"52 3600/3100"

[joedoh]

beautiful work!

[Mains52]

Originally Posted by joedoh

beautiful work!

Thank You Sir!

[Mains52]

Well todays goal was to get the cancer cut out of the passenger side kick panel and floor pan. In my pictures you can make out what looks like a massively welded topical patch job. My hope is that it was for farm use at one point and wasn't a restoration patch. Although the under side of the these patches on the OE metal it was only scabby so I dug into it to get it done right. After cutting it out and getting ready to make a template I remembered "Hey dumbA$$ you have an entire cab behind the shop with good floor and kick panel. So I went out and cut it out and brought the inner cowl with me. Thank goodness because the one under the farmers kick panel patch was not good. I only ended up getting one piece ready to tack due to my drill bits sucking butt and not being able to drill out the 15k spot welds on the cowl. Oh and the patches I cut out were 12 or 14ga they didn't want to patch it again for a while .....Until next time.

[Mains52]

Got the tires swapped over and threw them on. They might not be your style but even in chrome I think they look sweet. Probably will be black when it hits the road Finally looks like a hotrod. Little Before and After.

[NorCalGal]

That looks sweeeet

[Brads49]

Lookin good !

[Mains52]

Managed to get the floor patch tacked in a few spots and made a small patch for the bottom of the kick panel. Went a little fat on my eyeball measurement in the top right of my toe board patch but its nothing that sheet metal wont fill ha.. Realized that the outer cowl on the passenger side was pretty much gone on the bottom and pretty thin on the top so I am just going to replace it. The good news is that the bad on the drivers side is being replaced with the brand new stuff I had for the old cab no worries there. Just going to be a little bit longer until I can start doing finish work on the cab.

[Tempest67]

looks great, keep it going

[Mains52]

Since I have to wait until after Christmas to order the outer cowl for the passenger side , I dug into the drivers side. I figure I have all brand new parts on my other cab I need to just replace it all . Just when you feel like progress is being made you start to replace a panel and the time it takes to do so makes it feel like its taking forever. Oh well its all worth it in the end.

[dsraven]

If I could make a suggestion, hang your door and ensure it will fit before you weld in the cowl piece. Lots of guys have found the opening sags or the welding process distorts the area and then when they are done the door doesnt fit. I have found that hanging the door and then X bracing the opening on the inside of the cab before taking the door back off so you can work, keeps things the right size and shape.

[Mains52]

Originally Posted by dsraven

If I could make a suggestion, hang your door and ensure it will fit before you weld in the cowl piece. Lots of guys have found the opening sags or the welding process distorts the area and then when they are done the door doesn't fit. I have found that hanging the door and then X bracing the opening on the inside of the cab before taking the door back off so you can work, keeps things the right size and shape.

Thanks, I will do that. That's probably what happened with my other cab
( DOH) Not sure I could find another decent cab. I had better be smart this time around.

[Tempest67]

If you plan to have a parking brake assembly attached to the inner kick panel, now is the time to design the brackets. (before you weld it all together.


looks good

[Mains52]

Managed to get the door on and brace the jam. Also made a front rocker patch panel. the rest of the rocker is perfect but the front was garbage. It had to go. Slowly but surely. I think I am going to just order a replacement drivers side pan and not mess with the old pit happy piece. I could make my own I guess. We shall see.

[dsraven]

yup, I would replace the floor section too. gotta start with a good base otherwise whats the point? I would also blast the rust outta there before welding anything back on. should be nice clean steel on BOTH sides of the weld otherwise impurities get drawn into the weld and cause porosity etc.

[Mains52]

Said screw it and tried my hand at making my own floor pan today. I hand made some beads the old fashioned way so they aren't that pretty but they work. Had to stop because my head was pounding. Isn't it surprising how strong that pitted steel is ? Never know until you cut it out. I like the way it turned out for my first big patch panel.

[dsraven]

It's getting covered up anyway right?

[Mains52]

Originally Posted by dsraven

It's getting covered up anyway right?

Thats right! I caught myself thinking that alot while tacking in the passenger side patch. Cursing how many flippin tack welds it is lol.

[Mains52]

Well folks I got some work done on the truck. Not DONE but tacked in. But now I have a dilemma I was offered a straight up trade for a 51 Buick Special complete running driving car that could hold my family. I agreed to the trade but I have my doubts because it hasn't been done yet.

[Mains52]

I figured before I order the new cowl piece I would try my hand at remaking the swiss cheese areas. Not sure how its going to end up but all else fails I will order a new one ha. almost have the floor done. SO MANY TACKS ......UGH

[Mains52]

With temps being in the 20s and my shop not being insulated it has been tough to work on the truck. I have managed to weld a little bit here and there on my patches. Holy cow I really don't want to replace a floor pan ever again lol I got my cowl tack enough to drill the fender mounting holes out and put a couple bolts in to see if it still lined up. I think I did alright, but we will see how the hood fits all else fails I buy a new one. I started to fab up a little trans tunnel out of an old cover. I just want to get to a point where I can seam seal and paint so I can move on. I got some refresh gaskets for the 5.3 and my pcm should be back this week. I am ready to fire that thing up and make sure its good.

[Mains52]

Finished welding the floor pans today and got a little crazy with the rust reformer. There is still a lot of tacking to do on other areas but it feels good to have a good floor structure in there.

[Mains52]

Managed to build a cab cart today and get her rolling over to the side. Discovered that even though my engine is at 3 degrees my transmission is only at 1 so Ill have to adjust my trans mount and possibly motor mounts so we will see. I still need to remove some stock stuff off of the chassis, build a drive shaft tunnel, and we will see where we go from there.

[gigamanx]

LS engine I don't think the engine angle matters terribly with fuel injection. I had to worry about angle on the carbureted engine so the float valves worked properly. The only thing to look at is the shaft angle coming out of the transmission so you match it up the angle of the rear diff. I think between 1 and 3 degrees is about right.

[Mains52]

Went ahead and rebuilt a new trans crossmember after resetting my driveline angle to the correct spec. Its amazing how building something so simple takes up 2hrs like it nothing.

[joedoh]

yeah but I bet it was a fun 2 hrs!

looking good!