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Well, I have decided to try and save the cab I have. I went through and cut out the rear cab corners, rockers, and outer cowl panels. While cutting out the drivers side outer cowl, I found something very interesting. Do you see anything wrong in this picture?  Best I can figure, the original one started to get rust holes in it, so rather then just slapping on some bondo like what was done in the cab corners, a new cowl was welded on top of the old one. Considering the other shoddy repairs that have been done to this thing, I shouldn't have been as surprised and confused as I was. Here are a couple pictures with the rear cab corners cut off.  Here are a few overview shots of the truck as it sits now.  I thought about bracing the cab before I cut out the rockers, but then I realized that since the cab was already out of alignment, I would just be bracing out of alignment. So, all I did was support the front of the cab to prevent it from falling any further forward.  I should be buying all the patch panels I need within the next few days, probably from Classic Parts (Chevy Duty). My wallet and the UPS woman won't like it, but whats $700 in the grand scheme of things? EDIT: Pictures have been updated Mooecow fucked around with this message at 03:00 on Jul 31, 2011 |
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May 18, 2009 00:55
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I think restoring the Chassis so It is a roller first would be the best Idea..Because that bodywork will be heartbreaking. Channel the sukka, You know you want it on the weeds! And a Paxton supercharger....
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May 18, 2009 03:32
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You're making excellent progress so far.  Glad you decided to try to save the cab as it really isn't beyond repair, and even if you do give up on it you'll have gained valuable auto body repair knowledge.
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May 18, 2009 03:45
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I also think you made the correct decision on saving the cab. You can do it, even if you run into issues, you can backtrack and fix it. Besides, now I don't look like the only crazy bastard on AI jumping off the deep end on rust repair.
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May 18, 2009 04:55
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Kaptainballistik posted:I think restoring the Chassis so It is a roller first would be the best Idea..Because that bodywork will be heartbreaking. i agree with doing the chassis first... its just easier, and maybe if you get the cab off you can even move it indoors for a little bit better work area about channeling it, you dont have to get get these things low low. as far as fixing this cab - im going to have to ask some of my lowrider friends, but im pretty sure that all the patch pieces for the normal trouble areas are cheap...
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May 18, 2009 06:13
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Landshark posted:I also think you made the correct decision on saving the cab. You can do it, even if you run into issues, you can backtrack and fix it. He actually may be the leader in the frigin insane stakes...Lets see the Bed first. Ps I like Crazy people....
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May 18, 2009 07:42
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Fun thread to watch, I used it as my late-night before-sleep entertainment yesterday. However, that body is toast and unless you actually like doing rust, I don't think it'll ever get good. Even if you get it somewhat patched up and painted, the rust will resurface within a couple of years. Steel from that age probably isn't all that, and I think the strength and corrosion resistance of steel also degrades with age (or at least from weather and temperature). But if you just need it somewhat airtight, I guess that works too.
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May 18, 2009 10:00
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Got a bit done on the truck today. My cab parts will hopefully be here in a week or so. In the mean time I figured I'd get the back half of the frame cleaned up and painted. I wire wheeled it than painted it with por-15 and then a rustoleum satin black topcoat. I really like how it turned out. EDIT: Pictures have been updated Mooecow fucked around with this message at 03:01 on Jul 31, 2011 |
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May 20, 2009 02:34
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Paint going back onto things is truly the best part of a project. Everything all clean and new and fresh again 
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May 20, 2009 02:50
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Definitely agree. That looks great!
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May 20, 2009 03:40
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That looks amazing! It really is true that a fresh coat of paint can bring new life into things.
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May 20, 2009 05:59
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 My patch panel order showed up yesterday. The only things I am still waiting for is the parking brake brace, drivers floor panel, and drivers rear corner. I tested fitted a few of them on the cab today, and not surprisingly they are all going to need some adjustments in order to work. I am most worried about the inner to outer cowl, which is apparently horribly wrong and needs to be extensively modified to work. I also went through and started drilling out the spot welds that hold whats left of the cowls from the rest of the cab. There are not all that many of them, but finding what was there proved to be a massive pain in the rear end. EDIT: Pictures have been updated Mooecow fucked around with this message at 03:02 on Jul 31, 2011 |
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May 24, 2009 00:16
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Two long days of work and at least I have something to show for it. I first went through and finished drilling out the million and a half spot welds that held what was the rocker on. After that I started fitting the passenger inner cab corner. The patch panel was surprisingly well made and fit almost exactly like it should have. The area where the rocker panel and it overlap seems to be a bit off, but that only causes the rocker to sit a 1/4" at the most too far forward, so I am not all that worried about it. For now, I am just going to screw most of the patch panels together. I sure as hell don't want to weld everything together and then realize I need to redo any of them. The only area I am worried about is the bottom hinge pocket. I cut off the edges of what remained of the old hinge pocket and bolted the new one on top of it. I then cut off both of them at the same time. That way, I don't risk installing the new hinge pocket too high or too low. I then welded the new hinge pocket back on. There is now a 1/2" to 3/4" gap between the rocker and the bottom of the door pillar. I am pretty sure there has always been a gap there, but considering what little original metal was left in that area, I can't be sure. I am going to reinstall the door tomorrow and see if forcing the rocker and the sill together will work or if I need to think of a more creative solution.  EDIT: Pictures have been updated Edit: To whoever bought me the avatar, I love it! Thanks! Mooecow fucked around with this message at 03:08 on Jul 31, 2011 |
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May 26, 2009 02:11
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Youre making good progress so far! I would assume that there shouldnt be a gap there. Your cab work looks similar to work i have done on landrover front bulkheads. These were all assemebled by hand back in the 60's so were all different - and thus when fitting repair panels such as door hinge posts it often takes a lot of adjustment to get things to fit! I have used a couple of mates, some ratchet strap and some big hammers and levers to get all my repair panels to join up. You may also want to fit your door BEFORE you weld that bottom hinge piece into position!. Get the door in place and ensure it shuts and has sensible gaps and then weld the hinge braket into place.
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May 26, 2009 08:11
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Got a bit more work on the ole' beast today. I first bolted the bottom of the sill to the rocker panel to eliminate the gap. I then reinstalled the hinges and mounted the spare door. I have decided to use the spare door rather than the painted door since I am going to paint the entire truck and I sure as hell didn't want to paint over the painted door. The gap surrounding the door seems to be pretty good. Problem being, however, is that the door doesn't close completely. No matter how hard I push it, it refuses to sit flush. I am hoping that it is just the striker being wonky. Before I mess with it, I am going to rebuild the hinges. To get the door level, I have to lift the far end about 6 inches. I also started fitting the cowl panel. After some fine tuning I have it fitting pretty well. All three bolt holes in the panel line up perfectly, however the door gap starts out perfect on the bottom but gets wider as it goes up. The curve at the bottom that fits against the bottom of the sill is nearly a perfect fit. Overall, I am happy with this patch panel.  Once the wind started kicking up I decided to work inside. I brought the rear end in and decided to check into the shape of the diff. I cracked it open and caught a good whiff of the old oil. Good god it stunk like liquid poo poo, death, and a hint of hell. Something tells me it shouldn't smell like that? Other than that little issue, everything in there looks to be in good shape. I don't see any metal shavings anywhere in there.  After that, I decided to look into the brakes. I removed the two screws that hold the drum on and tried to remove the drum. I was able to pull it out far enough to reach the end of the studs. After that, however, it refuses to move any further. Is there something I am missing here? The shop manual says to remove the screws and pull the drum off, which isn't exactly helpful.  Holy wall of text rustman! Here's an overview of how the truck sits now.   EDIT: Pictures have been updated Mooecow fucked around with this message at 03:09 on Jul 31, 2011 |
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May 27, 2009 03:52
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To get the drums off, you might need to retract the shoes. The shoes wear groves in the drums, and eventually they get so deep you can't easily remove the drum. Usually there is a little access hole you can shove a screwdriver in and spin the adjuster backwards to lower the pads. Check your manual.Mooecow posted:Good god it stunk like liquid poo poo, death, and a hint of hell. Eventually you will start to love the smell of gear oil. That is when you know you have a real problem / addiction. Edit: Assuming you still have a decent amount of shoe material left, I probably would not mess with replacing shoes or getting the drums turned. Replacing shoes usually requires finding someone who can reline old shoes (Expensive due to liability issues), and it can also be a problem to find people who can turn large drums. You can try checking Raybestos catalog, but it is hit and miss for older vehicles: http://www.raybestos.com I would highly suggest picking up wheel cylinder rebuild kits. They sell generic kits for $10 at Napa. Just tell them your wheel cylinder size and you should be good to go. If you need to replace cracked springs, check out McMasterCarr. You can also buy brake materials there, but I do not know if I would want to do my own shoes. Swap_File fucked around with this message at 04:45 on May 27, 2009 |
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May 27, 2009 03:59
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No the diff oil is correct. Gear fluid smells like the devils anus in heat. your doing a great job. yes rebuild your hinges now, and then remove the striker for now. Adjust the door gaps as needed, and adjust the frame as needed once everything is in position and screws together to lock it down. Then reinstall the striker and adjust it so the door closes correctly. do this to both sides of the truck. once everything is correct left to right, then start your tack welds and finally plug welds or spot welds on the parts, do no move anything once your at that point. take your time. i would recommend that before you start the tacking on the welds, you reinstall the axle. and let the frame settle on the ground as it needs to. the cab will twist a little, make sure you install new body mounts on the cab so it sits as final on the frame.
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May 27, 2009 05:34
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As an AI lurker and cartard extraordinaire, I just want to say I am loving this project.dalabast posted:Gear fluid smells like the devils anus in heat. Also, this is the funniest thing I have read in loving weeks.
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May 28, 2009 03:35
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I gave the hinges to a local machinist to have larger pins installed. Without the hinges, I am not going to risk trying to put on any more patch panels. With the cab out of play for now, I had to find some other things to do. I was able to get the drums off. They are rusty and gouged to hell. I brought them to NAPA and had the old guys there look at them. They said they were in very sad shape and that they could not be saved. Considering the look of them I wasn't all that surprised. Considering new ones are $125 each side, it's annoying, but the brakes aren't the best area to be skimping on. I also pulled the rear wheel cylinders. I am not sure whether or not to try and rebuild them or just buy new ones. The bore inside has some light surface rust and I was only able to clean out the cylinder by hammering the plunger out through the other side.  I also took apart the rear leaf springs and discovered that 2 of the passenger side leaves are broken.  Considering they are load bearing, I assume they can't just be welded up. I am looking around for used springs, but I am worried that replacing just one side will cause the truck to sit too high one one side. I also went through and cleaned up and painted the rear axle and the good rear leaf springs. The axle got a basecoat of POR-15 followed by Rustoleum satin black. The springs just got a coat of Rustoleum.  EDIT: Pictures have been updated Mooecow fucked around with this message at 03:12 on Jul 31, 2011 |
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May 29, 2009 01:45
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Mooecow posted:I also took apart the rear leaf springs and discovered that 2 of the passenger side leaves are broken. If you can't source a replacement spring, a good spring shop can either make you a new spring assembly or just replace the broken leafs.
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May 29, 2009 02:19
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It's incredible just how much better a nice treatment and coat of paint looks. I can't wait to see the progress on this truck. Nice work so far.
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May 29, 2009 02:23
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Wow, it's been a while since my last update. Don't worry, I have been working on the truck, but progress has been a bit slower lately. I am still waiting for the hinges. I should hopefully have them back by the weekend, but that isn't gaurenteed. I took the hit and ordered two new drums and wheel cylinders for the rear brakes. I had/am having trouble finding the return and adjuster springs for them, so I reused the old springs. The more I think about it though, I still would like to get new ones. All the suppliers have 1/2 ton brake springs, but finding the springs for the 3/4 ton is much harder. The fact the brakes changed in 53' also doesn't help. 72 lbs. of goodies:  Just my luck though, one of the shock absorbers was bad. It extends slower then a geriatric grandmother climbing a steep flight of stairs. Here's a pic of the rear brake setup:  With the brake work somewhat done, it was time to remount the rear axle. I had two new leafs made for the passenger side. If anyone needs leaf springs or u-bolts made, I recommend Perreault spring in Waterbury CT. I dropped off the broken side on Tuesday and they had new ones made up along with U-bolts on Friday, and for considerably cheaper then shipping a used leaf spring set. And now attached:  After that I set off tackling the front suspension. The drivers side drum came off with no difficulty. The passenger side, however, was a massive pain in the rear end. At first, I thought it would be a piece of cake. The adjuster screw wasn't seized, so the shoes retracted no problem, but the drum was fused to the hub. After hours of heating the drum, prying against the backing plate, and swearing the drum gave off an audible *POP* and came right off. Now it was time for the front axle to come off. Axle on....  Axle off...  (Don't worry, the wood and stone aren't supporting any weight)  Not surprisingly, the brakes are coated in rust and grime. The front drums are in much better shape then the back, so I am hoping that I can get away with having them turned.  In between doing all this, I por-15ed and topcoated a few misc pieces.  EDIT: Pictures have been updated Mooecow fucked around with this message at 20:25 on Aug 14, 2011 |
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Jun 10, 2009 03:03
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It's looking good. You have a good drive to get this project going. Between you and my dad there is at least two frame off restos going on in this forum - his thread soreley needs an update. Best of luck!
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Jun 10, 2009 03:32
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Hell yeah, looking nice man!
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Jun 10, 2009 03:43
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Keep going! Here's some inspiration for you. Just imagine this with your old door:  Click here for the full 2048x1536 image.
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Jun 10, 2009 04:32
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Kurten posted:gently caress that ferrari. What's up with the 65 coronet on the other side of the truck? Seconding this. 383 or 440?
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Jun 10, 2009 05:09
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This is so sweet. Congrats on following through on this project. I'll admit to siding with the people at the beginning that thought you bit off more than you could chew. You have impressed the hell out of many here, I'm really starting to believe you can pull this thing off and restore it to it's former running self. Good luck and congrats on sticking with a hell of a project.
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Jun 10, 2009 05:11
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Awesome work! I think it's absolutely hilarious that the rear brake assembly looks identical to the rear brakes on my '91 Cherokee, as in, I'm pretty sure they have interchangeable parts.
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Jun 10, 2009 08:12
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Impressive as hell! I honestly thought you'd bitten off more than one man could chew when I saw the first photos back when you began. You've made great headway.
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Jun 13, 2009 12:08
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Well, I have yet to get my hinges back. Apparently I should now have them back on Monday. I have spent most of the last few days grinding and painting. I first went through and removed the hubs and backing plates from the front axle and spent hours removing pounds and pounds of dirt and old grease. After that I broke out the wire wheel and removed as much of the rust from them all as I could. While it was at it I also cleaned up a couple of the pedals, the hood hinges, and the drive shafts. They all received a coat of Por-15 followed by a Rustoleum satin black top coat.    I decided to step away from the wire wheel for a while and check into the transmission. After opening the inspection cover I was once again assaulted with the hellish odor that is gear oil. I don't see any visible damage on any of the gears, but there is some rust and grime on the gears that is a bit concerning. The grime comes off quite easily with a light rub with a q-tip, so hopefully cleaning it all up won't be too bad. Here is a closeup of the transmission:  On Saturday I decided to clean up the front part of the frame in preparation for Por-15. This entailed more scrapping off pounds of caked on grease. Quite of a bit of it proved hard to remove, so I ended up using the wire wheel to remove both the rust and the grease. I was pelted by flying grease and was absolutely covered by the time I was done. For some reason, my family found this completely hilarious.  I expected to paint the front part of the frame on Wednesday, but I decided to do it today.  Needless to say, I am quite happy with how it came out. Once the bushings for the leaf springs I ordered arrive, I can remount the front axle. The front brake drums are off getting turned. I dropped them off on Thursday, so they should be ready any day now. $18 per drum compared to $85 each for new ones, so I am happy with that. They were also able to order a brake kit that contains all the springs. They said it is for a 53' 3/4 ton, but given how hard of a time I have had trying to find the springs, I am not holding my breath they will be right. And to round of a productive Sunday, I cleaned and wire wheeled the transmission. I should be able to finish cleaning it and paint it tomorrow. We will see what happens.  I asked my grandfather why he parked the truck way back when and from he remembers, it was because of all the rust. Apparently the floor was in the process of falling out way back then. I have also pretty much decided to upgrade to a 235. I have a few feelers out trying to find one locally in CT. If I can't, there is a guy in Missouri that is selling a nice running one for $550, but freight would be $330 via Roadway. Needless to say, I am hoping one pops up locally. EDIT: Pictures have been updated Mooecow fucked around with this message at 20:31 on Aug 14, 2011 |
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Jun 15, 2009 02:24
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you need to learn something right now. Purple power and a pressure washer for 99% of all grease and grime cleaning needs. SOOOO much faster.
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Jun 15, 2009 07:05
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Mooecow posted:I have also pretty much decided to upgrade to a 235. I have a few feelers out trying to find one locally in CT. If I can't, there is a guy in Missouri that is selling a nice running one for $550, but freight would be $330 via Roadway. Needless to say, I am hoping one pops up locally. 235 or if you can find one, a 261. They all pretty much look the same, the 261 is pretty rare, but you might find a DF dropping one off somewhere.
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Jun 15, 2009 07:51
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I am going to Ayer, MA for an Army school in August and contemplating driving my pickup out there. If you happen to get a line on a motor close to 90/94 anywhere east of the Mississippi, some fancy pants east coast beer and a bit of gas money could work out for both of us. If you are located where my lame rear end internet detectiving skills say you should be I'll be driving through your town. I make the offer because I was a naysayer when you got it. In the short time you have had it you've gotten more done than I have in 5 years of owning mine.
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Jun 16, 2009 02:38
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Wow, it's been a week since my last update. I have still been working on the ole beast, just at a slightly slower pace. The weather in CT has been awful, so it is hard to get any work done outside.  I Por-15ed and top coated the transmission. I dare say that a fresh coat of paint made it look a million times better.  I got my hinges back on Tuesday. They are freshly sandblasted with new hinge pins. One of them is a bit sloppier then I'd like, but the rest are great. I spent way too much time this week working on fixing the inner fenders. They were coated with undercoating that was a pain to take off. I ended up taking a torch to heat up the coating to a mush and then scrap it off with a putty knife. I was able to get most of it off this way, and I followed up with a wire wheel to remove the rest of it. The areas on the inner fenders where the coating had failed years ago were badly rusted. The metal for whatever reason is really thin on them compared to the rest of the truck. Luckily, most of the serious rust areas would be hidden once the fenders were back on the truck, so the patches didn't have to be perfect. I cut out metal from a spare door I have from my uncles parts truck. Since it was the drivers door that got hit, it was unusable as a door anyway.  I also went through and removed the headlights and turn signals from the front fenders. The headlight buckets are completely rusted through and are unusable. Luckily, plenty of people sell good used ones. After that I wire wheeled the insides of the fenders. Besides one small rust hole in the passenger fender and a few dents in the drivers one, they are in good shape. The drivers fender I know is not original. If you notice in the original pics, it is a different color. Apparently after the dairy burned, my grandfather worked for another local dairy, and they banged up that fender pretty bad. So they replaced it with a junkyard fender.  I am planning on using Por-15 on the insides of both of the front fenders and both inner fenders. I think I am going to have to use some metal etching stuff on the inner fenders where I removed the undercoating since the metal is extremely smooth, so I doubt the Por-15 would be able to stick to it. For the rest of the week it was raining like hell, so I worked on the old 216 inside. I am still looking at 235s, but since I have that engine there, I might as well take it apart and learn a little bit. The entire experience was tiring, long, and swear filled, so I am just going to sum it up. I dropped the crank a 1/2" or so in order to be able to rotate the flywheel a bit. This allowed me to remove the bolts that connects the pressure plate and clutch to the flywheel. Once the pressure plate and clutch were off, I removed the flywheel, which gave me access to the bolts that held the bell housing to the block. Six bolts later and the bell housing was off. With the bell housing off, I was finally able to bolt the engine onto the stand. I am glad I went with the 2000 lbs stand, since it is a bit unstable as it is. I guess that isn't surprising considering how long and heavy the engine is.  I also picked up the turned front drums and the springs. They are correct! As soon as the bushings I ordered arrive, I will be able to remount the front axle and finish the brakes for all four corners. Wow, I think I need to stop going a week in between updates. I am pretty sure I have carpel tunnel now. I also apparently need to take more pictures while I'm working, for all that text and only four pictures isn't quite enough... hmmmm EDIT: Pictures have been updated Mooecow fucked around with this message at 21:03 on Aug 14, 2011 |
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Jun 22, 2009 01:33
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As promised, more frequent updates. I striped down the engine some more. I removed the camshaft, crankshaft, oil pump, and a few other parts that I can't be bothered to list. I am going to give the PB blaster a couple of weeks to work before taking a 2x4 and a hammer to the pistons. Here are the crank and camshaft.  And the engine mostly stripped down:  I also went through and test fit the doors with the refurbished hinges again. With the refurbished hinges, the doors no longer drop when opened and swing more fluidly. I was able to get the door gap and belt line on the passenger door to line up pretty well with little difficulty. The drivers side door, however, has quite a few issues. The door gap toward the front of the door is pretty good with a pretty consistent gap with the cowl. The rear, however, has a considerably larger gap. I am hoping that by slightly pulling the door pillar back it should help close up the gap. The belt line is also being a pain. I think if I move the door rear slightly on the bottom hinge, it should take care of that issue; but that would then cause the door gap to go out of whack. Needless to say I am not looking forward to hours of making minor adjustments to the door. The messed up drivers door:    After getting tired of messing with the doors, I decided to see how much trimming and fitting the new floor pans are going to need. For the most part they fit alright. One well documented flaw with them, however, is that they are not wide enough. There is going to be a one to two inch gap between them when they are installed properly.  EDIT: Pictures have been updated Mooecow fucked around with this message at 21:16 on Aug 14, 2011 |
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Jun 24, 2009 01:40
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Looking good dude, great photos
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Jun 24, 2009 02:18
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I'm still amazed how you've taken a pile of rust in the vague shape of a truck and had so much success turning it back into a vehicle. Good luck with the engine.
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Jun 24, 2009 03:47
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drat, looking good. Hopefully that engine's less trouble to work on then you are expecting.
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Jun 24, 2009 04:16
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Love it. I still can't get over your progress.
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Jun 24, 2009 04:54
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My father told me a story of a Rusted solid Mini motor he had.Stuck the thing into a drum of Diesel for a week and it unlocked. The method I have used is pour oil ( which consisted of sump oil and old ATF from various spills in the gararge) in the bores till it started leaking past the Rings, Then I Wiggled the crankshaft every now and then. Moral of this story, Used sump oil is mightly good stuff! A rubber mallet also comes in handy because the rings are going to be shot . So a love tap wont hurt.
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Jun 24, 2009 04:57
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