Irish's 1966 LWB Fleetside

[Frizzle Fry]

This weather blows ...all of May was crap. The first PIR cruise was tonight. Wonder if anyone even went...? Looks like it's about to turn though. Let's hope

[irish1966]

OK, so this weather is now pissin me off. I have a 3 day weekend and get maybe 4-5 hours of nice weather. I get up for work this morning and the sun is splitting the sky. Dammit!!! Anyways, I got some cutting and welding done this weekend. I spent more time re-arranging the garage due to the weather. Here's my score from Harbor Freight.

[irish1966]

My buddy dropped me over his big compressor. I plan on using this for painting. I have 3 compressors in the garage at the minute. LOL There's always a catch though. I agreed to work on his I-ROC, for the use of his compressor.

[irish1966]

Sunday ha a break in the clouds, so I get stuck into cutting the bad rust back in the cab to workable metal for patching. Bare in mind, I have never attempted to weld sheet metal before. My welding skills were limited to arc welding gates and 1/4" steel plates. Here's me and my buddy Sean cutting the bad out of the cab....

[irish1966]

After all of that sand blasting, the shop monkey found a makeshift sand-pit to play in... (safety First LOL)

[irish1966]

Back to the work after the bad was cut from the wheel-well side of the firewall, I made up a rough patch from the new sheet metal and welded it in. Slow process, and I found that each time seemed to be different when I would spot-weld using the flux-wire. Maybe it's not the car but the nut behind the wheel??? It's ugly, but functional, I guess.

[irish1966]

I'm getting frustrated with this whole rocker/floor replacement. I'm not sure what I can keep and what I need to replace. I know that the inner rocker is shot, and slightly into the floorpan, but I'm not sure how much of the floor to cut back. I have a new set of floor pans, but I'm irritated, coz I don't know how to go about getting them in. I think I'm slightly over my head with this one. I think I need the lower supports for both front and back pillars. I could patch the holes, but I'm not sure if that's the way to go. Damn mental block!!!

[Frizzle Fry]

Good to see you are keeping on it!

I hope you are not blasting with silica (general purpose/play) sand. If so you need to stop immediately and read this -> http://www.silicosis-injury-attorney...ing_risks.html
If it's not silica then good for you and I hope others will benifit from this post anyway...

I use 60/80 garnet from Lagrand Industrial either in a ventalated cabinet or with a resperator for large jobs.

Also, I have a sheetmetal brake you are wlecome to use for making your patches.

and here's a good read on rocker replacement

[irish1966]

Thx Frizzle!! That link to the rocker replacement is perfect. I guess, I just need to slow down and buy the lower pillar supports and get them in right first. The inner rocker is a nice easy 2 fold piece. I'm thinking, the Harbor freight welder needs to be setup a little better. I did change the wire to Lincoln wire. I'm going to head home after work and cut some practice pieces and do some more spot welding. Should I brace the cab before cutting anymore of the floor away? I didn't see it mentioned in the other thread.

[Frizzle Fry]

Get the floor/toe-kick area back together solid before removing the lower A-Pillar and you should be fine without a brace. If you are going to do the floor support and lower pillar at the same time then some bracing wouldn't hurt.

[irish1966]

Sounds like a plan Mike. I'll set up some templates tonight and patch the front part of the floor and kick panel. I'll just cut what I need from the new floor pans for that. That will reduce the effort needed to fab it from the sheet of 18Ga. That way I can see exactly how much i need to patch for the inner rocker. I might just hit u up if I need to bend that. I was using the old mallet and vice trick. Here's a better pic of what I will be patching. The floor is wafer thin over the floor support. I'm gonna drill holes along the line of the floor support and remove the thin floor section and patch in some new metal.

[Captainfab]

I was about to say something about the silica sand, but you beat me to it. I always warn people about it, but some don't take it seriously. I wish that I had known about the dangers of silica sand years ago.

Originally Posted by Frizzle Fry

Good to see you are keeping on it!

I hope you are not blasting with silica (general purpose/play) sand. If so you need to stop immediately and read this -> http://www.silicosis-injury-attorney...ing_risks.html
If it's not silica then good for you and I hope others will benifit from this post anyway...

I use 60/80 garnet from Lagrand Industrial either in a ventalated cabinet or with a resperator for large jobs.

Also, I have a sheetmetal brake you are wlecome to use for making your patches.

and here's a good read on rocker replacement

[irish1966]

Thx lads. If I ever sandblast, it's outside with a fan behind me and I wear a respirator/hood. And I tuck the hood inside the neck of my sweatshirt. Not ideal, but I realy try to limit any exposure I have to the sand. Here's some pics of me for a change. Thx Sean for snapping these ones.

[ol_skool_chevy]

Cool Irish nice to know you have a sandblaster....I got some parts to do...I'll bring them over....Hahahahahaha.....
your truck is really coming along....
what side of Hillsboro you on...Im off Witch hazel rd.and River road

[irish1966]

I'm over right next to lincoln st elementary. Off cornell then to Jackson then tenth place. Gimme a shout and u can totally borrow it.

[ol_skool_chevy]

ya I know where that is....I might have to swing by and check out your truck....thanks for the sand blaster offer but i was kidding....I dont have a place to do that...without making a mess

[irish1966]

I hear that. My daughter loves the mess it makes. It's a mix of dirt, sand, water and barkdust. She calls it her soup. LOL

[LILRED66]

Looking good irish. Keep us posted.

[irish1966]

THx Tony. Just home from work. Headed out into the garage to start marking up some patch panels.

[ol_skool_chevy]

feel free to come on over and help put my motor in man.....hahahahaha.
I'll trade ya for your Paint job

[LILRED66]

Try running .023 or .025 solid wire, whichever your machine will spool properly, as well as, Argon/CO2 mix, instead of flux-core wire. You will find the end results are cleaner and the process is less likely to blow out, when triggering the gun.

P.S. - I am staying up late, in order to see your progress photos of tonight's activities.

[irish1966]

I would totally upload pics but its a lot harder from my phone and I forgot the stinkin cable in work. I did get one of the patch panels trimmed and wouldn't u know it, the hole for the cab mount bolt was about 3 inches off. So, I used a hole saw on the pressed depression and I will cut out the proper hole and patch the patch panel. Lol. Its like a big fricken jigsaw puzzle. I'm goin for a beer. Pics to come in the am. Oh and my welder is a cheap harbor freight model with no gas, just flux core capable.

[ol_skool_chevy]

I have that same welder......do yourself a BIG favor and throw the wire that came with there welder away...its trash.....go down to air-gas on 3rd and oak street and get some Miller or lincoln flux core wire.....it will work alot better

[irish1966]

I had read that on this forum, so I went to Home Depot and got some lincoln wire. I'll take a pic of what I'm using, just in case its not right. I'm still learning the wire feed welding technique. Arc, I can do, wire feed is more intimate. Lol. More touchy feely as my da would say.

[irish1966]

I'm officially, SICK of this rain.