have i lost my mind????

[BB70c10]

[BB70c10]

[BB70c10]

[BB70c10]

[BB70c10]

Originally Posted by Richard8971

There was a time in my life when I had a block with some sandpaper stuck to it and my Toyota truck standing in front of me and I had alot of people around me telling me that paint and body work was too difficult for me to do.

D

thats why i look up to you and the guys on this site,you had to learn things the hard way,and you turn around and help beginners so they dont make the same mistakes you did.i know i keep beating the same drum when i say that,but i just want people to know how much i appreciate all the advice.i tell my wife all the time its like having professionals helping build my truck.i would have never attempted this scale of a build if it hadnt of been for this site and my truck would definitly not be the way i would want it.thats why i try to respond to every post.i figure if they took the time to give me advice or compliment me on the build,the least i can do is acknowledge it and thank em.

[Richard8971]

Anytime...

Email me at Richard8971@aim.com if you have any specific questions. I'll do the best I can to answer them.

D

[BB70c10]

Originally Posted by tommypic

Good going man you like me got a long way . I have got to go and get the parts truck I bought . I am waiting on my floor pans to get here . Keep up the good work . I like pics helps me along the way

appreciate it man.good luck with your truck too.this is my first build so its hard to see an end to it right now or ever.you shouldnt have any problems finding pics and usefull info. on this site.i'm living proof that you can build an entire truck, with basically no experiance at all, based on this site alone.

[BB70c10]

Originally Posted by Richard8971

Anytime...

Email me at Richard8971@aim.com if you have any specific questions. I'll do the best I can to answer them.

D

i appreciate it,but you've already been a huge help without me having to bug you about.i know a few products to use(rage,slick sand),bought tools that will make it easier on me(DA and inline sander),and have a good general idea of how to go about(including what grit sandpaper to use).just keep a check on my progress every now and then and maybe give me your input and any tips you think might help when you have the time,and hopefully i wont have to bother you with a bunch of questions.id rather take some time to do some research before i bother you with any questions.but if i've searched high and low and still cant find an answer,i'll take you up on it.i spend alot of my time at work helping other guys with problems on cars in the shop.it doesnt bother me a bit to help them.but i can tell the ones who arent even trying when i get over there and they dont even have the book out, the tools(chassis ears,volt meter,etc,),or havent even driven the car before they call me over.i can tell they taking advantage of me and just want me to diagnose it for them.they have no desire to be a real technician and just want to move on to the quick money.i help them anyway,but to me its a shame.they could be good techs if they took a little time to learn instead of just asking somebody for the answer right off the bat.i think knowledge is worth more than money in the long run and i expect to make a few mistakes along the way.appreciate the offer but hopefully every things going to go perfect for me and i wont have any questions.building trucks from the ground up always does,right?

[Malibu 496]

Nice project and nice work.
What are the tools you have on your box where you cut it?

[BB70c10]

Originally Posted by Malibu 496

Nice project and nice work.
What are the tools you have on your box where you cut it?

thanks man.not sure exactly which tools you are talking about.the ones in the pics of the frame cuts in the red trays are a set from craftsman my parents bought me last year to work on the truck with.i have a set i use at work thats a mix of snap-on,mac,and matco.those are too expensive to buy to work from home with.i also have a $6000 matco tool box at work that ill be moving into that garage soon because my job is buying all new boxes for us at work to match,so that will be pretty sweet.other than the craftsman set,everything else is carpenter tools my grandad used when he was alive.hope that answers your question.

[Malibu 496]

I was talking about the things on your box sides that look like square tubing with a wing nut on the end.

[BB70c10]

sorry about that.i feel sorta dumb now looking back at the fact that i described a set of craftsman tools to you.im glad i didnt go into detail about sizes and stuff like i started to.that would have been a complete waste of your time.im kinda new to this and didnt realize you were talking about the bed sides when you said box.lets just keep that between us about the whole "yeah man thats a craftsman tool set and some carpenter tools,aint they neat" thing,i got a reputation to uphold.actually no i dont,im an idiot.those are butt weld clamps i bought at harbor freight.you can buy them at eastwoods for about $30.00 for four.harbor freight sells them in a pack of eight for $4.99.right now im using them to help line up the bedsides,but ill leave them in there while im welding the bed to keep the gap right.the wingnut is attached to a thin plate with a square hole on the end of it.you slide the plate through the gap until the square tubing is flat against the body.then theres about a half inch long square rod that slides through the hole in the plate on the other side of the panel where you cant see.once your gap is where you want it,you tighten the wing nut and it clamps the panels together so you can weld it.once you weld it,you just loosen the wignut,remove the square rod from the other side of the panel,slide the whole thing out,and weld the gap where the butt clamps were.i found out about on "low buck build" from rokcrln.hope you aint insulted by the craftsman tool answer the first time,i guess i thought you wanted to know what brand tool set it was.

[tommypic]

I bought all that harbor freight had , works good too . If you sign up on there site you can get alot better discounts too . just my 2 cents

[Rokcrln]

Your progress is looking great. One thing I wanted to clear up before you find out the hard way. The "but weld clamps" work great but you will not want to weld to much around them. Just tack weld the panels every 4" or so then remove teh clanps before welding to close to them. The reason for this is because when you weld the metal will shrink in the heat affected zone causing the clamps to get stuck in the body and you will cause more damage trying to get them out by prying to much. So what I try and do when I can is space them about 4-6" apart, then place one small tack weld between the two clamps. Let it all cool down then remove the clamps before any more welding. As always take your time in welding up the bed sides to avoid warping. I know it is realk tempting once your welds get about 1" apart to just run a fast bead but try your best to resist, you will thank your self when you start the body work.

I should have my bed on the truck this week end and I will post some pics of it out in the sun so you can see how it turned out!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[BB70c10]

Originally Posted by Rokcrln

Your progress is looking great. One thing I wanted to clear up before you find out the hard way. The "but weld clamps" work great but you will not want to weld to much around them. Just tack weld the panels every 4" or so then remove teh clanps before welding to close to them.
I should have my bed on the truck this week end and I will post some pics of it out in the sun so you can see how it turned out!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

again man,thanks for the advice.its those little details that make me look like i half way know what im doing.i really dont even know what questions to ask,so i appreciate you looking out for me.thats whats cool about you and richard8971.i think you two have figured out that it doesnt bother me a bit to be told what im doing(or am about to do)wrong on my own build and dont mind telling me.hell,eventually one of you guys will probably be cussin me out because i didnt listen,or ask,or think before i did something and screwed it up(hopefully not beyond repair) and it wont bother me in the least.im too easy going to get caught up in how i might look online if i make a mistake and get called out on it.the way i see it,everytime i make a mistake and somebody isnt afraid to call me out on it,or you guys tell me something that might seem like common knowledge to most people,im learning something and hopefully somebody else is too.
cant wait to see the truck finished.i think its cool to see how excited you still get about working on your truck.it keeps me motivated on working on mine even though tear down seems like itll never end.when i finally get to paint mine,i'll post some fuzzy pictures of it in the dark so you cant quite tell how bad it turned out.

[BB70c10]

Originally Posted by tommypic

I bought all that harbor freight had , works good too . If you sign up on there site you can get alot better discounts too . just my 2 cents

i've been watching you're thread on cab stands and am actually going to build one i saw on there this weekend.i just bought the casters from harbor freight today.i'll be posting some pictures of it on here hopefully tommorrow so i can start on the body work.

[68GenIII]

Looks great. I did all this same work to my truck awhile back. Could not have done it w/o the people on the site. Keep the pics coming!!!

[BB70c10]

Originally Posted by 68GenIII

Looks great. I did all this same work to my truck awhile back. Could not have done it w/o the people on the site. Keep the pics coming!!!

thanks man.do you have a direct link to your build.i clicked the link and it took me to the home page.i would like to check it out.

[BB70c10]

got the frame loaded up today so i can take it to work to be welded.having a co-workers son weld it up for me because i want me,the cab,and the bed to be able to ride down the road TOGETHER and my frt wheels and rear wheels to be in the same lane at the same time.hopefully i'll have some pictures next week of the frame back together FINALLY!
i spent the rest of the day making a cab dolly i learned about on here.it was actually pretty simple to make and only cost me about $60.00 having to buy everything except the brackets and 2 by 4's.i would have liked to have one made out of metal but my metal welding skills are lacking so welded one up out of wood.i bought two 2x6x12's(which i ended up cutting down to 8ft so 2x6x8 would have been perfect),6 5" wheel swivel casters(from harbor freight),one 1/2" id 72'' long black iron pipe, and two end caps from lowes.i started out measuring the two lower fender mount holes on the frt of the cab and and added a bit to allow a little room.i decided to go with 69'' apart with my brakets.then i measure the cab and decided to cut the 2x6's 8 foot long.i laid the the 2x6's on jack stands.the brackets i used were actually the 8" section i cut from the rear of the frame because it already had 1" hole in it.i just drilled one more hole in the bottom if it and my brackets were done.i mounted the brackets on a piece of 2x4 and bolted down 5 feet from the end of both boards.that way the cab had plenty of room to sit on and i still had 3 feet in the frt for the cab to flip onto.i used 3 caster on each side.one on each end and one near the brackets for added support when the cab was flipped on its nose(2 may have been enough but they were only $5 each,cheaper than 2 extra boards for the support i thought it needed).then i squared up the 2x6's and cut and nailed one 2x4 on each end and the frame was done.i cut the 2x4's 77'' long so the frame ended up to be 77" wide, 8ft long,with the brackets 69" apart, mounted 5ft from each end.i cut plates to mount on the bottom of the boards to bolt the brackets on just for extra support.then i just set the cab on the dolly,lined up the holes in the cab and the brackets,slid the rod through,and screwed the caps on the end of the rod and i was done.the only problem i ran into is that the rod wouldnt quite fit through the holes in the cab so i had to ream them out a touch,which i might end up regretting later.i forgot to take pics of the cab sitting upright.i didnt design this dolly(i aint that smart),this is just to show how i built it.the idea came from "my $65 cab dolly" thread on this forum.

[franky69c10]

nice

[slammed1]

Very cool fixture for the cab,I like that......and I need one myself.

I finally did some things to mine yesterday since it was a nice day here. I took the bed off and cleaned up the parts mess and such since its been out in the weather for more than 2 years. I am getting it ready for when my garage gets cleaned back out and room is made I can remove the cab and place my rolling chassis on my 4 wheel dollies and maybe next time the cab goes on the frame it will be for the last time.

here is a link to my pictures yesterday.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...46#post2573646

[Weezer67]

Just checkin back in with you. I hope you don't lose your excitement. Truck is looking sweet.
Weezer67
Dodge City, Kansas
"...waiting for spring"

[BB70c10]

Originally Posted by Weezer67

Just checkin back in with you. I hope you don't lose your excitement. Truck is looking sweet.
Weezer67
Dodge City, Kansas
"...waiting for spring"

thank you sir.im still excited about it,but its at a point right now where theres not a whole lot of change worth posting other than the cab dolly which i was pretty proud of (that it actually worked).the frames going to be welded today and hopefully finished friday.then i can paint the frame and hopefully get it back to a rolling chassis.then i can start the body work-thats what im looking forward to the most.thanks for checking in.

[BB70c10]

Originally Posted by slammed1

Very cool fixture for the cab,I like that......and I need one myself.

I finally did some things to mine yesterday since it was a nice day here. I took the bed off and cleaned up the parts mess and such since its been out in the weather for more than 2 years. I am getting it ready for when my garage gets cleaned back out and room is made I can remove the cab and place my rolling chassis on my 4 wheel dollies and maybe next time the cab goes on the frame it will be for the last time.

here is a link to my pictures yesterday.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...46#post2573646

it was pretty simple to make and cheap too.i had to do something.between the frame and the bed my knees had all they can take from squatting.with the dolly, i can work on the cab from my roll around seat or standing hopefully.i was a little worried about how easily the cab would fall over when tilted(with kids in and out of the shop).but with the casters,you can push the cab around with it on its nose,no problem.
i checked out your pictures.it looks like a pretty solid truck.those handles look like they belong there.i like these trucks with little modern touches that just kinda blend in and dont just jump out at you.nice work

[slammed1]

Originally Posted by BB70c10

it was pretty simple to make and cheap too.i had to do something.between the frame and the bed my knees had all they can take from squatting.with the dolly, i can work on the cab from my roll around seat or standing hopefully.i was a little worried about how easily the cab would fall over when tilted(with kids in and out of the shop).but with the casters,you can push the cab around with it on its nose,no problem.
i checked out your pictures.it looks like a pretty solid truck.those handles look like they belong there.i like these trucks with little modern touches that just kinda blend in and dont just jump out at you.nice work

Thanks man,I tried to make the handles a style thats not seen much and blend in once painted body color.

I feel this site has plenty of great members along with mods and admin to keep the site such a nice place to come and visit. The build threads and how tos posted along with the info on this site about all the makes and models and what interchanges between certain models and years just helps all that much more. I have read over and over a few threads with build photos and info posted and have been amazed at the talent on this board and the fact that most all info given to any question is as accurate as can be and if its not there is no real bashing or flaming trying to say one way over another.

I think you are doing a great job wih your progress and such especially with the amount of work your project is going to take top see it to the driveable stages again. Please dont fall out of interest or get down if something goes wrong........step back,take deep breaths and come back in and read some threads or check out some galleries for ideas. I dont think anyone here who can read your thread wouldlet you walk away with a project upset about it to the point of selling or trading. stick with it and spend time and money as it comes and if spent wisely you will have the project done sooner than planned abd may have saved some bucks if you do your homework.

The best thing is that this learning experience is going to be a stepping stone for the next project if you decide to tackle one and doig most of this yourself as you are and patiently working and studying will only help out in the long run.

Major props to you and if I can help let me know,as others will join in also.