Project 69SWB

[~Whitey~]

now for the problem areas...

Problem number one. Little Roof rust.. this is the only spot on the roof. Not sure if I should try to fill in with my mig, or cut a peice out from another cab I have.

[~Whitey~]

Problem #2 -- little bit of floor needs replaced. It looks like someone just welded over rust. I'll fix that.

[~Whitey~]

Problem #3 -- big problem... there was A LOT of bondo in the pillar. I'm not sure how to go about fixing this, except by cutting out the pillars from my other cab and using them. I do not want to fill it all back in with bondo. Also the the floor in this can has been replaced as well as the cab corners and the PO did not align it right.. both cab corners flare out on the back wall of cab... It is something that my OCD won't allow, so I must fix this.

Also attached is a pic of the CAB i will be cutting sections from. Though it doesn't have any bondo in it.. it is not as solid as this one. Floor is gone, cab supports are gone and the top has a slight bend in it... But I believe I can get what I want from it and not have to use a scud of bondo to cover up damage.

[~Whitey~]

I'm sure my neighbors love me for the junk I drag up and park at times.

[thesledhead]

very nice!!! it looks like deja vu!

[Chev71]

Originally Posted by 69swb

I'm sure my neighbors love me for the junk I drag up and park at times.

Haha same here man, neighbors called the city on me, I had a ticket on my front windshield after 2days. Good progress... Mines at sandblasting shop rite now I hope I don't need a donor cab lol
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[~Whitey~]

Originally Posted by thesledhead

very nice!!! it looks like deja vu!

Thanks... I get deja vu everytime I look around on this site. :-)

Originally Posted by Chev71

Haha same here man, neighbors called the city on me, I had a ticket on my front windshield after 2days. Good progress... Mines at sandblasting shop rite now I hope I don't need a donor cab lol
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I hope you don't either...


What's the best tool to use to cut sections out of the other cab. I have a 4 1/2 angle grinder, a 3in cut off wheel, and a reciprocating saw? (Which I think is way to big for this kind of delicate cutting.) from past experience if I try to use these tools for this job.. It's gonna get ugly.

[Xeen]

Holy smokes that is alot of damage on the back corner of the cab, you might be able to use various hand dollies and a hammer and get some of it pretty straight, but it might be easier to cut other parts of it out and replace it.

[~Whitey~]

Originally Posted by Xeen

Holy smokes that is alot of damage on the back corner of the cab, you might be able to use various hand dollies and a hammer and get some of it pretty straight, but it might be easier to cut other parts of it out and replace it.

Oh I definitely plan to cut and replace. I want to put as little bondo back in this as possible... That was the problem with the paint in the first place. The person who did the work before just laid the bondo too thick and it cracked.

[RWB-713]

Your build brings back alot of memories of the last couple years for me! I went through alot of the same process as far as clean up & prep & rebuild on the frame & suspension, talk about time consuming, definately ALOT of work!
I wish i would have had the awareness to take pictures and document all that work, sure would be nice to have them on my build thread if nothing else

I have a soft spot for lime green & black, and that's probably an understatement, lol. You have a great build going on here and it seems like you are making great progress, I'm really close to the same stage wit my '67 as you are now, and I've had that truck torn apart for several years now, I seem to have found a sudden super interest in it again tho, thanks to a good buddy of mine who has a build very near completion ( Portmod7 ), and many of you guys here on this forum have furthered that inspiration in the last couple of days. So hopefully. I'll be making progress and be back on track here pretty quickly!

Originally Posted by 69swb

What's the best tool to use to cut sections out of the other cab. I have a 4 1/2 angle grinder, a 3in cut off wheel, and a reciprocating saw? (Which I think is way to big for this kind of delicate cutting.) from past experience if I try to use these tools for this job.. It's gonna get ugly.

For most of my sheetmetal cutting on my cab we used a combonation of a 3" cutoff wheel on a die grinder, an airsaw (basically an air operated jigsaw), and a die grinder with a small (2") 36 grit grinding disc. Use the cutoff wheel and the airsaw to make the inital cuts, and leave just enough left to go back with the 36 grit and fine tune the line until it's where it needs to be so you can start working with your patch panel. It's a painful, tedious task at best, and it's my least favorite part of a build by FAR. (probably why my build has taken so many haults over the last couple years ). My biggest advice is to plan two steps ahead in every area, and measure 4 times & cut once, otherwise you find yourself going farther and farther into good metal, and it gets old REAL fast. Seems like you have a good amount of patience tho, take your time, don't get discouraged, and it'll all come together nicley in the end!

Definately subscribed! I'll pitch in any advice from past experiences I can, if nothing else, I can sure give lots of "what not to do" examples

[~Whitey~]

Originally Posted by RWB-713

Your build brings back alot of memories of the last couple years for me! I went through alot of the same process as far as clean up & prep & rebuild on the frame & suspension, talk about time consuming, definately ALOT of work!
I wish i would have had the awareness to take pictures and document all that work, sure would be nice to have them on my build thread if nothing else

I have a soft spot for lime green & black, and that's probably an understatement, lol. You have a great build going on here and it seems like you are making great progress, I'm really close to the same stage wit my '67 as you are now, and I've had that truck torn apart for several years now, I seem to have found a sudden super interest in it again tho, thanks to a good buddy of mine who has a build very near completion ( Portmod7 ), and many of you guys here on this forum have furthered that inspiration in the last couple of days. So hopefully. I'll be making progress and be back on track here pretty quickly!





For most of my sheetmetal cutting on my cab we used a combonation of a 3" cutoff wheel on a die grinder, an airsaw (basically an air operated jigsaw), and a die grinder with a small (2") 36 grit grinding disc. Use the cutoff wheel and the airsaw to make the inital cuts, and leave just enough left to go back with the 36 grit and fine tune the line until it's where it needs to be so you can start working with your patch panel. It's a painful, tedious task at best, and it's my least favorite part of a build by FAR. (probably why my build has taken so many haults over the last couple years ). My biggest advice is to plan two steps ahead in every area, and measure 4 times & cut once, otherwise you find yourself going farther and farther into good metal, and it gets old REAL fast. Seems like you have a good amount of patience tho, take your time, don't get discouraged, and it'll all come together nicley in the end!

Definately subscribed! I'll pitch in any advice from past experiences I can, if nothing else, I can sure give lots of "what not to do" examples

Thanks a bunch.. That's all great advice and I put it to use this evening. I just took my time, cut slow, used the 3" cutoff and an orbital jigsaw and it all cut pretty good. I will need to go back with the die grinder like you said and clean up my line. Will post some pics in a few... I found some more work under all that ugly on the pillar.
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[~Whitey~]

I figured if start on the worst part so hopefully this gets easier as I go. :-)l

On my phone right now and I can only upload 1 pic per post.
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[~Whitey~]

Bad section cut out, but still need to clean up the line.
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[~Whitey~]

Looks like more work, but not too bad really. It'll give me a chance to remove the rockers and cleanup any rust underneath.

When I repair the bottom of that pillar I imagine I should support it before I go cutting on it.
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[Xeen]

Wow man you have no fear, thats a big job right there.
No Guts no Glory right?

[~Whitey~]

Originally Posted by Xeen

Wow man you have no fear, thats a big job right there.
No Guts no Glory right?

LMAO! Well it's not going to get done if I don't dive in and do it. hahaha

[RWB-713]

Originally Posted by 69swb

Looks like more work, but not too bad really. It'll give me a chance to remove the rockers and cleanup any rust underneath.

When I repair the bottom of that pillar I imagine I should support it before I go cutting on it.
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Yeah, the cab floor & cab supports right there are notorious for always having cancer too, definately had to cut that out on mine as well. I didn't quit have to go as far up the cab as you did tho.

Supporting that corner definately is a good saftey measure considering how far up the cabside you had to go, i didn't support mine, but there's still alot of structural stability left in it.

Good work so far!

[~Whitey~]

Originally Posted by RWB-713

Yeah, the cab floor & cab supports right there are notorious for always having cancer too, definately had to cut that out on mine as well. I didn't quit have to go as far up the cab as you did tho.

Supporting that corner definately is a good saftey measure considering how far up the cabside you had to go, i didn't support mine, but there's still alot of structural stability left in it.

Good work so far!

Thanks RWB-713. I'm gonna try to get all this metal work done as quick as I can so I can get some epoxy primer on it.

Question?: Should I epoxy prime after the metal work and before any body work? Or do my body work on the bare metal then epoxy prime afterwards?

[RWB-713]

Originally Posted by 69swb

Question?: Should I epoxy prime after the metal work and before any body work? Or do my body work on the bare metal then epoxy prime afterwards?

I'm doing all my body work on the bare metal and using guide coat primer in the spots i'm workin on. After all the work is done, I'll go back and epoxy prime the whole cab. I'd think epoxy priming the whole thing now would just cause you more work in the long run.

I'm not 100% that i'm doing it the "right way", but I've also learned that everyone approaches body work differently. I have a buddy who runs a body shop up here that basically does collision repair only (he's definitly helped me out alot), and their approach sometimes varies from someone who specializes in shaving, filling, & other custom work. Both usually seem to turn out just fine in my experiences. I think it's a "to each their own" scenario really, as body work is one of those things I'll add to my list of "Black Arts".

[67cheby]

great progress !

[Xeen]

In my opinion you should always epoxy bare metal ASAP after it has been cleaned so it doesnt rust at all while you are working on it, and you should spot epoxy any areas you are working on at the end of each day.

[RWB-713]

Originally Posted by Xeen

In my opinion you should always epoxy bare metal ASAP after it has been cleaned so it doesnt rust at all while you are working on it, and you should spot epoxy any areas you are working on at the end of each day.

That's not a bad statement by any means. Better safe than sorry is a time tested statement. I think your working & storage area may be something to think about too. Half my cab has been exposed bare metal for years, and there's not a sign of (new) rust at all, not even "wipe off" surface rust. My cab has also always been inside a very dry shop building the entire time tho.

[~Whitey~]

Originally Posted by RWB-713

I'm doing all my body work on the bare metal and using guide coat primer in the spots i'm workin on. After all the work is done, I'll go back and epoxy prime the whole cab. I'd think epoxy priming the whole thing now would just cause you more work in the long run.

I'm not 100% that i'm doing it the "right way", but I've also learned that everyone approaches body work differently. I have a buddy who runs a body shop up here that basically does collision repair only (he's definitly helped me out alot), and their approach sometimes varies from someone who specializes in shaving, filling, & other custom work. Both usually seem to turn out just fine in my experiences. I think it's a "to each their own" scenario really, as body work is one of those things I'll add to my list of "Black Arts".

I know epoxy is like concrete and really hard to sand after it cures. From what I understand there is at most a 7day window after you spray it to add anything on top of it without have to scuff it. That's one of the reasons I am not wanting to do it just yet.. It's going to take me longer than that to finish this metal work with only being able to work on it an hour pr two here and there... If I start seeing surface rust I guess I'll speed things up or just go ahead with the epoxy.

Originally Posted by 67cheby

great progress !

Thank ya sir.

Originally Posted by Xeen

In my opinion you should always epoxy bare metal ASAP after it has been cleaned so it doesnt rust at all while you are working on it, and you should spot epoxy any areas you are working on at the end of each day.

I've heard that from several people and it makes sense. I would definitely do this if I was able to get everything done in a few days so as not to have to go back over the epoxy and rough it up... For now I'm gonna take my chances but will keep an eye out for surface rust forming and if it does I'll just go ahead and lay down a coat of epoxy.

Thanks for the input fellas.

[Xeen]

Heres a pro tip for you.
Epoxy and darn near anything else is no match for an 4-1/2" Polycarbonite disk on a 11,000 RPM side angle grinder.
You can pick up these disks for a reasonable price at harbor freight, they hold up really well and are my favorite sanding medium by far.

[~Whitey~]

Originally Posted by Xeen

Heres a pro tip for you.
Epoxy and darn near anything else is no match for an 4-1/2" Polycarbonite disk on a 11,000 RPM side angle grinder.
You can pick up these disks for a reasonable price at harbor freight, they hold up really well and are my favorite sanding medium by far.

Thanks for the tip. I've got the angle grinder and several different grits of flap disc.. but I DO NOT want to go over the entire cab with them. :-) My garage is pretty dry... So I'm hoping I'll be fine... after I spray the epoxy all I want to do is lay build primer on top of it.