It has been awhile but I'm finally back on the truck after chasing a few other projects. I've been dreading this part so maybe I have just been putting other things first to delay it. It is time to pull the body back off the frame so I can do some welding and other things that I could not do due to poor access with them together. It is tough to pull things back apart after you have spent so much time getting them together....but it must be done. I have been keeping a list of items that need attention when I got them separated so that I don't miss anything but the odds are pretty good that misses will happen anyway.
So first I pulled off the front sheet-metal and removed the dummy engine & trans and then removed the body bolts and started jacking up the body off the frame. Once the body was up high enough I then sistered three 2x6 boards to make a beam, built it up locally to clear the sides of the body and built up my shoring blocks on the floor to fit accordingly. I then bolted the body thru the beams with 3/8 dia all-thread rod so it was fairly stable while I rolled the frame from under the body.
With the body and frame apart, I then had to strip the frame. Once the frame was bare then the first big job was to finish boxing the frame as well as completing some of the areas where the pieces were just tacked in place. I did the top side first and I then ground down all the welds on that side. Once the top side was complete then I went ahead and flipped the chassis over so I can get to the bottom side easier. That is where I got to on Saturday. Tomorrow the plan is to finish the bottom side which will mean that the frame is about 99% complete (knock on wood) minus the final primer and paint. Then I'll hop over the body to do the same sort of thing on it.
1949 Chevy Panel Truck A Project Journal I'm old but I make up for it by being immature.
