Project 69SWB

[~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.

[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

[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.

[Xeen]

Originally Posted by 69swb

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.

LOL you wont have to remove the epoxy on the entire surface of the truck after you lay it down initialy, you will be doing spot repair which you can just respray after you fix the area, and the poly carbonite disks will rip the epoxy off in literally seconds in the area you are going to be repairing, then you can respray it as you finish, after you have completed all your repairs you can go back and scuff it all which is the right way to do it anyway.
You can do what ever you want im just telling you the right way to do it and thats all I can do.

[~Whitey~]

Originally Posted by Xeen

LOL you wont have to remove the epoxy on the entire surface of the truck after you lay it down initialy, you will be doing spot repair which you can just respray after you fix the area, and the poly carbonite disks will rip the epoxy off in literally seconds in the area you are going to be repairing, then you can respray it as you finish, after you have completed all your repairs you can go back and scuff it all which is the right way to do it anyway.
You can do what ever you want im just telling you the right way to do it and thats all I can do.

I thought you was telling me to use the flap wheels to scratch up the epoxy. LOL, which I could just do with a scotch brite pad. My main reason for waiting besides not wanting to have to scuff the whole cab, is because I want to get the chemical bond between the two primers, if I wait and the lay the epoxy I can then follow up with poly the next day, but if I let the epoxy cure while I'm doing the metal
and then just scuff it up.. I won't ever get that chemical bond between the two.. or is that not correct?

[67c10rustbuket]

Great looking project, you are doing great! Gotta love the craptermarket steel If I had hair I would have pulled mine out last year. I still have to do my passenger side and found out about Tabco a little too late. I will be trying their parts on the passenger side. I have heard nothing but good about them.

Originally Posted by 69swb

I thought you was telling me to use the flap wheels to scratch up the epoxy. LOL, which I could just do with a scotch brite pad. My main reason for waiting besides not wanting to have to scuff the whole cab, is because I want to get the chemical bond between the two primers, if I wait and the lay the epoxy I can then follow up with poly the next day, but if I let the epoxy cure while I'm doing the metal
and then just scuff it up.. I won't ever get that chemical bond between the two.. or is that not correct?

Sounds like you read the directions, this is the exact same conclusion I came to on mine and I have a gallon of epoxy in the closet until I am ready to strip and spray the entire cab, then put a layer of high fill over the epoxy. Also I have left several sections of my cab and body in bare blasted steel for nearly a year and it has yet to rust. Just dont rub your sweaty hands all over it

I am well aware of most people leaving their sheet metal in epoxy for months/years and not having adhesion issues but I also hear it is a huge pain to sand/scuff epoxy. Keep up the good work!

[Bennett68C10]

Just caught up on your build, nice progress your making. Love the black and green color scheme.
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[~Whitey~]

Originally Posted by Bennett--G4L

Just caught up on your build, nice progress your making. Love the black and green color scheme.
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Thanks! I'm not going to get too wild with the black and green, what you seen is probably going to be it. The truck itself I am painting black, but may do some sort of two tone incorporating a very small amount of green... not really sure. It's a work in progress.

[~Whitey~]

Had to take a detour and build a table to set the cab on so I could work on it easier. I'll use this for the bed and other stuff to I'm sure. It's just 4'x4'x2'ish tall with the wheels and I used studs, put it together with a nailgun and then went back put screws in everything. it's good and sturdy.

[~Whitey~]

I got the rocker cut off for the most part.. It was welded on with so many booger welds in all kinds of places and a real pain. I'll be replacing the rear bottom piece on pillar, the rocker since I had to cut it off, part of the floor at the front pillar, the front pillar will also get replaced, and most likely the inner rocker. I braced the pillar before I cut it from the floor and will do the same to the front before I replace it. Not sure about the drivers side just yet... one thing at a time is all I can do. ;-)

[67cheby]

nice cab cart !

[RWB-713]

A hard learned piece of advice: If you have to cut the rear cab floor corner:

A. Get the patch panels before you cut, and decide if just the side panel will get it done, or if you need the rear panel too ( I'm going off what LMC sells, which is what I used, but I think most are similar)

B. Make sure to check and see how those two patch panels mate as far the alignment of the jack "dimple". Mine weren't quite straight and i had to do some work to get that dimple to be "close enough"

C. If you have to use both panels, cut & spot the rear (when i say rear i mean the piece that would be parrallel with the back cab wall) on first! it's a challenge to do the side first, and then cut the rear to fit.

glad to see your makin headway! I just got the passenger side of mine back together last weekend minus the cab corner, and was decently happy with how it's turned out, now waitin on a cab corner to get here so i can out that on ( I measured once... not twice. made an oops. )

[~Whitey~]

Originally Posted by 67cheby

nice cab cart !

Thanks!

Originally Posted by RWB-713

A hard learned piece of advice: If you have to cut the rear cab floor corner:

A. Get the patch panels before you cut, and decide if just the side panel will get it done, or if you need the rear panel too ( I'm going off what LMC sells, which is what I used, but I think most are similar)

B. Make sure to check and see how those two patch panels mate as far the alignment of the jack "dimple". Mine weren't quite straight and i had to do some work to get that dimple to be "close enough"

C. If you have to use both panels, cut & spot the rear (when i say rear i mean the piece that would be parrallel with the back cab wall) on first! it's a challenge to do the side first, and then cut the rear to fit.

glad to see your makin headway! I just got the passenger side of mine back together last weekend minus the cab corner, and was decently happy with how it's turned out, now waitin on a cab corner to get here so i can out that on ( I measured once... not twice. made an oops. )

That sounds like some great advice. I'm entering into uncharted territory here... just going slow and trying to think things through so I don't screw up my cab. I figured I will get everything tacked in and then hang a door to make sure my gaps look good.

[RWB-713]

Originally Posted by 69swb

That sounds like some great advice. I'm entering into uncharted territory here... just going slow and trying to think things through so I don't screw up my cab. I figured I will get everything tacked in and then hang a door to make sure my gaps look good.

That's how I did it too, just tacked the rockers & pillars together and then hung a door. Almost found a huge problem with my doors, but it turns out I was overlooking that the door hinges adjust on both the door side, and the cab side. Tryin to get it to line up with only the cab adjustment wasn't going well. I still have a little repair to do on the door, but the gaps all came out very nice I thought, expecially considering how much i had to replace, and that it's my first time doing this.

I as well, like your table/dolly.. I see me having numerous uses for one of those in the near future. Especially since I think i'm about to have to clean out part of my shop to make room for some newq parts and some new equipment

[~Whitey~]

Originally Posted by RWB-713

That's how I did it too, just tacked the rockers & pillars together and then hung a door. Almost found a huge problem with my doors, but it turns out I was overlooking that the door hinges adjust on both the door side, and the cab side. Tryin to get it to line up with only the cab adjustment wasn't going well. I still have a little repair to do on the door, but the gaps all came out very nice I thought, expecially considering how much i had to replace, and that it's my first time doing this.

I as well, like your table/dolly.. I see me having numerous uses for one of those in the near future. Especially since I think i'm about to have to clean out part of my shop to make room for some newq parts and some new equipment

Thanks RWB-713.. I didn't know either that the doors were adjustable on both sides. That will definitely help with hanging them and making the gaps perfect.

I got a little done this week. I got the rear pillar repaired and had to do part of the inner rocker on the rear as well.. Made sure to clean out the support and spray it with some rust convertor, then moved on the the front pillar.

I bought the rear pillar, front pillar, kick panel and passenger side front floor peice from LMC. Everything fits great but the front floor piece. It's a total wash and waste of money on that... I don't see how it could fit without just absolutely boogering it in there. The bends are not correct, nothing lines up.. I've hammered on it, cut on it, cussed at it a few times :-) and I just don't see how without massive modifications to make it fit. I'm going to fabricate my own piece for that part of the floor and inner rocker, that what I'm working on now. here's a few pics of where I am.

[~Whitey~]

Also picked up my wheels, but still need to get tires. Went with Polished AR TT's 17x9.5's for the back and 17x8's for the front. Thank to lolife99 for helping me with that.

[67cheby]

SWEET, those will look great !

[Bennett68C10]

Nice wheels, one of my favorites
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[Xeen]

That cab is going to be like new again when you get done with it, nice work.