Dad's 1979 GMC Heavy Half Transformation

[Jaysonb]

Just a very thin skim of filler will be all it takes to make this look perfect, and now the rocker to door gap is nice.

[Dads79GMC]

I know what you're talking about! I could have sworn I took a picture of what you're talking about and can't find it. Looking most excellent!!

Mike

[rusty76]

I’ll take your word for it. Looking good.

[Dads79GMC]

JaysonB sent me a text this morning on the progress of the passenger side body work. I think this side of the cab got the best of him, but, he was able to take some poor reproduction panels and turn them into a top-notch product. Good job Jayson! Thanks for all you're doing on Dad's truck. Thanks Mike

[Low Elco]

Looks beddy beddy good!

[Jaysonb]

All the rust repair us done on the cab. Working on cleaning up the welds on the bottom of the cab, and double checking for pin holes in the welds. As soon as things are cleaned up on the cab, the body work should move along quickly. It was a chore to get things on the right side of the cab to cooperate, but I finely got things beat into submission. Now to try and squeeze myself back under the cab to get some work done.

[MrFinland]

Originally Posted by Jaysonb

Now it's time to re-hang the door, and put the front fender on to see how things fit. The last 3 or 4 sets of rockers i have done, have been stamped kind of funny, sort of smiley face shaped when you look at the bottom door gap, and they have also left me with a big gap between the rocker and fender. I have bought them from diffrent vendors, ordered some in town here, and everything I find is the same. So this is what I have come up with to make the fit acceptable. The front edge of the rocker got a vertical slice, and the end moved forward about 1/4" to close up the big gap from the fender to rocker, and when you move the front forward, it also comes out a little, fixing the leading edge of the smiley face at the same time as closing the gap. To fix the rear end what I have done is sliced along the length of the rocker, and down next to the cab corner, closed the door, and moved it to make the bottom door gap even. It is a bunch of work, but worth it in the long run.

Hello Jason! I just had a similar problem with our truck. But now it looks good on your repair.

[Jaysonb]

Originally Posted by MrFinland

Hello Jason! I just had a similar problem with our truck. But now it looks good on your repair.

It's weird how things can fit easy on one side, and you can end up with your hands full on the other side! That's why it's so important to keep checking the fitment of everything as you go along. As soon as I finish up the first round of body work on the cab, I will put the truck back together one more time, that way I don't end up with any unwanted surprises once it's painted. I got the welds cleaned up under the cab, and I like to put a tight skim coat of fiberglass reinforced filler over the welds. It's waterproof, so if I missed any pin holes I will be ok, and after a quick sanding, priming, and undercoating, the repair will be pretty much invisible.

[Dads79GMC]

Looks great Boss!!

[Jaysonb]

Now that the metal work on the cab is done, I put the truck back together, and got stuff adjusted so I don't end up with any surprises putting it together once it's painted. Things ended up fitting very good!

[Dads79GMC]

Couldn't help myself, JaysonB sent me these early this morning!!! Looking great Jayson!!!!! Epoxy.

Thanks Mike

[Low Elco]

Go JAyson Go!

[Dads79GMC]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Go JAyson Go!

Yes, go Jayson go!!!!

[Jaysonb]

It's been awhile since I have updated on my progress. The last time I test fit everything, the passenger side just seemed a little off all the way around, so I have had to spend some time reworking the front of the rocker/door hinge piller area. At some point this area was pushed in a little, and it took me awhile to track down the area that was causing me trouble, because there was no obvious damage anywhere. I was running out of adjustment in the door hinges, and was barely able to get the body line on the door to match up with the body line on the cab. So I had to take a step back and figure out what was going on! Once the bottom of the hinge piller was pushed back out about an inch, it put the door hinges right in the middle of the adjustment range, and made things fit better overall! I did have to cut the front half of the rocker loose, and get it lined back up with everything, but it all fits good now. Now I'm getting after sanding the cab, it is in slick sand now, and I have the first round of block sanding about done. Pic 1 shows how things line up after getting everything straightened out. Pic 2 shows how far I had to come down after I pushed the piller out an inch. I had the paint mixed up, looks good! I'm hoping the pace will pick up now that I have things fitting good!

[aggie91]

That color is going to look outstanding on this truck.

When you say you pulled out the hinge pillar area, is that out from the center? or forward? Besides the rocker but you showed above, what else was cut loose? Just trying to wrap my head around what you did to fix the alignment issues.

[Dads79GMC]

Color is perfect Jayson!!!

[Jaysonb]

Spent the night blocking out the cab, and working on the roof, there were a bunch of little dents, and dings up there. I believe that it is nice and straight now. With the next round of primer I will hit the inside of the cab, so I spent some time finishing up the floor, and hit it with a couple heavy coats dupont mastic epoxy, very tough stuff, and extremely corrosion resistant. My plan is to get some 2k high build primer surfacer on the cab this evening, then get the doors, fenders, and hood ready!

[Jaysonb]

A little extra care, and time spent on installing the floor pans resulted in an almost undetectable repair. It's the little things that make my OCD happy.

[MrFinland]

Very well done, Jayson! I like it very much, when it looks like a factory made.

[Jaysonb]

Originally Posted by MrFinland

Very well done, Jayson! I like it very much, when it looks like a factory made.

Thank you Ilkka, it's trucks like yours that motivate people to try and go the extra step to make things nice!

[MrFinland]

Originally Posted by Jaysonb

Thank you Ilkka, it's trucks like yours that motivate people to try and go the extra step to make things nice!

Thanks Jayson! I and my brother are beginners and we have to learn a lot, but you are a professional.

[palposity]

Great build!

[Dads79GMC]

Looks great Jayson! Can’t wait to see some color!

[rusty76]

I’m late but are you using new sheet metal on the front like the hood and fenders? I’m just curious about the fit. Thanks. Looking good.

[Dads79GMC]

Everything up front is NOS. I’ll let Jayson describe how it fits. Mike