Project: Montezuma

[May70]

small progress..

Adjusted the gap between the rocker and corner to match door line. Will fill with seam sealer later but it will still be noticeable and wanted it to look good.

Had to do a lot of splicing on the rear side of the rocker to match the rear pillar.

Also had to split the rocker all the way down and push it in to match the door edge (which I now filled that gap in).

I cut the end cap out of the front side of the rocker and remade a new cap so the rocker would fit right up in the position I wanted it (when taking it on/off). I plan to weld all around that seam to hopefully prevent water/dirt getting thrown up in that area from the tires. Put weld thru primer on it before tacking it in.

[May70]

Continued: Once the forward cap was tacked in I proceeded to get the top part lined up with the forward pillar with a few splices/tacks. Will need to seam that up and sand flat.

My existing PS fender is in bad shape at the bottom next to the cab, so I may have to do some tweaking later to get them to line up.

[rechinca]

Keep up the work, once I am done with my work this year it’s on to kick panels and rockers next year.

[May70]

Needed to fix the bottom of the fender to make sure all my alignment is good.

Shrinker came in handy on this one, only had to make one cut in the flange...

[May70]

Fender support continued...

Also had to drill out the threaded plate that captures the lower fender bolt. The original bolt broke off when I was removing the fender. After removing the plate (with the bolt still attached), I sand blasted all the rust from the threads/rest of piece. Then I clamped the bolt in the vice and used an adjustable wrench to turn the plate and remove it. Surprisingly I didnt need any heat or penetrating oil... Just have to give it a little tap action and weld it back up in place.

I also picked up a harbor freight 36" brake on sale. I have been using their 18" benchtop brake but this is much quicker to use. Also it will allow me to make the inner rockers without having to splice two pieces together.

More to come..

[KMC3420]

Nicely done on the lower fender patch. The brake looks like a good tool to have around as well.

Were you required to remove the kick panel to put your floor in? If so, why? Thanks.

[May70]

Originally Posted by KMC3420

Nicely done on the lower fender patch. The brake looks like a good tool to have around as well.

Were you required to remove the kick panel to put your floor in? If so, why? Thanks.

Yes, if you see the first picture below, that was the floor pan snagging on the inside of the pillar. I knew after the first attempt to fit the floor the kick panel needed to come back out (thats why you only tac stuff in!!).

So basically I found out there is typically a 1/8" to 1/4" gap between the green edge and the floor pan. That gap is seam sealed like the rest. I was actually going to try and weld that seam shut (so I wanted a really tight gap). Obviously that didnt work out in the order I thought it would. I think most people do the kick panel last anyway.

My plan now will be to cut off the rest of that lower flange (marked with red 'X's) and put it in place after the floor is in.

[KMC3420]

Originally Posted by May70

Yes, if you see the first picture below, that was the floor pan snagging on the inside of the pillar. I knew after the first attempt to fit the floor the kick panel needed to come back out (thats why you only tac stuff in!!).

So basically I found out there is typically a 1/8" to 1/4" gap between the green edge and the floor pan. That gap is seam sealed like the rest. I was actually going to try and weld that seam shut (so I wanted a really tight gap). Obviously that didnt work out in the order I thought it would. I think most people do the kick panel last anyway.

My plan now will be to cut off the rest of that lower flange (marked with red 'X's) and put it in place after the floor is in.

I will proceed in removing the kick panel area on both sides that is bad on mine before attempting to fit the floor in. Appreciate the info.

Did you cut the inner rocker off your new floor in an attempt to make it longer with a new patch piece?

[May70]

Yes I cut out the inner rocker and am just going to make my own inner rockers. It will be easier than trying to make that one fit. Actually that is the reason I bought the 36" brake because the distance between the supports is aprox 36". I can now make it with one piece.

[May70]

Made a little more progress today. Ran the tap through the bolt capture plate and cleaned that up. Also made a patch for the fender brace itself. Then welded that all in together.

Moved on to the skin repair. Once again the stretch/shrink machine came in to make a much easier job out of that. Not finished yet but pretty close.

[May70]

Well I thought I would make the bend in the outer skin patch piece in order to do two things:

A: Be able to use the shrink/stretcher to control and create the curve
B: Fold it over for the factory skin fold over look

What I found was the bottom of the door is on a slight angle and I could not keep the curve and the angle. It was fighting me a lot, so I actually cut it all back out and said "oh ill just use the patch panel....". That was going to be even more work HAH silly me.

So I cut the bend off my original skin repair piece and put the angle and bend in it... Now im going to use the little crescent shaped piece on the inside to come and meet the outer skin. That will allow me to build an edge up with filler ( to contour the door/cab/rocker gap and look somewhat like the factory skin fold over.

My plan is to tac the crescent piece onto the inside pillar and then use a body hammer to bend the edge out to match the edge.

[May70]

Also, I picked up a fender and a repro core support.

What's interesting is this fender (with the body lines lined up) is that the fender is about 1/2" short. The bottom is about 1/2" taller than the rocker..... I assume its a difference in stamps/factories. Anyway, I think what ill do is try to get the lower patch good enough on my original fender then address the cup.... Ive seen a couple posts on the forums which showed how bad the repro cup is. I think I may cut the cup off the fender I picked up and try to make it work on mine.

[KMC3420]

Originally Posted by May70

Also, I picked up a fender and a repro core support.

What's interesting is this fender (with the body lines lined up) is that the fender is about 1/2" short. The bottom is about 1/2" taller than the rocker..... I assume its a difference in stamps/factories. Anyway, I think what ill do is try to get the lower patch good enough on my original fender then address the cup.... Ive seen a couple posts on the forums which showed how bad the repro cup is. I think I may cut the cup off the fender I picked up and try to make it work on mine.

I used a good cup from an OEM fender on my 68, worked very well, versus hacking up a reproduction cup..Less work and correct lines as well.

[May70]

Originally Posted by KMC3420

I used a good cup from an OEM fender on my 68, worked very well, versus hacking up a reproduction cup..Less work and correct lines as well.

Do you have any pictures of that?

[KMC3420]

Originally Posted by May70

Do you have any pictures of that?

I think so, on my computer. I will try to locate them tomorrow.

[May70]

Originally Posted by KMC3420

I think so, on my computer. I will try to locate them tomorrow.

Did you find any KMC?

[KMC3420]

Here are the only ones I can find, but this was using an original fender cup. I cut the lower cup so the body trim covers up the weld line.

Before:


After the cut:


During welding/hammer & dolly:

[May70]

Wow that looks a heck of a lot easier than what the repro cup jobs look like!! That's a relief haha

[KMC3420]

Originally Posted by May70

Wow that looks a heck of a lot easier than what the repro cup jobs look like!! That's a relief haha

Yes, the fit was spot on and the angles didn't need any tweaking or slicing. Perfect length as well!!

[May70]

PS Fender corner rebuild continued...

I think the inside is good enough. Going to finish up the skin, the bottom all the way across needs to be replaced and there is a small rust spot I have to patch also. I think the hard part is done for this piece.

[KMC3420]

Looks good. Keep pushing forward. I am to the point where I will be pulling my old floor out in the next few weeks. Really studying your thread, thanks again for posting.

[May70]

I think that if I had to do this over again on a high hump floor, I would get the regular floor and just cut the hump out.... You place the high hump on the floor and trace around it, add about an inch for a flange to bolt it down to and cut it out.

I have seen that done several times and they didn't have to fight the inner rocker issue. No way they are ever going to fix the stamp for the high hump floor. It would probably cost several hundred thousand. Typical to just claim ignorance like Brothers does on their rocker stamps.

CORRECTION: I wont do this again, Ill pay more for less rust. hah. But seriously, this was a decision to learn the hard way by choice. Now that ive done that, the next project (if I have one) I will take measures not to have so much rust repair.

[KMC3420]

Originally Posted by May70

I think that if I had to do this over again on a high hump floor, I would get the regular floor and just cut the hump out.... You place the high hump on the floor and trace around it, add about an inch for a flange to bolt it down to and cut it out.

I have seen that done several times and they didn't have to fight the inner rocker issue. No way they are ever going to fix the stamp for the high hump floor. It would probably cost several hundred thousand. Typical to just claim ignorance like Brothers does on their rocker stamps.

CORRECTION: I wont do this again, Ill pay more for less rust. hah. But seriously, this was a decision to learn the hard way by choice. Now that ive done that, the next project (if I have one) I will take measures not to have so much rust repair.

The floor I have is a low hump floor, and I will have to trace/cut out for the high hump. What is different between the inner rockers versus the low and high hump floors? Sounds like I may have lucked out and ordered the low hump floor.

[May70]

Originally Posted by KMC3420

The floor I have is a low hump floor, and I will have to trace/cut out for the high hump. What is different between the inner rockers versus the low and high hump floors? Sounds like I may have lucked out and ordered the low hump floor.

Ah, I thought I put more info up on that subject. As post #46 mentioned, the stamp for the high hump pan is wrong where the inner rocker channel sits. It sits too tall by more than 3/8". I measured 4 factory cabs at a friends house and all the measurements showed a 3/8" average difference. When measuring 3 places from front to back (between the roof drip edge and the inner rocker ledge).

For what ever reason the section on the sides of the floor than angles down, is not identical to the factory and causes the inner rocker ledge (where the top of the outer rocker sits) too high.

That is the reason I elected just to cut it out and make my own to fit the outer rocker (once they are mocked up).

I can only assume the regular floor repro does not have that issue because I have not found anyone that documented having to do this. Usually the only fix in that area is opening up the curves at the front/back where the outer rocker needs more clearance.

[KMC3420]

Originally Posted by May70

Ah, I thought I put more info up on that subject. As post #46 mentioned, the stamp for the high hump pan is wrong where the inner rocker channel sits. It sits too tall by more than 3/8". I measured 4 factory cabs at a friends house and all the measurements showed a 3/8" average difference. When measuring 3 places from front to back (between the roof drip edge and the inner rocker ledge).

For what ever reason the section on the sides of the floor than angles down, is not identical to the factory and causes the inner rocker ledge (where the top of the outer rocker sits) too high.

That is the reason I elected just to cut it out and make my own to fit the outer rocker (once they are mocked up).

I can only assume the regular floor repro does not have that issue because I have not found anyone that documented having to do this. Usually the only fix in that area is opening up the curves at the front/back where the outer rocker needs more clearance.

That makes sense as I have seen a few other threads with floor replacements and was not sure why you had such issues with yours. That is why I asked if you cut your inner rocker off your new pan, but it makes sense now. I sure hope I dont have to do as much cutting as you do, kind of takes the fun out of using a whole floor