Building the damn yankee

[POPO1984]

Looks good man i might just do this on mine form prevention. Right now my roof is perfect. and the seam sealer is all there but id rather be safe than sorry

[idonutn0]

the little welder that could ol reliable


So is that the setting that you use for the sheet metal welding?
I have the same welder and Im having a hell of a time getting good penetration on butt welds.

Good work on the project. Keep it up.

[phipp13]

spot welding yes C 4-5 rusty thin metal B-3 keep in mind i run .023 solidcore wire and gas. .030 is a bit too big for this little welder imho. and if you don't run gas your pissin in the wind. JMHO. pm me if you have any more questions and i'll give you my # and we can talk. i've been an Aircraft Certifyied Welder for the past 16 Years for the US Navy. Mark

[phipp13]

WELL I'VE COMPLETED THE COWELS AND HAVE MOVED ONTO STRIPPING THE PAINT FOR BODYWORK AND A COAT OF ACID ETCH PRIMER BUT THE DY TOSSES ME YET ANOTHER CURVE BALL. I ATTEMPTED TO SAND THE ROOF DOWN TO BARE METAL AND THE P.O. MUST HAVE POR 15ED THE ROOF AND RUST HAD FORMED OVER THAT. IT'S A REAL MESS! THANKS TO BILL @ ATHEYS CLASSIC TRUCK PARTS I HAVE A NEW ROOF SKIN ON THE WAY. GONNA HIT THE SHOP AND DO SOME MORE CUTTING,GRINDING AND WELDING. I MAY EVEN SHAVE THE DRIP RAILS WHILE I'M AT IT. THE JURY IS OUT ON THAT ONE THOUGH, WE'LL SEE.

[VA72C10]

DO IT DO IT DO IT

It is time consuming but I'm thrilled with how it looks now....

[70stroker]

your moving right along, cant wait to see those big meets up under there. Keep at it.

[PHAT TONY]

I've cleaned a rusty roof to a "white" sandblast without warpage at about 60 psi, it was a '70 firebird but shouldn't be any different, I wouldn't think.

[phipp13]

Saturday we got hammered with snow 16" of it! it was a good day to stay in the shop and work on the DY. looks like its 1 step forward and 2 steps back! i sliced the roof skin off for several reasons.1 i had wire wheeled the door seal off and a hole appeared over the right door. was worried that would be a problem down the road if i did'nt get all the rust cut out.
now i can see it all to cut out and por 15 it under the roof. by the time i got all that crap off the roof i figured it would get stretched somehow and look like sh*t when it was finished. plus now i got to shave the roof and doors like i wanted to. might as well while i'm at it .
got the cab off the frame too. now its time to rebuild the suspension up front blast por15 and paint the frame. got plenty to do. i hope assembly goes a little faster than the dissassembly.

[VA72C10]

Cool perspective....never seen the inside of the skin like that....your patch looks good too...

[phipp13]

i could do without seeing that perspective too! what the hell ypu only live once. hell i hope i live long enought to drive it again!!!! i'm ambitious i'm hoping to be smokin the tires in july! it would have been cheaper to buy another cab but it would have been 40 years old too.my cab will be painted inside and out... how anal is THAT???? LOL i saw the cab you have very tempting Johnathan...... phipp out

[VA72C10]

yeah, but since you're thinking of shaving the driprails and roof seam might as well finish up the one you have. The cab I have will make a great cab for someone doing a stock resto....or will be the cab on my next project....either way I'll be happy

[nuke1]

very nice. 16 inches of the white stuff, yahoo, means more time in the shop to work on that truck and closer to getting to smoking the hides in july. Keep on striving for the best my anal friend. LOL.

[VA72C10]

Any more progress???

[VA72C10]

Month later....

[phipp13]

i bought a roofskin from atheys. 1 week turned into 9. NEVER AGAIN!! JB4short. was moving from nj to va at that time so i did'nt bother him. i went out Lynchburg Va to meet john and buy some parts from him in March. he is first class all the way! i can't wait to see his new website. he will get all my buisness from now on!!!!






i've been working on the suspension and frame setup in the meantime. as you can see the pics above.also from the cab back im replacing the frame with 2x4 boxtubing and narrowing it by 4". also raising it by 4" this will level the chassis out with my 4.5 drop on the front. the adjustable coilovers will give me the 6" inches i need in the rear.my pal/wife is glassbeading my A Arms and my co-worker is doing my powdercoating gratis for building him a HD rack for his 48x48x72 new powdercoating oven.

TODAY IS THE BIG DAY FOR MY ROOFSKIN INSTALL.
I decided to epoxy my roof on. sokyclassics has an awsome tech article on doing a roofskin this way. i also decided not to shave the driprails also.i'm using 3m panel epoxy that the bodyshops use and evercoat maxim self leveling 2part seam sealer. this is the stuff the professionals use so i should be good to go.


i WILL have pics by the end of the weekend.

[VA72C10]

cool! Suspension is looking B A D

Looking forward to cab pics.

[phipp13]

What a day! my good friend and talented tool and die maker Ben came over and gave me a hand with the roof skin.It could'nt have come out better imho.We had 1 small snag though. the clamps holding the rear roof seam did'nt work like they did in the sokyclassic truck instructions. we figured that out after the dry fit and the epoxy was already laid down. After a mad minute,i spot welded the seam in place and i'll grind them smooth in a couple of days after the epoxy is completely set.
to make things even better my wife/pal glassbeaded all 4 a arms and dustshields for me! for mothers day she wants to go out in the shop and work on our truck project! i gotta be the luckiest guy in the world!

A arms after the misses worked them, yes they are in the livingroom! so they won't flash rust out in the shop.they will go to the powdercoaters monday at the latest.

i cut out and replaced a rusted section over the passenger door opening





i sandblasted all the surface rust,taped off the bond area,and POR15ed the inner roof before putting the skin down.









rear seam notice the spotwelds holding it in place till the epoxy is set. I'll grind them right out.

[VA72C10]

Cool! Looking forward to the pics!

[sourkraut]

dinner and cleaned up? come on man we want pics, you have the rest of the night for that other stuff!

[sourkraut]

looks good, i had posted and you did not have the pics in yet for the seam sealer? how is that a 2 part seam sealer? does it mix in the tube as you sqeeze it out or am i being really dumb?

[VA72C10]

Did I miss the pics?

[sourkraut]

did some homework on the seam sealer and it is looking good! iam gonna give it a shot, thanks.

some how we both missed them??

[tdave00]

Looking good.

[VA72C10]

Looks good...you snuck them in above where I was expecting them

[68GMCCustom]

just went thru the whole thread. great work!