Possum, thanks! Looks like you've got some pretty cool projects yourself, I especially like that '59 Spartan
.
Pete, I usually head out to Kansas around the middle of August for school, but if you are ever up in Culpeper when I'm there I'd love to get together. I hope I can get my truck looking as good as yours someday!
The new door skin has now been tacked, TIG welded, and filed smooth (in the pictures, there are some dark areas along the weld that make it look like I ground all the way through in a number of places. I did not, this is just black sharpie left over from a sort of guide coat I put down to help me pinpoint low spots. Nearly fooled me the first time I saw it!). I had cut away part of the inner skin to allow me better access to the inside of the door. This piece will be welded back in after I get the new door bottom installed. One area that is of concern to me is the indent near the bottom of the rear edge of the door. I believe it is for the bottom of the window track to attach to, but it got pretty badly mangled when the door took a hit, and I have doubts about my abilities to get it back to where it needs to be ( I included a picture of the same indent on the passenger's side door, which is in near-perfect condition). That whole edge of the door is pretty chewed up, actually, and I'm wishing they made a patch panel for it. Oh well, I'm sure I'll figure something out.
I hung and aligned both doors (and drilled some holes through the hinges and hinge pillars so that I can get them back in the same spot), using the body line right under the window as my point of reference, and was honestly rather shocked at the inconsistency of the factory door gap. The bottom front corner of the passenger side door (which I haven't done anything to) goes beyond the end of the rocker almost 1/4" when all the rest of the gaps are even. I guess it is just a truck, and if Chevy wasn't any more worried about it than that, I'm not either. The door skin I made had to be tweaked a little after the skin was welded to make a consistent gap along the bottom, but otherwise fit quite well. That's as far as I've gotten with the door. The class is winding down, so I will most likely have to finish the job on my own time, but I'm pleased with my progress. I won't be able to completely finish until I get the front fender patched up and reinstalled, as I'll need this for reference before I crimp the door skin on once and for all. This process has been considerably more laborious than I was expecting, but I'm sure I'll get better with practice.
The engine is back from the machine shop safe and sound, and bored .030 over. I will begin reassembling it here very shortly. Looking forward to that!
Another development worthy of mention was that I managed to score a replacement hood at a salvage yard just north of here. It has a few small dings, nothing to be concerned about, but most importantly, it is just about as close to rust-free as you can get with 57-year-old sheetmetal
. No pictures of it yet though, sorry.
And now, here's the pictures I do have:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/2hLdwHQGCfEe4KNK9
