66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap

[Duncan K]

Originally Posted by SkinnyG

Oooof. I don't think I want to do that.

Is this going to be hard removing the inner structure, and welding it all back in again?

I'm a little frightened.

Its not so bad, shouldn't be a problem with your skills.

Mine was quite rusty behind the front brace and really needed to be blasted

[Duncan K]

Got the body work done on the top of the hood and got it shot with epoxy.



I picked up another passenger door and started over. I hung it and made sure it fit right. Pulled a few dents from it being opened too far in the past. I cut the door skin off below the upper body line this time because the repo door skins aren't made right and the upper body line is too low. Got the door blasted inside and out. Fixed a rusted out corner on the inner door bottom and shot the inside with epoxy. I managed to cut and remove the door skin from the first door attempt. This was really hard to do without wrecking it. I laid it over the new door to find that this door is wider than the last and the door skin is too narrow. I fit and welded the skin on and ground the welds down. To widen the door skin out to match the rest of the door I bent 1/8 tig filler rod and welded it to the edge.



Feeling really good about being able to save and reuse the door skin. I hung the door on the truck.

Mother #&^%$&^%$!!!!!!!!

Door is warped, it sticks out about 3/4 inch at the top. I guess I got a little aggressive and welded it to quickly. The edge where I welded the tig filler rod is warped pretty bad too.



Pulled the cover over the truck and walked away, that was mid December

[SkinnyG]

Oh no!

[SCOTI]

That sucks. Good decision to take a step back to ease the frustrations.

A block of wood placed lower down in the jamb & some gentle pulling/pushing @ the door frame top should help w/that warpage hopefully.

[88Stanger]

Damn... sorry to hear this. I have been close to that frustrated... I had to go do something else on the truck for a while, so i spent a few weeks working with wood and building the stereo system that will go in the truck. This made me feel alot better and now i am ready to tackle the rest of the cab. Hang in there, it will come back to you.... the want to get her done....

[joesscamaro]

I had a very similar issue with one of my doors sticking out at the top like that. I did as SCOTI mentioned and used a piece of wood between the door and the jam. That got most of the warpage out. To get the rest of it out, I put my knee on the inside of the door...about level with the door handle...and pulled the top of the door the rest of the way in. Worked like a charm. Taking some time off is a good idea when you get too stressed out with it all...just don't give up completely. It's looking good.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by joesscamaro

I had a very similar issue with one of my doors sticking out at the top like that. I did as SCOTI mentioned and used a piece of wood between the door and the jam. That got most of the warpage out. To get the rest of it out, I put my knee on the inside of the door...about level with the door handle...and pulled the top of the door the rest of the way in. Worked like a charm. Taking some time off is a good idea when you get too stressed out with it all...just don't give up completely. It's looking good.

Naw..... He's just recharging.

[bigmoe]

If that doesn't work I wonder if you could make a relief cut along the inside and pull it in a bit and re-weld it?

[SkinnyG]

Originally Posted by bigmoe

If that doesn't work I wonder if you could make a relief cut along the inside and pull it in a bit and re-weld it?

Just run beads/tacks on the inside edge - it will shrink and pull in. Then grind the beads off.

[Duncan K]

Definitely not giving up. Took some time to do a few other projects around the shop that I haven't made time for. I did a rebuild/refresh on my Bridgeport milling machine, and built a squat rack for the basement.

I am really hoping I can salvage this door. Lots of time and money invested in blasting, epoxy, door skin, Kilmat on the inside. I will try these suggestions when I get back to working on doors. Right now I am working on the box. The one I have is pretty rough like the rest of the truck was. Going to have to do a lot of work to save it. I'd love to go the new box side route but that just isn't in the budget right now.

[Duncan K]

Brought the box into the shop and got it taken apart. Box sides are pretty rough, rear sill is rotted out, the rest of the sills have plenty of rust holes, wheel arches are pretty much rusted out as well.



I've never liked how the wheel isn't centred in the opening on these trucks. So instead of removing the standard 12" and 8" I mocked up the bedside in front of the wheel at ride height and centred the wheel and marked the centre on the box side. Then measured from the centre of the axle to the back of the cab and applied this measurement to the box side. Ended up removing around 14" in front of the wheel opening, and 6" behind it.



Made some cardboard templates and then cut some wooden bucks to help work the sides back into shape. I used the inner buck as a hammer form, and the outer to clamp against the side. I heated up stretched areas with a torch and then rapidly cooled then with a wet rag while the buck was clamped on the outside. I used the hammer and dolly until my arm nearly fell off. First side came out ok.

[Duncan K]

Picked up this truck box trailer for a case of beer! Was hoping to use it for some patch panels but it is pretty rough in all the same areas. All the sills are in better shape than my original ones, and the wheel arches are repairable.

[SkinnyG]

It'd be cool to pull a C10 trailer behind the C10 pickup that's the same C10 pickup as the C10 pickup the C10 trailer was made from.

Just sayin.

[Duncan K]

Originally Posted by SkinnyG

It'd be cool to pull a C10 trailer behind the C10 pickup that's the same C10 pickup as the C10 pickup the C10 trailer was made from.

Just sayin.

That's a pretty sweet set up!

I did think about doing the same but I need to steal some parts off it.

[Duncan K]

Got both bed sides shortened, ended up cutting the inside panels out so I can do some hammer and dolly work. They are pretty rotten so I am going to use the ones from my parts bed. Shaved the stake pocket holes, and did a number of other repairs. I did my best to straighten the front panel using a torch and some clamps. It will need the bottom edge cut out and replaced.



Took a trip out to the blaster and spent 3 hrs blasting all the bed parts and tailgate. Found a couple big areas filled with lead hiding some nasty secrets.

[SCOTI]

Well that sux.

[66C10LB]

Duncan K It looks like your bed sides are shaping up nicely. You managed to duplicate the wheel opening shape closely! For your trip out to the media blaster, is it a place where you self serve (do it yourself)? Is it fairly cost effective around Calgary? (It's a bit costly in the Kelowna area to have blasting done).

[88Stanger]

Damn fine job so far!

[Duncan K]

Got the body work done on the front panel, and shot it with epoxy.



I thought I would have a little fun. Masked off the letters on the tailgate and painted them.

[SCOTI]

Now you're just showing off....

[Duncan K]

Merry Christmas everyone! Can't believe it's been 10 months since my last post. I did a bunch more work on the box sides last winter and then didn't touch the truck until a few weeks ago.



In the end I decided I don't have the skills or tools to fix these sides to the standard I want. I will end up buying some reproduction sides down the road.

I spent some time trying to salvage the passenger door that I warped. I tried welding a bead along the inside with no luck. I bent it on my bench with blocks and straps. I got it close but just couldn't get it to line up properly.

Starting over with another set of doors. I cut the skin off and blasted it inside and out. Shot with epoxy and started fitting the new skin.

[Duncan K]

Continued work on the drivers door. Installed new pins and bushings in the hinges. Installed Kilmat on the back side of the skin, then fit and welded. Replaced the door bottom. This door ended up warping on me again. This time the bottom of the door frame ended up with a twist. Getting pretty discourage with these doors. Going to set them aside and deal with them later.

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Made some new drip rails for the A Pillar



I wasn't happy with the bracket I bought to mount the DBW pedal so I fabbed up a different mount. Just a sheet metal box with nuts welded on the back. Welded it to the firewall. Much more solid than the one I bought



Got the ECM and the tach module mounted under the dash behind the glove box. I will likely have to modify the glove box inset to fit

[Braunschweiger]

Very good work, your truck must be a brother of mine, its sheet metal is destroyed as well, its bed looks the same, I look at their approach.
Yes, the outer skin is exciting work, I also had to do both sides. Your cabin work looks like factory work, I like it.

[Duncan K]

Taking a break from metal work for a bit. Pulled the cab off and shot some rubberized undercoat on the bottom. Also made a trip to the blasters with the hood hinges, battery tray, glove box door, heater box, and the gas/brake pedal brackets. Got them all shot with epoxy.

[pdxhall]

That's some very nice patch work you've got going on. It's nice to see you posting again.