Wampus Cat

[TxCajun]

Passenger door

This door had rust in the inner and outer lower corners, drilled holes from previous body work, and holes from West Coast style mirrors.

My brother formed a couple of really nice patches for the corners which I welded in and finished. I then welded up all the miscellaneous holes, and we did some more hammer and dolly work.

This door did not have holes or captive fasteners for mounting a standard style passenger mirror, so I added those holes and made a nut plate for the inside of the door to simulate what the factory would have installed.

Epoxy primer, and on to the next parts.

[TxCajun]

Grill and grill support.

The weather is supposed to turn cold and rainy, so while it was still sunny and in the 70's I put epoxy primer on the grill and grill support.

These parts still need some hammer and dolly repair work, but since they had been media blasted, I needed to get them painted before it gets cold and damp or they would start rusting. Having the parts in a uniform primer also helps in spotting the damage.

[88Stanger]

damn fine work there. Thanks for posting. Ill be doing similar very soon.

[Duncan K]

Nice job on that door patch!

[TxCajun]

Driver door

Hammer and dolly work done with my brother; an extra set of hands really helps.

Weld-filled about 32 drilled holes from old mirrors and previous body work (left the stock mirror mounting points but had to ezy-out a couple of broken mounting bolts).

Patches created and welded in for rust in the inner and outer lower corners.

Weld repaired cracks around the latch mounting holes and at the bottom of the window opening.

The first picture is the door when I picked it up from the media blaster. I had no idea that all of those holes and dents were lurking under the bondo and paint. The remaining pictures are prep work and epoxy primer.
.

[pdxhall]

Thanks for all the pics of your hood, fenders, and doors. They look great. I've been body working the same parts right now so they'll come in handy.

[Grizz1963]

You are doing so incredibly well.

I am about to start on my doors.

My drivers side is not too good, all the same as yours.

[TxCajun]

pdxhall and Grizz1963 - Thanks for the words of encouragement!


My son and one-year-old grandson are visiting for the holidays. Twenty years ago, I taught my son to drive in a '56 Chevy three-on-the-tree six cylinder that we fixed up when he was a teenager. My son thinks I should teach the grandson to drive this '66 C10 three-on-the-tree six cylinder when he is ready to learn to drive. But if I make it to 15 years from now when the grandson is old enough to drive, I'll be 82 so I guess I better start thinking about adding power steering and power brakes at some point :-)

.

[LostMy65]

The 56 was always my favorite.

[TxCajun]

After much thought, I decided to move the gas tank out of the cab to the rear of the truck, and make the necessary changes to the cab sheet metal prior to spraying some primer on the cab.

I looked at a lot of the gas tank related threads in this forum and ultimately decided on a Tanks, Inc TNK-51-CGX Fuel Tank, 18 Gallon, Steel, Chevy, (Mfr. #: 51-CGX) from Summit for about $170 and a TNK-TAN-GME Fuel Tank Sending Unit, 0-30 ohms, (Mfr. #: TAN-GME) for about $40. The tank comes with mounting straps, a short filler hose elbow, and a short length of vent hose. You also need to buy an npt-to-hose fitting for the fuel line, plus I bought some metal tubing and clamps for running the fuel line forward.

As part of creating and installing a receiver hitch, I had previously modified the "leaning Z" shaped brace that is riveted as part of the frame a few inches from the rear ends of the frame rails. I turned this in to a "C" channel by bending the top flange to 90 degrees, and cutting off the bottom flange, flipping it around, and re-welding it to make the bottom of the "C". This channel is then bolted to the back of the frame to box it in. The rear of the tank support straps are bolted to this piece.

To allow the gas tank to fit in from the below the frame (and make it possible to drop it out in the future without removing the bed), I trimmed the bottom flange of the side rails about 5/8” on each side and also trimmed the bottom flange of the angled cross member (where the panhard bar mounts) on the passenger side to clear the gas tank outlet fitting.

I fashioned the upper supports from 1” x .062 wall square tubing; I made these supports removable rather than welded in place so that I can also remove the tank from the top if the bed is off.

I fabricated brackets from steel angle for mounting the front of the lower straps that support the tank to the angled cross member.

The pads that were between the existing cab tank and straps were in pretty good shape, so I trimmed these and re-used them for isolating the new tank in its supports.

With this support arrangement, the tank hangs down below the bottom of the frame rails about 3.5 inches.

I cut some reliefs on the upper flange of the driver side rear frame rail to allow clearance for the tank fill line and the vent line, and then fabricated a brace to add some strength back in to this area while also protecting the lines. My intent is to eventually create a fuel filler feature inside the rear corner of the bed, so I'll need to extend the fuel filler line and vent line to that area.

The photos below show the mounts tacked in place and the tank mounted for a test fit. I'll drop the tank out, finish welding everything, brush on some frame paint, and then bolt it back up.

When I get ready to install the bed at some point in the future, I'll need to trim the rear bed brace to fit around the tank and upper supports. The bed floor on the truck is steel tread plate rather than wood.
...

[SCOTI]

The ability to service things from the top or bottom.... Good thinking.

[TxCajun]

Installed a new rubber cab mount kit from Classic Pars of America today. (part number 35-141 Cab Mount Kit-C10-20-Rubber 63-66)

Parts appeared well made and all hardware and spacers were included along with a clear instruction diagram.

Getting the old rusted-in-place parts out took a bit of work but the new parts went in easily.

.

[88Stanger]

Damn fine job so far! i learn so much watching you guys do body work.

[TxCajun]

The A-Pillar Drip Rail looked rusty, so I drilled out the welds with a spot weld tool and removed the Drip Rail pieces. It was pretty nasty underneath.

I was going to just buy reproduction Drip Rails to install, but they were out of stock when I went to order them. So, we made some new pieces using a bench top metal brake to form the initial bend, and then using a vice to clamp the piece to a flat bar while using a hammer and a piece of plate to slowly work in the "back" bend.

[TxCajun]

I decided to attach the new Drip Rails with some of the panel bonding adhesive that I had left over from attaching the outer roof rather than spot/plug welding. (Evercoat FIB-816 Maxim Large Panel Bonding Adhesive (see entry #43 above).

I think this product creates a very strong bond while also completely sealing and filling the area between the drip rail and the A-pillar to prevent future water incursion and rust.

I cut some scrap wood in to a 3/4" wide by 1/2" thick piece to use as a backing piece for clamping while bonding. I used duct tape (with flames of course) to cover the wood backing piece so that it would not stick to any bonding adhesive that oozed out during clamping. I also used the duct tape to mask areas where I did not want excess adhesive to stick.

Clamped it in place for a 24 hour cure, then removed the clamps and trimmed away any excess adhesive with an Exacto knife.

Now just need work on the passenger side.

.

[Grizz1963]

Every time I look at your work and build thread, I have to pick up my jaw.

Absolutely love your build and attention to detail.

[TxCajun]

Grizz1963, thanks for the kind words. I enjoy following your build thread also.

I've had a number of British motorcycles and cars over the years, and learned a lot keeping them on the road.
.

[TxCajun]

Finishing up the gas tank install from entry #85 above, I cleaned the back half of the frame and brushed on a coat of Chassis Saver Antique Satin Black. This paint has some pretty good reviews online, and I was impressed after painting a test section and then hitting it with a cup wire brush after curing; seems pretty durable.

I finished up and painted the rest of the brackets and then bolted in the tank and installed the fuel level sender. Also ran a fuel line along the inside of the frame rail back to the tank.

In the cab, I welded in a cover for the fuel filler on the side of the cab and for the fuel tank outlet in the floor. I decided to leave in the two fuel tank "cradles" since they appear to be a good stiffener piece for the cab rear wall, however, I did cut off the front lip of the "cradles" and may smooth out the area a bit more prior to primer.
.

[made2drag]

Very nice fabrication!

[TxCajun]

I wasn't very happy with the look of the fuel tank lower brackets after I initially trimmed off the front lip. I thought about filling the front of these in with some fabricated plates, but ultimately decided to do a little more trimming with a side grinder and cutoff wheel. I also added some plug welding in place of the bolts that previously secured the front of the bracket.

.

[TxCajun]

I decided to put the bed back on the truck and figure out mods required to accommodate the rear fuel tank and fuel filler.

I needed to trim the rear bed brace to clear the fuel tank and the upper tank supports. The bed on my truck is steel tread plate which is skip welded to the braces, so I don't think that the notches to the brace will have much affect on bed floor stiffness.

[TxCajun]

I started a mock-up for the fuel filler in the rear corner of the bed.

I found an old piece of tread plate in a junk pile, so it has some nice patina to match the existing bed. This tread plate is tough to bend, so I used a side grinder and cut off wheel to cut the plate to size, cut a relief line of the back side of the bend, and then used the torch to heat the area while bending it using a vise and a hammer.

The pictures show the first pass at the mock-up, but I think I will shorten it a quarter inch or so to match the top plate height with the body line on the inner bed wall. The fuel filler it self is a 316 SST marine piece; White Water Stainless Deck Fill, Gas w/Vent 1-1/2" Hose #6005S-SCV.

When I sent a picture of the mock-up to my brother, he commented: "Should easily sustain the sliding cargo test." :-)
.

[SCOTI]

I like it. Function & form.

[TxCajun]

Finished the fuel filler in the rear corner of the bed. Still need to route the line to the tank. The vent can just be 5/8" flex hose, but I think the 1 1/2" fuel line will be some combination of flex hose and maybe a mandrel bent 90 degree tube.

[cwcarpenter98]

That looks really good. The diamond plate ties in well with the bed floor