Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window

[G&R's57GMC]

Hay Dan have they got the paint booth up and running yet ?

[Dan in Pasadena]

Yes, it got repaired and its been working fine for quite awhile now. The painter does ordinary insurance repair work and that eats up all his time. That’s why mine and other guys finer work gets spaced out. I know he’ll get to it - when I stopped by the other day one of my bedsides was on his sawhorse and had just been final color sanded awaiting polish. It’s a small shop. Only him and his son.

But my side steps, cowl non-vent panel and the tailgate/front panels all need some final prep work before final paint then the color sand and polish routine starts all over again.

[G&R's57GMC]

Well it's been a fast year ... just 2 days to Turkey day.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving !

[Dan in Pasadena]

Thanks Glen, you too.

[Dan in Pasadena]

I picked up my seat today. I am VERY happy with the look, feel and quality of the work. I’ll install it this week then drive the truck to a (very!) local glass shop; if I can find one, that does vintage vehicle work.

It was already dark when I took these pictures so this is with fluorescent light and flash. It washed the color out. The color is much richer than these pic’s show.

After the glass is in the truck will go back to the upholsterer for headliner, carpet and door panels. Gettting closer but it really is inch by inch.

[Black_Sheep]

It looks real comfortable and the color will contrast nicely with the paint.

I'd ask around, you should be able to find a glass guy that will come to you. Fortunately I know a retired auto glass guy that loves working on the old stuff, it keeps him in beer money.

[bobinbc]

Seat looks great Dan! Should be real comfortable with the foam base instead of springs, planning to do something similar for mine.

I agree totally with Black Sheep, I had a guy come to do my windshield on my 71 C10 at my house, charged me $50 for the house call well worth it! If you are buying glass you should be able to get their installer to come over. But make sure it's someone who know how to do curved glass with a rubber seal, it's a dying art!

[ChuckDriver]

That looks nice Dan!!

[oldman3]

Dan, seat and the stitch work look great...Jim

[svr]

Nice job on your seat Dan, how did you do the foam in place of the springs? Must have missed it in your build thread, cant see your pics in most of it. Thanks

[lower50's]

Love your seat.

[Kim57]

Seat turned out great.
Kim

[Dan in Pasadena]

Thanks everyone for the kind words. I wish I could show the color more accurately. My buddy says it looks like typical Toyota Camry color - that’s NOT a compliment coming from him. But it IS much richer in person.

Here’s a bad photo of the seat in process. Foam hadn’t been final trimmed/shaped or bonded to the backing. We just sat it in the cab to see the fit. I like sitting high. We opted to trim the seat back foam thinner than in this picture.

[Dan in Pasadena]

HELP!!

My 2 rear seat bolts are broken-off flush (or slightly below) the surface of the floor of my already-painted truck - so I can’t use heat to get them out.

I successfully drilled through one of them but because it was broken off below the surface the hole isn’t exactly centered - still haven't figured out how to get the remainder out without destroying the threaded hole? I may have to just open it up to 3/8” and tap it for a larger bolt.

BUT the big problem is I broke off a drill bit IN one broken off bolt! DOH! DOH! DOH!

Online I found Denlors Tools offers something they call a “Rescue Bit” but they’re pricey as hell. $64.98 plus $5 shipping on Amazon for one 1/4” bit. Yikes. Anyone have a cheaper or better suggestion that won’t bugger up my new paint...much?!

[Clarance J]

Hello Dan. Maybe this will help you. There might be enough bolt underneath to use vice grips, tack weld a nut on or ???. Just another idea. Its worth crawling under your truck for a look see.

Earl

[dsraven]

do you have an arc welder? place the ground, bust a little flux off a rod, stick it down in the hole, connected to your stinger, then get a buddy to turn the welder on for a sec untill the broken drill bit gets "hot" and then turn the welder off. that should take the temper out of the drill bit and also possibly heat up the bolt at the same time without damaging the paint. then it is drillable maybe.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by dsraven

do you have an arc welder? place the ground, bust a little flux off a rod, stick it down in the hole, connected to your stinger, then get a buddy to turn the welder on for a sec untill the broken drill bit gets "hot" and then turn the welder off. that should take the temper out of the drill bit and also possibly heat up the bolt at the same time without damaging the paint. then it is drillable maybe.

No arc welder so this option won’t work for me.

I have been thinking about jacking the truck up tomorrow, climbing under there to see if there’s any length sticking out. If there is NOT, I may drill up to expose the end of the drill bit then use a punch to push it up and out from below. Then I can finish drilling through and gradually widen out as much as possible. I don’t own any easy-outs but it seems like this is the time to order some and figure out how to use them!

[dsraven]

I think the seats bolt to a sheet metal channel spot welded to the floor. that means you can't see the broken off bolt from the under side. you could tack weld a nut to the remains of the broken off drill, if possible, and try to back it out. again, a welder is required though. how about a burr on a grinder that can possibly dig out the drill. or zip disc around the hidden nut to remove the whole piece and reweld a new one in? gonna be some paint damage but again, a welder required. try a BIG drill bit, like 1/2", maybe get it down to the broken bit and then keep breaking the old bit off with a center punch till it is gone. the hole would be bigger though so, again, a welder required or possibly an insert of some sort, or drill through the second layer of the floor and install a dowel long enough to reach through the space and then use a longer bolt and install the nut on the under side of the floor.
outta ideas now,sorry.

[svr]

In my experience drilling and easy outs are successful maybe 1-2 times out of 10, you have to be able to drill straight in very near the middle of the bolt, rarely are you able to do that with success. I assume since your are near completion that the bolt broke because it was tightened beyond its ability to hold down. If it's one that is still in there from disassembly it's a different story. So assuming its in a clean hole it shouldn't be that tough to get out now that the head is off of it. If you can't get at it from the bottom you need a welder and somebody who has done this before. Lay something non flammable around the hole to protect the paint from splatter, use a flat washer the same size as the bolt right over the hole with a like sized nut right on top of that. I use a pair of old needle nose vise grips to hold the nut down tight and clamp the ground to the vise grips. A Mig welder works much better on these small bolts as the wire can reach down to the top of the bolt and get hooked on. It helps if you have somebody holding the vise grips tight so the welder can hit the hole with some accuracy. Fill up the nut with weld, doesn't take long. let it cool a bit and put a wrench on the nut and start working it back and forth slow and easy. Have had to repeat this process several times to get success but will work 9+ times out of 10. You may have a bit of scorched paint right around the hole but should be minimal as long as the flat washer and nut are held tight and flat. Best wishes, just my experience.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Stopped by the bodyshop today. The bedsides, tailgate and front panel have all now been sprayed and cleared. Marcos had all the panels color sanded and will final polish them this week. The side steps are painted too. I THINKthe only parts remaining to be sprayed is the solid cowl panel I brought to him late - he had already sprayedthe vented cowl panel. I will keep both and probably use on the non-vented panel. He said I can pick up the bed parts on Saturday. Yeah, we’ll see.

The rear fenders and hood also need final P.O. list but they had been sprayed a long time ago.

[oldman3]

Dan, it's moving along (slow), but at least it's something...Jim

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by oldman3

Dan, it's moving along (slow), but at least it's something...Jim

Yeah, I agree. Now it’s mostly ME that is the delay....so I have no one to blame, dammit!

But I am retiring at the end of the month so I will have a lot more time then to plug away at it. I’ve been a procrastinator, and then I got spoiled paying others to do the majority of the work so now I am really a useless puke!

As soon as I can figure a way out of the broken seat mount bolt situation I will drill for the retractable shoulder and center belts and mount them. Then the seat goes in. Then the truck goes around the corner for glass installation - NOT gonna scratch up my new paint doing that myself. And while all that’s going on I will be sanding/staining/clearing/flipping, etc, etc, etc bedwood so I can start installing the bed.

[ChuckDriver]

Dan, I'd put a bunch of tape around the anchor plate on the underside and working carefully you should be able to get the damaged parts out.

[ptc]

Dan I know you have had alot of advice on your bolt hole already, but I have always had the best luck just drilling it out first with a centering drill (available at machine shop supplies or McMaster Carr)- its a small drill head that gets a center punch drilled perfectly. Then use a small drill (pilot drill) to go through the old bolt.

Youre using 5/16-18 bolts for the seat mounts, so something about 1/8" should work - use a new sharp drill bit and let the drill do the work -DONT FORCE IT THROUGH.

THen use a tap drill for 5/16-18 to go through the the pilot hole. Then just run a tap through the hole. Get a new tap drill and a new tap. they cut much better. The tap is hard enough to get the bolt bits out.

For the broken drill bit -get a carbide cutting bit. It will drill it.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by ptc

Dan I know you have had alot of advice on your bolt hole already, but I have always had the best luck just drilling it out first with a centering drill (available at machine shop supplies or McMaster Carr)- its a small drill head that gets a center punch drilled perfectly. Then use a small drill (pilot drill) to go through the old bolt.

Youre using 5/16-18 bolts for the seat mounts, so something about 1/8" should work - use a new sharp drill bit and let the drill do the work -DONT FORCE IT THROUGH.

THen use a tap drill for 5/16-18 to go through the the pilot hole. Then just run a tap through the hole. Get a new tap drill and a new tap. they cut much better. The tap is hard enough to get the bolt bits out.

For the broken drill bit -get a carbide cutting bit. It will drill it.

A centering drill, huh? Never heard of them before. Thanks for the head’s up BUT that ship has already sailed. I already drilled all the way through the first broken bolt and of course it’s NOT centered as it should be. I always wondered how guys could center punch a bolt broken off flush or below the surface because they never break off cleanly.

At this point my options for the broken drill bit are either a burr on my die grinder or drilling around the broken bit with a smaller drill to loosen it enough to grab it with needle nose pliers.

If JJ is right^^^ that the underside of the anchor plate is visible from below then I will drill UP through what remains of the bolt and use a punch to get the bit out.