Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step

[mcbassin]

That is some crazy stuff about the holes being that far off on the bed sides. Looks like you have it back on track.

Very nice gauges too.

[jeh]

Neat work on the gauges...

[jlsanborn]

Nice work on the wheel tub relocate job! The AFR gauge face is a really nice touch too.

[Low Elco]

Gage looks good!

[Milo's 72]

Nice truck I have a 71 chevy halfton long bed.it has a 250 six banger and powerglide if it don't run good it has a rebuilt 350 waiting.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

That is some crazy stuff about the holes being that far off on the bed sides. Looks like you have it back on track.
Very nice gauges too.

Originally Posted by jeh

Neat work on the gauges...

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

Nice work on the wheel tub relocate job! The AFR gauge face is a really nice touch too.

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Gage looks good!

Originally Posted by Milo's 72

Nice truck I have a 71 chevy halfton long bed.it has a 250 six banger and powerglide if it don't run good it has a rebuilt 350 waiting.

Thanks, guys ...stay tuned.

[Vic1947]

After fitting up the wheelwell patch, I spotwelded some sheetmetal angles to help both stiffen up the long runs where the weld might distort the flat areas and provide a lip for the patch to set on. An added advantage to doing this is not having to worry about pinholes in the welds after grinding. Tacked the wheelwell patch in place and then attached the wheel tub and installed the bedside on the floor. Put several stovebolts in to locate things and tacked the grafted in piece to the outer wheelwell lip. Had to do this last in order to get the outer skin to line up correctly.

With the new bedside semi-under control, I moved over to the driver side to massage the seams. Started on the front since I knew it would be easiest. I ended up using several butt clamps inside and out, but where the seam was too tight for the clamps, I just used rare earth magnets to hold the sheetmetal in alignment. It's a pretty good fit for having removed 12" of bed length. With the front seam ready for tack welds, I was forced to finally address the more difficult end.

[jeh]

Glad to see things working out for you. It's going to be a nice job when your done. Vic, I'm still amazed with your patience.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jeh

Glad to see things working out for you. It's going to be a nice job when your done. Vic, I'm still amazed with your patience.

Thanks, Jason. When you're an old retired f@rt, you have the time to be patient.

[Vic1947]

The rear seam turned out to be much easier than I anticipated. I made sure when I final ground the edges to leave enough gap to be able to fit butt clamps up and down the entire length. When I drew up the clamps, the mismatched areas fell into near perfect alignment. The very minor discontinuities are easily tweaked with a thin blade screwdriver. Even the bottom section pulled up very nicely. There's about 3/4" of excess metal that I'll trim off after welding it all out, but the body lines matched and everything. There's a small amount of bow along the inner edge from front to back, so I plan to release the C-clamps holding the 1" square tubing and insert a piece of angle iron to see if it will remove some of that. I'm not real concerned, as the new bedside has the same bow, although not quite as much. Will post pics when I get the chance. Meanwhile, here are some shots of the rear seam and how I fixtured it.

Hint: I was able to position the butt clamps in the tight space between inner and outer panels by assembling them loosely at the bottom of the seam where I could reach easily. Holding light pressure against the bar I then scooted the clamp up to where it needed to be. Tighten it up and you're good to go. To remove them, I'll loosen the wingnuts and tap the flat blade forward to take the pressure off the square bar. I can then slip a thin ruler up in the wall space and tap the bar out of the blade and remove it.

[swamp rat]

I'm impressed!

Back on post 752 where you sliced out the bad part and mocked up the repair, the entire repair made from the old panel correct? do you know if there is replacement patches available of the area is rusted out? Did you buy the smaller support pieces in post 766? or bend then yourself? Thanks!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

I'm impressed!

Back on post 752 where you sliced out the bad part and mocked up the repair, the entire repair made from the old panel correct? do you know if there is replacement patches available of the area is rusted out? Did you buy the smaller support pieces in post 766? or bend then yourself? Thanks!

In my case, I used a cutoff saw to remove the area I needed from the old bedside. That piece was in great condition, so it was perfect for the patch. I've don't recall seeing a patch panel for that area in any catalog. You're welcome to the one I took out for just the cost of shipping. I think it will work on either side. There's nothing wrong with it. It was just in the wrong location on the new bedside. As a patch, you could locate it where you need and then mark your cut lines. Just a thought.

I made the small support pieces by putting a 1/2", 90 degree bend in a piece of 1.5" wide sheetmetal. Then spotwelded the strips with the break facing down to the underside of the inner panel, leaving about 1/2" hung out past the edge to back up the patch panel.

[Xeen]

Looks great Vic, I can't wait to see what it looks like after it's all welded together and the welds are knocked down.

[Elliot949]

Wow... I can't wait until this is welded and you post those pics... nice work on lining it up...

[Low Elco]

The fun part of this is gonna be: One of these bedsides is brand new. One is welded together out of about 87 pieces. You guess which is which!

Looks impeccable as always, Vic. Can't wait to see the finish work.

[mcbassin]

Awesome work on the bedsides Vic! You are making it look way too easy. I really like the brace idea behind the seam. You will have that sucker done in no time.

[jlsanborn]

More sweet metal work! And thanks for the great pictures and the time spent writing it all up.

[bguild]

Vic- the bedside looks great.. I am back in town if you need a extra hand. I should be around all weekend. I know those bedsides can be a pain to get all bolted up by yourself.

Also did you make any plans for those interior panels that go behind the seat?

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by bguild

Vic- the bedside looks great.. I am back in town if you need a extra hand. I should be around all weekend. I know those bedsides can be a pain to get all bolted up by yourself.

Also did you make any plans for those interior panels that go behind the seat?

Thanks, Brian. I'm tacking and welding the seams today, so it won't be long before I need to disassemble it all for access to the difficult areas. I've been running hot and cold over the panels. I keep thinking it would be lots easier to order them from Porterbuilt, but then a wave of tightwad washes over me and I get inclined to make them myself. Either way, they're going in.

[Vic1947]

This morning I added a length of 1/4" wall angle iron to the top bed rail in an attempt to remove some of the bow. It did a fair job and at least, the sectioned side now looks about the same as the new side. Tacked the seams every 3/8" or so and removed the bedside from the floor so I'd have a better shot at the inner panel. So far there's been very little warping, knock on wood. I'm in the process of removing the butt clamps one by one and welding ticky tacks under where they sat. Slow process, but too fast and I end up regretting it.

[Elliot949]

AWESOME work!!!!

[swamp rat]

Would you please come over here and fix my truck! LOL!! Yer puttin me to shame there guy! Nice work!

I have a couple pic's I'd like to post for you to look at regarding that piece of scrap you offered me, i think i can use it, is it ok if i post a couple pic's here for you to look at? Or i can just post them in my build thread and have you follow a link? Thanks!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Elliot949

AWESOME work!!!!

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Would you please come over here and fix my truck! LOL!! Yer puttin me to shame there guy! Nice work!

I have a couple pic's I'd like to post for you to look at regarding that piece of scrap you offered me, i think i can use it, is it ok if i post a couple pic's here for you to look at? Or i can just post them in my build thread and have you follow a link? Thanks!

Thanks, guys.

Feel free to post up your pics or a link, either would be fine. If you decide you can use the patch, just PM me your info.

[swamp rat]

Hers a link, I don't have the wells out yet but you can see the rust brewing, i have been trying to figure out if there are repair strips available..

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=215

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Hers a link, I don't have the wells out yet but you can see the rust brewing, i have been trying to figure out if there are repair strips available.

LMC offers that area as a patch panel. You can go to their website and see it on page 27. There may be other places that offer it as well, but at least it's available from them.

The most cost effective approach is to remove the wheel tubs and see if it's possible to patch the worst areas with some scrap sheetmetal. My experience with rust is that it's like an iceberg ...you only see about 10% of what's there. Removing the wheel tubs will tell you whether you can get by with a small repair or if a larger patch will be needed.