Doing the floors, I just kept a jack under the pillar to keep it close to where it should be, because I still had the floor support bolt holes to locate it with. But I also took a measurement from a door hinge to the bottom of the rocker to make sure it went back in the same place. Also hung the door before welding the rocker up to verify the gappage. Everything seemed to by fine with the cab roof, but I thought that it had sprung when I sighted down each side of the cab (front to back, lining up the front pillar to the back side of the cab) to compare them. I saw that the drivers' side pillar was at a different angle and seemed to be out a t the top, so I put a come-a-long on it and pulled it in until both sides looked even. Got the patches put in and was putting the roof skin on and had to shave the drivers side front corner to make it fit; so it had always been that way and not sprung after all... Which is fine, I know that when this is done mine will be the most critical eye and if I had seen that pillar at a different angle then, it would drive me nuts. I also put the old windshield back up to it to verify that it wasn't too drastically different. I think I remember, during disassembly, that that corner didn't fit the glass too well.
Tackled the cab corner, something, sometime, hit the door and moved along to the corner and tried to fold it on over. I got a patch panel for it and briefly had fantasies about seeing if I could straighten out the rest. My limitations were quickly shown to me and I ended up making the little patch above and also another at the back side.Pretty happy with how it turned out. It's so nice to not see all those wrinkles....
A little heads up to anyone doing the roof job... When I had it off, I went over it pretty good with a hammer and dolly taking out dents and such, so when I got the skin put back on and welded up ,I was quite disappointed to see some rather large dents along the back edge. Silly me just went ahead and started trying to pull them out with the stud welder and saw that that wasn't gonna cut it. Then I realized that, when I was cutting the spot welds during removal, sometimes the cutter got too close to the wall that is roof side of the drip rail groove and cut into it. Then when welding it up, the weld shrinkage pulling on the bottom of that small vertical wall put those big dents up top. Fortunately, some gentle beating on the top corner of the roof back there above the offending weld plannished them back out, except of course for the one that I tried the stud welder on....
Been so busy at work and at home on the truck ,I haven't had the time keep you all updated. I started out doing some repair work on the doors and fenders so I could get them mounted and check the gaps. Drivers' side door was pretty bad between my repair on the rear pillar and the door skin, took a little welding to build up the edges and get it closer.
Got it to where I felt that the gaps were good enough for my taste all the way around then stripped everything and tried to get it all faired out and ready for primer.
Then I caught the Corona and was down for a couple weeks, but that meant I had to stay home for about a month and when I got better, I hit it hard and got it in paint.
Finally got the bed and tailgate painted and am celebrating the end of paint and bodywork, Woo Hoo! Then did some final alignment of body panels and the fun of re-assembling the cab interior, so nice to see it coming together.
WOW! Excellent work! Looks great! Once I get my drive train taken care of, I will be doing body work myself. My neighbors will not be liking me one bit, as I have no garage. My work time will be limited, and I won't be able to leave things out or sitting there waiting for me to return to pick up where I left off, I have to drag everything out from the backyard, and back to the backyard each day, but it is what it is, and it needs to be done for the truck to be completely solid. Seeing the work you did, that gives me some confidence that i can do it, too.
Shane
Shane's Toys... 2007 Forester XT Limited (2nd Owner) 1991 Cherokee Laredo (2nd Owner) 1981 Chevy 3/4 Ton Fleetside 8,600 Camper Special (3rd Owner) 1965 Chevy 3/4 Ton Fleetside (3rd Owner)
my '63 customcab had full gauges including a factory tach
Larry Old man᠁Old truck᠁neither one goes very fast. All you need in life is TIME, PATIENCE and MONEY. If you are missing one component, you'll need an abundance of the others two.
WOW! Excellent work! Looks great! Once I get my drive train taken care of, I will be doing body work myself. My neighbors will not be liking me one bit, as I have no garage. My work time will be limited, and I won't be able to leave things out or sitting there waiting for me to return to pick up where I left off, I have to drag everything out from the backyard, and back to the backyard each day, but it is what it is, and it needs to be done for the truck to be completely solid. Seeing the work you did, that gives me some confidence that i can do it, too.
Thanks for the compliments! Doing it in your driveway like that is going to be challenging, but the key component in body work is patience. At least you won't be stinking up the house!
Very nice work. Great to see the progress and that you are plugging along with the project. What is the name of the color? Looks great!
~ Billy Old Dominion Stovebolt Society: Exotic Animal Division 1946 Chevrolet Cab Over Engine | In the Gallery | Video | More pictures 1959 GMC 860 | Pictures 1950 GMC 450 FlatbedW/W, Air Brake equipt (25% Owner) | Pictures 1950 Chevrolet 3800 | Pictures I've got a trailer and I'm not afraid to use it!
Well, I am very near completion. I got the new tires mounted after cleaning and painting the rims, finally got the brakes working, and was able to do a little driving around town! However, there are more parts coming for the turn signals, parking brake, and a kit to rebuild the steering gear. Also on the schedule is to regear the diffs. to improve the fuel mileage.
Oh what a feeling to have reached this point! I am very happy with it!
