Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step

[Low Elco]

Very pretty work. That kick panel really came out nice.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Very pretty work. That kick panel really came out nice.

Thanks, Chip. Had to take some time off today, so not much got done. Did manage to test fit the driver side rocker panel and was pleasantly surprised that it will not require any surgery. Just some minor hammer and dolly work was all it took to get it close enough for Mr. MiG. After that, the door goes back on and it will be time to weld and smooth everything out.

[Low Elco]

Very nice!

How does the front clip metal look?

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Very nice!

How does the front clip metal look?

The fenders and core support are new reproduction pieces. The rest is in pretty decent shape. Brian G. gave me a hood that will require a little work, but since I plan to graft on the hood bubble I took off the old one, I'll address the various shortcomings at that time.

[Low Elco]

Well, if you don't have inners yet, I can report the Certifit ones worked great-and were a bunch cheaper than the resto houses. I scrubbed and shot 'em and slapped 'em in.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Well, if you don't have inners yet, I can report the Certifit ones worked great-and were a bunch cheaper than the resto houses. I scrubbed and shot 'em and slapped 'em in.

I do have the inners ...got them from Bob's Vintage over in Lenexa. They had a few holes that I've already patched, so I intend to use them. However, I pulled up the Certifit online catalog to see what else they might have and it doesn't go back further than '73. Do they stock the older stuff (or can get it) and it just doesn't show?

[Low Elco]

I'm 99% sure it was Certifit. The place off Front Street and Universal Ave. I think I got the tip off of here. They had one in stock, and Ordered the other one. As I recall, it was one of those ask for it deals. I've gotta call 'em about ones for LBT, in fact. Uncle Matt called and cash-ticketed it from the shop, so even bigger hookup.

[Vic1947]

Remember a few days ago I remarked how great the rocker panel fit and how I wouldn't need to cut it up? Well, that was then and this is now. After the initial fitment, I bolted on the door to see how much gap I had at the bottom. Turns out there was none at all. In fact, with the door adjusted about as far up as it would go, the door edge was scraping the rocker sill at the front edge. Not so bad at the back edge, but the front of the rocker panel definitely needed to move down at least 1/4". I trimmed away the excess metal on the kick panel, but that gave me very little downward adjustment. After many frustrating hours hanging the door, adjusting it, removing it, making minor cuts here and there, seeking an elusive cure and then repeating the process, I finally gave in and did what I'd been avoiding all along. I cut out a 1-1/8" x 28" section of the floor that was preventing the rocker panel travel I needed. It looked as if the die had not formed that area correctly during the stamping process.

To reinstall the strip, I put a 90 in a couple of 1" wide strips of sheetmetal and then spotwelded them to the original piece, one facing up on the back, the other facing down on the front. After cutting away a long, thin pie slice, I was able to drop the front edge down the 1/4" I needed. The rest was a matter of welding and grinding. Along the way, I temporarily tacked the various pieces in place and checked the door fit. Three days after my ill advised remark, it fits pretty good. You can see in the last photo how much I was able to move the rocker panel from its original location.

[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.

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Remember a few days ago I remarked how great the rocker panel fit and how I wouldn't need to cut it up? Well, that was then and this is now. After the initial fitment, I bolted on the door to see how much gap I had at the bottom. Turns out there was none at all. In fact, with the door adjusted about as far up as it would go, the door edge was scraping the rocker sill at the front edge. Not so bad at the back edge, but the front of the rocker panel definitely needed to move down at least 1/4". I trimmed away the excess metal on the kick panel, but that gave me very little downward adjustment. After many frustrating hours hanging the door, adjusting it, removing it, making minor cuts here and there, seeking an elusive cure and then repeating the process, I finally gave in and did what I'd been avoiding all along. I cut out a 1-1/8" x 28" section of the floor that was preventing the rocker panel travel I needed. It looked as if the die had not formed that area correctly during the stamping process.

To reinstall the strip, I put a 90 in a couple of 1" wide strips of sheetmetal and then spotwelded them to the original piece, one facing up on the back, the other facing down on the front. After cutting away a long, thin pie slice, I was able to drop the front edge down the 1/4" I needed. The rest was a matter of welding and grinding. Along the way, I temporarily tacked the various pieces in place and checked the door fit. Three days after my ill advised remark, it fits pretty good. You can see in the last photo how much I was able to move the rocker panel from its original location.

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.

I know you spent a bunch of time on that, hanging the doors, testing, cutting all that adds up. It looks like you have it dialed in now though.

[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.