Been doing some additional cleanup of the cab prior to getting it sand blasted. I figure the more buildup I remove now will save time and money later.







I have studied how each piece is put together, but am not really sure where to start. With everything tied in together in the front cab corners, I want to get this right the first time!

As I previously posted I have already picked up all the pieces I need from Mid Fifty. I purchased a Mig and have been practicing with it. Just trying to get the cash together it get the cab blasted then I will be ready to start.

So I am asking those of you who have been down this road before to put your two cents worth in and help me out.

 

I have never replaced as much material as you are going to have to replace but for sure you don't want to loose the integrity of the original cab dimensions. I would cross brace the cab side to side and front to back with tubing or angle iron before I did anything to the cab sheet metal.

If you loose your stock dimensions it will be considerably more difficult, if not impossible, to re-align parts going back together.

Good luck with your project!

 

Holy Cow! would you be better off finding a better cab?
If you want to fix that for the experience, more power to you, but you would be money ahead finding a better cab.

Just food for thought.
It sounds like you are well on your way to repair, so please post lots of pictures and walk us through your work. Ask lots of questions too, the experts here will probably save you a lot of time and money on this project. Us unskilled folk will learn lots from your trials and tribulations as well.

 

I would personally start with the place that's easiest to reach and is simple as possible. Cut out the rust ONLY for that piece you're replacing. Do it one section at at time. If you cut it all out you'll have no reference. The floor board area that's slanted might be your best starting point.

Take a measuring tape and measure as much as possible, corner to corner, across, ect. TAKE PICTURES of the measurement, don't just write it down. Pictures will allow you to be positive of the measurement, you won't be able to get it again. Take all the pictures you can, the nice thing about digital is you can just delete it if you didn't need, so go over board with it.

Leave as much original metal as possible, but take out anything that isn't 'fresh'. The repair panel should be trimmed to fit this, not the other way around. Take your time, go slow. Tack weld in the piece, then weld a little here and a little there. You're not going to want weld in a straight line, the heat will warp the metal when it's thin like that. Keep it cool. An inch here, and inch there, but never all at once. Be sure you tack down all the sides and corners too, if you don't the heat from the weld will pull things and it won't fit right. A big magnet comes in handy for keeping things in place while you do this as well.

If the drivers side is in good shape you can use that for some reference as well. Just go slow, if you think you're going too fast, you are. Thin metal must be kept cool or it will warp. Steel expands and contracts with heat which warps things unless it's all heated exactly the same (which arc welding does not do, it makes one spot way hotter than another), the thinner it is the easier this is to do to it.

Be sure to take a lot of pictures! Just remember to go slow, it's the most critical part of it. If you're getting tired of going slow, take a break. Speeding up in the last few welds can wrap the whole thing too.

 

I agree with two of the above posts:
1. You would be much better off financially and time/work involved to buy a good sound rot free cab. They are available for 500.00 - 750.00 plus shipping. You can have one shipped cross country for about that same amount. I'll bet that it will cost you more than that just to get your cab media blasted, plus the cost of all the replacement panels and pieces. I would assume the doors and even the roof is in similar condition? from what I see in the pictures there is very little to nothing salvageable from the midpoint of the cab down. Your cab is going to take an incredible amount of work and expense just to get to reasonably useable/presentable condition, a small mistake in alignment, welding warpage, or skipping over an inner structure replacement could easily make it impossible to get the rest of body work to fit properly. Many of the parts you will need are not being reproduced, therefore they will need to be custom fabricated from scratch. Do you have the tools and skills to fab them? Yes it can be learned as you go, but expect an investment of several years of time and a couple thousand dollars in tools and equipment.
You said you bought a mig welder, I hope you read my postings/lessons on mig welding first, bought a suitable unit, and bought the accessories I suggested to go with it. You don't want to further handicap yourself by trying to work with the wrong tools.

2. If you are bent on proceeding, then as advised you should brace the entire cab before you start cutting anything away. If it wasn't already off the chassis, I would have suggested doing the bracing before removing it. I would buy about 100' of 3/4"x3/4" 1/16" wall square tubing for bracing material. I would start by welding 4 pieces across the cab to the front and rear door posts, 2 at window level, 2 at lower hinge level (assuming it is solid that far down). Tack two more pieces across the door opening on each side to the cross braces and to the door posts to keep the door openings from moving. Now weld in two more pieces from the center bottom flange of the back window frame to the outer ends of lower rear cross bar. Finally weld in one diagonal brace from the top rear cross brace on the driver's side to the bottom front cross brace on the passenger side. Make sure all the braces fit well and are welded solidly.
Bolt together 12 2x4's to make a box about 3' High and sized so the floor of the cab can sit on it to create a raised platform to get the cabup high enough to work on it comfortably. I'd put some large locking casters on the bottom so you can wheel the cab around the shop, you are going to be spending a lot of time with the cab sitting on this platform and are going to need/want to be able to move it around easily.
Rebuild the cab they way it was first built, from the inside out. I would start with the floor and firewall. I'm going to assume the entire floor will need replacing. I'd use the two piece replacement so you can do one side at a time. Add outriggers to your stand to support one side of the cab along the outer edge rather than by the floor. (I'd start with the least solid side) Using the replacement panel as reference cut away that side of the floor. cut smaller than the panel and trim it to exact size later. You can cut it with a plasma cutter, reciprocating saw, or angle grinder with cut off wheels. be careful that you don't cut thru any braces or doublers that are not included with the replacement panel. Once the major portion of the old panel is out, lay the replacement panel in place and mark around it for trimming. You can overlap along the rocker panel, and the center to support the new panel in place. Trim the old floor to fit the new panel. Replace any underfloor supports and/or doublers that are rotted before installing the new panel. Invest in a spot weld cutter drill to help separate spot welded panels, and replace spot welded panels by drilling the top piece with a 5/16" drill (TIP: I use a Irwin Unibit step drill for drilling sheet metal rather than a standard twist drill. It will drill a clean round hole without grabbing and tearing the metal) and plug welding the two pieces together.
Once you have the entire floor and lower (or all depending on condition) firewall replaced, you can move on to the door posts and rocker panels. Cut away the outside body skin as high up as needed to get to solid metal (don't try to fool yourself, you cannot attach good metal to even slightly pinhole rusted metal) to expose the inner structure. Cut away the rocker and the however much of the lower door posts as are rotted or as high up as the replacement parts go. If they are rotted higher than the replacement pieces go, you will need to get salvaged door posts or fab your own parts. If you have to cut away any of the cab bracing, be sure to add additional braces so the cab can't move. Only do one post at a time. When the posts are repaired on one side, replace the rocker between them and attach to the floor. Add the replacement cab mounts. Determine what inner structure in front of and behind the doors needs replacing and repalce those parts with purchased and/or fabbed parts. Finally when all the inner structure is solid, sand or blast off any remaining rust, spray with a coat of rust reformer, let dry and spray all the inner structure with a coat or two of zinc rich weld thru primer. Remember much of this structure will not be accessible again once you replace the outer skin! Now you can weld the outer skin panel(s) in place. (TIP: I'd give the inside of the outer skin a good coat of the weld thru primer before fastening it in place).

 

Hey Indybeer,
You have already done some fabulous work on the frame & engine so you've got some skills. The undercab structure is where I'd start - get that nice & solid with some real steel & work your way up. Take measurements - getting the door openings back to square is very difficult
since you have to replace the jams & sills. We had help getting our's squared up - guys with "jaws of life" hydraulics...

Replacing the floors is not that bad it's the under floor stuff & door jams... $800 for a more solid cab would be wise money. We repaired our's & it was expensive.

Personally I'd practice up on that nice bed & get your skills squared away & then work on the cab from the ground up. Looks like fun! Hang in there!

Ben in Austin

 

Just my two cents.....I replaced almost as much metal as you are needing to. Before I cut out anything, I braced the cab front and back, side to side. There are some pictures in my gallery. It helped to keep the cab straight. When working on the rear cab corners, I put the door on the cab, and made sure to keep the contour of the cab corner matching the contour of the door. If I had to do it again, I would start on the passenger side. I too am not a professional welder/sheet metal fabricator. My work got better as I went along, and I can see the difference between the drivers side and passenger side, regarding the quality of my welds and metal work.

I took my time, and set realistic goals about how much work I could accomplish at a time. Like little milestones, then tackle the next project.

Good luck, and have fun!

 

Actually....no. The roof, doors and majority of cab floor are in very good condition. The worst of it is in the front cab mount/cowl areas.....with the pass side the worst. More pics can be seen in My Garage.

I have already braced the cab front to back and side to side. I know it's not going to be easy, but hey....what is!

 

I will be replacing a lot of the same sheetmetal as you will be . Make sure to post plenty of pictures. I was thinking the same thing looking at my truck .... where to start?

 

I did the same exact thing on my '56 cab, as it was in about the same shape. Mine was an original '56 big window that I got cheap, so I was determined to save it. My cab had been driven for a long time in its rusty *** state so there was no point in bracing it as it was out of square to start with. One thing I didn't see mentioned was to rebuild you door hinges and get the door aligned good before you start, and install them once you get things tacked in place to make sure nothing has moved on you. This saved me more that once.

 

If the doors are in good shape, as suggested hang the doors and with the latches removed, shim the body until the gaps are even all around the door before welding in the bracing. Don't weld the bracing to the doors tho or you'll need to crawl in thru the windows to reach the inside of the truck.

 

Holy Moley...no pun intended! Be careful with the sandblaster. You may not have much cab left when it's over...

 

Not to highjack. But AX the weld thru primer you talked about. Im not familiar with it do you have a product name ? I have not ordered any primer for this project have plenty laying around but none that is intended for this build. As stated do it right the first time. dont want that rust creaping back up because i didnt prep the back of the panels correctly. thanx in advance

 

weld thru primer:
Eastwood Self Etching Weld thru Primer
Also available at body shop supply houses. Use on the back of unprimed panels where it won't be possible to prime/paint later especially if you have sanded/ground to bare metal for welding like where you are plug welding an overlapped seam. Don't use as a general primer.