My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”

[Kronald_70GMC]

Hello everyone. I have a very rusty 1970 GMC Sierra that I bought off my grandpa a couple years ago. These 67-72 trucks have always been a sweet spot with me. As far back as I can remember, my dad had a 1970 Chevy pickup that he daily drove. Somewhere along the way he sold it but bought a 1969 Chevy CST which has since been totally ground up restored. My uncle who some of you may know as chewychevy67 has been in a very long, very interesting restore of a 1967 Chevy SWB. And my brother daily drives a 1969 GMC pickup. Needless to say these trucks run in my family. So when I heard that my grandpa was selling his I just knew I had to have it. It has been a long time now of slowly collecting parts and dreaming of the day I could finally start the restoration. Well that day has finally come. I didnt get much done, but its a darn good start. I ended up cutting off my drivers rocker, cab corner and some of the inner rocker and floor pan. This cab is actually a donor cab as the original is in far worse condition. Anyway enough of my story for now, lets get some pictures going.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Before someone else points it out Ill just say that chewychevy67 is working on a 67 GMC SWB** *dohh*

[Kronald_70GMC]

Well I got a bit more done on the cab tonight. I realize now that my cab support brackt is very rusty. I am going to have to remove the entire piece to do this thing right. I have been drilling spot welds for hours and still have many more to drill. Luckily I have a whole cab support that is rust free that came with the truck so once I get this one off, reassembly SHOULD be smooth sailing. I know, I know these are very boring pictures but I will be posting a build list of my plans soon.

[Originalthor]

Nice to see your finally working on the old truck I think its getting lonely sitting out there. Ill trade you rust problems mines all somewhat good down there. Wanna part out some inner roof skin pieces off your other cab??

[Kronald_70GMC]

Haha not sure as of yet. Might become part of a throw together and recoop some loss of money truck from spare parts. I know that the truck is lonely. Still hoping to sell my 98 one of these days so the 70 can finally come to its home.

[Kronald_70GMC]

I spent another 3 hours in the shop tonight drilling spot welds and now I really feel like im getting somewhere! This new spot weld driller I spent $60 was actually worth it. And I'm darn glad about that, thats alot of money for a drill bit! Got a large portion of the drivers side cab supports off. Couple more evenings and I should be ready to start putting in some new sheet metal. Excited with my progress so far!

[SuperC10Tex]

Welcome from Texas.......!!!

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by SuperC10Tex

Welcome from Texas.......!!!

Thanks!

[chewychevy67]

Lookin good.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by chewychevy67

Lookin good.

Thanks!

I have collected most of my parts now so I figured why not just jump right in? I drilled out all the spot welds along the driverside floor pan at the front and cut out the pan. Now I need to determine my next course of action. Im thinking that I will need to do my front pillar and footwell panel before I go welding in my new floor pan. These floor pans that came with the truck are not the best but after looking at the situation a little closer, I think I can make them work!

[Kronald_70GMC]

I got an evening of work in last night on the cab and thanks to my dad, we got one rusty piece of the firewall near the floor pan cut out and replaced. I just need to work on my welding. All I do is burn through everywhere. Might need to get diffrent wire.

[Richard2112]

Nice project

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by Richard2112

Nice project

Thanks!

[Kronald_70GMC]

Ok so after looking at that crap I was calling a weld last night, I knew it wasn't going to fly. So after a much needed chat with member Originalthor about welding, I ran down to princess auto and picked up some butt welding clamps. These things are AMAZING and combined with the technique tips that Originalthor gave me, I was able to produce a MUCH nicer looking piece. Just tacked in place for now but Im now confident that I can make it look right. So here are the progress pictures.

[Originalthor]

There ya go man looking great and good progress aswell. With all the learning experiences on the drivers side the passenger side will take you no time at all.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Found a little bit of time to get in the garage this weekend so I finished welding in my piece. It needs a bit more grinding yet and I need to weld it from the other side as well, but I think Ill do that later when the cab is upright again. Also finalized the size of floor section I'm replacing. Now I have to trim the new part for fit and get my footwells and lower pillar sections ordered up soon. Hopefully they come before the end of the month.

[Warrens69GMC]

Nice

[ryans69chevy]

Kyle, nice work! If you want to learn some welding skills use this sites search engine. I found a thread from MP&C where he walks you through an easy way how to butt weld patches. It makes for a nice patch job without the use of much filler. I tried it, and it works for me.

I'm nearing my cab as well I want to know how you flipped your cab! Also how much different are the spot weld drill bits vs a regular drill bit? I've just been using a normal drill bit and they have been going pretty good.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by ryans69chevy

Kyle, nice work! If you want to learn some welding skills use this sites search engine. I found a thread from MP&C where he walks you through an easy way how to butt weld patches. It makes for a nice patch job without the use of much filler. I tried it, and it works for me.

I'm nearing my cab as well I want to know how you flipped your cab! Also how much different are the spot weld drill bits vs a regular drill bit? I've just been using a normal drill bit and they have been going pretty good.

Right on man thanks for the info on the welding thread, will definatly have to check that out. I managed to flip my cab with the help of my brother and dad, 2 of us grabbed by the rockers and the other one pulled it down from the windsheild, my temporary support made things a little easier as we could hold it easier there. And as far as spot weld bits, they just give you more control over how deep you go, you can usally feel when you have cut through the first layer leaving the underlying panel untouched. They are also flat on the top unlike a regular drill bit, only downside is the price, I paid $60 for the one I'm using but so far it has been worth it, it says that it will last for hundreds of holes. There is also refill cutter heads available for it.

[ryans69chevy]

Cool! I might have to do it that way when I flip mine. Where did you get the bit from?

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by ryans69chevy

Cool! I might have to do it that way when I flip mine. Where did you get the bit from?

I bought it from the local autobody supply store.

[chewychevy67]

Looking good!

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by chewychevy67

Looking good!

Thanks uncle! I finally got the welder all dialed in and working nice.



I was finally able to finish my lower firewall piece off today. I did end up having to cut out a section in the middle and replace it due to warping from my poopy welds, but I managed to get it completed. I also got started on my foot well. I was able to clean out the inside of my front pillar quite nicely but I don't have any weld through primer. So I figure that's ok, Ill go raid my dads shop. Turns out he only had a quarter of a can and I could not get it to spray. More or less just spits out so I was not able to weld in my piece. Haha oh well, hopefully I can find some tomorrow. Anyways I will get to the part of my post that keeps this site going! PICTURES!

[Kronald_70GMC]

More progress today. I did some measuring from my exsisting passenger floor pan up to underside of dash and when compared to the new pice of the drivers side it was 3/8" higher so Im pretty happy I caught that before I started welding. I cut 3/8" of of my new foot well piece but then it wouldn't line up by the door jamb. So now I have cut 1/4" out of that piece and tacked in a filler piece. Now I've got alot of tack welding to do but im ok with that, gives me some practice on a piece that is out and easy to access Here are the pictures:

[nuke1]

Looking good so far, I remember the days of starting out. We may have a how to weld series at the shop here soon.