Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

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.

Hey thanks for the information! I didn't know that section had a patch panel available.. I thought I'd have to hand fabricate, bend and punch holes ect..

Cant help but wonder now if the repair panels will have the same hole pattern problem you had with the fender? LOL!

Did you buy replacement hardware from a vendor or did you go the Home Depot route?

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Hey thanks for the information! I didn't know that section had a patch panel available.. I thought I'd have to hand fabricate, bend and punch holes ect..

Cant help but wonder now if the repair panels will have the same hole pattern problem you had with the fender? LOL!

Did you buy replacement hardware from a vendor or did you go the Home Depot route?

The problem with the bedside I purchased was the inner wheel arch was displaced about 5/8". So when I bolted on the wheel tub, its holes didn't match those in the floor. The real reason I used the panel from the old bed was to simplify the repair. The "new" piece I removed would work fine as a patch. Just position it over the rusted area, mark your cut lines, remove the rusted area and weld the patch in. I know the holes are in the right place because my tub bolted right up to it.

Most of my hardware has been re-plated, however, the stovebolts out of the bed have not. I plan to soak them in muriatic acid to remove the surface rust, neutralize them with water/baking soda, dry them good, coat them well with LPS3 and then reinstall them without re-plating them. Since I'll have bed liner on top of them and undercoat below, they'll be encapsulated and shouldn't be a problem down the road. I'll replace the damaged/missing ones from a local hardware store.

[Vic1947]

While welding the inner bed panel today, I had a section that was starting to cave in because the seam was tighter there than the gaps on either side. Continuing to weld would only make it sink more, so I opted to raise it up to help minimize the effect. Welded a stud to a low point and pulled it up gently. After welding and grinding, the panel is flat enough that only a thin skim of filler will be needed. Both inner panel seams are welded (and mostly ground) except where I have square tubing holding the bed rail straight. Flipped the bedside back over and will continue welding on the jelly side on Monday. Gotta go to my Pops 90th B-day party tomorrow.

[sduckworth13]

Quote "My experience with rust is that it's like an iceberg ...you only see about 10% of what's there"

Lol, Vic that is so true. I didn't know that when I bought my cab that had " very little rust".

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by sduckworth13

Quote "My experience with rust is that it's like an iceberg ...you only see about 10% of what's there"

Lol, Vic that is so true. I didn't know that when I bought my cab that had " very little rust".

I know what you're saying. Someone (who would doubtless be a great guy to know) once said, "When a truck is advertised as being "rust free" what they really mean is, the rust is free ...no extra charge".

[Low Elco]

I was gonna try to sneak over there Sat, wound up running late. Me sad. Looks great, let the bodywork and primer tutorials...begin!

[mcbassin]

Very clean work on the bed. Looks like the seams are falling right into place. Keep up the good work.

[swamp rat]

Where did you get the adapter for the pop rivet gun? And i gotta admit, i'm still at a loss as to how you shaped the bottom of the rear section to match the center section (or vis-versa) of the bed.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

And i gotta admit, i'm still at a loss as to how you shaped the bottom of the rear section to match the center section (or vis-versa) of the bed.

After cutting the 8" rear section out, when I butted the two sections together, I made sure I was lined up at the top of the bedrail. As luck would have it, the lower body line matched up very closely. I used square tubing to fixture the bed rail, then began inserting butt clamps, making sure the lower body line stayed true. As I worked downward from the body line, the butt clamps pulled the two sections together nice and smooth. You can see from the close ups that there's extra material offset between the two sections, but I'll trim it off after I finish grinding the welds. It was really much easier than I'd imagined.

[Vic1947]

As I was welding away this morning, I felt my buns starting to get a bit toasty. Turned around and saw there was a small fire brewing on the covers I'd thrown over the chassis/engine. Quickly smothered it and opened the garage door to air the place out. Fortunately, today was beautiful ...should've had the door open all along. No harm, no foul.

The outer skin is now welded up except for the small section where the tubing and angle iron are clamped. I'll remove the braces after I grind the welds and bolt the bedside back to the floor.

[SamsAutoParts73-87]

That is really nice work, been following along for a while and I have learned a lot! Thanks for posting all of the details!

-Sam

[swamp rat]

I found the dent puller, its a Shoot Suit 5800 Dent Puller right.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

I found the dent puller, its a Shoot Suit 5800 Dent Puller right.

Yes, it's available from several sources including eBay. I was never able to find just the business end, so I had to pop for the whole thing.

[swamp rat]

I hear bounce fabric softener sheets can help accelerate fires....

I found one of the dent puller guns on Amazon and ordered it, i like how it isolates the pull to a small area. I seen one of the guns before some years back but forgot about them.

[swamp rat]

Woops! double post, sorry.

[Xeen]

That bedside came out better than I ever imagined it could, looking at all three sections it just didn't look like it could be lined up correctly and somehow you managed it, my mind is officially blown.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

I was gonna try to sneak over there Sat, wound up running late. Me sad. Looks great, let the bodywork and primer tutorials...begin!

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Very clean work on the bed. Looks like the seams are falling right into place. Keep up the good work.

Originally Posted by SamsAutoParts73-87

That is really nice work, been following along for a while and I have learned a lot! Thanks for posting all of the details!
-Sam

Originally Posted by Xeen

That bedside came out better than I ever imagined it could, looking at all three sections it just didn't look like it could be lined up correctly and somehow you managed it, my mind is officially blown.

Thanks for following along, everyone. Bodywork is not too far off (if spring will ever get here) but I have three more significant metal projects to go before that.
1) Integrate the fuel door into the bed.
2) Rework the hood to add the raised feature.
3) Build Porterbuilt style panels to cover the gas tank area behind the seats.
So I'm not quite finished eating metal dust yet.

[jeh]

Anxious to see more Vic. I just want you to know I look forward every evening when I get off work to check the forum and see what you have accomplished every day.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jeh

Anxious to see more Vic. I just want you to know I look forward every evening when I get off work to check the forum and see what you have accomplished every day.

Thanks, Jason. Of all days, no post yesterday. Got roped into moving furniture for my nephew ...which I'm paying for today.

I've been doing some grinding and decided it would be easier to remount the bedside. Plus I needed to get the square tubing and angle iron off the bed rail so I could weld the last little bit on the corner. I tapped a small copper wedge into the gap to help keep it from drawing when welding. Then after the weld cooled, I removed the wedge and re-clamped a piece of square tube in behind the last of the gap with a thin strip of copper sandwiched in so I wouldn't end up with the tubing welded to the bed rail. Now all that's left is to knock down the rest of the welds and shrink/dolly the whoop-dee-doo's. Then it will be on to the fuel door.

[Vic1947]

With all the grinding I've been doing, I thought I'd pass along a trick I learned many years ago from a fat (and very funny) chassis builder named Vic Custer. [Yeah, another Vic ...what were the chances?] Anyway, he extended the life of sanding discs by trimming off the edges with scissors or snips. I use the yellow handled straight snips because that's all those useless pieces of crap are good for. You don't need to go around in a circle. In fact, it does better if you cut a small amount off the rim and end up with a 6, 7, 8 or ?? sided shape. Doesn't have to be perfect because, as you use it, it will form a new circular edge.

On 2" discs, I usually trim them at least twice before throwing them away. The one in the photos below has been done once already. As they get smaller I switch to the backup angle grinder setup with a pad for 1.5" discs. You'll be surprised at how well the discs work after trimming them.

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Thanks, Jason. Of all days, no post yesterday. Got roped into moving furniture for my nephew ...which I'm paying for today.

I've been doing some grinding and decided it would be easier to remount the bedside. Plus I needed to get the square tubing and angle iron off the bed rail so I could weld the last little bit on the corner. I tapped a small copper wedge into the gap to help keep it from drawing when welding. Then after the weld cooled, I removed the wedge and re-clamped a piece of square tube in behind the last of the gap with a thin strip of copper sandwiched in so I wouldn't end up with the tubing welded to the bed rail. Now all that's left is to knock down the rest of the welds and shrink/dolly the whoop-dee-doo's. Then it will be on to the fuel door.

Hey looks like we have the same filler, i cut the hole in the bedside today but need to work the bed more before welding it in, i'm sure you'll probably beat me to that anyway! Interested to see what you do in matching the conture to the bed.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=218

As always your doing some great work!

[knomadd]

Nice to see another creative thinker. I've done that since I first started using those discs about 12 years ago. It seems like a waste if you don't trim them. All that good sanding material left in the middle...

Nice work on the bed side. I'm always impressed by your work and pictures/explanation.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by knomadd

Nice to see another creative thinker. I've done that since I first started using those discs about 12 years ago. It seems like a waste if you don't trim them. All that good sanding material left in the middle...

Nice work on the bed side. I'm always impressed by your work and pictures/explanation.

Thanks, Duane. Sometime when we're in Houston, I need to stop by and see your truck and that awesome GTO.

[knomadd]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Thanks, Duane. Sometime when we're in Houston, I need to stop by and see your truck and that awesome GTO.

Anytime you want, just drop me a line a couple days before so I know you'll be in town.

[Low Elco]

Looks gooood to me!