What Kind of Tool, Besides Your Hands

[magwakeenercew2jh]

Well, missing the '72 has me now (as of yesterday) with a primo "all Early Classics" rolling chassis for a 71 SB, a bed, two cabs, and a complete (hahaha!...when is it ever complete?) front end for a '71. The 68 cab that's sitting on the chassis is the one I'm going to use, but the rusted '71 has an air cab and good glass, etc. So, I'll be using it as a donor. My first task, strip the rusted out '71cab of its goodies. And then call the salvage man.

My first problem is trying to get the window trim out without bending it. I have to pull it from both front and back of both cabs, so I need some help. Any suggestions would be great. Besides "Take it slow!" I can do that. But I really don't know how to approach this properly.

I hope the truck turns out close to as good as my last build. That '72 made it into March of '04 Classic Trucks....Okay, only the "Readers Ride" section. But they gave it a nice spread.

I'll send pics of the new pile of parts soon. And I REALLY appreciate any help.

Here's a couple of little ones of the now-long-gone '72.

[mbgmike]

If it was me I would just cut them out and replace with new rubber if they are older.

[cdowns]

either way the windows need to b removed to remove the trim from the gaskets

[vectorit]

I took mine out with a can of WD-40, rags, and a couple of new razor blades.
Basically just carved away the old rubber to rescue the stainless, and the penetrating oil was used to un glue the metal from the rubber.
A pressure nozzle works great to, either to pop up the trim or to blow away all the shavings.

Nothing fancy, but it worked for me.

[magwakeenercew2jh]

Thanks. I'll "horse" the rubber out of the '68 cab and '71 cab with a nice, sharp utility knife. My default: No cutting arms, hands, face, or personal parts ???????

I really appreciate the feedback. Trying to do as much of this as I can myself for fun....And due to a sparse, but reasonable budget and expectations. I decided to do the inside of the cab right, so I don't have to get in there again on the basic stuff. Going gloss black out to the edges of where the exterior paint will eventually start, including the door jams, door panels and interior sides of the doors.

Then, after looking at the "Black Truck" thread in the Forum, I've decided to go black outside.

But for now, I'll finish off the inside of the cab (using the '68 cab), bring over the good stuff from the '71 air cab, (after going gloss on the firewall) and then put the windows back in.

All closed up, after moving the bed off and over, there's the cab body work. I can't do this, so I'll either find a roving body man to come to the shop (garage), or put a steering column in and load her up on a friend's car hauler. There's some good guys around here that are struggling because of the economy, so I'd like to give them first shot at the body work. I'll do my best to check 'em out. Maybe by giving them a door and see if they bring it back straight within the next six years......In my book, anybody that wants to work, and can't honestly find work, deserves first shot at it. That's just my thinking.

The chassis is a pristine re-done '71 with all Early Classic parts. If I don't get in the way of the body work, I'll drop the 350 back in. It has a serpentine set up..., not fancy not chrome. I'll stick with that for now. Nice, big aluminum radiator that came with the deal. Hope it works out....with the trans cooler, etc. Cleaning up a 350 trans. For now I'll run the 2-piece drive shaft.

In the meantime, the inside of the '71 front end which is sitting outside on blocks, will get gloss on the inner fenders...again, out to the edge. And then some minor body work. The front end is all (well, what we'd all call "all together") sitting on the blocks. That front end was married to the '71 air cab and the '71 frame in Texas most of it's life.

The outside, for now (after the body work), will go in satin black...primer, I guess. I'm still deciding on trim or no trim. But that's an ea$y one for now. The budget suggests that I hang back. I'll be using a black bench seat in the cab for the time being, too.

My main deal now is that I need to figure out if I should steal the previously working brake set up from the '71 and graft it on to the '68 fire wall, or go with a simple master-cylinder on the fire wall as it came with the '68. I think I have all the stuff from the '71. I pulled the big doughnut and bracket off yesterday. I'm running fresh, drilled disks up front on the chassis, and drums in the rear. The '71 HAD disks up front, but all that stuff has now been replaced by ECE disks on drop spindles.

I checked a new brake system with the power stuff, and it's real money. If a MC on the '68 cab with the proper (disk/drum) set up would work, then that would be a lot cheaper, I think....I THINK....I'm a rookie. The '72 I built was all stock, so I didn't mess with it. I don't even remember what I had in there. Damn! My memory is shot.

Anyway, if you have any tips as to the switch over from the '68 to the '71, and any advice as to whether I should use the '71 power stuff, or just hang a master/cyl on the '68 cab's firewall, I'd love to hear from you.

The truck and parts are two blocks away, so I don't remember if the studs for the bracket that holds the power assist are on the '68 fire wall, but I expect that they aren't. Maybe I have to remove the inside bracket from the '71 cab and drill the firewall, too if I use the power stuff, huh?

Pics tonight. Thanks again.

All suggestions welcomed with open arms.

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by magwakeenercew2jh

I'll "horse" the rubber out of the '68 cab and '71 cab with a nice, sharp utility knife. My default: No cutting arms, hands, face, or personal parts ???????
All suggestions welcomed with open arms.

I actually cut the blank out of my hand one time cutting a windshield out of one of these trucks. It seems when you get a lot of pressure on the blad and it suddenly breaks free it's hard to stop.....Please be careful!
Good luck with the new project too!