Super Cheyenne aka the "Devil Cowboy"

[landarts]

Originally Posted by Chevyland

Nice work, hopefully the holes stop showing up soon !
What is your plan for paint ?
Single stage ?
Are you going all the way with paint, or are you going to send it out ?

Nice work, hopefully the holes stop showing up soon !
Thanks Eric and I hope also.

What is your plan for paint ?
I have already bought the paint at the local Napa Auto paint store here in Meridian Idaho. That is where I had the dark blue matched from the radio delete plate you sent, the smaller quart can is the dark blue. The larger can is the medium blue, and thanks again for helping out!

Single stage ?
Yes, it is a single stage "Utech" by AkzoNobel. I have used this paint on a few trucks and really like how it sprays and the cost is not so bad. The DTM primer is black.

Are you going all the way with paint, or are you going to send it out ?
Yes I will do all the paintwork here in the garage

[landarts]

Took two days of rest and am now back at it. Decided to attack the last of the rust repair and metal work hopefully on the cab. I have one small spot on the door trim lip to address and a small area of the Captain's side kicker panel at the bottom.

Had a few challenges with the odd shapes and angles on this one. Then I had my welding wire issues on my new machine jamming up where it feeds to the gun on the inside. So what should have been an hour's worth of work to tackle these few turned into three to four hours. I guess it is part of the kicking and screaming these old trucks do when you are trying to bring them around.

Hopefully, after a few adjustments, I can get through the last of the metal work on the cab and finish up the last round of sanding filler on the back and corners of the cab. If it fights back today I have a new welding hose inner sleeve made for the .023 wire I am using. The new machine inner sleeve was for .030 and .035 wire.

Pic 1 -Hole in the cab to be repaired
Pic 2 -Repaired and ground down
Pic 3 -Holding the cut piece with tape, it would not set right with the magnet
Pic 4 -Repaired and ground down
Pic 5 -The mess after a few hours of work

[landarts]

Got the mess cleaned up this morning and went after the lower kick panel and door rubber trim rust. The kick panel template and the piece that is cut out and ready to go is about a half inch up higher into good metal, so that should last a minute. The lower door trim area had some waves in it and looked to be about three small holes to cut out and patch.

Well after working the waves out I found that almost the whole piece would need to be fabricated and metal worked. Busted out the metal brake and some tools and whipped one out.

Everything is ready to go so hopefully later today I can get to cutting, welding, and grinding again.

[landarts]

Was able to get out at lunch break and sand down some of the existing filler on the cab. Found a few more spots that needed filler. Also found a few low spots so round three on filler adding. Hope to get it sanded out this evening and get back on the metal repair.

Pic 1 -Received a delivery today from one of Bestview's sources, freshly printed NL2 gas tank switch stickers
Pic 2 -Filler top of the cab
Pic 3 -Filler where the metal repair was done
Pic 4 -Extra filler on the back of the cab
Pic 5 -1972 K10 that I purchased a few days ago and is being shipped to Idaho now. Original running driving K10 with 4-speed transmission, tow hooks and grill guard, 551 paint code, manual throttle, and a bunch of other nice items on the SPID.

[landarts]

Saturday morning I decided to get the last of the glaze coat on the filler on the back of the cab. Put a few more skim coats of filler in the interior and the two small screw holes I welded up on the roof next to the cab lights. Moved onto the lower Captain's side door rubber trim that I formed a few days ago. Got it all fitted and welded in without any issues. Then gave the Drinker's side upper rocker the last skim coat of the body 3M body glaze.

Then I worked on getting the inner kick panel lower section cut out prepped and welded in. While I was welding the lower section it started a small smoldering fire in the firewall kick panel area where the vented air comes out. Grabbed a bucket of water and dumped down the top of the cowl on the Captain's side and that put it out and also made a nice mess everywhere. So I decided to finish up the welding while it was still wet on the inside, then pushed the truck into the driveway to give it a good bath with the power washer. Mopped up all the water on the floor and called it a day.

[landarts]

Sunday was getting after the Captian's side upper rocker area, addressing the welds, and all of the area to be prepped for filler. I don't think I have ever seen a rocker with such deep spot welds toward the front and just rough metalwork. Anyway, I addressed the issues with a little hammer work and some grinding. Then after it was all cleaned up I applied a coat of filler, sanded then a few swipes of glaze.

Moved up to the upper windshield frame where I filled the large hole from a previous spotlight installation. Got that all sanded down and looking good for primer. Wrapped up by working the inner upper door trim frame with some filler after grinding down all the welding to fix the holes also from spotlight install. Finished up with a coat of body glaze where I had a few deep scratches and a few pin holes.

[Chevyland]

Coming along - Great work!

Do you and Kenny plan on leaving the
'Double' Bully steps on it ?

I've got those on my lifted truck,
They are very functional and look good on these trucks
In my opinion

[best view]

Tease alert lol , jim is going to put one on each side instead of the two on one side

[landarts]

Originally Posted by Chevyland

Coming along - Great work!

Do you and Kenny plan on leaving the
'Double' Bully steps on it ?

I've got those on my lifted truck,
They are very functional and look good on these trucks
In my opinion

Thanks Eric! We are going to keep them, just move one over to the other side.

[landarts]

Another side project I had to wrap up over the weekend was to modify the gantry I built last February for removing cabs and beds on these trucks. I built it out of scrap 2" thick heavy wall tubing. It was built in sections with thick wall 1 3/4 tubing sleeves so I could break it down and store it away when not in use. The only thing I had to purchase was the hand winches that were rated at 800 lbs. each, and a couple of pulleys for the metal cable. So I had about $100 into the project.

Well, the first time I used it was to pull the bed off of this truck and it worked, but not flawless. One of the winches kept jamming at the cog wheel and I had to smack it a few times with a hammer to get it to work while taking off the bed. Then when I tried to remove the cab the other side started doing the same thing. I believe the winches were not of good quality so I did some research to find better-made hand winches for the gantry. After doing all the research the winches were going to cost more than an electric winch rated at 3500 lbs., so I decided to modify the design and make it work with a removable electric winch.

I had already had some items for the winch, a few extra pulleys, and a female receiver hitch which will make it removable. It took me about an hour and a half to put it all together, weld it up, and test it. We now have a portable, breakdown gantry that can roll around and handle the task with ease. I also use this as a paint tree to hang parts from when painting.

Pic 1 -Original manual gantry
Pic 2 -Electric 3500 lbs. winch added
Pic 3 -Side view of receiver hitch to make it removable
Pic 4 -A battery tray that lifts off when not in use, had to do this so I do not have to pick up the battery every time I want to move the gantry.
Pic 5 -Gantry all hooked up and working

[landarts]

Been working on getting all the areas with filler sealed off and scratches from sandpaper filled. Little by little the old Devil Cowboy is starting to come around. Was able to get the corner of the cab by the gas tank looking good and both rocker areas. Had one area on the other corner that showed up after a light coat of primer.

Also a couple of weeks ago I was able to pick up the TH350 transmission and the NP205 that were rebuilt by a local shop. Need to find out how to tackle the sheared of front axle splines. I have never done that repair, so I will be digging into the research and getting parts ordered when I get that figured out.

Pic 1 - Drivers rocker
Pic 2 - Passenger Rocker
Pic 3 - Cab corner
Pic 4 - Rebuilt transmission and transfer case
Pic 5 -Sheard off axle shaft inner and outer damaged

[landarts]

The first round of welding, dent pulling, and working body filler was done on the outside of the cab. Knocked it all down after a light coat of gray filer primer to seal up the filler and help expose what I missed. Had about another dozen places that needed to be addressed and a few places that I found that still had a few high spots. Lots of sanding, then more sanding and sand again. You all know the routine if you have done any bodywork to get ready for paint.

Here are a few pictures of some of that process and again it is mostly a boatload of sanding. Also spent a bunch of time fixing door rubber trim pieces that were rotted away, and getting the rockers back into shape. Re-doing a few places on the back of the cab and hitting the top of the cab with some glaze to fill a few scratches and pinholes.

[landarts]

While I have been doing sanding on the cab, doors, and other parts of the truck I have to divert to other items on the truck to give myself a break. Here are a few items I have also been diving into, some fun and some a learning experience.

First off I purchased a set of used 3/4 ton hubcaps that were in good shape but rusty. Wanted to try my hand at getting rid of the rust using rust remover chemicals. Then cutting and rolling over the front hubcaps so that they will fit over the hubs in front. If it all works out it should go good with the truck. For the chemical that I tried on one of the hubcaps which was Rustoleum Rust Dissolver spray gel. It worked well and looks to be a winner.

Pic 1 -One rusty hubcap
Pic 2 -Sprayed the cap with the gel and wrapped with painter's plastic
Pic 3 -Most of the rust is gone after one round of treatment


The other thing I needed to tackle was the cab lights. I was not sure that they even worked, what shape the wiring harness was in and the fixtures did not look so good after inspection. Since I have never worked on or owned a cab light truck it was a new experience. Fought with getting the rubber part separated from the fixture for a bit. Then figured out it was better to probe down the side of the fixture and press in the pin so the electrical wire could slide out the back. After that I pulled both ways to try and inspect the wire as best I could and saw a few areas that needed to be repaired before they would work again. So I moved forward with a plan to pull the harness out, while pulling it out I attached string to each cab light harness. Numbered them accordingly and pulled the harness out of the truck so I could build a new one and document the way it is built for future reference.

Pic 4 -Harness all pulled out and string in place
Pic 5 -One area of the wire that must have been eaten up by a mouse.

[landarts]

Here are a few more of the areas with some SEM black filler primer after going over the areas a few times. Just wrapping up a few more small items on the outside of the cab. Then moving on to the four or five items that need to be addressed inside the cab before I can get this into primer and paint.

Also fixed a grill guard that was bent up on one of the two K10 trucks I bought out of Montana. That was a quick thirty-minute repair with a piece of 3/8 flat bar stock. Now it is straight and squared up to the grill, like the other side. Now it just needs to patina a little to match the rest.

I had to make a trip back to the transmission/transfer case shop to pick up the proper shifting part that goes on the side of the TH350 for a 72 4x4. While I was there he had my transfer case which I also dropped off to get rebuilt, and had JB Customs twin sticks installed. This transfer case is for my Idaho Edition truck. Now the truck will not have a leaking transfer case and it gives me 2WD high and low as well as 4WD high and low.

[landarts]

Here is the bottom of the door (see pict 1) that was in bad shape with lots of rust areas and dents. looking pretty good to move forward with it. Next thing I need to do with the door is remove the insides and get a couple coats of filler primer on it. This is the door from the driver's side. Has some rust that showed up while stripping the old paint off. Both bottom corners will need some metal repair and over all about six or seven areas on exterior side that need to be addressed. Two of them were some pretty good-sized dents located in the center of the door.

After about an hour of stripping the door down I started to mess with the large dents in the center of the door. Started with the one that was in the lower section below the lower body line. This metal has some curvature to it so checking the dent with a metal straight edge horizontal to the body line. Used the spot welder gun to lay a few studs in the area and pull, and adjust with Steck Lever and tapping with a hammer. The one in the center of the door was down about 3/8" in center and had a high spot crowned toward the top. I also noticed some tin canning happening, so I knew somehow this is going to need some shrinking. Started with the stud gun and pulled a few studs up to get things into the ballpark. Then went after the high spot with a slapping spoon and large body hammer. things were starting to look better but we still had some oil canning. Grabbed the stud gun and without inserting studs I pulled the trigger in about a dozen or so places in a circular pattern. The heat from the stud gun seem to shrink up the metal a bit and really help with the oil canning.

[landarts]

Went after the Captain's side door this morning to get a few more of the dents pulled into place and address the rust areas in both bottom corners. Started by pulling up a few more areas in the middle of the door so I would not need much filler. Filler areas were closer to 32nd of an inch or so in some places. Then I lightly spot-sprayed one area where I suspected I might have a few high crowning spots, then blocked over the top of it to reveal the issues. Tapped a few down and moved on to the rust repair.

The rust repair was two small areas in both corners that revealed themselves when I was stripping the doors of old paint. Worked on cutting them out with a small air grinder with a cut-off wheel. Then cleaned and treated inside with a few brush strokes of Ospho. Ran some orange masking tape over the areas and did a pencil rubbing to get the shapes needed for repair. Moved those over to the new sheet metal and got them cut out and fitted. Held them down with strong magnets and spot-welded them in. Knocked down the welds with a flap disk on a grinder, finished up with 80 grit on 3" air angle grinder then followed up with the DA sander.

[landarts]

While I was working on the door I pulled out a folding plastic table and laid out the cab light harness for dissection. After looking at how it was constructed I moved forward with documenting and making a few sets. The first thing was to tape a measuring tape the length of the table so it would be easy to get all the right numbers while only having to hold onto the wire. Then draw up a little diagram with all the wire lengths.

Pulled out some brown and blue 12 gauge wire that I had in the garage along with a few tools to do the job and get after it in between filler drying on the door and sanding.

See (picture 4) for a diagram of the lengths used to build the harness.

I first cut all of the wire to lengths that I pre-measured. Striped the ends of the first three wires and twisted them together. Then striped the wires on the other three wires and twisted them together. Inserted both twisted ends into a heat shrink solder tube, and heated it with a heat gun until all solder was dispersed. Then slide over a large red heat shrink tube and shrink it down tight. Then slide another tighter-fitting black heat shrink over the red and heat shrink it down. When all was done with both colors I used electrical tape in a few areas to bind them together as one harness like the factory harness was.

I found a kit on Amazon that has LED lights, new fixtures, lens and the proper 1313A rubber gasket to freshen up the cab lights.

[best view]

Blown away by how these new harnesses came out and have a feeling all trucks leaving this place will have them lol awesome work Jim

[best view]

Blown away by how these new harnesses came out and have a feeling all trucks leaving this place will have them lol awesome work Jim

[Greg58]

Looks great Jim! Love the color combo on your latest truck find!
Greg

[landarts]

Here are a few pictures of the driver's door exterior side being finished off with filler and some primer to find a few low spots. Luckily the filler work did not take up too much time to get it looking good and straight, very happy with how that turned out.

While I was working on the door I decided to get the front hubcaps that I have been removing rust from cut out to go over the locking hubs. Went with the 4.5-inch hole saw so that it will clear the Spicer hubs when they are changed out.

Pict 1 - Driver's door primer over filler to check for high or low spots
Pict 2 - One more skim coat of filler to get a couple of low spots
Pict 3 - First hubcap cutout to fit Spicer hub
Pict 4 - Tossed it on the front axle to see how it looks

[landarts]

Flipped the door over and started to investigate what needed to be fixed besides dings and dents. Found a few items that will need some attention before I can move on to the filler work.

-lower door rust that is fixable in three locations
-someone welded the area around the upper hinge and left the welds unfinished
-both areas where the upper door frame is attached to the door have also been welded and left rough weld
-four or five areas need to have the stud gun work to pull up some low areas

To get moving in the direction of repairs I need to gut the inside of the door so I don't damage any glass, and besides the window regulator was toast. I had the door up on a folding autobody stand and did not want to lift the heavy door to the ground so I could remove items. I slid over the six-foot plastic folding table next to the stand and slid the door onto the table. removed all the screws in the door so the guts can come out. then began removing the internal items, locks, door handle, window regulator, and wind wing vent. Then it was easy to slide the door back onto the autobody stand.

Here are a few pictures of the areas to be repaired.

[landarts]

After getting everything cut out and sanded down, I could start cutting new sheet metal and get to welding. After spot-welding the three areas in, I started to work on dressing up the old welds by the hinge and a few other places. The welds were attacked with an 80 grit corner flap disk and a die grinder.

Then moved to the next item which was doing some stud gun work to fix low areas. Once I wrapped that up it was time for more stripping of the door and getting some filler in place.

[landarts]

Got after the driver's door this morning to finish sanding down round three on the filler work. After smoothing out a few areas I moved on to getting some 3M glaze in a few spots and some SEM filler primer on the areas. Will be going over the door one more time in the morning and then calling good for primer, then paint.

[landarts]

Moved back over to the cab and got set up to have a go at finishing the final attempt at stripping the rattle can black from the interior. Went with a small 5" DA sander with 120 grit, a battery-operated drill with a coarse wire wheel, and a couple of different magnetic lights. Was able to get the remainder of the cab knocked out in about forty-five minutes or so of continuous sanding.

When it was all done I had about eight or nine spent sanding disc, two areas that gave me some trouble with sticker residue, and another area that reared its ugly head and exposed a few small rust holes that will need attention. Also taught me that I do not like stripping interior paint. Too many weird shapes and puts your body into tiring positions.

Here are a few pictures of the interior.