The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop AD Body Reassembly

I have my '50 3100 frame completed with the upgraded rear end and new front disc brakes installed. The new engine is in and the stock front end is completed. Engine is dialed in and running and the driveline is turning fine. I'll finish the exhaust system this weekend pretty much wrapping up the engine & driveline work. I'm ready to begin the body work. With the cab still on the frame I replaced the cab corners, rockers and inner/outer cowl panels last year. The cab is on a dolly and all the rest of the sheet metal is off, stored and ready for blasting or dipping. I had a guy come by last week who is supposed to be a top notch body man and he tells me to reassemble everything on the frame to make sure it fits. When I'm sure the fits are good then disassemble the body again and give him a call. I can drop the sheet metal off for the metal work and painting.

Now I can see reassembling the doors to the cab and checking the fits. Given I replaced quite a bit of metal in the cab I need to make sure everything fits up. But reassemble the whole body?

I'm looking for some guidance here as this seems like a ton of work. Is this really required? I would like to hear from others that have done a frame off and get their opinions. This is my first frame off and I'm not a body man. And I don't have a problem with this if it's really necessary.

Opinions please and thanks!

Under the for what it's worth category, my 53 has been with the body guy for repair and re-work. I am going to his shop to mock up the body to make sure all the panels fit after being re-worked. Everything on this truck is original except the front bed panel, the angle strips on the bed, and the rear cross sill. Once everything has been fitted it will be disassembled, and go to the painter and have a first coat of color shot, then reassembled for 3 more coats. This is the way the body guy and painter said they wanted to handle it and I agreed to do it.
Mike

jss1956, I'm a step or two ahead of you in some places and a few steps behind in others. I'm doing a frame off on my 1950 3100 and have been at it for almost 2 years. The engine is done, I've installed a T-5 transmission, hydraulic clutch, replaced the rear end and installed disc brakes up front. I have not started the engine yet because I don't have the spare cash right now to replace the leaky radiator. (and turning that key for the first time scares the hell out of me)

I had the body work done by two different guys (see earlier posts about that...) and it's being painted right now. I wish I had reassembled everything after it had been straightened and primered before paint went on because I'm finding the fit isn't perfect and I'm going to start to have to hammer and drill on fresh paint to make it all fit.

The tricks I've heard are to drill 1/8" holes in the door hinges to make door alignment easier during final reassembly, and keep detailed notes on shims in each bolting spot. If done properly, final reassembly should be a breeze. Mine won't be as I didn't do the middle step. I'll let you know how it goes as the rest of my body panels are being dropped off this weekend.

I just completed a frame off restoration of a '50 3100. I replaced cowls, corners, etc. Yes, it is a lot of work, and yes, it is essential to test fit everything before final disassembly and paint. You would be amazed how things might have moved that you don't believed you even touched. With an AD truck every move of any part, cab, hood, doors, fenders, etc ... will effect the final fit. I reassembled and disassembled my truck numerous times before final paint and every time there was something to tweak. You do not want to find this out when everything is in final paint.

I finally had time to drop the hood on my truck to see how everything fits and to start lining up panels. Well, neither fender touches the hood. It all seems really close, but not close enough.
fender seems

Are there any body "gurus" out there with any advice to line these fenders up a little better?

Very first post hope this works!! recently finished my 3100 see gallery photos. I cannot stress more highly the need to fit and refit all panels before final paint. My truck was apart and together 4-5 times before final (in primer) assembly. Having done that many pre fits the assembly in paint was brilliant. everything lined up and gapped correctly , virtually no scratches except minor ones where front guards slip under the inner panel (2 bolts). If your body man says it needs to be done, it should be, if not you are only asking for trouble down the track. Do you want to look back when its finished and the gaps are wrong , you will be forever kicking yourself for not going the extra yard. Faults cannot be un done

Well, I'm honored to be your first post. I hope you've been lurking long enough to see it's a great site with lots of information.

On to the body panels. I understand it's better to fit everything in primer, but as you can see from the pics, it's a little late for that. The painter was over 2 hours away and wanted to finish everything once before bringing parts back. He is going to go over the truck one more time once it's assembled to really make it shine and fix any scratches I put in it during assembly.

The gap between the fender and hood; the front is pretty good. the back needs help. How did you close up that gap by 1/4 to 1/2 inch?

Not sure I can help with the gap problem . What I will do is print your photo and have a chat to Perry who did my bodywork and see if he has any suggestions. I gather the guard is bolted up snug at the moment? Were any panels replaced in that area to make the cab panel shrink back. As the fender is curved with another panel inside it is unlikely that is out of alignment due to it's inherent strength being curved. A guess would be the body is out compared to the guard. Maybe a combination of physical pressure gently over the length of the mis-fit with a lever or prybar and good pair vise grips. Will take photo to perry tomorrow and be back online this friday day , thursday night your time regards
andrew

Yes, some panels were replaced during the build. I had a body-guy (term used very loosely) replace the inner cowl and inner-to-outer cowl on both sides. For some unknown reason, the guy filled in the fender bolt holes in the outer cowl during the process. At the time, I knew I needed to line everything up before I could figure out where to redrill those bolt holes.

So, at this time, the fenders are bolted to the inner fenders and those are bolted to the firewall. There is a little play between the bottom of the fender and the cab, but if I raise the fender up more, it will be totally above the curved indent in the cab cowl.

Does anyone have any close up pictures of the fender where it meets the cowl and hood?

If the profile of the outer cowl changes at all, the fender wil not fit properly. Don't ask me how I know. I think prefitting is necessary. It is even a good idea to include the hood.

Show him what you've showed us and ask him to fix it. My guess is to slice the inner to outer panel in half vertically and spread out the cowl to meet the fender and then weld in a filler panel. The fender is what it is so you need to pull the cowl out. I think I'm on my fourth fit up and agree it is a must. Good luck Red.

Well, the answer to the right side is that the back of the fender needs to come up a little. Presto. That side is solved. No cutting or additional scratches involved.

The left side may not be so easy. Lifting the fender did help the hood gap but the fender to cowl fit still isn't right. After the first body guy showed me his "expertise", I wouldn't let him touch my truck again, no matter what I paid for his services. The money is gone and the damage is done. Lesson learned.

I may take your advice, Curt B, and try to remove a pie out of the inner-to-outer cowl panel and see if I can mash the end in a bit. My new body guy may flip when he sees he needs to fix some paint though. Oh well.

What's a little weld burn on a fresh coat of paint?! It'll give it character!