Dug's 1959 Fleetside

[dsraven]

wow, looking good.
I had no idea they sold a dash repair panel that spanned from the speedo over. gonne be smooth.

[dug224]

Originally Posted by dsraven

wow, looking good.
I had no idea they sold a dash repair panel that spanned from the speedo over. gonne be smooth.

..in fact, I'll need to remove the steering column to fully utilize the entire length. It is long. Just re-looked at their somewhat difficult to see installation photos on-line. Looks like they cut the entire dash panel out and replaced with just the sheet metal repair panel. The repair panel does not have any sort of structural bend at the bottom edge so it may be flimsy. If I can't find an easy way to leave the bend from the factory dash panel, I'll probably spot well a light flange/angle iron across the bottom and weld on both ends to the cab.

[Kim57]

I used that same panel in mine.
Doesn't seem to be a problem without the support.
I may have to add one to it though.
Kim

[dug224]

Originally Posted by Kim57

I used that same panel in mine.
Doesn't seem to be a problem without the support.
I may have to add one to it though.
Kim

You are probably right. I had time to study it today and have tentatively decided to cut the ash tray, heater control and all of the other protrusions out as a single piece and leave as much of the remaining structure as possible (... which includes the angle in question). I'll leave a small flange at the top and next to the gauges and utilize the existing flange on the right side of the glove box to weld to. I plan on doing the cut tomorrow and leaving the panel off to give the plaster more room to do his job. dug

[dsraven]

;ooks ;like you will get your moneys worth out of the punch/flange tool anyway. haha. good job on those plug welds. like a pro.

[ptc]

Originally Posted by dug224

..in fact, I'll need to remove the steering column to fully utilize the entire length. It is long. Just re-looked at their somewhat difficult to see installation photos on-line. Looks like they cut the entire dash panel out and replaced with just the sheet metal repair panel. The repair panel does not have any sort of structural bend at the bottom edge so it may be flimsy. If I can't find an easy way to leave the bend from the factory dash panel, I'll probably spot well a light flange/angle iron across the bottom and weld on both ends to the cab.

Dug I did this same panel on my dash and I cut everything out and then cut the bottom heavy support rail off of it and re-attached it back into place. Leave at least 1/4" of old material at the top of the old dash face for the new panel to rest on and plug weld it. Then plug weld the bottom onto the support about every 4".

I finished the top weld by seam welding it complete, starting from one end to the other and air cooling it to keep it from warping. Then used a die grinder to shape the weld nice.

good luck! enjoying the project!

[dug224]

PTC...that's good to know it worked. Looks like the best solution.

Busy morning...I got the dash protrusions cut out and test fit the new smooth panel. I'll definitely follow PTC's and DSRaven's lead on how it will be attached.


Drill the rivets on the GVW plate and the spot welds on the VIN plate and got them of the truck and in a safe place.


Found 4 hooks from my Dad's old stuff and bolted them in. Lifted the cab using my engine lift and ratchet straps. Slid the truck laterally in the garage away from the lift and pulled the cab far enough the other way so I could roll the frame outside. Suddenly, I have a bigger garage!


Cab is now ready for additional work. I need to rotate it so I can get to the bottom to remove the undercoating. Looks like the best way is to roll it onto the firewall. Rolling it on its back will bend my new corners. Any suggestions on removing undercoating???? Used a heat gun on the lower firewall but it was slow going. Hope to have it to the blaster in a week.


Outside and now under a new tarp.

[dsraven]

you did the cab removal the same way I did the first time. did you find it was a bit tippy? mine was, and when it started ti tip the weight shifted and it wanted ti keep tipping faster. I found my cab lifter made from scrap wood works really well because it picks it up in the door openings at the top so the weight is hung instead of being lifted down low plus you can adjust the lifting point to get the cab level. I got the idea from here somewhere in a pic.
i would also lay the cab on the firewall because of the fear ob bending the cab metal. lay a tarp down, then some 2x4 or scrap wood to space the cab up enough so the pinch weld area at the top of the firewall doesn't take all the weight, then lay the cab on the wood and screw an upright brace to the lower fender mounts so the cab can't rollover on you while working. then get some paint thinner, varsol, diesel, engine cleaner or soem other solvent and spray it on the tar with a hand pump sprayer like an old windex bottle or the like. let it sit but check it periodically so the tar stays "wet" as it absorbes the solvent. then it should scrape off pretty easily with a putty knife. just remember that the solvent is gonna stink and be flammable so you don't want a recurrence of what happened at Jim's house.
when I worked in ft Mcmurray we had some degreaser that we used on machines that came back from the tar sands. it worked awesome but it was labelled with a proprietary label from a supplier who went belly up. there must be other stuff that works as well though. I have had good luck with castrol superclean but also used a pressure washer as well. superclean works great but don't lkeave it on aluminum for more than a few minutes because it cleans so well it sort of etches the aluminum, like wheels, so they look stained after. I bet it would eat tar as well and it is sold in a gallon jug (well, 3.78 litres in Canada).
good luck. did you decide to swap out the roof before sandblasting? the blaster could get all those areas behind the roof panel.....and you like drilling spot welds right?

[dsraven]

here is a quick pic of the lifter. kinda hard to see but it is just made from some 2x6 I had laying around. helpd together with fencing screws.

[58CameoAZ]

You asked about removing tar, For what its worth i bought a air pneumatic gasket scraper
from Harbor Freight, Think out the door cost was like around ten bucks, I have to say that
that thing works GREAT! for removing Tar. I used it on the bottom of my 58 Cab
and it took the dried up tar off very fast and metal still had the original painted finish.
you get a couple of extra angled blades with the scraper also.
Give it a try i think you will be quite Pleased!
Allen

[ptc]

The original undercoating on my truck inner panels, fenders, and undercab was so brittle that it just flaked off in big chunks with just a dull wood chisel. pushing and scraping it off. The paint underneath was totally protected from all these years of hard CA weather!!!!

You might try that first before making a big mess with heat...

[dug224]

Thanks guys....I thought I was done for the day after the last post but got a second wind and decided to try the heat gun on the undercoating before I read your responses. As it turns out, I had already removed most of the stuff I was concerned about when I replace the corners, step and floor pan. The remaining undercoating was not that bad to remove. Was a bit messy but it's done!!

Tipping it onto the firewall went quite well. Used the engine lift to raise the back of the cab about 10 inches. Left the front of the cab steps sitting on 4x4's. Once I got it into position, I rolled it over manually by myself. Ended up pretty stable.


I revisited the roof when the cab was on its' firewall. Yikes! It's worse than I remember and I remember it being bad. Previous body man banged it out and drilled a few holes to pull it out....and still wasn't successful. I'll start shopping for a new roof panel.




All loaded up on our disposable trailer. Don't want it to "tump" over as we say here in the south so I used 7 straps. Headed to blaster tomorrow. He may be able to simply roll it forward like I did to get all the blasting done and not even remove it from the trailer.


Man, I forgot what it was like to have an open garage. Hopefully not for long.

[dug224]

Originally Posted by dsraven

here is a quick pic of the lifter. kinda hard to see but it is just made from some 2x6 I had laying around. helpd together with fencing screws.

I see what you did. Looks good. I wasn't sure the roof needed me tugging on it so i went with my strap and engine lift method using the body mounts positions. Seemed to be pretty stable but then I was not really challenging it. I moved very slowly and carefully when we had to change positions.

[dug224]

Originally Posted by 58CameoAZ

You asked about removing tar, For what its worth i bought a air pneumatic gasket scraper
from Harbor Freight, Think out the door cost was like around ten bucks, I have to say that
that thing works GREAT! for removing Tar. I used it on the bottom of my 58 Cab
and it took the dried up tar off very fast and metal still had the original painted finish.
you get a couple of extra angled blades with the scraper also.
Give it a try i think you will be quite Pleased!
Allen

I believe I even have one of these blades with my Harbor Freight multi-tool. I'll sure get it out next time. Thanks.

[dsraven]

looks like you are making some good progress there Doug. what are you gonna do with all that room in the shop till your cab comes back, sort parts? daydream of doing that roof replacement?
looks good.

[dug224]

Originally Posted by dsraven

looks like you are making some good progress there Doug. what are you gonna do with all that room in the shop till your cab comes back, sort parts? daydream of doing that roof replacement?
looks good.

I may just lie down in the middle of garage and try to talk myself into trying to hammer and dolly the roof back into a shape close enough to match the the other dents in the truck (or at least within a skim coat of filler). Spending nearly $500 for a new roof panel kind of goes against my theme of doing this on the cheap!!!...or maybe I weld the holes closed and leave it like it is and explain to lookers on that "it's a look that everyone is trying to achieve now". Now that I think about it, I do have a little cut and buff work to do on the Honda TL230 decals. I'm entering it in a motorcycle show on Dauphin Island (small island south of Mobile) in a couple of weeks to see how the motorcycle people live life.

[dsraven]

check out kabwe's truck where he replaced his roof. it will give you something to do while you wait for your cab to come back. it also has some good pics showing the structure behind the roof so you don't cut something off that you didn't mean to. mostly front corner areas. post #4 starts the roof.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s....php?t=440079/

[Dan in Pasadena]

Dug,
Hate to be the bearer of bad news but it would have been better if you'd have drilled out the roof spot welds and removed it before taking it to the blaster. There is typically rust all over the top side of peripheral interior metal "headliner" surround.

It's the one thing I wish I'd have done in redoing by entire truck.

[dug224]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Dug,
Hate to be the bearer of bad news but it would have been better if you'd have drilled out the roof spot welds and removed it before taking it to the blaster. There is typically rust all over the top side of peripheral interior metal "headliner" surround.

It's the one thing I wish I'd have done in redoing by entire truck.

Agree. If I decide to take it off, I'll fire up my little blaster and take care of it. As of today, I'm thinking I'll hammer and dolly it the best I can and get the truck on the road. Maybe after I build the new house, I'll do a good paint job!! Thx

[dug224]

Made some headway on the bumper brackets. Before cutting the welds I made when I set up the bumper when the body was in place, I drilled pilot holes to index the brackets to the frame. Drilled the big holes in the brackets using my drill press and the final holes in the frame using my cordless. Frame tube is much lighter than the plate steel I used for the brackets. My new Drill Doctor is keeping the bits sharp which really helps with my lack of patience when it comes to drilling large holes.

Note that the vertical portion of the bracket is really close to the big sway bar. I had to grind out a rounded section to give my self about 3/8" clearance which can kind of be seen in the third photo below.


Nuts setup for welding. The top one in the horizontal position is the front core support body mount. Took this opportunity to weld it to the frame as well. Used all three bolts to position the bumper bracket then removed the front lower one before welding so I could get the welder down inside the frame tube to tack the back bolt.


Nuts tacked into place.





The entire picture with the core support still up on 4x4's.

[dug224]

James the blaster was kind enough to send me some progress pictures on the cab blasting.


Yikes.


A little primer and I'll be ready to pick it up.

[Scottish58chev]

Looking really good

[dug224]

Decided to bring the cab home today without any primer on it. It will make tackling the additional welding faster since I won't be having to sand any primer off. Weather here is good so it will make it into my conditioned garage before any rain. With that said, does anyone have an inexpensive solution to temporarily coating raw sheet metal to prevent rusting that is easily removed when it comes time to paint???

[ptc]

If you use epoxy primer, you dont have to sand it off to apply your bondo, just 80 grit it and apply it right over the top of the epoxy. Its a great seal for the metal and a good adhesive for filler. Thats what my guy did. If your blaster can paint it there just have them do it.

[dsraven]

same same with PTC, epoxy it as soon as possible. is buffs off fairly easily when cured. you don't need to sand it to bare metal for filler, the filler will stick fine to the epoxy and some say it is better because the filler can hold condensation so if it is on top of epoxy the metal is sealed from that.
man, you have some serious hammer and dolly work to do on that roof. or just weld the holes closed, epoxy it, fill the crap out of it and drive it for now. paint it after the house is done. you never know when a something accidentally dings the roof when loading at the lumber yard or hauling garbage anyway. throw a new roof panel on later.