47-55.1 Long Time Coming......

[gsinon]

I hope you all had a really nice holiday with friends and family. It was quiet here at my house, but we did have a good time. I have two daughters, one a junior in college and the other a 2nd year grad student getting her PhD and we were lucky enough to have them both home. My older daughter, the PhD student is gone year round so we only really see her for Christmas. The time is cherished for sure.

She was scheduled to fly out today, but she just got a text that her flight was delayed for a full day. Don't tell her I said this, but I'm thrilled to have one extra day with her!!

I did get to spend some time in the shop working on my truck over the weekend. I got the last of the "extra" holes welded closed on the dash. I also stripped about 50% of the black paint off.

My ignition switch will be in the lower dash panel I made, while the lights and wiper switches will go on the larger round holes on the lower part of the dash. I think they were used for the key and starter button originally? At least on my truck that's what was there. The rest of the holes, including the two that were stacked up to the right of the gauges have now been adjusted to be level with the dash and fully welded as well.


The hole here was so large I had to find a washer and drill the center to fit the shaft of the switch, then weld it in place to fill the hole. In the picture you can also see the two raised areas for some other switches from original.




Here is the hole on the right side where the wiper switch is going now. I had to do the same as before, find a washer and drill the center to the right size, then weld in place to fill the larger hole.



Random pics of the dash fully welded and ground smooth.

[daveshilling]

Nice work!! The washer trick is a good one.

[dsraven]

what are you using to sand stuff off? it looks pretty course in the pics. do you use a lighter grit then epoxy and high build or skim with filler maybe?

[gsinon]

Originally Posted by daveshilling

Nice work!! The washer trick is a good one.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by dsraven

what are you using to sand stuff off? it looks pretty course in the pics. do you use a lighter grit then epoxy and high build or skim with filler maybe?

I am using 100 grit rolocs on an angle die grinder. In my career the one big mistake I see people make is going over too fine of a scratch with either filler or epoxy depending on which camp you are on that topic.

Most people apply filler incorrectly also. The first coat should go on thin and really tight. Meaning to squeeze it into the scratch in the panel. Once that is done go back over and "fill" the area needing the filler. Just slathering it on as a lot of people do can risk it "bridging" the scratch in the metal or primer and have adhesion issues. Charley Hutton taught me that one.

I am a firm believer in epoxy before body filler. I know some people swear by it and say they haven't had any issues. But I have seen far too many failures from rust corrosion creep back later on because they didn't put the epoxy down first. A good friend of mine is the Evercoat rep for the Northeast. I asked him what their position was on the topic, especially when on the can of expensive Rage body filler is says DTM, Direct to Metal. He says all that means to them is that it will stick. For corrosion purposes they even say epoxy first.

Now to be clear I am mostly referring to restoration/hot rod type stuff. A collision center that only has 3 days to fix a car doesn't have the time to epoxy first and then let t sit and cure for a few days before doing filler work.

Ok... I'll jump off of my soapbox now!

[gsinon]

Todays adventures had me removing the doors on the cab, then with the help of my wife and daughter we laid the cab on its back so I can work on the floor. I need to do some final welding. After that is done I will epoxy the floor and tow board area, then seam seal and spray Berliner on the bottom to help keep it nice.





With it in this position I am also going to make a cart that the cab will bolt solidly onto for when I need to move it to the shop and booth later on. The two stacked pallets have served their purpose, but nothing I trust long term.






While on its back I found a few areas I need to address first. I didn't expect this to be perfect, and in fact was pleasantly surprised that this was all their was for damage or rust.

[dsraven]

well, have fun with the strip disc. hope it's not gonna reveal a problem.

[Rickysnickers]

Sorry for your loss!! I have to say though, your last photo is awesome

[nvrdone]

sorry to hear about your dad. lost my dad a long time ago and the hurt is still there. Just remember the good times.

[dsraven]

sorry to hear about your dad. sounds like you had a great relationship. thats more than a lot of guys can say.

[duramax55]

always hard to say goodbye to a dad but looks like you had a great one and he got a chance to see some of your hard work. I was not as lucky lost my dad when i was 29 missed him see my kids grow up and see all my projects that i know would have enjoyed as he was very handy at doing all kinds of things. My condolences on your loss

[gsinon]

Originally Posted by -Dan-

Sorry to hear about dad. Sounds like an awesome man.

Originally Posted by Rickysnickers

Sorry for your loss!! I have to say though, your last photo is awesome

Originally Posted by nvrdone

sorry to hear about your dad. lost my dad a long time ago and the hurt is still there. Just remember the good times.

Originally Posted by dsraven

sorry to hear about your dad. sounds like you had a great relationship. thats more than a lot of guys can say.

Originally Posted by duramax55

always hard to say goodbye to a dad but looks like you had a great one and he got a chance to see some of your hard work. I was not as lucky lost my dad when i was 29 missed him see my kids grow up and see all my projects that i know would have enjoyed as he was very handy at doing all kinds of things. My condolences on your loss

Thank you all for the comments. It has been a tough week but I am getting better each day. Monday I was in a complete fog and just felt numb. Today at least I feel less so. I will never get over the loss, but I also have so many memories to keep me going for the rest of my life.

I think the very most difficult thing moving forward is that we did this car/truck/hot rod thing together. And while he has been on oxygen and sick for 7 years he still got immense joy hearing what I was doing and going over all the pictures and so on. Or the stories about what happened when I went to a car show etc. This summer when I do all those things, I won't be able to go to him and share to all.......

[Cuate]

So sorry for your loss, may his sole rest in peace. Looks like you have many wonderful memories.��������

I ran into your build thread while searching for ideas and information for a 1948 3100 project I hope to start soon. Awesome work, Im keeping up with your build.

Hope you doing well and I know these are difficult times for you and your family. Prayer for you and your family.

[gsinon]

Originally Posted by Cuate

So sorry for your loss, may his sole rest in peace. Looks like you have many wonderful memories.��������

I ran into your build thread while searching for ideas and information for a 1948 3100 project I hope to start soon. Awesome work, Im keeping up with your build.

Hope you doing well and I know these are difficult times for you and your family. Prayer for you and your family.

Thank you! I have the memorial services for my dad in a couple hours. I'm looking forward to going and seeing friends and family. But I also know it will be very hard. Writing his eulogy took far too long to find the right words.

I hope you enjoy the build as I move along. I'm making some changes to my plans that I will share later in the week or so.

[8man]

Glenn, so sorry to hear that he passed. I hope you made it through the eulogy, that's tough.

[gsinon]

Originally Posted by 8man

Glenn, so sorry to hear that he passed. I hope you made it through the eulogy, that's tough.

Thank you! I wish I could say that I was able to get through his eulogy like a champ. I wish I could..... But when I got to the podium and stood before roughly 100 friends and family I broke. I stood there trying to gather myself and start speaking, but I couldn't even get the first syllable out of my mouth. I stepped back, took some deep breathes and tried again. I just couldn't do it. At that moment my wife of almost 31 years jumped to my aide, grabbed my hand and read my eulogy on my behalf. I feel terrible for not being able to, but every person in the room knew the bond dad and I had and were not at all surprised when all the emotion hit me at once.

In any case, now with the services over I will try and move on without his ever looming presence in my life.

Having said all of that, I have had time to pause and think about my truck build and what I want to do. I am still moving forward but with some changes to my plan.

You see, dad was a shiny paint guy. He hated "patina" builds. While he didn't give me crap about what I was doing, he did keep saying that he thought I needed to do what I am known for, Beautiful body work and paint. So in honor of him I am now going to strip the cab and all sheet metal to bare steel and build up from there until I have it as near perfect as I can make it. The picture below is the truck when I first got it, along with the color it will be when done. My dad has always Loved this custom color I made and kept telling me this is the color he envisioned it to be.

So this ones for you dad.......

[dsraven]

good to see you looking forward but still looking back a little aa well.
I'm a shiny paint guy too. if youre a pint and body guy you should do it up right and that color should really pop.

[Rickysnickers]

"But when I got to the podium and stood before roughly 100 friends and family I broke. I stood there trying to gather myself and start speaking, but I couldn't even get the first syllable out of my mouth. I stepped back, took some deep breathes and tried again. I just couldn't do it."

I'm sure no words were needed. Everyone knew what you felt and wanted to say. It's difficult, but you'll move forward

[gsinon]

Originally Posted by Rickysnickers

"But when I got to the podium and stood before roughly 100 friends and family I broke. I stood there trying to gather myself and start speaking, but I couldn't even get the first syllable out of my mouth. I stepped back, took some deep breathes and tried again. I just couldn't do it."

I'm sure no words were needed. Everyone knew what you felt and wanted to say. It's difficult, but you'll move forward

Thank you.....

[8man]

I agree with Rickysnickers, everyone knew how you felt about him!

In keeping with the "moving on" theme, that is one beautiful paint color! Looking forward to seeing it on the truck.

[gsinon]

Thank you again to all have commented on the loss of my dad. It has been a tough few weeks for sure. But life must move on and as I said in a recent post, my plan is to finish this truck the way he wanted me too.

This weekend was the first time in the shop in a month. I have to say it felt good. What I would call a great therapy session! I spent some time doing the final welding on the floor and braces. Once done I sanded it all down and then applied two coats of epoxy.





With that cured I then tipped it right side up with the help of my wife. I then used my engine hoist to raise it up and then rolled my newly made cart to bolt the cab onto. I had been using a couple stacked pallets but it wasn't very solid and I didn't trust it. Especially when the time comes to transport it to the booth for paint work.

Did I share the making of this cart? I don't remember now...




With the cab solidly bolted down I rolled the cart onto my lift and then decided I had just enough time in the day to weld up the hole from the original fuel fill. I used the curved blank from LS Fab.

[8man]

Looking good!

[joedoh]

sorry about your dad, you had a great mentor and friend and how lucky he was to have such a caring son. someone better at words than me said grief is like ocean waves, first you are just tossed and swamped and overwhelmed, and when you catch that first breath of air, slowly, it becomes easier to breathe and even float a little while. but waves being what they are can sometimes rise up and overwhelm you, even in a perfect calm, drenching you and drowning you and pushing you around. i dont subscribe to the 12 stages theory, I like the waves theory because the 12 stages relies on acceptance, and some people with deep and lasting relationships may never reach acceptance.


that said, you are knocking out the stuff i normally half ass just to be done, and the color he picked will be perfect!

[-Dan-]

Looking forward to seeing more of your work!

[gsinon]

Originally Posted by 8man

Looking good!

Thanks!!

Originally Posted by joedoh

sorry about your dad, you had a great mentor and friend and how lucky he was to have such a caring son. someone better at words than me said grief is like ocean waves, first you are just tossed and swamped and overwhelmed, and when you catch that first breath of air, slowly, it becomes easier to breathe and even float a little while. but waves being what they are can sometimes rise up and overwhelm you, even in a perfect calm, drenching you and drowning you and pushing you around. i dont subscribe to the 12 stages theory, I like the waves theory because the 12 stages relies on acceptance, and some people with deep and lasting relationships may never reach acceptance.


that said, you are knocking out the stuff i normally half ass just to be done, and the color he picked will be perfect!

Thank you for the kind words. Frankly I agree with your Waves analogy better then the 12 stages. I don't ever expect to "get over" the loss of him, But I will instead treasure each and every memory and what he taught me. This build being one of those things. Using all the knowledge I have from him I will now change directions and not only build it in his honor but using everything he instilled in me and taught me to get it done.
I had several staff members of the nursing home he was in for the last 14 mon the often tell me how lucky he was to have me and our relationship. I visited him four times a week so they saw me all the time. I always said that I was in fact the lucky one. Maybe in the end it was Both of us......

That color he wanted it to be is something I custom made for another project. It is a One Off color that has only been used one time before and is on the top half of my daughters square body pick up.

Originally Posted by -Dan-

Looking forward to seeing more of your work!

Thanks, stay tuned!

[gsinon]

Todays adventures was the start of the cab corners on both sides. While outwardly they looked good, the inside showed signs of a previous repair using fiberglass matting. I am replacing both the inner and outer corners on both sides.

Here is a before of the passenger side....



As you can see the outside didn't look that bad. But I couldn't leave it either.


Once cut I could pull it out some and was able to see the many years of crud that had fallen and was trapped in the corner.....




I drilled out all the spot welds holding the old inner corner in place, then started fitting the new replacement piece.

My plan for tomorrow is to weld the inners in place, then brush epoxy over the entire surrounding area. I also need to rehang the doors before final fitting the cab corners before I can weld them in place.