Rat repair.

[DWilbur]

Good to hear your doing better and hope to see you back wrenching again soon.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

... I had the pleasure of meeting Vic Cook and his Brother in law today, we had a great visit and it was a pleasure to get to know Vic on a more a more than email and forum level. Thank you Vic for taking the time to stop by while you are in the area, i know it was a bit of a drive for you guys to get to my place but ya made my day! Had to grab a picture of Vic with Swamp Rat before he left.

Thanks for the hospitality and the nickel tour today, Mike, we had a great time! The Rat looks even better in person than in the pictures. I know you have a lot going on right now, but things always calm down eventually. Looking forward to seeing more progress when you do finally get back going. Take it from a guy that took 25 years to finish a project, the only person you need to make happy is yourself.

[swamp rat]

Well, my little break is over and its time to resurface, just in time for rainy season.

Went out and did a little space organizing again and am ready to start digging into them pesky rocker and kicker panels, got the hood and cowl off today, tomorrow i need to get the spare tire carrier and bumper off and hopefully the driver fender off.

What i'm not sure of is if i need to totally remove the grill to get the fender off? or if i can maybe pull a couple screws only and leave the grill in place?

[7dee2]

Good to see your back at it! With the core support extending into the fender and the fender extending into the grill surround IMO I'd plan to pull the surround and grill as a unit to minimize any damage. We pulled the bumper also to get better access to all the attaching screws. Here is a pic of what remained after removal.

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by 7dee2

Good to see your back at it! With the core support extending into the fender and the fender extending into the grill surround IMO I'd plan to pull the surround and grill as a unit to minimize any damage. We pulled the bumper also to get better access to all the attaching screws. Here is a pic of what remained after removal.

Thank you for the tip on the grill, it came out nice as a whole unit. Yea the bumper had to come off irregardless as it has a couple dents in it, i have a stock chrome one in good condition to go on but i may just straighten the one i took off and repaint it, not sure yet.


I do have a question tho, if i remove the center bolt at the firewall harness does that plug or fitting split in half so i can feed it thru the driver fender? or do i have to start labeling and unhooking the harness at the core support?

My plan also includes permanent removal of the front spare tire carrier, the bolt holding the tire and wheel was stripped out apparently by the tire company when i had my last set of tires mounted because the last time i removed the tire it was fine, i have a spare tire bracket for the bed that i need to install.

I did have to make a dump run with the truck today, i already had the hood and cowl off yesterday, first time i drive the truck that way, it was kinda odd staring at the engine going down the road. I started disassembly of the bumper, grill, and running boards, and i must say the boards made it easy to get in and out of the truck, now i have to learn to how to step high being as i'm 5'7" LOL!

A pic of my temporary seat while i parked the truck back under its car cover, not enough room on the side of the house to pull the seat after parking.

And a sneak peak of what lies ahead.

[mcbassin]

Glad to see you back on the Swamp Rat.

if i remove the center bolt at the firewall harness does that plug or fitting split in half so i can feed it thru the driver fender? or do i have to start labeling and unhooking the harness at the core support?

Yes, the plug does split in half. You can work it through the inside of the fender if you need to. There might or might not be a plastic retainer inside the fender holding the wire. I'm not sure if that is standard or not.

[NONHOG]

Man those slots look good!

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Glad to see you back on the Swamp Rat.

Yes, the plug does split in half. You can work it through the inside of the fender if you need to. There might or might not be a plastic retainer inside the fender holding the wire. I'm not sure if that is standard or not.

Thanks, it also dawned on me late last night that being as i'm removing the inner fender that once separated i didn't need to remove the plug.

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by NONHOG

Man those slots look good!

Thanks! there is a little surface pitting in them and they need to be hit with the polisher again but they sure look better than the old directional mags i had on.

[swamp rat]

Well didn't get quite as far as i wanted today, i got the inner fender and driver fender off, naturally there were a couple bolts that froze solid in the fender clip nut thing a ma jiggers so i had to get out the torch and the cut off wheel, naturally i nicked into the inner fender a little with the torch.. But it has some rust so i need to decide of i repair or replace.

I'm really happy that hidden under the fender was much less rust than i was expecting on the cab/cowl, pretty much looks like i only have to do inner/outer rocker and inner kick panel and a portion of the floor. I'll inspect the rear cab corner closer but i think they are both fine, maybe minor touch up. i hope the other side of the cab/cowl will be the same!

I had hoped to have the bracing cut and welded in but maybe tomorrow before work.

Pictures aren't cooperating today, have to keep track of how i'm holding my cell when taking pictures, don't strain your necks.

[rgunlock]

Not looking too bad so far. Hope your luck holds on the other side as well. Good to see you getting after it.

[swamp rat]

Got the back two corners braced, used a couple of the gas tank mount holes on each side rather than weld to the back or floor of the cab, do the fronts tomorrow.

Was just going to weld on a couple simple cross braces (front one side to rear on the other side) but i thought the bracing may get in the way when doing the work. wish i would have saves bracing pictures to plan ahead.

[swamp rat]

Bracing done passenger door off as well. I have the complete rocker off now but pictures don't show it. The rear 5" of the inner rocker looks pretty good but not sure how far back i should cut yet. The A pillar lower will have to be chopped, not sure if i can get away with cutting the very bottom portion or if i should go further up about 1/2" lower than the bolt holes. flipped the kick panel pic for easy viewing..

[DWilbur]

Hi Swamp rat
good to see your back on it. you can get patch panels for the bottom of the A pillar I replaced both of mine. As for the rocker panels drill out all the spot welds and replace the hole thing not worth patching part of it.

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by DWilbur

Hi Swamp rat
good to see your back on it. you can get patch panels for the bottom of the A pillar I replaced both of mine. As for the rocker panels drill out all the spot welds and replace the hole thing not worth patching part of it.

Thanks for the reply!

Yep, I have a set of Key parts A pillar repair panels already, but i was reading one of our local guys posts (30 years of body experience on these trucks) and he said Tabco makes the best A pillars and cab corners so i decided to order both today and will wait for a comparison.

The whole rocker, inner and outer plus a section of floor and kick panel are all getting cut out and replaced, still have to investigate the rear cab corners but they look pretty good. I got a section of floor out today but not all of it yet, ran out of time today so no pictures.

The bad news: We had a few gusts of wind last night and about 1:30 am i heard a crash.. well the wind tipped my hood with a stack of 1/4" plywood behind it over and it smacked my trailer pretty hard and put a couple dents into it, sigh, it was a perfectly good hood, but at least its reparable..

No pic's today.
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[rgunlock]

That's too bad about the hood SR. I know exactly how you feel. I spent a LOT of time repairing dents in my cab roof that I created with my original method of lifting the cab. Glad to hear its repairable.

[swamp rat]

Heres a couple pic's of the destruction, i mean de-construction LOL!

Unfortunately the front driver cab support is going to have to be replaced so i got to get on line and order them.

Still undecided how far back to take the cab floor, i should have blasted it before i braced the cab, but i did do a quick blast just to get the scale off, right now everything passes the ice pic test but there is some pitting. i traced out the possible cut line and roughed the support plate around the cab bolt. But still considering only going back far enough to do the support.

Anybody that's done this want to chime on i'm listening.

[swamp rat]

Gotta work today so nothing much done, made a couple floor cuts today is about it, but i was able to find this long lost thread late last night and its gonna be a lotta help

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=607099
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[swamp rat]

Well more cutting and fitting today, nothing seems to go fast and i'm learning now un-accurate the stamped A-piller lower replacement sections are. Still have to spot drill the support plate out then get the front cab support out. Really glad the cab corner rust was minimal. And school of hard knocks, when i braced the cab i forgot about test fitting the door so i'm going to have to come up with some more bracing and weld it to the inside then cut out the stuff that is in the way.

[swamp rat]

Got new bracing welded in and the bracing that was in the way cut out on the driver side. Did a little work on the area just below the high beam switch. Waiting for a couple tools and the repair parts.

[rgunlock]

Looks like you are fully committed now! Just be very patient about the fitting and cutting and you'll be fine.

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by rgunlock

Looks like you are fully committed now! Just be very patient about the fitting and cutting and you'll be fine.

Thanks for the vote of confidence!

[swamp rat]

Still whittling away little by little, i have seen the inaccuracies in the floor pans in other builds. when i align the cab mount dimple this stiffener bead is not aligned. But the dimple in the picture is getting cut out thankfully, right now its just for roughing and alignment purpose.

Not sure who makes this floor pan thanks to sticker on sticker on sticker....

I guess just get all the mismatch in the as close as possible and weld it up, but i'm nowhere close to that yet.

Biggest confirmation i need right now is i am assuming i need to cut the outer flange off the floor pan and butt weld or flange weld it to the inner rocker? Because the floor pan flange is not even close to being square or at the same angle as the floor support flange..

To confirm the order of assy from outer cab support:
Outer cab support flange, Inner rocker, kick panel, then outer rocker.

I'll be reading more threads tonight as i get time.

[swamp rat]

Haven't had much time the last couple days, today i found a bit of a problem with the inner rocker i'm trying to decide how to address, i posted a thread in the body section.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=697074

I have been slowly cutting the panels down to get them close, now i'm trying to decide if i should flange in some of the areas, assuming the flange would go to the underside of the floor then i know i cant flange the whole thing (unless there is something i'm missing)

I'm still waiting on my two Tabco orders, i thought one of them would show up today but no dice..

[DWilbur]

Creating a flange around the edges is the best way to go. I learned the hard way after watching Sky finish my metal work. It helps prevent warping and makes a stronger connection.