Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step

[Low Elco]

It's starting to look like a truck (cab)! All downhill from here!

[Xeen]

That sure seems like an awful lot of work for 1/4" but sometimes it just can't be avoided and hey you whipped it so no harm no foul.
It looks like there is no more procrastinating on that gas refill now that you are at a point where you can finish welding everything up.
I can't wait to see how it all turns out.

[mikeleeshields]

Vic's time and effort he puts into things make me feel like I am slacking on my repair work to the cab. Looks great Vic, way to make some us look like the amateurs we are, lol.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

That is exactly what I needed to do on my driver side. I had the same problem. I didn't take enough off though, after mounting my cab on the frame and trying to align with my fender I ended having to trim another 1/8" off to get the gap at the bottom half way decent.

Thanks for the tip, Mike. I went ahead and gave myself a bit extra before welding out the rocker. I ended up adjusting the door down a bit because I had plenty of room.

Originally Posted by mikeleeshields

Vic's time and effort he puts into things make me feel like I am slacking on my repair work to the cab. Looks great Vic, way to make some us look like the amateurs we are, lol.

I have a slightly unfair advantage, Mike ...being retired I've got the time to take it apart, put it together, repeat until blue in the face, etc.

I took two empty cylinders and exchanged them yesterday, so LOOKOUT, I've got gas!! No excuses for not welding out the remaining patch panels, then on to the longbed/shortbed conversion.

[jeh]

Looks good Vic

[bguild]

Vic -great work! I will have to stop and see it. I have been MIA lately but actually worked an entire day on my firewall. Your welding tips are paying off but still have a lot to learn.

[Xeen]

All your hard work on the drivers side paid off it looks great Vic!
Oh man I am really looking forward to seeing you section the bed.

[Low Elco]

Nice gaps!

[jlsanborn]

Well done!



I'd sure like to see your method of getting the door on and off as well as how you go about moving it up/down/front/back. Like if you're happy front/back, how do you go about moving it up down without disturbing that? Do you have the wife out there helping with that?

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jeh

Looks good Vic

Originally Posted by bguild

Vic -great work! I will have to stop and see it. I have been MIA lately but actually worked an entire day on my firewall. Your welding tips are paying off but still have a lot to learn.

Come on by anytime, Brian. I'll be here all weekend.

Originally Posted by Xeen

All your hard work on the drivers side paid off it looks great Vic! Oh man I am really looking forward to seeing you section the bed.

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Nice gaps!

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

Well done!
I'd sure like to see your method of getting the door on and off as well as how you go about moving it up/down/front/back. Like if you're happy front/back, how do you go about moving it up down without disturbing that? Do you have the wife out there helping with that?

Thanks for the nice words everyone.

John, the way I do the doors is to position a floor jack right next to the rocker sill, roughly in the center. Jack it up till the pad is about even with where you want the bottom of the door. Then set the door on the pad so it's aligned with the opening. If the jack is positioned about right, the door should balance on it sufficiently to line up the hinges (already bolted to the door) with the holes in the door post. I usually have to rock the door slightly to get the bolts started.

Once the hinges are fastened to the door post, the fun starts. The door post bolts allow the door to move forward and back, up and down. The bolts threading into the door only move in and out, no up and down. At this point, I use the jack to raise or lower the door to get it close to where I want it. Overall up and down, I keep the jack in the middle of the door. To tilt it up or down, I place the jack at the very front or back of the door bottom. I start by getting the gaps about right and then correct later if the door bottom or top needs to move in or out. Once I have the hinge in the ballpark, I use either a blue or white Stabilo grease pencil to mark the top edge of door post hinge and the ends of the hinge plates bolted to the door. I also make a mark on the hinge and door post to let me gauge forward/rearward movement. The rest is just moving things a little at a time, using the jack to apply pressure where needed and the marks as references. When I need to make an adjustment, I loosen the three bolts on the plate and then lightly snug one back up. I then use a brass drift to tap the hinge plates for very small adjustments.

You're lucky if the door gaps are consistent around the perimeter. I typically try to get the window frame and upper/lower body lines looking pretty good, then use bodywork magic to make the rest conform. Not saying this is best, just what seems to cause the least amount of heartburn.

[Vic1947]

Caught up a bit on the welding and grinding. Cab corners and kick panels are done until time for bodywork. Spent most of the morning (and a fair amount of the weekend) looking for info on the seats I plan to use for this build. They came out of a 2010 Yukon and have 6-way power, position memory and heaters for the seat backs and cushions. The manual power function is dirt simple, power and ground. Don't care about the memory as the seats will probably be set once and not moved much, if at all, down the road. This leaves the heated functions which are probably going to be a bit tricky. If getting them to work involves big $$, they won't get hooked up. However, if I can figure out a way to make them work using mostly junkyard components, I'm up for that.

It appears that you need at least four and possibly five (or more) components... 1) the seats (which have the heating elements and the temperature sensors; 2) switches that support lo, med, hi and on/off for seat back, cushion, or both; 3) a BCM programmed with the logic for controlling the heaters; 4) possibly a seat heater control module similar to the seat position memory module; 5) and a wiring harness to tie it all together.

GM sells a late model truck kit with switches, heater elements, some sort of module and a wiring harness. It's meant to plug into the existing wiring on 07-12 trucks and still requires re-programming the BCM thru the diagnostic port. So a scratch built system would have to also include a port and possibly VIN info for a vehicle with comparable seat heaters. A couple of threads I've found on other forums lead me to believe you can hack the GMLAN CAN bus where you have the basic components in place, but I haven't found any discussion where someone starts with an old truck and wants to kluge together a low buck solution. I've found various wiring diagrams and pin outs for some of the harness plugs and if anyone knows someone knowledgeable, I'd appreciate an introduction. I think if I had bona fide system diagram with some part numbers, I could source the parts and assemble a working harness to tie it all together. Then again, maybe there's a lot more to it than what I've been able to uncover so far.

[jlsanborn]

Thanks for the run-down on the door deal. I might have been thinking too hard about it Metal work looks stellar as usual! Holy cow on the bun-warmer deal. I can't imagine all the CAN / computer buzinezz is really necessary is it? I mean if you could get the seat memory to work with the same electronics then maybe... Like you said, how many positions will you need to store? It'd be cool as hell but kind of fluffy I would think the heating elements are simply resistive "coils" and maybe you could use simple circuits for control and the ol' arse as the t-stat?

[Low Elco]

I've mentioned Eric Wise earlier in this thread, he's a wizard with late model integration. Here's the slick little number he's running around in now-

http://ls1tech.com/forums/conversion...71-c-10-a.html

He's also on our board, PM him up!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

I've mentioned Eric Wise earlier in this thread, he's a wizard with late model integration. Here's the slick little number he's running around in now-

http://ls1tech.com/forums/conversion...71-c-10-a.html

He's also on our board, PM him up!

Thanks, Chip, I'll do that. I know you've mentioned him before, just thought he was mainly a powertrain expert. I'll run it up the flagpole and see if he salutes.

[mcbassin]

Very nice work on the cab repair. It looks like you have the door gaps whipped? Keep the pics coming.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Very nice work on the cab repair. It looks like you have the door gaps whipped? Keep the pics coming.

Thanks, Mike. Let's just say the door gaps are within striking distance. I'm sure I'll make some adjustments later on when the front clip goes on. Meanwhile, I've set the cab aside (stuffed with various parts) and cleared a space for the bed project. Ordered a Milwaukee metal slitting blade and while it is in transit, I'll finish disassembling the bed panels and prep the bedsides by removing the stake pockets and finalizing my cut lines. I plan to start with the floor and then the sides. Stay tuned.

[sduckworth13]

Cab is looking great Vic. You make it look easy to replace the whole floor.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by sduckworth13

Cab is looking great Vic. You make it look easy to replace the whole floor.

Thanks, Scott. I reckon you've been putting in some hours at work with the few decent days we've had this week.

[sduckworth13]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Thanks, Scott. I reckon you've been putting in some hours at work with the few decent days we've had this week.

I haven't been working much the last two weeks, I did get to work today for 4 hours today though. I did get a chance yesterday to weld up most of the holes in the firewall I'm not going to use. I'm not real sure what other misc holes to weld up on the drivers side. The more holes I fill the more expensive it'll get, so I'm trying not to get to fancy. Showed Roy the patch you made me, he was very impressed with your work.

[Low Elco]

I'm interested in this metal slitting blade. Good stuff to follow, fellas!

[Vic1947]

Finished removing the stake pocket tin and welded patches in two of the three holes on the passenger bedside. The one at the rear didn't require a patch because I have a shortbed panel that replaces everything from the middle of the wheel well around to the back corner where the tail lights install. It has no provision in it for the stake pocket. After watching John Sanborn's bed mods, I liked the idea of using heavier material for the patch, so I used 1/8" plate instead of 16ga. Taped off the cut lines inside and out, then got busy removing the driver side panel from the floor. Hopefully, the metal slitting blade I ordered will get here tomorrow or Friday. I plan to use it on the floor to make a more precise cut than I could make with cutoff wheels. I figure if I get the floor dead nuts, it will make it easier to line up the rest.

[jeh]

Looks good Vic. No doubt it will turn out nice after watching the quality work you do.

[Xeen]

Oh heck yeah this is the part I have been looking forward to.

[mcbassin]

I'm really looking forward to watching this bedside modification..I have shop envy too. Your shop looks too clean and organized.

[Low Elco]

That's not the word for it, Mike. Keep in mind it's in the basement of the house. You could be a damn rocket engineer, Vic makes you feel like a dirty slacker. Wrapped in the nicest guy you could hope to meet. Ask him about the '57 Ford sometime!

FYI, this bed is solid, but it's HASHED. It'll be a neat trick to pull this off. Over here eating popcorn....