabbing sheetmetal, but it can be configured several ways to latch onto thicker material. It has a bolt thru it to adjust the jaw width and act as a pivot. There's another bolt that increases the clamping force of the jaw and is the latch point for the pull ring. Handy little gizmo. For the pull I wanted to make today, I threaded bolts into the lower hinge plate from the inside and then put nuts and washers on the outside to help distribute the load. I aligned the flats on the two upper bolt heads so I could grab them as a unit with the Bite Tite. Soon as everything was snug, I used a come-along to gently move the pillar where it needed to be.

I keep stuff ratholed in cabinets, toolboxes and on shelves around the perimeter of the shop. Not having any "little helpers" means I usually have a good idea where to find stuff. If it's lost, there's no one to blame but me.

[mcbassin]

I want one of those tite clamps. I too can appreciate how organized and clean your shop looks. Mine always looks like a rummage sale in the background.

[Vic1947]

With the door pillar moved inward, I was able to get the kick panel spotted in today, followed by finishing out the lower door pillar patch. I've been avoiding welding out too much with the MiG as I'm running low on C25. The bed of the little Ford Ranger I bought a couple of weeks ago is full of snow and I'm not motivated to clean it out for a run to the welding store. Up next is the rocker panel. A trial fit indicated I'll need to make some minor mods to it like the other side, but it's looking okay.

[sduckworth13]

All your metal work looks amazing Vic. I feel like I'm getting a free welding class everytime I get to see your work.

[jaros44sr]

Very well done Vic, great work.....thanks for writing about that bite tight, awesome tool for a difficult job, but i have a question about your spot welder, can you show a pic sometime of the arms you used around the cowl/ firewall seam....i know its tight,space wise, up in that area, but curious to see what spot weld tool you used in that area

Thanks for your time, and keep up the good work

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jaros44sr

Very well done Vic, great work.....thanks for writing about that bite tight, awesome tool for a difficult job, but i have a question about your spot welder, can you show a pic sometime of the arms you used around the cowl/ firewall seam....i know its tight,space wise, up in that area, but curious to see what spot weld tool you used in that area

Thanks for your time, and keep up the good work

Sure thing, Jim. I ran into the tight quarters problem around the firewall on my previous build. I solved it by ordering a piece of solid copper stock and making an end lug that would fit in the space.

[jaros44sr]

Perfect, just what i needed, thank you.....just went on the porter ferguson site, gotta order up one of the long nose bite tite

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jaros44sr

Perfect, just what i needed, thank you.....just went on the porter ferguson site, gotta order up one of the long nose bite tite

Glad to be of assistance! The PF stuff has gone up in price. I bought mine 30 years ago and got the whole clamp for less than what they get for one half now. Those were the days...

[Hardesty454]

What a great build. I feel like I need to invest in a spot welder now :/