55.2-59 Ol' Blue

[8man]

I think I may have it.

Ricky, thanks!

[Rickysnickers]

[dsraven]

looks good. is the dash panel treated with something? it looks like bare metal thats been dipped for rust or something.
thats a hole lot of hole filling. (spelled wrong on purpose, cuz I'm such a hilarious guy. haha)

[8man]

Raven, yes, it was dipped. I had all the metal dipped to remove paint, seam sealer, Bondo and rust. The good news is there was very little rust and no Bondo, but there was some lead, and the dipping does not remove lead.

You are not only a funny guy, but you are also right on, there were a lot of holes to fill. The good news is that I think the last of them are done. I'll give it one more once over after Thanksgiving to make sure.

I thought the cab corners were perfect until after the dipping. When I got it back, I found some holes in the bottom of the cab corners that only one was big enough to make a patch panel.

While I'm thrilled with the shape of the parts after dipping, dipping did leave a residue that any time I hammer on the cab this yellow dust comes falling out. I've never blasted a cab or doors, and it may leave more residue, I just don't know.

[8man]

The AC vent didn't fit under the radio, and it had to be sectioned and glued back together with some JB weld. It now fits under the radio and the ac hose will slide right on.

I had to make some braces for the stuff under the dash, so since I was watching JB Weld for plastic dry anyway, I went ahead and painted the braces as well as the driver's side rear bumper bracket. I'm going to order one for the rider's side and make sure it matches.

Finally, I had to drill out the hole in the POL brake plate. I used a 2x4 and bolted the plate to it, then started the hole saw pilot drill bit into the board and 1.5 hours later (can you say DULL hole saw) I had a nice hole for the hydroboost.

[Tempest67]

all this work we do and no one ever sees it, or understands what is involved.

keep it going, as I am looking forward to seeing this dash


great job

[8man]

Tempest, thank you, and you are correct. No one will ever see it. But everytime I get in, I'll know how much went into making that dash look as good as possible.

[dsraven]

looks good. keep us posted on the end result if you can
curiouis how the paper pattern works out, I always find the steel patch cut from the paper pattern never fits as well as when I use a stiffer medium, like posterboard (like cradboard from a cereal box).

[Tempest67]

Thanks,

I have never done anything like this before.

I don't want to hi-jack this thread, but feel free to follow my build here, sorry Ol' Blue

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...d.php?t=849781


Thanks again

[8man]

Tempest, no problem, I think your patch panel looks good too!

[dsraven]

*man, have you got any update pics of your project, far enough away so we can see the whole deal? curious how things are shaping up

[8man]

Raven, this is where I am.

The cab holes are filled in and I've modified the dash in some previous pictures. I think it is ready to sit on the frame and see how it all fits together.

So, I started with putting the metal part of the bed on the frame. The doors you see have been body worked and primed and are ready for paint. The fenders, bedsides and other black parts are primed with epoxy waiting for body work.

A mechanic I know is planning to come over 12/14 and hopefully we will button up the 5.3 and it will be ready to do the motor mounts on the frame, as soon as I get a tranny to go with it.

I need the cab on the frame to set the engine/tranny combo and then that cardboard box under the frame will be taped to the frame to get an idea of how big I can make the gas tank. The tank will be filled through the original filler tube behind the seat, it'll run down through the floor into the tank, once I get it located and have it built.

[dsraven]

nice cab stand/dolly
did you fit the doors to the cab already and get the gaps like you want them?
are you sure you are working in that shop? pretty clean, lol
my shop is full of metal cutoffs, grindings and shavings from carbide burrs, been doing a bunch of fitting, welding, smoothing, contouring.

[8man]

Raven, thanks for that. I made that stand for the 48, it's adjustable and of heavy enough material so that I could add in the extensions I made and fit a car body on it. I'm kind of proud of it.

The doors were fit to the cab before they were removed. The gaps were good. Then the edges were welded and finished smooth. The PO just ground the edges down and put a little Bondo on them. They are smooth now.

However, I think I want to take the hinges apart to be painted, but that worries me for the fitment of the doors. The hinges are TIGHT right now, and they don't need to be rebuilt. I know some guys just paint them all together, so I'm in a dilemma on what to do with them.

Yes, the shop was just cleaned, usually on Sunday after I've been grinding or sanding, or when I need to think about what my next step will be cleaning gives me time to think out there with the project where I can go look at it then go back to cleaning. I haven't made a dump run in months, so there is a lot of old steel to be recycled, and that will give me some more room.

[dsraven]

i find taking pics from different angles helps. leave for awhile then open up the pics and look at them. lots of times I find a flaw or a different way to get something done by looking at the pics. last time it cost me a day cuz i had to move a body lne........lol

[8man]

Thanks, I'll give that a try.

[8man]

I don't like the factory fit and finish where the A and B pillars hit the inside roof panel. Here are pics of the rider's side. The driver's side is worse, but I didn't have time to move stuff around so I could get over there and take pics.

My thought is to weld and finish as much as possible and then use All Metal or Metal to metal to finish it off. Is that crazy?

What do you do with those seams?

[dsraven]

I've seen them welded and smoothed over for the seamless look and I've seen them left factory. smooth definately looks nice but it is a whole lot of work. the gaps can be large and actually fairly deep down in there for welding. I've had the roof skin off several of these cabs and can tell you there are lots of spot welds holding things together. if you were to weld it I suppose it could be stitched every few inches instead of being fully welded. if doing any welding just be carefull of the heat affected zone as this could cause a lot of distortion and there is no way to hammer on dolly there. make sure to do short welds and allow to cool fully before adding more heat in the area.