Grandpa's 72 restoration

[Snake72]

Had some time over the weekend, my driver door gap was too big so I used some welding rod and welded up the gap, looks muuuch better. This was very easy and such an improvement in the gap, just took my time bending the rod to follow the door contour and welding slowly and far apart to not create too much heat. Also bent in the lower fender mounting tab to bring the fender in a little.

The lower door skin was kicked out probably 3/8" from cab corner, was able to correct that with a block of wood and large hammer. I think the driver side is aligned and gapped as good as I can get it.

[sprint_9]

That looks like a nice improvement, well worth the extra work.

[Scurry67]

Excellent body work. Based off the pictures you can hardly tell any metal was added 🤘🏼

[Snake72]

Thanks! These doors have fought me hard. Had to cut and reweld part of the rocker, cut and reweld the entire lower door seam, reshape the door bottom, add metal to gaps, grind window frame, etc. Sure am learning how to make things fit though

[Snake72]

Worked a long weekend on the truck, managed to get the inner fenders, tubs, fenders, bedsides and driver door all scuffed, 2 coats of epoxy that was followed by high build the next morning, wet on wet window. The front fenders I had previously blocked out to 220, and they're looking ready for 400 and paint. The bedsides should block out pretty easy, may have to do another coat of high build depending on how wavy the repop panels are.

I'm going to spray raptor liner inside inner fenders and tubs, as well as the lower inner portion of the bedsides and inside the fender cups.

The passenger door is another story. This little devil just does not want to adjust or line up correctly. I think when I welded on the new door bottom I warped the door, there seems to be a twist in the door. This caused the new skin to be off as well. I'm going to reskin and redo the door bottom, if that doesn't work I'll be looking for another door. Frustrating, but the body work is coming along pretty well for a newbie.

Struggling to decide if I should paint all panels separately and then carefully reassemble, or jam everything out then assemble and spray the truck put together. More than likely I'll pick the wrong route and wish I had done it the other way haha.

[Snake72]

pics to peruse, sorry they're sideways

[MDPotter]

If I were you, I would paint the parts separately and assemble later as long as it's a solid color. For metallics, you have to paint all at once or you end up with mismatched panels like I did on my dad's 64.

Good for you for spending the time on the gaps.

[Snake72]

That's what I was leaning toward, it is a solid color so match shouldn't be an issue. I was going to set the panels up all oriented like they were on the truck and spray away. I've had all the panels on and off the truck so many times during fitting that it should go smoothly. Did the drill trick to door hinges to speed up alignment on reassembly.

[sprint_9]

I would recommend panel painting as well. Its just easier to manage. When you assemble use blue painters tape on your edges. Even towels strategically placed can help with chips, as well as provide about the right panel gap.

Just make sure that your base is mixed really good. If you have separate containers of base make sure you intermix them.

Another thing is getting a gun setting and sticking to it. So your fluid adjustment, air pressure, and fan adjustment need to stay at the same values when spraying base. I noticed you had a couple extra fenders laying around, its a great idea to practice on them and really get things dialed in if you haven't already.

[Snake72]

I blocked out the bedsides this weekend with 220, hit metal in a few small areas and spot sprayed epoxy on the bare metal. Will do another coat of high build and block to 400, then sealer and paint when ready. Fenders, cowl, hood also ready to 400 block. Ordered a new passenger door skin, going to redo that. The doors have been my arch nemesis. Sprayed raptor liner inside rear tubs and front inner fenders. I really like raptor liner.

Got tired of block sanding, so I switched gears to bumpers. Used a DA with 80 grit and took bumpers down to metal, sprayed epoxy and single stage white on the bumpers. Came out very well, great gloss.

For the epoxy and high build primers I have been using the harbor freight purple gun, and it works darn good. I have it set up pretty well so I used it to spray the white SS as well. I'll use my devilbiss for the blue.

[slick copper]

Awesome story and build! Following for sure!

[68Gold/white]

Looking good in the Iowa neighborhood!!!

[72Cheyenne454]

Nice work.

I'd like to see the front inner fenders with the Raptor liner sprayed if you have a picture handy. I'm currently debating what to do with mine.

Thanks!

[68Gold/white]

Originally Posted by 72Cheyenne454

Nice work.

I'd like to see the front inner fenders with the Raptor liner sprayed if you have a picture handy. I'm currently debating what to do with mine.

Thanks!

Me too. An excellent idea, may help with road noise, also!!!

[Snake72]

Originally Posted by 72Cheyenne454

Nice work.

I'd like to see the front inner fenders with the Raptor liner sprayed if you have a picture handy. I'm currently debating what to do with mine.

Thanks!

I actually did not take a pic, but I sure can next time I'm at the shop. I just sprayed the inside of the inner fenders, not the top side if that makes a difference. Planning on a matte single stage black on top. I did mask and spray raptor on a small section of the passenger top, the part that sits underneath the battery box and always rusts out. I love raptor liner, easy to spray, hard finish, looks great, relatively cheap. Will spray the inside of my inner front fender cups too, just an attempt to keep future rust from occurring. I think raptor liner on top of epoxy should be about as durable as anything.

[TA_C10]

Originally Posted by Snake72

Thanks for all the compliments. Hopefully this thread shows that even a novice can tackle rust! Having a FIL with a nice shop and fancy tools sure helps too

Keep the opinions coming on which direction to go with wheels/bumpers/etc. It will more than likely be white steelies with the chrome hubcaps and AT tires of some type to keep the "farm look". The factory paint stripe must be fairly rare, I have not seen many examples of it. If anyone has a factory stripe truck, post pics! It's also a leaf spring truck, wish it was coil, but it will remain leaf spring. So far the only changes from stock is a houndstooth seat cover, rear sport bumper instead of the ugly farm bumper, and carpet for a little more comfort. Was the rubber mat originally. And the old 350 will have a little more grunt

Jimbo, here is the original front bumper after some compound and scuff pad to clean it up. Will probably still repaint.

Here's the original grill. I hammered out a few small dents, hit it the easy off oven cleaner treatment to remove anodizing, and spent about 20 hours sanding and polishing. Came out great but very time consuming.

Also rebuild door hinges. Those old hinge pins are not fun to get out. But hinges are tight now! Should make hanging the door and setting gaps easier.

Last pic is my dads '56 Chevy bought new by his grandpa, my great grandpa. That pic was taken in the early 60's on the same farm the '72 spent its life on. The '56 is also completely original, 235 six with 3 on tree. I learned to drive a manual in this truck, even drove it to high school occasionally way back when. It needs a full resto as well. Iowa winters are not kind to vehicles.

Going through your thread. Looking great btw. Back in this post, did you drill out the hinge holes? Also, while your getting your doors set, did you find you needed to use any spacers between the hinges and cab to push the door out of the jam to fit better?

Thanks

.

[Snake72]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

Going through your thread. Looking great btw. Back in this post, did you drill out the hinge holes? Also, while your getting your doors set, did you find you needed to use any spacers between the hinges and cab to push the door out of the jam to fit better?

Thanks

.

For the hinges, I soaked the pins in PB blaster for several days and they were still frozen. Ended up heating them and hammering out. Then used a small hone inside the hinge pin holes to clean up rust before inserting the new brass bushings and hinge pin. I then used a drill press and drilled out the cab side adjustment holes for more wiggle room when aligning doors. This helped significantly. I did not have the need for shims to push the door out of jam, fortunately had enough adjustment in the door side hinge.

[Snake72]

So I haven't been able to work on the truck in months, finally had a shop day and tackled the passenger door fit. I just could not get it to shut right and the gaps/body lines were way off. I had to bite the bullet and correct mistakes I made welding in the door bottom and door skin WITHOUT checking the door fit first. Amateur mistake #763...

So I cut off the door skin again, mounted the door, then started making 2 small 3/8" pie cuts in the door bottom where it was contacting the rocker. Some bending and reshaping closed the pie cuts in and tacked together with the door mounted on the truck. Got the door fitting great, then put the fender on and aligned the new door skin with fender. I put some small sheet metal screws in the door skin to hold it exactly in place then took the door off and hammered the door skin flange over. Remounted the door and victory, it fits. Body lines and gaps are all good, need some final hammer and dolly work and I'm happy.

Lesson learned...

[MDPotter]

Getting the gaps correct on the doors are hard, especially when coupled with the challenge of getting the door to close without hitting anywhere but still sealing well. Between the replacement of the skin, new rocker, new door bottom, and fitting the fender and cowl, there are a lot variables there too. If you're happy with it, that's all that matters. Mine are far from perfect, but it's not a show truck and I'm okay with that.

[sprint_9]

Glad to see you back at it, these reworks and little details are all worth it in the end.

[Snake72]

Thanks for the kind words gents, more progress in the weeks to come. Blue paint will be flying soon...

I keep re-reading the threads from IronCanine and DeadheadNM for stock restoration motivation...

[Snake72]

No pics to show but this weekend I was able to weld the gaps up on the passenger door. For me, welding gaps has been the easiest part of door fitting to do and makes such a huge improvement but very time consuming.

The bedsides, driver door, front fenders, hood, cowl, and rear tubs are all ready for final 400 blocking. Rear steel wheels are painted white, fronts are in high build primer yet. Should have some blue parts over 4th of July weekend.

I will have to scuff and repaint the rockers due to acquiring some paint chips from installing doors 100 times, and yes they were taped up. Oh well, single stage should be easy to sand and touch up. Can't wait for the nervousness of reassembling freshly painted parts...

[Snake72]

Was able to spray some blue this weekend, pretty happy with the results. Next up is the doors and hood. After that I'll reassemble the front end for the last time. Paint went down smooth, had a couple small runs and dust nibs but overall I think it looks good. It's crazy how much time metal work, primer, and block sanding takes...for like 15 mins of spraying color.

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by Snake72

Was able to spray some blue this weekend, pretty happy with the results. Next up is the doors and hood. After that I'll reassemble the front end for the last time. Paint went down smooth, had a couple small runs and dust nibs but overall I think it looks good. It's crazy how much time metal work, primer, and block sanding takes...for like 15 mins of spraying color.

Sure looks good.

[Snake72]

Also, this is the final front end mock up before I blew it apart for paint. This is the first time the hood has been back on the truck since dismantling. Went on better than expected and gaps are all good enough for me. The grill looks a little funny because it was not bolted in place, just mocked up.