+1 cut off wheel and then flap disc.

 

Son and I went and bought a 4 1/2" angle grinder and some grinding disc's.



I tried the "beat into submission" approach...



Combined, we both made a lot of noise and pissed off a neighbor somewhere. However, the bumper won yesterdays battle and is still in tact.

Mine....



His...



The under side...




Having never done this before, not sure if we are going about it the right way or not. His approach seemed to be cutting into the frame some. Mine was working until the head of my sledge hammer decided to part ways with the festivities.

As a couple of you recommended, should I just take the cutting disc and go vertical on the bracket perpendicular to the bumper to just cut it off and then come back and try to grind away the welds or just continue what we are doing?

 

I would cut the actual brackets next to the welds, then the bumper will fall off leaving the weld lines behind. Then the weld lines can be ground down without cutting into the frame rails. However you get it off is fine, just dont want to tear up the frame too badly. You can always add metal to the frame with welding if needed. There is no wrong way to do it as long as nothing gets trashed.

 

Well, it took quite a bit of effort, but the bumper is finally off. Wasn't as clean as I wanted it to be but we will be boxing it in when we put the under bed tank in.









Wife is back home. Her van is back in the garage and the truck is tucked away in the side yard. Was able to sell the Crown Vic front end that came with the truck so we now have some more $$$ to put into it. Son just got a job at the local supermarket and is going to be working 2nd shift hours for a while so not sure if we will make any more progress until next weekend.

 

Nice, a fellow Arizonan building a "patina" truck! I'm in Maricopa just south of you building my '56 patina style. Nice truck!! Love all the pics!!

 

Thanks man! We get down your way quite a bit. Wife likes to go Ak Chin. Kids and I usually hang at the theaters. Maybe we can meet you down there some time and check out your truck. Open invite if you are up in the Gilbert area.

 

Great looking truck you got there. Just try to do something everyday on it. It helps keep the motivation alive!

I'm in the opposite boat of you. I'm trying to sell my '48 so I build my '53 Chev

 

Thanks! You too! We had a 52 Chevy that we were working on and sold. We regretted it heavily and decided to dive back in. When we get the 48 up and running, we will more than likely start another Chevy project. My son really likes them. Good luck with your sell/build!

Oh, what I would give to live in the country....

 

It sure is nice, just wish i had a shop big enough to put both trucks inside. Look forward to watching your progress with your truck. These old machines sure are fun!

 

Not much done this weekend. Worked on getting the running boards off. Had to cut most of the bolts since very few wanted to cooperate. Excitement is starting to fade as more and more rust is making itself known. I guess wanting a "patina" rod has it's pluses and minuses.

 

Looks lke a good solid builder to me. Fix the rot holes and just spray paint with a few similar shades as the rest of the body, scuff with red scotchbrite and go. There will always be rust in these old trucks ( at least in the NE there always is ), they were not built to last forever. One thing at a time and keep the faith!

 

What are the best options for fixing the rot holes? Talk to me about red scotchbrite also. Wasn't even aware of it. Thanks for the pep talk!

 

Scotchbright pads come in at least two colors (grits) Red and Green. They VERY VERY handy to have around when cleaning/dressing parts!

 

I was aware of the green ones. Have a entire box of them in the garage. Just didn't know about the red ones. The difference being coarseness? Assuming the red is finer?

 

Red is fine grit and gray is ultra fine. Mostly used to scuff before paint.