The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Front Clip Assembly

I am painting the cab of my 1950 3100 in a couple of days. All other parts are already painted. I found this post by Nuts&Bolts that seems like a good plan. Would building the clip on the floor and installing as an assembly be a better option or not? All the sheet metal is original to this truck. I am obviously trying to avoid scratching the fresh paint and hurling tools across the shop.
This was supposed to be a "Make it Safe and Drive it" project I don't know how all the sheet metal got strewn about the shop!

Jackie

Putting it on in one piece is simpler. Just make sure you have plenty of help on assembly day and use lots of painters tape on the seams to prevent scratches.

Weird...My truck seemed to self explode all over my shop too.
I agree with Martin. I haven't installed anything finish painted yet, but during mockup, priming, I have found that assembling separate and then install the whole clip easier. Have a lot of hands on deck for install.

With new paint, you will need at least 2 extra people which you thoroughly trust to keep the the rear of the fenders from gouging the cab and and hitting the running board brackets.
Personally I do not see how the entire front clip can be pre-assembled off of the truck any easier than assembling the pieces individually on the truck.
I thoroughly understand how it makes sense to remove an existing front clip from a truck, then putting it back on the truck as one piece, but that is an entirely different scenario.
My 15 cents (adjusted for inflation).
Carl

Been there - done that - with two careful people, who know every angle the of the 1954 front-end sheet metal.

Maybe it's different with a big bolt (bigger fenders?)but I don't see how you can get the alignment of parts close enough for a hood closing fit by assembling the front clip on the floor first.
On the '48 2 ton, assembling the individual pieces separately, shimming the radiator mount, moving the fenders up and down on the front or rear, adjusting the bracing rods and aligning the hood, took days. Finally getting the hood to close with out rubbing or scratching anything, even spaces all around and the hood release to work perfectly, was a monumental task.
It did get much closer after I threw the new hood hinges into the scrap and rebuilt the original ones, but still.

Jim the "Trick" is to leave everything loose enough that it can be adjusted as the process moves forward. Even putting it on as one piece things get a bit fiddly. It just makes getting at some of the bolts/nuts easier to get to for the assembly process.

As Johnny Cash said "One Piece at a Time" and don't clamp down tight. Use tape and you may need shims. Putting together ahead has no advantage. Build-on-truck is safer, easier and less guys. The experts on TV don't pre assemble front clip. Otherwise you need four guys to hold a loose goose in position while four more guys start all the bolts. (I don't have 8 friends)
In other words: I agree with what 15¢Carl said.

"Making" a bottle or can of touch up paint is advisable while paint/products are still available. Don't stress if you chip a little. Keep going, you are the only one who is going to see it.

I think I'm going with the Johnny Cash method!

I would suggest one piece at a time and using green tape in places that are likely to get scratched. At some point the hood will be needed to align everything. I undid the mount under the rad and used the support rods that go from the firewall to the fenders to draw the front clip into position. When everything fit I made my own rubber shims for under the front mount.

Besides the assembly manual and repair manuals, has anyone made a thread or published an assembly sequence for the complete front end (Advanced design)? I would assume, it is best to keep the running boards,front bumper and brackets off to ease assembly

Here is what I came up with to keep my mind right for this task.
I read the Manual and wrote down the procedures in my own language.

AD Front Clip Adjustment Procedure
(This procedure is for when all front clip is on the truck.)
1) Loosen all nuts and bolts associated with the front clip. ALL of them. VERY loose.
a) Completely remove the bolts which attach the rear of the inner fenders to the toe board (right side) and the parking brake bracket (left side). Removing these bolts will make it much easier to move the fenders around. Once the front clip has been adjusted and bolts tightened, these bolts can easily be replaced.
b) Drop the fenders as low as possible at the rear. This will give you room to accurately adjust the hood without interference with the fenders.

c) Adjust Fender Skirt to Dash Brace Rods.
1/2 and 3/4 ton: left 27 ¼”, right 27”.
1, 1 ½, 2 ton: left 27 ½”, right 27 ¼”


2) Hood Adjustment.
a) Prop hood open with an appropriate length of wood.
b) Loosen outer hinge bolts completely (one on each side, outside of cab).
c) Remove hood supports (springs).
d) Loosen inner hood hinge bolts (two each side, inside cab). Leave these bolts just snug so that hinge can just be moved by jarring or exerting pressure on the hood.
e) Remove hood lock plate.
f) Adjust hood fore and aft to obtain 1/8” to ¼” gap between rear edge of hood and cowl edge.
g) If hood gap is not even, or not tight against the cowl rubber seal, add or remove shims between radiator support and frame cross member and tighten radiator support bolts to 5 ft. lbs.
h) Lift front of hood and place a 4” block under hood nose to hold it up.
i) While forcing rear of hood down tightly on hood rubber seal, and ensuring that rear edge of hood-to-cowl is correct and even, tighten inner hood hinge bolts (two each side).
j) Remove wood block, lower hood and check hood fit at cowl.
k) Tighten outer hood hinge bolts (one on each side).
l) Attach hood supports (springs) to hood. With hood supported by hood supports, tighten bolts to dash. This bolt tightening procedure will prevent one hood support from being fully locked in the open position, while the other being in the partially open position.
m) Replace hood lock plate just snug, and push to the rear. Drop hood to closed position. This will center hood lock plate. Raise hood, move lock plate forward 1/32” and tighten lock plate screws.

3) Adjust front clip to fit properly adjusted hood.
a) Make sure that ALL front clip bolts are loose.
b) Raise the rear of the fenders until they contact the rubber bumpers on the underside of the hood along the sides. Tighten fender-to-cowl bolts.
c) Raise hood. Tighten fender-to-inner fender bolts.
d) Carefully lower hood and check for clearance between where the hood nose meets the fenders. The fender/inner fender assembly can be moved inboard or outboard to gain proper gap by adjusting the Fender Skirt to Dash Brace Rods.
e) Tighten remaining loose bolts.

Carl, Thank you endlessly for taking the time to type this out for me. I have already printed it out and laminated it and put on my shop/garage wall. My truck body and panels are all stripped to bare metal and waiting for the weather to change before I start laying down the primer. I have read so many war stories on this part of the restoration, I even kept all the shims and the orientation to have a starting point. My sheetmetal had never been disassembled and fit very well, so I feel like I have a leg up right now with your procedure, a good feeling! This type of commitment on your behalf to others is what makes this one of the best forums on the net, IMHO.
Steve

You are welcome. I have benefited so much from the generous instruction by others on this site that I felt that it was time to pay it forward.
If you will be doing ANY metal work to your body parts, I strongly recommend that you fit the entire front clip on the truck before you paint it. The parts will change shape from body work and you don't want to have to muscle them into place once they are painted.
This extra step is a pain, but not as much as it is when your painted parts don't fit.
Carl

Thank you Carl. That is a really good idea, In for a nickle in for a dime. Fabbing it up is no trouble at all. Like they say it is the journey not the destination that counts. At least I keep telling myself that.
Steve