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Originally Posted by 56panelford
(Post 17412893)
You do extremely beautiful work..:-wink
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Originally Posted by 56panelford
(Post 17412893)
You do extremely beautiful work..:-wink
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After laying out the patterns and the steel, I cut out and formed both lower front fender patch panels at the same time. I made a rounded over form out of oak, then screwed the flat sheet steel to it. I notched and hammered the "J" lip, then welded the notches.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...7de23523e3.jpg Forming and Welding the J Lip https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...59dcee1d68.jpg Forming and Welding the J lip Over the Oak Pattern https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...b90b9598b9.jpg Forming and Welding the J lip Over the Oak Pattern Once the "J" lips were complete and the bottom flange was bent, I used my shrinker and stretcher to pull the panels into the curve to match the pattern that I previously made. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...a3846799f7.jpg Completed Left and Right Front Fender Rear Lower Patch Panels There is an inner support bracket that fits tightly inside the lower rear of the fender, in order to give a stronger attachment to the running boards. As with the fenders, these were both rotted and unusable. Using the same forms and patterns, I formed and curved both of these brackets. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...5abd69ea83.jpg Front Fender Running Board Support Bracket-Forming the J Lip https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...ab5e16d26f.jpg Front Fender Running Board Support Bracket-Forming the Flange https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...d5307fbd7e.jpg Front Fender Running Board Support Bracket-Curved to Pattern I finished forming the brackets and made sure that the patch panels were a good fit. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...34b6e97fbc.jpg Front Fender Lower Rear Patch Panels and Running Board Brackets Ready to Final Fit |
As I had already cut away the rotted section on the passenger side fender, I fitted and welded the outer patch panel.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...248c2c7737.jpg Front Fender Passenger Side-Lower Patch Panel Welded https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...9ea18a7aab.jpg Front Fender Passenger Side-Lower Patch Panel Welded I waited until the patch was completely welded in before I trimmed, bent, and welded the flange at the cowl. I spent a few hours patching the hole at the corner bracket where the front lower section bolts, then spent a few more (OK, lots more!) hours hand hammering and smoothing out the sheet metal. When I was pretty satisfied with the shape and smoothness, I bolted the fender in place. At the same time, I put a couple of bolts into the driver's side fender to hold it in place so that I could start to get an idea of what this truck really looks like. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...3d12af2151.jpg Repaired Passenger Side Fender Bolted in Place and Clamped to Running Board. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...3c46f2a12b.jpg Repaired Passenger Side Fender Bolted in Place and Clamped to Running Board. I patched the rotted upper corner in the lower fender, then spent a number of hours with the hammer, dolly, and shrinking disc, shaping and smoothing it. It had a number of dents and creases, and had to be really worked back into shape. I bolted it to the fender and stood back for a good look. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...8c85cbc3df.jpg Completed Passenger Side Front Fender. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...612a1cb82d.jpg Completed Passenger Side Front Fender. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...fa3b67af73.jpg Completed Passenger Side Front Fender. Istill have to work the panels a bit more, but I am very pleased with where they are at this point. I also have to final fit and install the running board support brackets. |
I worked the drivers side the same as the passenger side.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...c78ea67647.jpg Driver Side Front Fender Complete and Bolted. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...711bc95d02.jpg Driver Side Front Fender Complete and Bolted. From here, I started to assemble the rest of the front clip. The upper and lower cowls aligned and bolted in quickly and easily. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...a966684ecc.jpg Assembled Front Clip. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...ad50b978c0.jpg Assembled Front Clip. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...a648f06e00.jpg Assembled Front Clip. I ran into a snag with the aftermarket panels that fit behind the headlights. Somehow, the manufacturer managed to make them 3/8" too wide. When I tried to install them, the fenders were pushed out 3/8" and the upper and lower cowls no longer fit. As I didn't buy them (they came with the truck) I couldn't complain to anyone, so I set about to fix them. I cut the corner open and pounded the flange back to flat. All I have left to do is lay out the bolt hole locations, rebend the flange to the correct location, trim the excess steel, weld the corner, and bore the holes. Easy!! |
Great work. I had to go ahead and subscribe to this as our cabs are in similar starting condition. I've got a ton of work to do and looking through this thread makes it more palatable.
Luckily for me they make the entire floorpan with inside corners, rockers and trim now so I won't have to do as much there as you did. But my lower rear cab is pretty darn close to what you had. Good luck on the rest of the build. |
John ., very smart idea test fitting the front clip . Plan on putting anti squeak between all metal mating surfaces ?
Will have a heater soon . The person at the radiator shop is dragging his feet on making up 3 '51 cores . Took him 3 new core blanks & a box full of media blasted end tanks & still nothing . Will visit the shop next week & retrieve all the parts & find some one else to do the work . This is just stupid ! Don't forget about the knockouts in the fire wall for the heater core tubes . Use the bottom one . Core tube C-C is 5 1/8 " .With all that metal work going on are you getting any wood working done ? |
Originally Posted by firstrider
(Post 17421271)
John ., very smart idea test fitting the front clip . Plan on putting anti squeak between all metal mating surfaces ?
Will have a heater soon . The person at the radiator shop is dragging his feet on making up 3 '51 cores . Took him 3 new core blanks & a box full of media blasted end tanks & still nothing . Will visit the shop next week & retrieve all the parts & find some one else to do the work . This is just stupid ! Don't forget about the knockouts in the fire wall for the heater core tubes . Use the bottom one . Core tube C-C is 5 1/8 " .With all that metal work going on are you getting any wood working done ? Don't you just love subcontractors? Why don't they just tell us that they don't want our work when we bring it to them? I've started doing that-telling customers no. Takes the pressure off. I have a 12 man crew still working on an historic preservation project at a local house built by Frank Lloyd Wright, so my time is spent as the project manager, not cutting wood. Working on the truck is my stress relief!! I will make sure to knock out the correct holes before I get too far along-thanks for the reminder. And thanks for keeping at it with the heaters-a lot of us in the North would be very cold indeed without you!! John |
Originally Posted by suprchunk
(Post 17420727)
Great work. I had to go ahead and subscribe to this as our cabs are in similar starting condition. I've got a ton of work to do and looking through this thread makes it more palatable.
Luckily for me they make the entire floorpan with inside corners, rockers and trim now so I won't have to do as much there as you did. But my lower rear cab is pretty darn close to what you had. Good luck on the rest of the build. Good luck with your truck and don't forget to start a build thread here. These guys are not only extremely helpful, they will also support and encourage you through the rough spots. John |
Just a quick progress update:
I completed the fitting modifications to the repop air panels that fit behind the headlights by plugging all of the bolts holes and reboring them to align with the original body panels. I had a little work to do on the front lower cowl-when I started to hammer the dents out, a ton of rust started falling out of the support brackets at the bumber horn cutouts. Of course, I couldn't leave it alone! There were 17 spot welds holding each bracket to the sheet metal. 17!! I drilled every stinkin' one of them out to remove the brackets, then sandblasted the brackets and the sheet metal. I smoothed out the sheet metal and hammered the brackets to fit, brushed on 3 coats of epoxy primer, then plug welded the brackets, using the original spot weld holes. Ground it all smooth and bolted everything together. After cutting down and reboring the air panels, everything fit together very nicely. I set the unrestored hood in place to check the fit and alignment: https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...46d7771349.jpg Restored Fenders, Cowls, Air Panels and Untouched Hood https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...886c9f0a15.jpg Restored Fenders, Cowls, Air Panels and Untouched Hood https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...060f7e9e45.jpg Restored Fenders, Cowls, Air Panels and Untouched Hood https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...c3ed90035d.jpg Restored Fenders, Cowls, Air Panels and Untouched Hood Over the holiday weekend, I chemically stripped the paint from all parts of the hood, then sand blasted it all to remove the surface rust that was under the paint. I'll post some pictures of the hood later. |
It has been a while since I posted an update. I have been working steadily and making progress on the bodywork.
I got the hood stripped and sandblasted. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...eb7e21d6e7.jpg Stripped and Sandblasted Hood Set in Place. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...17b76b7477.jpg Stripped and Sandblasted Hood Set in Place. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...5edae0662b.jpg Stripped and Sandblasted Hood Set in Place. I spent a few hours with the hammer, dolly, and shrinking disc to get the dents and stretched areas of the hood straightened out, then the process of epoxy/filler/sand/epoxy/filler/sand/epoxy/filler/sand commenced. I was too busy with it and forgot to take pictures, of course. I decided to experiment with the finish on the underside of the hood. I want to use Southern Polyurethane Single Stage Black Urethane on the truck, so I figured the best place to figure out how to use it would be on the relatively hidden underside of the hood. I did not spend time filling and flattening this area, as it is not that visible once assembled. I shot 3 coats of epoxy, sanded to 320 dry, then 2 coats of 2K, sanded to 400 dry, then 1 sealer coat of epoxy, unsanded. I laid 5 coats of the SS, then let it cure for a couple of days. I have been researching color cutting and buffing, because my knowledge and experience with this process is from 20-30 years ago and methods and materials have changed. I hand wet sanded with 3M 400, 500, and 600, then switched to Eagle Abrasives dry DA 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, then Bufflex wet green and black. I used the Chemical Guys 6" Hexlogic pads with their V32/34/36/38 compounds. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...7a79322f10.jpg Underside of Hood After Color Cut and Buffing. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...f2a73de0f0.jpg Underside of Hood After Color Cut and Buffing. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...05585c6074.jpg Underside of Hood After Color Cut and Buffing. Of course, not knowing what I was doing, I overheated the paint and burnt it. The surface is covered with very fine pinholes, which I learned is from overheating. More research led me to the understanding that the Hexlogic pads need to be cut on a piece of sandpaper before use or they will get hot very quickly; they also need to be worked at a slow speed. Even more research led me to the FLEX polisher/buffer, which is gear driven rotary/orbital variable speed. I bought one from the Chemical Guys so that I could rework the underside of the hood. I went through the entire wetsand/drysand/polish routine again, this time using the FLEX. I was able to cut through most of the burnt paint, though not all of it, to get a pretty decent finish. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...fc48b06739.jpg 2nd Time Around. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...dce54ceb07.jpg 2nd Time Around. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...1ff2f0b96e.jpg 2nd Time Around. Even though it is not perfect and there is still a little bit of the burnt paint, I am happy with it for the underside of the hood. Of course, this will not be acceptable on the visible surfaces! |
I set the hood aside for the moment and started the work on the rest of the front clip. I sanded every surface with 60 then 80 grit on a DA to get the metal smoothed out and remove most of the old primer. I carefully washed all of the bare metal with Wax and Grease Remover and let it all dry. I made a rack and hung the parts ready to prime.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...3cde221e72.jpg Front Clip Ready for Primer https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...2ab1046135.jpg Front Clip Ready for Primer https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...4ae695ac6f.jpg Front Clip Ready for Primer I shot 3 coats of epoxy on everything. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...bad3b9f0ee.jpg Front Clip-Primed and Ready for Filler. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...d01f2755c2.jpg Front Clip-Primed and Ready for Filler. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...9abf6f662d.jpg Front Clip-Primed and Ready for Filler. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...d2f504937e.jpg Front Left Fender Primed. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...784b70cbd6.jpg Front Left Fender Primed. I was pleasently surprised to see that all of the hammer and dolly and shrinking disc work had paid off, as the sheet metal was all much flatter and smoother than I had expected. Now started the process of filling/blocking/priming, repeated as many times as necessary to acheive the level of perfection that will be required in order to go with a black paint. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...0deea60064.jpg Front Left Fender, 1st Filler and Blocking https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...7f9d820d6a.jpg Front Left Fender, 1st Filler and Blocking https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...e9e79cbb29.jpg Front Left Lower Fender, 1st Filler and Blocking This process is repeated. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...0a640b6a5a.jpg Front Left Fender, Primed/Filled/Primed https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...6988e70161.jpg Front Left Fender, Primed/Filled/Primed https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...c5de80e852.jpg Front Left Lower Fender, Primed/Filled/Primed And repeated..... https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...b21a583871.jpg Front Left Fender, Primed/Filled/Primed/Filled/Primed/Blocked https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...367e05b9c3.jpg Front Left Fender, Primed/Filled/Primed/Filled/Primed/Blocked https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...207fbb1b3f.jpg Front Left Fender, Primed/Filled/Primed/Filled/Primed/Blocked https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...413fe37f46.jpg Front Left Lower Fender, Primed/Filled/Primed/Filled/Primed I don't have pictures as yet, but the entire front clip now sits in primer, after going through this process multiple times. My next step will be to bolt the front clip together, fabricate a stand/support for it, then block it as an assembly. From there, I believe that it will be ready for the 2K primer, more blocking, more 2K, more blocking, etc. |
My plan from here is to get the front clip ready for paint. I will remove the inner fenders from the truck and get them primed and ready for paint. I want to fill and smooth out the front section of the cab where the fenders and hood align and attach, and get that primed. Then a final bolt up of the entire front clip, including the hood, to make sure everything fits and to make any final adjustments.
Once that is done, I will take the front clip apart. I plan on sanding and repriming the insides of the fenders and the outside of the inner fenders, applying seam sealer, primer, then masking off and applying bedliner to protect these surfaces. I will probably take the front clip to final paint, but I may just set it aside until the cab is done. The cab is at the beginning stage, with all of the patchwork and hammer/dolly work done, and everything sanded and primed. I will unbolt the cab from the frame and put it on a rotisserie to get that work done. |
There were also a number of things that I completed over the past few months that I did not get pictures. I adjusted and fitted the front fenders to the running boards by adjusting and reshaping the inner support panels that I had made. I had to rework the lower rear of the frnt fenders alittle as well so that everything closed up to the running boards without force.
As I did not want to risk warping the fenders, I decided to try gluing the supports rather than plug welding. After some research, I went with the 3M Body Panel Adhesive.Because it needs to be on bare metal, I completely coated the face of the support with it, so that there was no exposed steel. I applied it generously so that there would be squeeze out when placed and clamped under moderate pressure. This ensured that the metal to metal would be completely protected against possible future corrosion. I was very pleased with the results. The supports are now in place and well sealed. I will still run seam sealer just to make sure everything is sealed. The running boards are bolted through the support, so I am not concerned that the support panels can come loose at a later date. I was missing the dust panel that is under the radiator, as well as the small strip that fills from the radiator at the bottom to the lower front cowl. I ordered these from Dennis Carpenter, and was very pleasantly surprised to find them to fit without alteration and to be of very high quality. I've gotten so used to repop panels not fitting!! All they needed was sanding and priming! |
Outstanding work! I never saw an underside of a hood look so good!
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