How do you fix this??Repo body parts.

[rustbucket66]

After disassembling again, lay the header panel face down on the floor, and set the rad support inside it. Open holes as needed to be sure all holes align, with a little extra for adjustment, and that the brackets have a snug fit to the rad support. Welded areas of holes where they used to be, and grind smooth. Oh, that cardboard on the floor is showing the part number for the left fender, in case someone wants to jot that down, and order one....right. Ready to install back on the truck again. Almost.

[rustbucket66]

Is anyone still reading this? It's a long movie, some might have nodded off by now. It's been a while since my last suprise, and it has been going a bit too good. Upon turning the rad support and header panel upside down, the lid blew off another can of worms. The panel that protects the bottom of the rad is on crooked, look how much rad support shows on the left side compared to the right. Hmmm. I can live with that piece being crooked, as it is underneath, and no one should notice.....will they?? The mount on the centre is way out, maybe a half inch, and the right side is out about half the hole. Next pic, welded extensions on each, weld the fresh air where the hole used to be, grind smooth, and make new holes. Third pic shows the bolts in the holes, and the left and right brackets on. Kind of hard to see in this pic, but they are on there, and bolted down. Oh, there is that part number on the cardboard again in the second picture. I doubt anyone is writing it down, after looking at this blog.

[rustbucket66]

I've bolted the rad support, header panel, inner fenders, and outer fenders on, and things don't line up too bad. I feel a bit relieved, it has been a long long time to get to this point. The last hurdle, I think, is the gap that opens up along the fender and door gap drivers side. I've put some tape on it to make it show up better. It is all aligned in front and can't really be adjusted much. I plan to weld a small bead along the rear of the fender, and grind some off to get the gap reasonably close. It has a nice gap at the top, and aligns pretty good with the bodyline on the door. Get the gap right, and add shims to align the rear of the fender to the door. The passenger side is pretty good, and won't need any lovin. Heart break hill coming up, can't stop now, the finish line is off in the distance. A dim light is at the end of the tunnel. I just hope it isn't a train coming the other way. Stay tuned.

[Captainfab]

Oh yeah, I've been following along. I haven't said much more as I just can't believe how much work you have had to put into these 'new' parts.

[rustbucket66]

A lot of time for sure. It gets discouraging sometimes. You know, the outer skins and shapes of these things isn't too bad. Where all the problems are, is in the assembly. Everywhere there is 2 panels spotwelded together, or a weldnut and hole, everything goes for sh%$. The assembly is just brutal. I would use these parts however for patch panels on your OEM parts. They are reasonably accurate, like I said, but someone has to stop the guy putting these together, and slap his hands. I have I think, 13 weldnuts in a little collection on my bench. There is more work than what my pics show. You're from Cor de Lane, been through there, to some Good Guys shows in Spokane and Puyallup. Enjoyed them both very much. There is that really cool hotrod bar and grill betwwen you and Spokane. That was a very cool place, lots of rubber marks on the side street there. I wonder what happened?

[Captainfab]

The 'Hot Rod Cafe' in Post Falls went broke and closed up a few months ago. I didn't care for the owner, but it is sad to see it gone.

Originally Posted by rustbucket66

A lot of time for sure. It gets discouraging sometimes. You know, the outer skins and shapes of these things isn't too bad. Where all the problems are, is in the assembly. Everywhere there is 2 panels spotwelded together, or a weldnut and hole, everything goes for sh%$. The assembly is just brutal. I would use these parts however for patch panels on your OEM parts. They are reasonably accurate, like I said, but someone has to stop the guy putting these together, and slap his hands. I have I think, 13 weldnuts in a little collection on my bench. There is more work than what my pics show. You're from Cor de Lane, been through there, to some Good Guys shows in Spokane and Puyallup. Enjoyed them both very much. There is that really cool hotrod bar and grill betwwen you and Spokane. That was a very cool place, lots of rubber marks on the side street there. I wonder what happened?

[neto]

Oh I've been following this also and am learning from all this work you are doing. You are like the ever ready rabbit you just keep going and going. I would have already gone and found some good used OEM parts. You are helping a great deal and motivating and encouraging others to not give up. Including me.
Thanks you
Ernest

[chevy_man5]

Following along here too. I'm with Neto, I'd have given up by now, taken the BFH to the parts, to relieve some frustration, then sent the company pictures! Speaking of that, you may want to send the company pictures of everything you have done. MAYBE they'll work on some better QC.

I saw in another thread that someone used welding rod to fill in body gaps. Came out looking nice. It was around a door, if I remember right.

Keep up the good work!

[rustbucket66]

Thanks for the encouragement, it helps. I have started welding on the backside of the fender. The welding rod trick works good, I did it several times putting the floor in the cab. Just knock the stuff of the outside with a hammer and weld away. I have done one pass, and the welding rod is in there about 2/3s of the way up. I should have stopped and took a picture with it tacked on. Anyway, after test fitting, I made another pass, no welding rods, and ground it down to somewhere close. I'll let the bodyman take it down the rest of the way. I think we are getting somewhere. It doesn't show it in ths picture, but the top of the fender is out farther than the door, and has to move closer to the cab for them to line up. The fender is bottomed out on the bracket against the cab, and it can't go in anymore. It is bottomed out where the front mounting bolt is. The rear of the bracket has space in behind it. Some of the first pics in this blog show the fresh air in behind the bracket at the rear bolt. There was about 3/8 of fresh air between the rear of the bracket, and the side of the cab where it attaches to. Oh yaaa. What to do. The bracket has about 15 spotwelds that hold it on, not in the mood. I decided to take a cutoff wheel and slice the sheetmetal of the bracket, not the fender, so the bracket could allow the fender to move inward.

[rustbucket66]

Boy, am I a bad photographer. Some of these pics a pretty bad, so I will try and explain what they are for, and what to look for. In the first pic, I have made a slice that is vertical in this picture, through a good part of the bracket. It doesn't show the light, but where ever the grinding mark is, it is ground right through. The next picture I have mounted it on, and tightened the rear bolt right against the cab. The fender lines up just right with the door. Cool. Looks like there wont be any shims behind it, but that's ok. From the screw driver in the space, you can see how far the bracket has move outward at the front, for the rear of the bracket to move in.

[61K10]

you can't be the only one to use these parts? granted you used a whole front end. is there anybody that used say just the front fenders? who was your manufacture? does anybody know how many manufactures are their? on a driver, are the fenders ok? I know what it takes to make everything perfect. lot's of fitting on anything you buy. just wondering ?

[rustbucket66]

I have cut a slice in the top lip of the bracket, right where the corner is, so I can bend it inward, and both mounting bolts can be tightened up. It is kind of hard to see the slice in the first pic, but it is right at the corner. I have pushed it inward and tightened up the bolt. The second picture shows the slice in the top lip a little better. It will have the slot welded closed, when I take it back off. The big slot at the rear, is actually overlapping, but it doesnt look like it. I will weld that slot up also in the position it is in. Tack each, refit, then weld it all up. The last pic shows it on the truck, slots filled, and both bolts and brackets tight against the truck. The fender fits nicely too. Another small victory. The other side was not as bad, needed a few adjustment also. Now everything looks reasonably good all around. I think it is time to get my body guy to look at it, and take it back apart to start painting the insides of each panel. I think we will assemble it again after that and do the bodywork and paint on the outsides with everything attached.

[rustbucket66]

See my weldnut collection, 14 in all. Those are little souveniers of each weldnut and hole that was in the wrong position. Ohh the memories. That is a lot of grinding nuts off, welding the hole shut, grinding smooth, and repositioning each hole. Inner fenders, outer fenders, and header panel all have contributed to the collection. Maybe I'll put them all on a key ring. That little block of aluminum there is a handy little tool. Place it on the backside of the hole you are welding and hold it tight against. Then the weld can't fall through the hole, and you have a pretty flat welded surface on one side. The block just snaps off after, because it won't take the weld. It needs to be dipped in water when it is too hot to hold, or in my case out in the snow. It saves a whole lot of grinding. The other tool is a spotweld drill bit. Drill pilot holes on each spotweld, then drill through the outside surface with this. It makes welding easier and less grinding as well. Anything that saves time and grief, I'm into it.

[rustbucket66]

Ok, everything pretty much lines up now, and it has been a long time coming. One last thing I didn't check, the rear of the inner fender, where it attaches to the cab. There is a big round rubber there, with a spacer bushing in the middle. You can move the rubber around a bit to line up the spacer with the weldnut on the cab. Except with this one. I have taken the rubber out of each side, and the pictures show that it isn't quite in the middle. By about a half inch. Looks like more welding and grinding. Glad I haven't put anything away yet.

[padresag]

nice rescue. I think that you deserve a beer or 2 after that.
ron

[rmvlt1100]

I am having the same isues with my inner and outter fenders. There has also been many nights where I wanted to throw these parts down the street. I bought mine from LMC and after reading this post it looks like I have a lot of grinding and welding to do. If I would have read this post last year before I bought my parts I would have keep my rusted parts and paid the body man to fix them. Or I would have taken a little vacation to were it's warm and no snow a searched for some oem parts. Good luck with the rest of the build and thank you for the info on what I have to do to get these parts to fit. Your not alone on these S**t parts. I feel your pain.

[rustbucket66]

Sorry for your situation. What have I learned from all this?? First, never throw your old parts away, even if you are buying new. Use them to compare to and measure, or fix them if you can. Next, at the first sign of these new parts not fitting, take them back to where you bought them. Lastly, I would never start again with a lot of rust. Minor rust is ok, and I would go south to find a cab and body parts that have minimal damage. Some rust is ok, but when you can throw a cat through the floorboards, keep looking. I would buy a disabled old truck just to get the cab and fenders if I did it again. My cab was not as bad as some of the ones I have seen on this site, but it still needed a whole lot. These trucks are still reasonably cheap to buy, and a few extra thousand for a good cab is more than worth it. Without even mentioning the long hours to repair the cab, I figure I have around a hundred hours on the inner fenders, outer fenders, and header panel. At $50 an hour for someone to do all this would be $5,000. If you could do it in 50 hours it would still be $2,500. That's on top of the price of the fenders, without any bodywork or paint. I hope this blog gets back to the manufacturer, and I hope their sales fall off, until they can offer quality replacement parts. One last thing. Before I started this project, no one ever accused me of being a welder. I got a welder from a friend who was buying a bigger one, and learned as I went. I'm still not that good, and I don't enjoy it, but it is a necessary skill if you want to try and repair this stuff. I couldn't afford to pay someone for this, nor can I afford to throw these way, and go shopping again. There is lots of grinding when I weld.

[awbrown]

Originally Posted by awbrown

Well I will have better welding skills after this project is over .. I will just have to use half of the panel for now...That being said , i deal in crankshafts and have a machine shop , I only deal with one supplier because their quality is far above the competitors.. All these body panel suppliers have to do is institute a quality control program ,it shouldnt be rocket science to catch some of the flaws we have seen here lately ... maybe some of the suppliers could chime in ...
If one suppliers quality outshines all the others , it wont be long before they all raise the standard.....

Well I guess we both will gain some welding skill....

[rustbucket66]

Got to work on the rear mounts of the inner fenders. The holes didn't line up with the cab mount, as per previous pics. I've drilled out the spotwelds, ground the spotwelds off, and positioned the bracket where it has to be. I'm not sure you can you can see, but Ive welded two of the spotweld holes, and tacked the other two. It is in the right position now. That"s a long way out. Over half an inch. The other side wasn't as bad, but the bracket still had to be relocated, about 3/8 inch. Some more welding and grinding, and a lot of material to die grind out of the hole. I trimmed it as much as I could with sharp tin snips to save some die grinding. The second picture shows it from the other side.

[rustbucket66]

Here is after the welding and grinding, I have both inner fenders showing where the holes are now. The rubber that goes into that hole can move around a lot, but the hole still had to be moved. It will line up with the centre of the hole now. I don't think there is anything left to fix. The body man is going to get all the pieces to prep and paint on the backside. Then I will put it back together and have him paint and bodywork the outside with all the parts mounted on the truck. The second pic shows them from the other side. I'm sure it will need some lovin on the outside before it gets painted. Looking forward to having the front end on and painted. There will have to be some kind of ceremony when that part gets done.

[rmvlt1100]

Originally Posted by rustbucket66

Here is after the welding and grinding, I have both inner fenders showing where the holes are now. The rubber that goes into that hole can move around a lot, but the hole still had to be moved. It will line up with the centre of the hole now. I don't think there is anything left to fix. The body man is going to get all the pieces to prep and paint on the backside. Then I will put it back together and have him paint and bodywork the outside with all the parts mounted on the truck. The second pic shows them from the other side. I'm sure it will need some lovin on the outside before it gets painted. Looking forward to having the front end on and painted. There will have to be some kind of ceremony when that part gets done.

Its looking good. Nice job on them inner mounts. I took some pointer of your earlier post had removed some of the inner fender braces and the spot weld around where the hood hindges bolt a was able to get the inner fenders lined up with the outer fenders and with the core support. I might have missed it but did you have any issues with where the doors and the top fender line up near the fender bolts? The curve on the fender sticks out farther than the door curve? If so any pointers on how you got them to line up? Thanks.

[suzq044]

With all these problems, i would think you would've done better to build ur own parts O_O (of course u need the machinery, but still.. jeez)

[rustbucket66]

Originally Posted by rmvlt1100

Its looking good. Nice job on them inner mounts. I took some pointer of your earlier post had removed some of the inner fender braces and the spot weld around where the hood hindges bolt a was able to get the inner fenders lined up with the outer fenders and with the core support. I might have missed it but did you have any issues with where the doors and the top fender line up near the fender bolts? The curve on the fender sticks out farther than the door curve? If so any pointers on how you got them to line up? Thanks.

In this same blog, pics on #60 and 62 shows what you are talking about. Also in the first few pics on page 1, it shows how the rear mount of the fender had fresh air in behind it, and couldn't go in far enough to touch the cab. This makes the fender too far out at the top, like you described. That rear fender mount that takes the 2 - 3/8 bolts has probably 15 spotwelds holding it on. Instead I sliced the bracket, not the fender, as it shows in the picture. After slicing it, I was able to have the fender go in more, and line up with the door. The rear bolt can be tightened, and with the bracket sliced, the front part of that mount will come outward, as evidenced by the screw driver that is in behind it in the picture. I cut a slice in the top lip of the mount, where the cab turns the corner, so the bracket could be bent around the corner. Now with both bolts tight, note the position, and tackweld the bracket. Do another test fit, and finish welding the 2 slices. This worked for me, and the fender and door line up.

[lenguini]

Originally Posted by rustbucket66

In this same blog, pics on #60 and 62 shows what you are talking about. Also in the first few pics on page 1, it shows how the rear mount of the fender had fresh air in behind it, and couldn't go in far enough to touch the cab. This makes the fender too far out at the top, like you described. That rear fender mount that takes the 2 - 3/8 bolts has probably 15 spotwelds holding it on. Instead I sliced the bracket, not the fender, as it shows in the picture. After slicing it, I was able to have the fender go in more, and line up with the door. The rear bolt can be tightened, and with the bracket sliced, the front part of that mount will come outward, as evidenced by the screw driver that is in behind it in the picture. I cut a slice in the top lip of the mount, where the cab turns the corner, so the bracket could be bent around the corner. Now with both bolts tight, note the position, and tackweld the bracket. Do another test fit, and finish welding the 2 slices. This worked for me, and the fender and door line up.

I think I'm going to save myself the stress and take my inners back to the supplier !I just picked mine up Friday,that night bolted down the rad support and drivers inner ....,,all was well.I have to admit I was surprised as I have heard a couple things about these parts before I found this thread.
Saturday morn,out to the shop to bolt on the passenger inner,that's when my day went to $..t.Nothing fit,ended up backing all opposite side bolts out,large gaps,incorrect front bracket location,low grade steel in all the nuts(very easily stripped)rad support sits to high off the frame etc,etc,etc
Guess what,all the original parts didn't fit like this before It came apart !
I'm today going on a search for oem inners,I will have them repaired where needed.Hopefully I can use the rad support,time will tell.

Just want to say thank you for the thread,I appreciate your patience in repairing these parts and posting the detailed pics.I could never have done what you have without going to a shrink soon after !
My hats is off to you !

Ed.

[rustbucket66]

Ed,
Oh, don't feel too special, I'm ready for a shrink also. I agree with your decision, take that crap back, and just ask them to try and put it together on the floor. The big lower bracket on the inners is in the wrong place, and the fun is just starting. One other thing. Don't use anything but an OEM rad support. That is a very important piece, the inner fenders, outer fenders, and header panel all bolt to it. Mine was totally unacceptable, could not be repaired. It was 3/8 inch short from side to side, the bends for the front splashpans were in the wrong place, and several weldnuts in the wrong places. There was more than that, but I think you get the idea. I repaired an original instead. You will have way less grief and spend a lot less money getting some oem parts, and repairing them, trust me. You will have a more quality product after also. I had no choice, once I started fixing this junk. I couldn't take them back because I had messed with them, and I couldn't afford to buy more parts when I had so much time and money into these. It makes me angry to spend so much time and money on brand new parts. The spotwelds are so deep that there is a lot of bondo to go in there, even if they were a perfect fit to start. I'd like to have a coffee with the owner of the company that makes this sh%$. I might have my hands around his neck before it was over. The more people like you that I can save some grief and money for, the better.