67 SWB First Build

[Scurry67]

All the pieces to prime

Grill

Cowel

Another picture of floor

[Getter-Done]

Very Nice work.







.

[TA_C10]

That lizard skin is awesome yeah? I love the texture the ceramic coating leaves behind. Nice work man!

[Scurry67]

Originally Posted by Getter-Done

Very Nice work.

.

Thanks!

[Scurry67]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

That lizard skin is awesome yeah? I love the texture the ceramic coating leaves behind. Nice work man!

Yeah it definitely looks like a nice finish. Pretty easy to spray too. Will look into using some fat mat on top of it too to help with vibration.

[Scurry67]

Spent an hour in the shop last night installing the grill frame insert. I didn't have any rivets so I just spot welded them into place.

[TA_C10]

I will be doing similar, sound dampner, and I'm also planning to use closed cell foam on back wall too. Did you blast the grill or sand it manually?

[Scurry67]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

I will be doing similar, sound dampner, and I'm also planning to use closed cell foam on back wall too. Did you blast the grill or sand it manually?

Seems to be the way to go. I used a da with 180grit to sand the old paint Off. Works really well, just a tad slow with my small compessor and not over doing it to prevent warping.

I will be taking my frame to get blasted though.

[Scurry67]

Back at it again. Heading in a couple directions right now. From my parts pickup, I have an original SWB fleetside bed that is in decent condition. There seemed to be only minor dents in it that the previous owner attempted to remove before using some body filler.

I used a grinder and chisel to remove the rusted bolts from the rear fender.... What a PIA! I finished the passenger side. After analyzing the inside of the fender, I was a tad nervous with all the rust up in there. After debating on what to do, I decided to split the fender skins to take care of it. I figure it's the best time to do it while I can.

I could only find a few threads on here about it, so I'm guessing it's going to take a bit of time to do it right.

What I did read was it is a TON of spot welds to drill out. I purchased a couple decent spot weld bits and a seam buster tool and got after it! Here is the first night doing the top rail mainly. It definitely takes some time and touch to find all the spot welds.

Here is a picture of the skins split. I did a quick count of about 65 spot welds (plus a couple extra that I thought were spot welds )

Also... Just when you think you have all the spot welds drilled out, there are definitely more lol. I spent an hour trying to find the last couple. They ended up being ones on top of the bed rail. This was the one area I didn't see any of the other threads had mentioned.

You can see they were pretty rusted. I'm going to start cleaning up the rust and either POR 15 it or epoxy prime them (depending on if I can clean all that rust up. Then continue on the other side and hammer/dolly the minor dents.


Getting going on the frame is on the agenda too. Hopefully get it to the sand blaster in the coming weeks so I can start working on it this winter.

[TA_C10]

Wow man, great job. That's a ton of work. Cool to see those split and to see all that rust scares me a bit lol. So Eastwood makes this Internal frame coating that stops rust. It comes in aerosol cans with long tubes that spray in all directions. I used it on my cab, sprayed it in the roof panel and all down the pillars, and inside the floor supports. I hope I can use it between these bed skins now after seeing your come apart.... Great work man keep it up!

[chewychevy67]

Yes that is truly getting at the rust. For this reason I am considering removing the roof off my cab and replace it. That way I can see what it looks like in there and stop the rust from getting to the inside because it's there and I know it. This proves it. The rust alway comes from the inside out.

[Scurry67]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

Wow man, great job. That's a ton of work. Cool to see those split and to see all that rust scares me a bit lol. So Eastwood makes this Internal frame coating that stops rust. It comes in aerosol cans with long tubes that spray in all directions. I used it on my cab, sprayed it in the roof panel and all down the pillars, and inside the floor supports. I hope I can use it between these bed skins now after seeing your come apart.... Great work man keep it up!

Thanks a lot TA_C10. I will say it was a lot of work on the first one but the second one went way quicker after knowing where to look for spot welds.

[Scurry67]

Originally Posted by chewychevy67

Yes that is truly getting at the rust. For this reason I am considering removing the roof off my cab and replace it. That way I can see what it looks like in there and stop the rust from getting to the inside because it's there and I know it. This proves it. The rust alway comes from the inside out.

Isn't that the truth... There was quite a bit of rust between the two skins! Better to take care of it now rather than after it rusts through down the road.

[Scurry67]

A lot of rust removal going on this weekend. Removed the driver rear fender and did the same steps as before. It went way quicker now that I know where to expect spot welds!

Spent a couple evenings removing the rust. Then used some rust Mort. There were a couple areas on the inner skin where there was heavy pitting, but the metal was still very stout.

A couple coats of por15 later and they are looking a whole lot cleaner. Next up is the body work.

[Scurry67]

chipping away at these fenders. After cleaning up the insides I started marrying up the skins. Takes a bit of time filling all of those spot welds. I have both sides put back together and now stripping them for primer. It's very time consuming as well.

[Scurry67]

Last weekend my FIL helped me pull the engine and transmission from the frame. Just need to get the cab removed and then the frame off to the blaster.

Lastly, used some SEM self-leveling seam sealer on the firewall channel. That stuff went on like butter 👌🏽

[Getter-Done]

Originally Posted by Scurry67

chipping away at these fenders. After cleaning up the insides I started marrying up the skins. Takes a bit of time filling all of those spot welds. I have both sides put back together and now stripping them for primer. It's very time consuming as well.

Nice Work.
I am taking notes.










.

[Scurry67]

Not a lot done this last week. Still need to remove my parts cab to get my frame to the blaster. Also trying to get the guts to order a new suspension and brake kit. Thinking about doing a 5 lug disk brake conversion for the front/rear brakes. Need to going on purchasing these items. Hoping to make it my winter project.

Anyways, I spent a couple hours in the shop tonight. Did some final cleaning of a rear fender and shot it with some epoxy primer. Need to get some motivation to start stripping the other fender.

As you can see, there is still a little body work to do.





Wanted to just show a couple tools I picked up. Here is a paint gun cleaner I got. Makes cleaning my spray gun so much quicker. thankful my dad just had this laying around his store. I would highly recommend this if you're doing your own spray.

Also, I saw someone else using one of these Eastwood Contour SCT strippers. It had good reviews online so i gave it a go.It worked decent. I went through 1 120grit roll. Figured it would last longer and the replacements are bit pricey.

[cornerstone]

Looks great man. I want to get one of those too. I think on that bedside you could use an 80 or possibly a 60 grit to knock off the majority of paint, and as you start to see bare steel switch to a 120. Maybe you'd save time and money?

[Scurry67]

Originally Posted by cornerstone

Looks great man. I want to get one of those too. I think on that bedside you could use an 80 or possibly a 60 grit to knock off the majority of paint, and as you start to see bare steel switch to a 120. Maybe you'd save time and money?

I think you're right. I ordered an 80 grit to strip the other rear fender. Hopefully it'll go quicker and not wear down as quick.

[Scurry67]

Worked a few hours in the shop this weekend. Trying to get the cab 100% for spraying some polyester primer. Will try to borrow my dad's trailer this next week to take my frame to the blaster. Then after I POR15 frame, I can Install the cab and front clip to spray the poly primer. Through the cowl on just to get an idea on the gaps. I think it'll be alright.

Here's some pictures of the cab sanded with 80grit. I also welded up the seams around the windshield. I think it'll make for a clean look.

Question: should I seam seal before or after the poly primer?

Thanks

Al

[Scurry67]

slow week in the shop with family in town. Managed to get a few things done with the rear fenders.

cut out a couple patches for the rear side markers. Then sprayed some primer on the backside before I burned it in.





Still some misc. Body work to do on the fenders before filler.

The 80grit roll I ordered seemed to work much quicker on the next fender. Just some last few areas to clean up before epoxy.

[TA_C10]

Looking good man, what kind of primer you using and do you like it?

[Scurry67]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

Looking good man, what kind of primer you using and do you like it?

Thanks! I'm using this spraymax 1K weld through primer for some of my smaller repair areas. It works pretty well, but I mainly use it just for protection against rust. Next time I spray some primer I'll Remove the weld-through and hit it with some epoxy if the area is a tad larger. I don't think filler will bond well to the 1K.

[Scurry67]

hope everyone had a solid holiday. December was a busy one between visiting family and also vacation to Maui. Also been out of town for work. So needless to say, progress has been slow. I managed to squeak out a few hours in the shop this weekend.

Continued clean up on the rear fender. where there was some pitting and a little rust I used this rust converter and then also ran the DA with some 180 grit. I'll shoot the primer hopefully this week.








ran to Home Depot and bought a couple 2x8s to build a cab lifting attachment for my engine hoist. I needed to reset my cab on the cart so it would be more sturdy.





Lastly, I was able to get the bed off the frame. I'll try to get the cab off it this week.