Well I had a full post that went "poof" in the cloud last night, I will try again.
As I have been posting, and if anyone has been paying attention, I am far from the only area that has been pretty cold. I have to limit my time out as as I have gotten older, I can't keep my fingers warm. The rest of me is fine, too much insulation...
With the left side metal work complete, I turned my attention to the right cab corner. I had not been able to access the area with the bed on, and it was still on when I was repairing the right front door pillar. Thankfully when we turned the truck around. We left enough room on the right side to work, albeit a bit cramped. This cab corner was actually a bit more rust than the left, but was still not awful. In this case I only replaced the inside portion of inner cab corner. I removed the floor and step section from the patch panel. This made fitting the inner to outer panel much easier. As for the outer cab corners, I have to say that these were very well made and they work wonderfully. The biggest issue is where the inner and outer meet are the bottom. With a bit of work I had them where I wanted them and it was all welded up. I did make a small patch to the door pillar but the rest of it was solid. I ground the welds on the inside and I am very happy with the repair.
I also have to replace two cage nuts for the door hinge bolt. I don't like the replacements as much as they limit the adjustment movement of the hinge to about 1/8" vs 1/4" on the original. I installed the one on the left and will fit up the door after I rebuild it prior to putting the right one in. Curiously both top cage nuts each side were broken. (Am I missing something???) In any event. With the left door I made the decision to return the large inner door bottom and order the smaller one instead. I like the fact the smaller panel has the correct stamping for the bottom area where the weather strip retainer attaches. The larger panel was not OE, and while I am sure it would work, I would never be happy knowing it was different than the right side... I went to a local sheet metal shop and had a sheet of 20 guage cut and a couple of lips bent to make a new outer door skin. This way I will have full access to the inside of the door to correct it's ills. I did reweld the nuts to the lower hinge bracket replacement I ordered. The two very small tacks on the nuts were just begging to fail. I would not have been happy to have them come off after I had the door all buttoned up. I will start to tear into the door in a week or so.
In the mean time, we have been doing some mechanical work. I was able to free up all of the exhaust/intake bolts, and will be pulling it in preparation to either replacing it or welding it. I have not made up my mind yet on this yet. We did remove and ordered new rubber brake lines for both front wheels and the rear hose. They actually all looked pretty good, but with the age, and a single reservoir, it just makes me feel better with new hoses on it. I was able to go to a NAPA in a rural community that still had all of the old catalogs. My local store was not very helpful. With the brake hoses off, We took the opportunity to remove the kingpins. I have a replacement 1/2 ste, and a full set on order. At least I can get the bushings in and get them reamed to size this week. The new pins are nice and snug in the axle, so I was pleased. I used to change king pins all the time when I was working on school buses, but I have not done any in 40 years! #@$#. When the axle is back together we will probably continue on detailing the engine and accessories.
