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John , great build thread . Truck is borderline " Detailed Cleanliness " Another name for the stock truck .Keep up the excellent progress . Nice talking to you .
Just wanted to say you have a great build going on! Extremely impressive, I did notice that your lockwire is incorrect though, it's currently loosening instead of tightening.
Just wanted to say you have a great build going on! Extremely impressive, I did notice that your lockwire is incorrect though, it's currently loosening instead of tightening.
Thanks for pointing that out. I plan on pulling it and redoing it.
It has been quite a while since I posted my progress on my build. I did not get much done over the summer, as we were out of the shop working a job on site, so I did not get into the shop much. We got back into the shop in September, so I was able to start the bodywork.
I started with the cab, by pulling out of storage and setting it up. I posted about this back in August of 2016.
I started on the underside of the cab, because I was just learning how to MIG weld and I figured that I could better hide bad welding under the cab.
Cross Bracing the cab.
More Cross Bracing.
I started by cross-bracing the cab. I had a pile of 3/8" all thread sitting in the corner, so I used that for the cross bracing. It actually worked out quite well!
Cab, Cross Braced and Flipped on its Back, Showing Rotted Floor
The front floor was pretty rotted, as well as the front interior and exterior cab corners.
Rotted Front Cab Corner/Floor Assembly.
Close Up of Rotted Cab Corner.
I ground a 1/4" drill bit to form a spot weld cutter, and used it to cut through all of the spot welds where the steel would be replaced. I laid out and cut out the front cab corners, so that I could get to the inner supports.
Inner Support as Removed.
Inner Support Patch Fitted.
Inner Support Patch Fitted.
Remember that I just starting learning how to MIG weld? Well, I got through these, but it was a learning curve!! Some of my welding was so bad that I cut out and remade these patches 3 times, with then end result being just acceptable. There was a reason that I started with the hidden parts.....
Once I got both of the lower hinge side door posts patched and the inside support panels patched, I located and fastened the inner supports with sheet metal screws. I started on the toe kick area of the firewall; I already cut away the rotted floor at this section and removed the front cab mounts, so it was easy to get to the toe kick panels.
I could not find patch panels, so I made my own. I am a furniture maker, so I have a complete wood shop. This has made it pretty simple for sheet metal forming; whenever I need to form some sheet metal, I make up a pattern in whatever shape that I need. I then clamp a piece of sheet steel over the negative form and hammer the crap out of it to form it, using hard wood shaping tools and a big hammer. The form itself is made out of oak or maple, so it is hard and holds the shape.
Now, I am not a sheet metal worker, or at least I wasn't until I started this project!
For the toe kick, I had to cut the rotted steel out, and I ended at halfway through one of the pressed ribs. So I routed a piece of oak and formed the steel, then fitted it:
Rotted Toe Kick, Cab Mount, and Inner Support Panel Before Surgery.
Formed and Fitted Toe Kick Patch.
Formed and Fitted Toe Kick Patch
After Welding and Grinding.
I patched and repaired the other Toe Kick, then moved on to the Cab Mounts. I removed both of the originals, as they were too far gone to save. The replacement units needed only minor modifications in shape in order to fit. As with the Inner Support Panels, I fitted these and installed them with sheet metal screws.
Cab Mount Fitted and Screwed in Place.
The PO had supplied me with the 2 piece front floor, so I cut out the old floor to the Rocker Panels and to the formed rib that runs from door to door. I fitted the 2 floor halves and butt welded the floor pans. I plug welded the cab mount supports and inner supports, then removed the sheet metal screws and welded up the holes.
Two Piece Front Floor Pans Welded In.
Floor Pans, Cab Mounts, Inner Supports Welded In.
Floor Pans, Cab Mounts, Inner Supports Welded In.
Floor Pans, Cab Mounts, Inner Supports Welded In.
Floor Pans, Cab Mounts, Inner Supports Welded In.
I was not too happy with how the floor pan came out; the formed support rib that runs from door to door that I had left in the old floor turned out to have quite a few thin spots. So when I butt welded the floor in I spent a lot of time, gas, and MIG wire chasing burn-throughs. (I call it chasing bunnies). I finally got tired of chasing bunnies and ordered the one piece front floor with the formed rib from EMS. When it arrived, I cut out the old rib and the newly installed front floor and welded the full section in.
EMS Front Floor Installed.
By this time, I was starting to get the hang of Butt Welding and Plug Welding, so I went back and redid a lot of the work that was already complete. Even though it is hidden, I still wanted it to be at least solid and sound, if not pretty.
Once I was done redoing my previous work several times, I flipped the cab to start on the back section. Here, the cab corners were shot,both inside and out. The floor was rotted out under the inner support panel, and the lower lip of the cab was also gone.
Bottom Back of Cab Before Surgery.
Cab Corner.
Cab Corner
Back of Cab from Inside.
I started off by carefully laying out a series of lines that I could use as references as the work progressed. From the work I had done on the front of the cab, I knew (now!!) that once I cut something it would be difficult if not impossible to get good reference measurements. Knowing that I needed to remove the rear cab mounts, I carefully laid out their locations and gave myself reference lines and sketches, all on the surfaces that would not be cut out.
Cut Line and Reference Line at Cab Corner.
Layout and Reference Lines at Cab Bottom.
Close Up of Reference Lines and Notes at Cab Bottom.
Close Up of Reference Lines and Notes at Cab Bottom.
Cut Line and Reference Line at Cab Lower Back.
Close Up of Reference Lines and Notes at Cab Bottom.
With everything laid out, I dove right in and started cutting. I have been using an old Rockwell scroll saw with metal cutting blades to cut all of the steel, and this tool proved to be quite handy with all of the cutting that was needed. I had everything cut out and ready for patching in no time at all.
Once I had the back of the cab opened up, I started fabricating the parts that I could not buy in reproductions. I started with the 2 inner support panels.
Newly Fabbed and Original Inner Panels.
Close Up-Side by Side.
I then turned to the rear section of floor. I drilled out all of the spot welds to remove the rotted floor from the inner support. The inner support runs the full width of the floor, is spot welded to the floor panel, is welded to the door pillars, and is a much heavier gage steel than the floor panel. I cleaned up all of the rust on this support and welded new tabs at the ends for attachment to the door pillars. I marked out a series of reference lines on the old floor and transferred them to the 18 gage steel that I am using for most of my patch work.
Plywood Pattern Matching Original Floor.
New Floor Ready to Cut.
New Floor Section Cut Out with the Old Rockwell Jigsaw.
I used 18 GA steel, layed out the new floor using the old as a pattern, cut it out, and bent the flanged edge. I don't have a break, so I hand hammered the flange over a form. I do have a shrinker/stretcher, so I was able to form the tight radius without cutting and notching.
Inner Support Panel, Original Floor, New Floor Panel Cut and Flanged.
I wanted to be as close to the original as possible, so I made up forms to use to make the tapered creases. These are done so that the floor maintains a certain curvature that is slightly less than the curve of the factory cross support.
At first, I tried to salvage the original formed section of the floor that creates the fuel line access hole. I cut it out of the old floor and attempted to weld fill all of the holes and thin steel. I even went so far as to cut out the new floor and butt weld this section in. That was a mistake!! After chasing bunnies for a while, I finally gave up, cut out the screwed up piece, and started over.
Chasing Bunnies. Looks Like Hell!
Not Much to Say Here!
Yikes!!
I did a few experimental pieces and finally figured out how to form the access hole for the fuel lines. I made a recessed form, cut an oversized piece of 18 GA steel, preformed the steel by hammering it with a large peening body hammer on a sandbag, then completed the forming on the pattern. I had to make a slice in the steel at the area that was at the bottom of the form, to allow the steel to move and open up as I hammered it. I annealed the piece several times with a propane torch while working it to keep it soft. When complete, I had only a few patches to add.
Wood Form for Fuel Line Access.
After Forming.
Filling in Gaps.
Butt Welded into New Floor Panel and Smoothed Out-Outside.
Butt Welded into New Floor Panel and Smoothed Out-Inside.
I then sandblasted the original cross support, weld filled all of the holes, and welded on new end flanges. I put 3 coats of epoxy primer on both the new floor panel and the bottom of the cross support, then ground to bare metal and plug welded it together.
Inside Support Panel, New Floor, New Inside Cab Corners-Ready to Plug Weld.
Somewhere in there, I fabricated new inner cab corners and plug welded them to the new section of floor.
Woodworkers can do some amazing things w. wood . Metal is the same just a little more difficult media to work with . I can well relate .
Being a woodworker from way back i agree. I enjoy fabricating metal almost as much as working with wood. I have excellent woodworking tools and machinery but not metal fabricating tools other than an acetylene torch, a small plasma cutter, and a mig. Still very rewarding working with metal on my own and with the help of this forum.
08-17-2016, 08:34 PM
