Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step

[bguild]

Vic-- Thanks for the donation of the stepside bed for my project. I still cant believe you are so close to me. Looks like i have everything to get my vin inspection completed to get my title. Once i get the title i will be tearing into my cab. I might want to talk to you a little more about the outer roof skin and grafting the larger rear window into my cab.
Thank you again. I owe you some help so if you need an extra hand just give me a call and I will come over.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by bguild

Vic-- Thanks for the donation of the stepside bed for my project. I still cant believe you are so close to me. Looks like i have everything to get my vin inspection completed to get my title. Once i get the title i will be tearing into my cab. I might want to talk to you a little more about the outer roof skin and grafting the larger rear window into my cab.
Thank you again. I owe you some help so if you need an extra hand just give me a call and I will come over.

You're most welcome. Mike and I were quite taken with your little military trailer ...way cool!!!

[bguild]

I love that trailer. It looks cool behind the jeep as well. I am planning on doing a make-over on it but with two little girls and life I have yet to tear into it. I still plan to stay with the army theme though.
I just went through your build on your silver truck. You have some really good fabrication skills. That is a nice truck and by the looks of it your CRLS truck is going to end up being nice as well.

[Vic1947]

Ya know, it's great to have friends! UPS arrived today and delivered a Flaming River steering column courtesy of my longtime bud Jay, a CWPF (close, warm, personal friend) from TX I've known for going on 40 years. He's building a sweet little Chevy stepside (see below) and lurks on the forum. Hopefully he'll put up a build thread one of these days. Anyway, he'd bought a paintable column, then decided to install a chrome one instead, so the FR piece was lying around his garage and he up and sends it to me. And I can really put it to good use. Tilt is almost a requirement in these trucks unless maybe you're Peter Dinklage.

My good fortune didn't end there, however. Forum member bguild of Project Low Dough fame stopped by the house yesterday and donated a hood for CRLS. It's in very decent condition and should clean up with a minimum of heartburn.

UPS and FedEx also dropped off some stuff for the Vortec engine project ...Comp Cams XE262H cam (262/.462"I, 270/.469"E, LS 110) with lifters and Magnum timing chain - as well as a ProComp air gap style intake. Won't be long till I'm ready for the block and heads.

[Vic1947]

I'm back to doing some sheetmetal work. Built speaker enclosures today for the door panels. I have a set of 6x9 MBQuart reference speakers for the stereo system and decided to put them in the doors. Now is the perfect time to do so since I'm replacing the door bottoms on both sides. That way I can spotweld, paint and seal the boxes before they get trapped in the interior of the door. I know I took the lazy way out by cutting up the doors, but I couldn't come up with a better solution. Not enough room to put them under the seats and kick panel speakers aren't worthy of a 350W amp.

While I was at it, I made the patch for the rust spot in the corner of the door. Just need to cut out the rot and whip out the mighty MIG. (See what you missed B.G. - don't worry though, I'm saving the other side for you!)

[Xeen]

That hood looks like it is in pretty decent shape, nothing wrong with it that a polycarbide disk cant fix (Inside joke between me and Vic, I think its the greatest thing since the invention of the light bulb.)
I like the new engine parts, combined with the Vortec heads they should really breathe some life into that old small block.
You mentioned something about flat top pistons, did you get those ordered yet?
I think you are going to kick my ass in a straight line but I'm gonna have you in the corners, so in the interest of making it fair we have to race on a european style roadway, I think old K4 will do nicely.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Xeen

I like the new engine parts, combined with the Vortec heads they should really breathe some life into that old small block.
You mentioned something about flat top pistons, did you get those ordered yet?

I ended up having my machinist order the pistons, rings, bearings and other misc. parts for the block and heads. It's more expensive than buying it off eBay, but I feel a whole lot better about it. When I was a kid, I remember a mechanic shop in town that had a sign that read, "You wouldn't take your own bacon and eggs to a café and have them fix your breakfast would you?" When a shop makes a few extra dollars on parts, hopefully it helps insure they'll be there the next time you need them.

Originally Posted by Xeen

I think you are going to kick my ass in a straight line but I'm gonna have you in the corners, so in the interest of making it fair we have to race on a european style roadway, I think old K4 will do nicely.

I'm too old to kick anybody's ass!

[Vic1947]

Made some more progress on the door bottoms. Welded in the corner patch then dressed all the crappy looking welds. I know I'll get the hang of the MIG, but it's starting out as a love-hate relationship. Spotwelded the speaker box in place and did some final trimming and fitting. Media blasting turned up some minor areas of rust that I need to patch before welding the door bottom on permanently. Bondo is also covering a dented area someone fixed the old fashioned way ...by drilling holes thru the skin and using a slide hammer with a sheetmetal screw on the end to yank the dent. All the pookey will have to come out so I can weld the holes up. Having the door bottom removed gives me better access for the necessary hammer and dolly work. When the door bottom goes on the final time, I'll dolly down the flanges I left on the corner patch which should give me a nice repair.

Xeen gave me a much appreciated heads up and some good suggestions on insulating the speaker enclosures. I've never done a stereo system that consisted of anything more than four speakers and an in-dash radio. Lots to learn ...hope it doesn't end up being an "old dog, new tricks" deal.

[Low Elco]

I have to get over there for a shrinker lesson. Been wanting to get into that end of it. Parts look great! I had the blaster do the edges and supports, and stripped the rest with the 80 pad. Good stuff, can't wait for the next stage!
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[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

I have to get over there for a shrinker lesson. Been wanting to get into that end of it. Parts look great! I had the blaster do the edges and supports, and stripped the rest with the 80 pad. Good stuff, can't wait for the next stage!
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Anytime you want to drop by, we'll conduct a tutorial. I've got several patches to make and plenty of scrap metal to practice with.

[bguild]

Vic I hope that hood works out for you. I am glad you can use it because I don't want to store it for the 5 years my project will take. I am also bummed I couldn't stop by Friday. I had to play clean up at work so I was sending emails and making calls all afternoon.
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[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by bguild

Vic I hope that hood works out for you. I am glad you can use it because I don't want to store it for the 5 years my project will take. I am also bummed I couldn't stop by Friday. I had to play clean up at work so I was sending emails and making calls all afternoon.
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I'm sure the hood will work great, even before cleanup it looks more solid than what I have. Stop by anytime, there's always metal work in some stage of progress ...from imaginary to reality.

[sduckworth13]

Vic, you do awesome metal work. You definitely inspire me to become better at it.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by sduckworth13

Vic, you do awesome metal work. You definitely inspire me to become better at it.

Thanks, Scott, all you need is practice and more practice. Once heard that the only difference between guys like us and someone like the late Boyd Coddington is that his scrap pile is bigger.

[502ms]

Exciting build. I know the feeling...great work!
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[Low Elco]

Metal work looks great! MIG tip: I wound up aiming at the leading edge of the previous tack, instead of side by side. Got less light thru after that way. Tell me to shaddup, you prolly know this, just kickin in my .02. Looks great, as always!
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[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Metal work looks great! MIG tip: I wound up aiming at the leading edge of the previous tack, instead of side by side. Got less light thru after that way. Tell me to shaddup, you prolly know this, just kickin in my .02. Looks great, as always!
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Thanks, Chip, I'll give that a try. Still figuring out what angle works best under what circumstances as well as how close and how much wire out the end before striking an arc. Also whether to push or drag the bead. Not to mention how much heat and how fast the wire feeds. Chart that came with the welder is clearly just meant to get you in the ballpark.
Weld spatter already burned a hole thru my jeans. Like I said before ...thus far it's a love/hate sort of thing. But I really like that it puts waaaay less heat on the parts than the TIG.

[Low Elco]

Well, if I can impart- Get online and get the .023 easygrind from ESAB. Lots easier to work with, and a Lot softer bead. Your fitup looks terrific. Wire About 1/8 or so out of the shield. Pretty good "pop" on the gas, this all happens in a hurry. Speed at whatever works best, you'll know fast. I tended to go vertical with a 10deg or so tip toward the previous tack. I always got taught to push unless there was no other way. I also had several starts 2-3 inches apart. I dont run a bead on sheet. LOTS of heat that way. I just run tacks over tacks, but I actually kick the heat up a bit for a fast bite, kinda like "flooring" the tig pedal. Here's my pattern-

x----------------x--------------x--------------x---------------x---------------x

then-

x-------x--------x-------x--------x--------x----x-------x------x--------x------x

then-

xx------x--------xx------x--------xx-------x-----xx-----x------xx-------x-----xx

then

xxx-----x--------xxx------x------xxx-------x-----xxx------x-----xxx------x---xxx

and so forth, till your gaps are filled in. Clear you calendar, open a beer, and settle in. Kinda like painting a car. Make a round, go sip you beer. Don't do more, don't poke at it, don't screw with it, don't get horny and just weld 'er up. It actually goes faster than it would seem.

Why am I telling you this? You've forgotten more than I'll ever know.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Why am I telling you this? You've forgotten more than I'll ever know.

I'm glad you're telling me this because I'm new to MIG and can really use the advice. Thanks!!

[Xeen]

I don't see why you can't use compressed air to cool the metal so you can work faster, but then I'm not a welder so what do I know about it.

[Low Elco]

Well, you can, and lotsa folks do, but you run the risk of shrinkage, even more than you're gonna see. It's a good management tool though, used properly. I just prefer to go slow. I'm no ones expert on anything, believe it!
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[67cheby]

that is some impressive metal work on that door

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by 67cheby

that is some impressive metal work on that door

Thanks! I've seen your build thread and I'll be thrilled if mine turns out even half as nice as your ride.

[Vic1947]

After spending the last week or so on the CAD program and cranking out some parts for friends on the lathe and the mill, I'm finally back on CRLS. I needed to clean up the inside of the doors so the acoustic sheet would adhere to the surface. After I got the doors back from the blaster, there was still a lot of the original factory asphalt based material on the inner surface of the skin. Blast media won't really touch that stuff, so out came the scraper. Some of the gunk chipped off readily, but most was stuck pretty tight. I quickly tired of using a putty knife and hammer, so while my better half was out running errands, I asked her to stop by HF and pick up a pneumatic scraper. Turned out to be the best 20 bucks I've ever dropped there. I generally have low expectations for their tools, but this one is a solid piece. Took me longer to scrounge up an air fitting and install it than it did to remove the rest of the door crud.

After scraping and wiping down the surface, I cut the Rattle Trap to length and started laying it in. It conforms pretty well with the shop at 70 degrees and it didn't take long to cover the entire inner door surface. I always cover the seams with aluminum Shurtape because when the acoustic material gets warm, it will "bleed" droplets of the black asphaltic material. Covering it with aluminum tape seals the seams and edges and locks in the pookey.

I mocked up the door bottom again and drilled a hole thru the door jamb and one in the speaker box for routing the speaker wires when the time comes. I cut a length of 1/2" thin wall chromoly tubing to run between the jamb and the speaker box. I'll weld the tube into the door jamb and then seal around the other end in the speaker box. Since the tube runs downhill, there should be no way for moisture to enter the enclosure. Now I just have to repeat the process on the driver side door.

[bguild]

Looking good. I am in the process of dissecting my donor roof. I might need to take you up on that spot welder soon. Are you going to be working on the truck tomorrow? If so I might swing by and say hi.
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