ClusterTruck; because that’s what it is

[clay68c10]

At this point, it was time to try out the tip feature of my cab dolly. It worked well. My wife and I were able to tip it up fairly easily.

[clay68c10]

All in all, the rot wasn't horrible. The A-pillar dogleg was still solid. This is good because that's a great reference for the front end dimensions of the inner rocker.

All the metal is layered in there, so I started with the kick panel bottom.

Next is the inner rocker, then the brace, then the inner reinforcement tab for the fender bottom mount.

The kick panel patch was too tall thru the bend area, so I had to section some out. Fun Friday after work with some suds.

It went in ok.

[clay68c10]

Here's a lesson for the other side.
If the dogleg area is solid, and the reinforcement tab is ok, just drill out the spot welds and remove the tab first.
It will all sandwich in there when you're going back together.
The 3 spot welds will come loose anyway when you go to hammer it back to get it out of the way.
Then you have to re-form the spot weld area and re-weld it back in anyway.
And it really gets in the way when you are slipping the inner rocker in/out 400 times to get the weld gap right and make it match up to the pre-cut measurements.

[clay68c10]

The inner rocker fits ok. Not awesome, but it works.
It is a little long at the rear, and the angle is a little funky where it meets up with the front flange. Not a big deal.
Some progression shots of what feels like a million tack welds. 3 in a row was about the max I did. No need to heat things up a lot.
Note the high tech go/no-go gauge at the rear of the door opening. That was dimension of the gap when I started disassembly. I'll take a hokey tool over guessing.

Maybe I'll get more done this coming weekend. It was a good stopping point for me. I need to re-shape the rear edge of the inner rocker, patch the front floor, and get the braces in next.

[cornerstone]

Your methodical approach is the best. Thanks for showing the detailed pics of the layer sequence in the floor/ kick panel/ and rocker area. This will help the next guy in line who finds himself scracthin' his head.

[clay68c10]

Originally Posted by cornerstone

Your methodical approach is the best. Thanks for showing the detailed pics of the layer sequence in the floor/ kick panel/ and rocker area. This will help the next guy in line who finds himself scracthin' his head.

Thanks, that was my intent. When I was researching this repair, it wasn't clear how it all goes together.

Once I started taking it apart, it made sense.

But... That may not be the case of you have more rot (or any accident damage) and a lot of these pieces are gone or mangled.

[clay68c10]

Not much today, just cleaned up those stock mounts and hit them with some rattle satin.

[clay68c10]

I got a little bit of time today so I finished up the rear of the inner rocker seam.
Also used the old rear floor brace piece as a template for the new. I almost tossed this piece last week when I was cleaning up. Doh.
I’ll get the gaps and prep taken care of and get this in next.
The remaining part of the brace and floor are solid, I just have to wire wheel the surface rust off. The pics make it look pretty crusty.

[clay68c10]

Just in case I forget, here’s my order of operations. Sharpie is my friend.
Never be reluctant to make notes.

[clay68c10]

Last couple of weekends have been camping, fishing, dirt roads, and shooting.
Back on some truck work today.

It's too hot to work in the garage or in the sun. Time for some back porch shade tree work.
Since cooling off is on my mind, I decided to try out a set of cooling fans I got. These are from a police package Explorer (2014ish) and looked to be about the right size.
They fit the 29" core really well, and are a good match height-wise too.
As with any e-fan, it will need some trimming. That upper hose area for sure. I'll wait for that until I get a new radiator or re-core this one. It has a lot of crust inside from all those years of sitting.

[clay68c10]

I tested them for current consumption using the LS way to wire them.
Both fans on in series=15A
Driver side fan=20-25A
Passenger side fan=25-30A
So with the 3 relay setup this should work pretty slick. The low speed was actually pulling a good amount of air. With both running in parallel full 12v it pulled a lot. Enough to suck out all the old debris from the fins and shower me with crud.

[clay68c10]

8 zillion more tack welds. Man, this does take some time.
The rear support is in, and the front is almost ready for welding. Also finished the floor patching at the front.

[clay68c10]

More repairs this weekend, and I got to try out an interesting product for rust prevention.
A lot of OEMs use wax inside body voids and it seems to work well. I wanted to try it out since I don’t want to do all this work again anytime soon.
I drilled 2 small holes to access the front floor support and a-pillar. The rear support has enough access as is, so no holes necessary.
It flows well and the wands let you get into some tight spots.
After I’m done with all the floor repairs I’ll clean the excess, seam seal, epoxy, and then do another coat. I can also hit the inner cab roof thru the visor holes.

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by clay68c10

More repairs this weekend, and I got to try out an interesting product for rust prevention.
A lot of OEMs use wax inside body voids and it seems to work well. I wanted to try it out since I don’t want to do all this work again anytime soon.
I drilled 2 small holes to access the front floor support and a-pillar. The rear support has enough access as is, so no holes necessary.
It flows well and the wands let you get into some tight spots.
After I’m done with all the floor repairs I’ll clean the excess, seam seal, epoxy, and then do another coat. I can also hit the inner cab roof thru the visor holes.

Interesting, I never thought of that.

[clay68c10]

Here’s the weirdest dash cut I’ve seen. Not sure what some idiot was trying to do, but I can’t leave it like this.
Having the cab tipped forward is a nice way to do this. I just sat in the windshield opening.

[clay68c10]

Ol Blue, I was a Benz tech for 15 years and those cars have a ton of wax in the body. All the spots with wax stay rust free. The G-wagen frame is coated with a thicker version and those frames stay rust free indefinitely.
My body shop buddy hooked me up with this stuff, he wanted to see how easy it is to use before he gets more for his Chevelle. He said previous versions weren’t as easy to use.
This stuff also claims it has a corrosion inhibitor too. It doesn’t say what it is specifically, but it is listed in the chemical breakdown on the can.

[clay68c10]

Here’s another use for the Crown Vic jacks, they made door adjustments very easy.
After this comes the hard part, rocker and corner. I had to just throw em on and see what it looks like. I still need to trim and fit, but it was cool to see.

[clay68c10]

It's been a bit, but I've gotten some more done.

After I had the door hung I decided to make sure things would line up. I figure if the cowl and front fender look ok, then I can go ahead and get the rocker and corner going.

If you squint just right, it almost looks like an actual truck. Sorta

[clay68c10]

Now I had heard that patch panels will require some "fitting". This is true, be ready for it. Like by buddy Dave the body man says, "They're better than making the pieces yourself."

The cab corner fit ok, but the curve along the door edge wasn't quite right. Once I started moving it around I realized it would need some relief cuts to get the curve right. Then it needed the bottom brought in just a bit.
During all this fitting, I was also putting the rocker in and out to make sure it would also fit. It needed some shaping too, but more on that later.

[clay68c10]

And after a zillion tacks, it's in!

Penetration was pretty good. After I ground down the outside, I shone a light on the weld to find any pinholes. There were just a couple to fix.

[cornerstone]

Fantastic job!

[clay68c10]

Originally Posted by cornerstone

Fantastic job!

Thanks, it's getting there...

[clay68c10]

I didn't take a lot of pics of the rocker process, but it was similar to the corner. I had to do a little bit of shaping on the curve. It also needed a bit of work on the bottom flange to bring it out since it sat a little shallow compared to the bottom of the door. I also brought out the bottom of the inner rocker about 1/8". A big crescent wrench worked well.

[clay68c10]

The actual shape of the rocker has a slight bow to it. Nothing a skim coat won't fix. The center is high and the front and rear edges are slightly low.

This is low on the body, so it's not super obvious. I have been looking at the rocker to door body alignment on most 60's vehicles, and frankly they aren't great. My Caddy is pretty unmolested and it's not perfect. And that was the cat's meow back then.

[clay68c10]

This area has been discussed by a few folks on here, but I hadn't seen a lot of pics. So here ya go.
Tack it in place, do some relief cuts and go for broke. It's just metal, right?