Project "Jezebel"

[sgaylord]

UPDATE :::::

After taking a little time off from the truck to settle my life down, I have jumped back in the saddle again.

I welded in the cowl shell and seam sealed in a few places. Now the cowl is all welded in. I still need to go back and grind down the welds to pretty them up but she's in there for good...

I also cut the section of the firewall out where the heater core mounts and welded in a solid sheet of 20 gauge sheet metal to smooth it out. I have a few more holes to fill, then I will weld it back in and start on the lower "A" pillars, kick panel patches and floors.

I don't expect my progress to be that fast as I have a few irons in the fire, but at least I have some time to do a few things....

[sgaylord]

Here is one of the reasons I have not had much progress on Jezebel. I built this just to do initial cam break-in and to check for leaks and so forth when firing a new engine. It is not intended for engine break-in to seal the rings as I know more load needs to be on the engine for that. It's works great so far.

[sgaylord]

I'm back on this build. I have been working on this. So all my time has been taken with that. Now that the burb is in better shape, momma's happy, so now I can get back on my truck. We not completely I still have to do the disk brake conversion on the burb. My plans are to try and switch between the two and see how I can get it all done.

Here are some pics of the latest progress on Jezebel. I have the upper and lower cowl welded in, seam sealed and por15'd. Here are some pics of that.











Plans are to smooth out everything possible on the firewall. I just need to figure out which holes are needed and which ones need to be filled. I know I saw that somewhere on the site. It shouldn't be hard to find again.

[bgood70]

Great Work. Here is a thread I recently came across on Smooth Firewalls it may give you some ideas.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=295546

[oldblue72c10]

Sweet build and the engine stand is sweet too be careful with a fan that engine it will drive away lol

[sgaylord]

bgood70
Re: Project "Jezebel"
Great Work. Here is a thread I recently came across on Smooth Firewalls it may give you some ideas.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=295546

Thanks Brad for the link. It will come in handy.

oldblue72c10
Re: Project "Jezebel"
Sweet build and the engine stand is sweet too be careful with a fan that engine it will drive away lol

Thanks OldBlue. That is what we do for fun around here. I just start that 383 up and take bets that I can out run any kid on a skate board...

[sgaylord]

Next step of the "firewall smooth out" was to cap the hole for the blower and to round off the corner of the firewall. Here are some pics of that being done.

I don't have pics of patching the blower hold. I ended up cutting a large almost rectangle patch due to some inner rust that was keeping me from getting a good weld while attempting to weld the standard round patch. After cutting back to good metal, the semi-rectangle patch worked well. You can see in the pics below the blower patch in the background.

This is the patch for the corner of the firewall.


Patch held in with magnets


Patch tacked in


Finish welded from the back side. I will work out the shape during the next step.


The next step will be to burn in the firewall.

[VA72C10]

Looking good

[brian69longbed]

man the whole firewall! looking great, nice camaro by the way. keep up the good work!

[sgaylord]

12-09-2009 03:22 PM
VA72C10
Re: Project "Jezebel"
Looking good

Thanks VA72C10

brian69longbed
Re: Project "Jezebel"
man the whole firewall! looking great, nice camaro by the way. keep up the good work!

Thanks brian69longbed. I'm nuts for not replacing this cab. I am the epitome of the male stereotype. It gets personal and I refuse to let it beat me....

[sgaylord]

I decided to repair the floors before completing the firewall. This way I will have a little more room to lay in the floor pans and replace the front braces. At least that is my theory.

Originally I wanted to try and remove the rockers in one piece because they had been replaced by someone not too long ago and are still in good shape. Well after spending about an hour trying to remove it in one piece, it became obvious that this rocker was not going to make it. So..... out comes the plasma and zip, zip and it was gone.....

Originally I though the area behind and around the rockers wouldn't be too bad and wouldn't need to be replaced. Well, remember this truck's name is Jezebel, and once it again, it's a fitting name.

Not too bad except for the area along the bottom of the inner rocker and the two obvious holes in the middle.



Your normal rusted area where the "A" pillar meets the floor. But wait, what is that black lump to the left? Yep, if you remember the cowl area you will know that that is. Our friend roofing tar....



What the roofing tar was hiding.



Cab corner

[1956cameo]

I just bought a blazer project that has similiar rust issues as your truck. Very interested in seeing your progress. The progress and quality of work on your build is looking great so far!

[VA72C10]

You're making good progress....sorry for the continued unwanted finds, but judging by your work so far you'll have these problems whipped in no time.

[brn agn]

Great work on the cab! I understand wanting to save something that is in such bad shape. It will be worth it in the end!

[sgaylord]

Here are the pics from the passenger floor demo.

Floor removed exposing the braces

[sgaylord]

More Demo





This gave me a clean slate to start from. I have misplaced the other pics from the passenger side but here is the same process from the Dr side.

[sgaylord]

Here is the brace and floor going in. The thought here was to be careful to make sure the brace was at the correct angle to attach to the "A" pillar. I needed to trim the brace a little on the small end to make it fit (1/4"). But all went into place after that. I was a little worried that the "A" pillar patch was in too far causing this but it appeared to be strait when I used a strait edge next to it.







The floor is in now. I will post pics of that later.

[Spray-Bomb]

Wow thats a lot of work

I know you want this under your belt but, why didnt you just use the other cab ???

Sad thing is, you prolly coulda sold it like it was when you got it & had enough money to put together a really good truck without all the rust repair... but hind sight is....

[sgaylord]

Yep, I could have done that and probably should have. I don't always follow easy path.... :-)

[lks dcvn]

I have to admit - you are saving that thing from the crusher and from the looks of it - it will be around for some time thanks to your dedication to 'doing it right the first time'.

Fantastic work so far...

[VA72C10]

I agree....great job saving it!!!

[sgaylord]

Here are the pics of the dr floor and inner rocker. Still a little more work with the flapper wheel and then I will start working on the firewall.

[LooseCannon]

Your dedication is inspirational. Very nice work!

[sgaylord]

lks dcvn
Re: Project "Jezebel"
I have to admit - you are saving that thing from the crusher and from the looks of it - it will be around for some time thanks to your dedication to 'doing it right the first time'.

Fantastic work so far...

VA72C10
Re: Project "Jezebel"
I agree....great job saving it!!!

LooseCannon
Re: Project "Jezebel"
Your dedication is inspirational. Very nice work!

Thanks guys. I really appreciate the positive comments. It's keeping me going. The way I look at it, by doing all this work, it will fulfil my quest for a rust free truck.

Steve

[sgaylord]

The latest dose of project Jezebel:

I attached the firewall with some klekos along the cowl and some clamps along the floor. As you can see from the pics the firewall off the parts truck lined up pretty well. I did all this so I could remove the cab for better access to the cab corners.

I needed to build a tool to remove the cab because I expect I will be removing and installing the cab multiple times. I didn't want to keep bothering my buddies to constantly help me lift it on and off. Anyway, to do this I built a cab lift for my engine hoist. The one "Solver" shared in a post of his a while back and it worked like a charm (Thanks Solver ).











So work will continue on Jezebel now. I am starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. (And not through the rusted cowl..... )