Crash's 69 K10

[Crash_OK]

Thought I would post some pics of the cab repair.
























Lots of work.. I still have lots of grinding to do.. slow, slow process. Aftermarket patch panels suck… They don't fit…. Lots of worked needed to get them close…

[tsnow678]

Man you made a ton of progress!!! Hows the wire working out? I am trying to rush through my other projects to get started on my truck. Threads like this make the itch worse!!! Great job!!!

[RCbowtie69]

Looking good,gald you got the motor ruinng.You've have done alot work on this truck so far.Keep the pictures coming & keep on Truckin'

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by tsnow678

Man you made a ton of progress!!! Hows the wire working out? I am trying to rush through my other projects to get started on my truck. Threads like this make the itch worse!!! Great job!!!

Thanks tsnow... I just read all 67 pages of you build on LS1tech... Wow.. great job.. I am looking for a Camaro for my next project... I really like your truck.. it should not take much to get it were you want it... Good luck with the new short block.

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by RCbowtie69

Looking good,gald you got the motor ruinng.You've have done alot work on this truck so far.Keep the pictures coming & keep on Truckin'

Thanks RCbowtie.. Getting the motor running might have been the easiest part of this build.. I am working on the cab now.. I hate rust.. I am ready to go back to mechanical and wiring.. did I mention I hate rust... :-)

[mcbassin]

Super work Mark! I told you that you could handle it. That series of pictures are painfully familiar. I ended up taking off all day yesterday and might do the same today. Still no heat. It's freakin cold. Keep the hard work up, I'm sure you will be ahead of me in no time, if you aren't already.

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Super work Mark! I told you that you could handle it. That series of pictures are painfully familiar. I ended up taking off all day yesterday and might do the same today. Still no heat. It's freakin cold. Keep the hard work up, I'm sure you will be ahead of me in no time, if you aren't already.

Thanks Mike.. Yes.. I think you said it right a few days ago.. all of these old trucks have rust.. man.. I am sick of it, and still have a ton more to do. I might need your help with the cab corner.. damn thing doesn’t want to fit… I got tired of fighting it and just moved on…
I come home last night… so I will not get to work on it today… No way I catch you.. you are too far ahead and much better and efficient at this stuff then me..
It ain’t that cold… It is all in your mind…. Lol…

[tsnow678]

I will have to agree with you on the mechanical and wiring. I never mind working on the drivetrain, its the rust removal, metal replacement, and pain staking body work that kicks my butt everytime. You look like a pro at the body work so give yourself some credit! Appreciate you looking over my thread on LS1Tech. Hope it didnt bore you too bad. I cheated on the bodywork on the Camaro and paid someone to replace panels, bodywork and paint. Wont be that lucky on the truck. I want my truck to be a show winner but reality is its going to be a 20 footer. Keep the pics coming and all the details are great, thanks.

[DD1]

Wow! The body work looks great. You actually did a lot of work that was overwhelming me. Did you find it necessary to weld a bracing rod on the cab when you replaced the outer floor? I am going to have to do the same thing on my (new) cab. Remove the rocker, replace the outer floor, and the rear cab support. A friend suggested I brace the cab to make sure the doors will still fit properly.

Where did you get your patch panels from?

It's looking good so far!

[DD1]

Originally Posted by tsnow678

I cant say how much this thread is going to help me in the near future!!! Seems your truck and mine have the same issues in the cab. The .030" wire should be fine, the .024" would be better but I am sure you will find the sweet spot on wire speed. Keep the pics coming as I am sure there are a ton of us like you out there that will be doing the same fixes. Thanks!!!

I am going to be doing some welding for the first time soon. I am learning how to weld a bit before I try it on my truck. I am using a flux wire welder. Why is the 0.24 better than the 0.30? I am trying to learn what applications the different sized wires are each best used for.

Thanks!

[tsnow678]

Originally Posted by DD1

I am going to be doing some welding for the first time soon. I am learning how to weld a bit before I try it on my truck. I am using a flux wire welder. Why is the 0.24 better than the 0.30? I am trying to learn what applications the different sized wires are each best used for.

Thanks!

When we were talking about .024" versus .030" we were referring to solid wire. The thickness of the metal you are welding will determine what is the best wire to use. The thicker the metal the thicker the wire. You can weld thicker metal with thinner wire. The problem is, to get a good penetration and a consistent one you will need to fill the weld joint with metal(wire). The larger the metal being welded the more wire required. The flux core wire works ok on say a frame or dirty metal but is not first choice on bodywork as it will splatter terribly. Not knocking flux core, but the preference is solid wire with a shielding gas. My next purchase after my truck is on the road will be a plasma torch and TIG welder. I am just an average Joe when it comes to welding so the TIG will definately be a challenge. Sorry Crash for high-jacking your thread.

[67c10rustbuket]

Man you are knocking that thing out quick ! very nice.

I dont know if you ever got an answer on the xmember Q for 6 or V8, All I know is on a stock 2wd the motor mount stands bolt in farther to the rear than a V8. If you look on your pass upper front frame rail you will see 3 holes. the rear and middle hole is the stock placement for a 6 while the center and front hole are for a V8, The xmember itself is the same.

Keep it up and enjoy the snow!

[DD1]

Originally Posted by tsnow678

When we were talking about .024" versus .030" we were referring to solid wire. The thickness of the metal you are welding will determine what is the best wire to use. The thicker the metal the thicker the wire. You can weld thicker metal with thinner wire. The problem is, to get a good penetration and a consistent one you will need to fill the weld joint with metal(wire). The larger the metal being welded the more wire required. The flux core wire works ok on say a frame or dirty metal but is not first choice on bodywork as it will splatter terribly. Not knocking flux core, but the preference is solid wire with a shielding gas. My next purchase after my truck is on the road will be a plasma torch and TIG welder. I am just an average Joe when it comes to welding so the TIG will definately be a challenge. Sorry Crash for high-jacking your thread.

Thanks for the info. Much appreciated.

And Crash, I apologize for hi-jacking your thread as it was really me that did it.

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by DD1

Wow! The body work looks great. You actually did a lot of work that was overwhelming me. Did you find it necessary to weld a bracing rod on the cab when you replaced the outer floor? I am going to have to do the same thing on my (new) cab. Remove the rocker, replace the outer floor, and the rear cab support. A friend suggested I brace the cab to make sure the doors will still fit properly.

Where did you get your patch panels from?

It's looking good so far!

Thanks DD1, I did not weld a brace. I don't think it was needed, nothing moved, I took lots of measurements, and they did not change. However, I would see nothing wrong with using one.. it would not hurt a think. Good luck with your project...!!

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by tsnow678

When we were talking about .024" versus .030" we were referring to solid wire. The thickness of the metal you are welding will determine what is the best wire to use. The thicker the metal the thicker the wire. You can weld thicker metal with thinner wire. The problem is, to get a good penetration and a consistent one you will need to fill the weld joint with metal(wire). The larger the metal being welded the more wire required. The flux core wire works ok on say a frame or dirty metal but is not first choice on bodywork as it will splatter terribly. Not knocking flux core, but the preference is solid wire with a shielding gas. My next purchase after my truck is on the road will be a plasma torch and TIG welder. I am just an average Joe when it comes to welding so the TIG will definately be a challenge. Sorry Crash for high-jacking your thread.

Tsnow and DD1, no problem.. this is not highjacking this is good infomation.. I am still considing us the .024 just to see what the difference is..

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by 67c10rustbuket

Man you are knocking that thing out quick ! very nice.

I dont know if you ever got an answer on the xmember Q for 6 or V8, All I know is on a stock 2wd the motor mount stands bolt in farther to the rear than a V8. If you look on your pass upper front frame rail you will see 3 holes. the rear and middle hole is the stock placement for a 6 while the center and front hole are for a V8, The xmember itself is the same.

Keep it up and enjoy the snow!

67c10rustbuket,

I never got an answer on the cross member.. The 4wd cross member is completely different than the 2wd. I finally used the x-member from Pacific fabrication. It worked well, however, I do have a few concerns on pan clearance that I need to talk to them about.

[tsnow678]

Originally Posted by Crash_OK

Tsnow and DD1, no problem.. this is not highjacking this is good infomation.. I am still considing us the .024 just to see what the difference is..

You may not see a difference as the metal you are welding is rather thick. These old trucks still had plenty of metal in them from the factory.

[Crash_OK]

Thought I would give a quick update.. SLOW… Very Slowww.. progress is slow.. I hate rust.. oh. Have I mentioned that the #$%$#$ patch panels don’t fit on these trucks… anyway.. I was able to get the passenger side floor pan in.. it fit OK.. I spotted welded the pan in many places.. not sure it was as many as the factory.. but it was close. Next step was to replace part of the toe panel.. it was rusted in many places a couple of inches up from the floor pan.



I decided to cut the toe panel out of my old cab to use on this one. It was in pretty good shape.



It did have a couple of rusted places that I cut out and replaced.



Then I marked and cut out the old and replaced with the new.







Welded the kick panel in and bolted up the front pillar.





Then I decided to tackle the cab corner again.. have I mentioned that the patch panels don’t fit on those old trucks..



I have this wide gap between the rocker and the cab corner.. Not sure what to do about it.. I have measured everything and I am within 1/16” before and after on all the measurements for the front and rear pillar.





I still have some grinding and sanding to do... I guess I will start on the driver’s side next.. It should be as much fun as the passenger side.. Have I mention that I hate rust…




Any ideas for the gap I have between the cab corner and the rocker?

Thanks.

[tsnow678]

Have you hung the door on the right side to see what the body gap is like with the corner in its current position? I just wonder if the rocker is too far forward or is the cab corner not long enough to make up the gap. The door will let you know for sure.

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by tsnow678

Have you hung the door on the right side to see what the body gap is like with the corner in its current position? I just wonder if the rocker is too far forward or is the cab corner not long enough to make up the gap. The door will let you know for sure.

I will try to fit the door.. my guess is that the cab corner is short.. I have another cab corner that I can try as well.. Thanks tsnow...

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by Crash_OK

I will try to fit the door.. my guess is that the cab corner is short.. I have another cab corner that I can try as well.. Thanks tsnow...

Definetly want to test fit the door. I am fighting this right now. My rockers on both side suprisingly good. The doors on the other hand....not so good. The driver side I can work with the pass. side is giving me fits.

I can measure my rocker and you can compare it to yours. Maybe you could measure across the length of your exra cab corner to see if it is longer across that distance? Also, the rear lower pillar is what I set my cab corner to. Since I repaired mine on both sides I know it didn't move. I know you checked yours before and after is it possible the rocker is just short?

Also, before you tackle the driver side you may want to double check with Tabco on the floor pan. It may fit better?? It may not require bending that flange? Just a thought.

[Crash_OK]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Definetly want to test fit the door. I am fighting this right now. My rockers on both side suprisingly good. The doors on the other hand....not so good. The driver side I can work with the pass. side is giving me fits.

I can measure my rocker and you can compare it to yours. Maybe you could measure across the length of your exra cab corner to see if it is longer across that distance? Also, the rear lower pillar is what I set my cab corner to. Since I repaired mine on both sides I know it didn't move. I know you checked yours before and after is it possible the rocker is just short?

Also, before you tackle the driver side you may want to double check with Tabco on the floor pan. It may fit better?? It may not require bending that flange? Just a thought.

It is possible that the rocker is short.. but so could the cab corner.. I need to try the one you gave me and see if it is longer.. I really did not have much problems with the floor pan.. I spent most of my time on the cab corner.. I guess that is why I am focusing on it... I think the cab corner may be pulling the outside edge of the rear pillar to the rear of the truck opening up the gap...

[Crash_OK]

Blood, sweat, and tears… will blood anyway…



Today, I decided to attack the Cab Corner again.

I thought I would see how a different Cab Corner fits (thanks Mike). The Tabco corner fit much better LMC corner.








I still need to install the rocker, but I want to fit the door before I install the rocker and finish welding and grinding the passenger side. I have 2 sets of doors, and neither set is in good shape..

While I look for some doors...I decided to start on the driver side.. Have I mentioned I hate rust…














Tomorrow I will start cutting out the rusty floor pan, and fitting the new.. Have I mentioned that the replacement panels don’t fit….

[mcbassin]

Mark,
It looks like your pass. side cab corner fits much better now. I know how frustated you are about now with the patches and rust. I think we may have been better off using Tabco parts on all it.
I really like your cab dolly BTW.
Oh and I have a few blood stains on my shop floor too. WTH, were we thinking???

[Crash_OK]

Started out the day working on the driver’s side rear. Cut out the old…..




Test fitted the new..






Por 15 and weldable primer for the rear cab support.




Rear piller support welded and bolted in place.. The patch piece did not fit right, I had to section and spread it where the rocker fits..




Next started on the front…










Just another day in the rust paradise.. .. Tomorrow I will welded in the front cab support and start fitting the floor pan…