The Stovebolt Site Forums Project Journals Project Journals 1953 Chevy 3100 - Restoring the Basketcase

Hi Everyone,

Gray Ghost here. Not new to the forums, but new to the project journals section. After a good discussion in a thread that I started in the paint and body shop section, I decided to start a project journal dedicated to my attempts to fix the cab of my 1953 3100. For those interested in the back story the link is here.

My plan for the journal is to be brutally honest in everything that I do. The hope is that I can help someone else down the line. In that light, I plan to post as many pics as possible and thorough descriptions of each.

So, starting things off with my brutal honesty, I'll have to admit that I'm learning this as I go. I was never exposed to metal working growing up. I took woodshop in junior high and have been a woodworker ever since. I'm comfortable with those tools and processes. Metal working skills are something that I'm hoping to develop "on the side" as I try to mock up the replacement metal panels on my truck. Specifically, I need to learn how to weld. I've purchased some sheet metal stock from the local home stores and have begun practicing on that metal. My initial impressions are that it is not an intuitive skill set. Watching videos online to get an idea and then practicing in the garage are how I'm going about learning. We'll see how that all goes.

My first actions regarding the cab are to document exactly what I've got when I'm starting. This documentation will consist of both photos and measurements. The discussion in the referenced link centered around preserving the dimensions of the door opening, referred to as "the ring of death." A somewhat ominous name, but I get it. If the cab shifts during my deconstruction or reconstruction, the door won't fit properly. Same goes for how the front sheet metal fits to the cab.

My initial plan for bracing the cab failed as soon as I took the doors off.... All 4 door hinge mounts were damaged beyond use. The plan had been to use the lower hinge bolts to secure a brace from side to side. Since the hidden hinge mounts weren't usable, I can't brace using them. Also, those parts are not reproduced, so I'll have to make them myself. Fortunately, they appear to be sheet metal that is bent to a specific shape and weld nuts installed for the hinges to bolt into. I already have replacement bolts and weld nuts, so it's a matter of drawing out the dimensions of the hinge bracing, making the appropriate bends in the metal, drilling the correct size holes in the correct locations and welding the weld nuts in place. Then those hinge mounts can be welded into the hinge pillars.

My next entry should be about documenting the current state of the cab. Attached are a few pics showing what I'm dealing with.

As you read through my journal, please feel free to offer advise, suggestions and/or criticisms. I'm going to need all the support that I can get to be successful in this undertaking.

Thanks,

Mike

My cab was similar, although I didn't have as much rust in the lower door hinge pockets. There are replacements for those, although they don't have the inner metal and weld nuts. But those are pretty straightforward and the bends can be done on a sheet metal brake. I was able to brace across the cab with a piece of angle between the upper bolts on the lower hinges.

I have a pic of the steering wheel from the left front wheel well on mine. And both front cab mounts were gone. You can review what I went thru on the photo link in my signature.

You can do it. We're here to help over the years it will take you.

A journey like this makes you stand back and smile for a long time when its finished. I spent 7 years on a 37 back in the 90's and 6 years on a panel. yes it can be done and there is a lot of satisfaction that YOU did it and not just someone who just writes checks. As Kevin says, we are all here to help. I've been around here since late 90's and its a fantastic group.

....that being say, you may want to look around for another cab. They all will probably need work but you can lessen the pain just a little. Keep check in the swap meets for parts for sale and parts wanted. You will be surprised what comes up from time to time....just check every day.

Good luck, see you around the garage.

Well, I have subscribed to this thread you have started Mike. And if you haven't seen this yet, this is one of my favorite links here on the Stovebolt that goes into the details of working with sheet metal.

Mig welding tips & tricks for Sheet Metal

Looking forward to your progress!

David

Hi Everyone,

Well, I finally got into the garage and made some measurements of the cab. I chose reference points that I could physically identify and easily find. I only chose 1 FAM welding check sheet point, as it also referenced a physical, easily identifiable point. Most of the points referenced are not based on a physical landmark. Instead, they reference the 0 line, which was likely on an assembly jig or they reference the "FOD" or front of dash. I could not find anything that defined FOD as a physical point, so it was up to the person taking the measurement as to where and how the measurement was taken. At least that's how it seems to me. If I'm wrong, please let me know.

Anyway, I've attached a pdf of a spreadsheet with the measurements that I've taken. They (the measurements) do show some interesting points. First, the door openings seem to be consistent from driver to passenger side. That seems encouraging to me. If the massive amount of rust through didn't change the dimensions of the openings, maybe I've got a shot.... Second, the frame to underside of the floor shows the cab leaning from driver to passenger side. That data confirms what is visually apparent. The difference isn't that much, but it is there.

On a different, but related topic, my welding might be improving.... First the background: my thought is that since I'm going to be cutting out a bunch of spot welds, I'll need to do a bunch of plug welds to attach the new metal. This means that I'm leaning towards total panel replacement instead of cutting the new panels to only replace the exact area with rust. My rationale for this approach is that I think it will be more difficult to weld a butt weld seam than it would to make a series of plug welds. If that approach is correct, I'm thinking it will improve my chances of success. On top of that, when you look at the worst of the rusted out areas, I would estimate that 75% or more of the patch panel would be required. So using the whole panel just made more sense to me. Having said that, I'm actually practicing doing plug welds and welding the seams between the practice metal pieces.

What I'm doing to practice my welding is to cut off about a 2" strip of metal from a sheet I bought at the home store. Then, I use the spot weld cutter to add several holes. I then add a flange to the base piece of metal and use sheet metal screws to connect the first piece to the second, placing the plug weld holes over the flange. Then I try to make the welds, starting with the edges of the holes, making my way around the perimeter and ultimately filling the hole. Once I've done all of the holes, I check the underside for signs of weld penetration. I'm also trying to keep a note on each piece as to wire speed and electrical setting. I'm using a Harbor Freight flux core welder (I know, some of you just fainted, but I am on a serious budget), so I can only adjust the electrical as "min" or "max". I think that I actually am making progress in doing better. I find that actually seeing where I want to make the welds is the most challenging aspect, so far. Switching to using the spot weld cutter instead of the hole puncher on the flange tool helped me see things better. Hopefully, I will continue to improve as I practice more. The bad thing is the outside temps right now. It's just too hot to wear a welding jacket, gloves and a helmet for any length of time right now. So I try to get out there early, make some practice welds and get back inside to cool off. That's probably how it will go until the temps moderate some.

I'm attaching the spreadsheet with my measurements and pics of the latest welding attempt, both front and back. As always, I welcome your thoughts. Just bear in mind that I'm a noob at all of this and learning as I go along. I really wish the local votech school would offer standalone classes for welding. Instead, it is a part of a full automotive curriculum.

That's all for now.

A hot afternoon was a good time to do the first layout of the hinge pocket. My goal was to use one piece of metal for as much of it as possible. So I approached it as though I was building a cardboard box. After laying it out on paper, I transferred it to poster board and cut it out. I then made the folds and taped it to the patch panel so that I could locate the bolt holes. After locating the holes, I punched them out and used the new bolts and weld nuts to attach it to the patch panel. Pics below.

Take aways from this first try: I know that the hinge pocket is not centered in the hinge pillar. So driver side and passenger side will have to be made specifically for each side. Also, the flanges that stabilize the hinge pocket were spot welded onto the pocket by GM. I'm hoping to make the pocket out of a single piece of metal, which cuts down on the welding that I have to do.... Based on the pics, you can see that I need to tweak the lengths of the top and bottom flanges. All in all, I think that this is doable for me. Baby steps for sure, but I have to start somewhere.

OBTW, the reason that the mockup looks skewed is because my hole puncher wouldn't reach far enough in to make the exact hole that I needed. The real pocket will be drilled out on a drill press, so it'll be straight.

Hi Everyone,

Got some time in the garage today and took a stab at translating my paper hinge pocket into metal. As a reminder, I have no metal working experience. So I'm learning as I go. I bought a sheet of 22 gauge metal at the home store and laid out 2 of the hinge pockets. If these are successful, I'll only need 2 sheets of metal, total, to make all of the replacement hinge pockets. After doing the lay out, I drilled out the relief holes where the bends will be made. Next, I used the metal shears and cut out the shape. After that, I used the hillbilly metal bending technique, because I don't have a press brake. Because the 22 gauge metal is thinner than the 16 and 18 gauge metal that I've been practicing my welding on, I was able to bend it according to the layout. Then it was just a matter of fitting it into the replacement hinge pillar part, marking the bolt holes and drilling them out. Once that was done, I did a test fit with the correct hinge, replacement hinge pillar and newly fabbed hinge pocket. All in all, not bad for a first try. I'll go back and dress the edges of the hinge pocket to remove sharp edges and sort of square things up. I'm not too worried about it being perfect.

Now, about that 22 gauge metal. I really don't know what the purpose of the hinge pocket is. Will 22 gauge metal be strong enough or do I need to do a final version in thicker metal? I'd like to hear opinions backed up, if possible, with engineering type of rationale.

Thanks, everyone. A few pics included. Enjoy.

Nice work!

I think you'll be fine with the 22 gauge metal. It's a bit thinner than what was originally used, but not enough to make a real difference in my opinion. I don't think the hinge pockets really add much structural strength. The earlier trucks had an additional hinge bolt back there, but Chevy apparently eliminated those bolts around '50. The originals were probably 19 gauge (0.042"), so your 22 gauge isn't that much thinner at 0.03".

It's probably better for this discussion to not call the piece you are making "the hinge pocket". It is part of the A pillar/hinge pillar design. The design of the overall pillar has a recess/pocket for the hinge mounting brackets/flanges. I also has a "pocket" opening for the hinge mechanism to extend into and a nut plate/bracket/gusset. In order to replace your rusted sections of the A pillar, you are making a part that strengthens the pillar face for a VERY HEAVY door that, when opened, is cantilevered/hung off the A pillar. The door has to came back to the same position with little or no sag.
Your piece serves two purposes. 1. Provide floating cage nuts and 2. Extend forward to pick up an additional support for the door mounting. It probably extends to the "front" of the pillar and is bolted to the cowl/firewall structure. I don't see that hole in your mock up, I do see it in your original piece. Kevin says the hole was eliminated at some point. That piece you are making would have no real purpose of it is not attached somewhere. So that needs to be clarified here. Refer to the FAM for actual design. I don't have an AD truck or a FAM. The design of these hinge mounting portions of the A pillar are very important and repair should follow the original design and metal thickness.

Regarding your great effort to build the bracket/gusset piece, I see you have bend reliefs (notches) at 90 deg corners. That is necessary. It is not necessary or advisable at the other bends. You are losing strength by doing that.

I realize we all use the term hinge pocket, but it's an opening that has several pieces. Some of which are available, some not.

Bartamos,

Very interesting observation! In reviewing the first pics, I see the hole that you are referring to. I did not take anything out of that hole, so I'll have to rely on others who have more experience to tell me if that is supposed to attach to something else. I agree with your point, though. That's why I stated that I couldn't figure out the real purpose of that part. I'll get back out there tomorrow and see if I can figure something out.

In checking the FAM, the correct name is "hinge pillar reinforcement." It is identified on section 1 sheet 35.00. At least that's the first time that I could find it. Interestingly enough, it does show the hole in the rear of the piece. It does not, however, show any connection related to that hole. At least in that drawing. I did not notice any other references to or drawings of that piece in the FAM.

It sounds as though you would recommend making the piece out of a thicker piece of metal. I can certainly try to do that. Thicker would seem to offer more structural strength and/or rigidity to the pillar, even if no other connection is made through that hole. It seems to me, that as a reinforcement piece, having it spot welded to the pillar above and below the weld nuts and spot welded to the sides of the pillar, as GM did it originally, does offer more structural rigidity. Even if nothing is bolted to it. Would it be enough to hold that door? I don't know.

Thanks for the feedback! Keep it coming! I'm definitely going out to look for that connection, or the remnants of it.... I'll also take a swing at making a new version with thicker metal.

I couldn't remember whether that piece welded anywhere but the face of the hinge pillar. But after reviewing my photos (see attached), it's actually a 3 piece assembly. The part that goes behind the hinge just serves as a doubler for the nuts on the face of the pillar (and for the older trucks that use a bolt at the bottom of the pocket, for the 4th bolt). There are two separate pieces that appear to be heavier gauge that weld to the larger piece and the flanges of the door pillar. You made them in one piece, but I think you could just bend up two pieces to reinforce the door pillar flanges and act as doubler plates for the nuts. The bottom of the pocket serves very little purpose if there's no bolt there.
The nuts attached to the pillar are not floating cage nuts, but are welded solid to the pillar.

However the factory had it, is how you want it. I see the straps you guys are taking about. That's good. Of course when the pillar cap is finally welded to the rest of the pillar, including the kick panel and cowl/firewall, it becomes a box, which is a strong shape. The problem is when you cut a big old hole in it, it weakens it right where you want it strong. So just invoke Government spec MIL-T-FP41c and you will be OK.
That area is the wrong place to use lesser thickness metal.

Kevin, I see now they are just non floating nuts. They had to shave one side to clear the bracketry.

I guess that hole in the front is due to using stamped parts already tooled or it's a fixture hole. I don't know if it was ever used.

I agree that you should match the factory steel thickness if you have it.

That hole in the front was apparently used for a 4th bolt on earlier trucks. One of the guys just recently reported having a bolt there. Link

Hi Everyone,

A quick update in my journal.... I got some garage time today and think I'm making progress. Following suggestions from the internet, I switched out the welding wire that came with my welder and went with a national name brand of wire. It is not hyperbole to say that it was a night and day difference! The new wire seems to burn hotter than the old wire, while using the same settings, and the weld spot actually looks like a real weld spot! I'm also flanging down on how long to hold the trigger down to achieve that nice weld spot. If in fact, I've figured out how to do that, it seems like it should be nothing more than lots of practice to develop the muscle memory and become consistent. I'm couching all of this as a future, potential, because I haven't had time to weld one whole seam and then put it in the vise and beat on it to test the strength of my welds. That'll be my next project. However, family commitments will keep me from the garage for a couple of days.

Additionally, I've decided that the passenger side rocker panel is my first part to remove and replace. I spent some time finding all of the spot welds and marking them with a paint pen. Made circling back with the spot weld drill bit fast and easy. I've gotten all of them drilled out, except for one (or more) that are at the rear of the piece. I'm guessing that they are around or on the inner cab corner. When I get time, I'll crawl under the truck to look for those last remaining spot welds. On a good note, even with the other spot welds cut out, the door opening did not move any. I ran a tape measure on it and then on the door itself and it seems like it will still be a perfect fit. I'll chalk this up to "it's better to be lucky than good."

Anyway, that's all for now. If anyone can shed some light on where those rear spot welds are located, I'd appreciate it!

Thanks,

There may be some spot welds you just can’t get to with a drill. There are some that are sandwiched by the rear cab mount support and others to the top of the floor pan. You may need a long sawzall blade to cut it loose.

Kevin,

I'll look for those spot welds that you mention. I needed a saw blade to separate the rocker panel from the lock pillar, so using one for the last bit won't be a problem. At least from a thought perspective. Things seems kind of tight back there, so getting an actual sawzall into that space may be difficult. If so, I'll use the blade and cut it by hand. Any way, one step at at time. Thanks for the heads up.

Back in the garage this morning and made a little progress. I was able to cut the passenger side rocker panel out. I tried to test fit the replacement rocker panel into it's spot and wasn't able to fit it in place. It looks like the running board will have to be removed to make room for the rocker panel to be put into place. I've always resisted removing the running boards because I thought that the running board brackets would be knee knockers. However, it looks like I don't have a choice. So that will be my next adventure.... I've included a pic of the old rocker panel and yes, that is the bottom of the hinge pillar still attached to the rocker panel. It was rusted all the way across and had already separated from the top of the hinge pillar. Now, it's out of the way!

Hi Everyone,

I got some garage time today and made, what I consider, to be good progress. Today, I figured out the cause of the cab leaning to the passenger side. Using a floor jack and 2x4 under the rear cab floor support, I jacked up the cab of the truck. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the FAM shows the floor being 1.88 inches above the frame. With the rocker panel removed, it was easy to use the tape measure and determine the distance between the floor and frame. Once I got close to the desired distance, I visually checked the appearance of level from the rear of the truck. I couldn't believe it! The truck cab was level! I took a quick measurement from the garage floor to the bottom of the rear cab floor support and cut a scrap 2x6 to length. After repositioning the floor jack and temporary 2x4, I was able to brace the cab at the appropriate height with the 2x6. After that, I test tried to test fit the rocker panel. This time, it easily slipped into place, with the running board still attached.

What had happened, was that as the cab started to lean, it fell onto the running board. The running board was actually holding up the cab! Once I had established the correct clearance between the cab floor and frame, it re-established the separation between the rocker panel and running board.

This is one of those times where my limited time availability worked to my advantage. Being forced to wait between garage times allowed me to root around online and see some pics of other trucks. That's how I figured out that there should be a small space between the running board and cab rocker panel. The time also affords me the luxury of thinking things through.

I'm including a couple of pics showing the rocker panel removed and the first dry fitting of the part (sorry for the woodworking jargon). The white stripes on the replacement part are from a paint pen. They show the location of the holes in the new rocker panel that align with the factory holes for attaching the trim piece. Since I'm not replacing the rear of the cab floor (there's nothing wrong with it), it allows me a precise set of landmarks for aligning the rocker panel correctly. That is why I chose the rocker panel as the first part to replace. Those landmarks. Everything else will key off of the rocker panel and it will key off of those factory holes. In the pic that shows the rocker panel removed, notice how the floor area that surrounds the battery hole doesn't align with the front of the floor. It had separated due to rusting. Then notice after jacking the floor into position, bracing it and then dry fitting the rocker panel. The floor parts now align!

I'm taking that as a big win! Granted, it's just the first step in a 1,000 mile journey, but it is the first step. As always, comments and/or suggestions are welcome.

Good Job,Mike.

You're doing well on getting the cab back in shape.
Those pictures look very familiar.

Hi Everybody,

Got some garage time today and made some good progress. I decided to deal with the rear body mounting shackle while I had good access. This required a little rearrangement of the cab brace, but nothing too difficult. I had already been soaking the bolts with penetrating oil, so this morning, I tried to move them with a normal socket wrench. They seemed pretty stuck, so I went to the impact wrench. Easy peasy, off they came. Thankfully, the parts are very heavy duty, because they were pretty rusty! Separating the two halves of the shackle was equally easy with the impact wrench. Getting the old rubber bushings out wasn't as easy, but they did eventually come out. Sadly, when I got a look at the bolts that were in the rubber bushings it was clear that they had corroded significantly. So...they will get replaced. I will clean up the bracket portions of the assembly and likely replace the shackle portion of the assembly with the bolts and nuts. I'll clean them up first and see if they are salvageable, but I'm not holding my breath. Interestingly enough, when I took the shackle assembly off of the truck, two shims fell onto the ground. They were in good shape and I've saved them for reuse when installing the refurbished assembly back onto the truck.

That's all for now. As always, comments and/or suggestions are welcome.

Looks like you are making good progress. I am kind of in the same boat. I have a '65 C10 that needs a portion of the passenger floor pan, kick panel and rocker arm replaced. At this time I'm cutting out the rust.

I plan to purchase a MIG and learn how to use it just as you are doing. Therefore can you pls. elaborate on your welding setup? Did you already have a MIG? What brand/model are you using? You mentioned the new wire made a difference. What kind and diameter was the old wire and new?

Thank you

Kevin,

I'm using a cheapie flux core mig from Harbor Freight, that I bought many years ago...and never learned how to use. Initially, I was using the wire that came in the welder. I was making some progress in learning to weld with that welder and wire combo, but it was a bit slow. One of the most common "upgrades" that internet users said to make was switching out the wire for a better, name brand wire. I resisted doing it at first, but finally broke down and bought a reel of Lincoln wire. Actually, 2 reels.... The wire that came with the welder was 0.030, but the welder could also use 0.035 wire, so I bought that first. The welder flat out refused to feed that wire! I went through the setup and switched the feed wheel and tightened the pressure wheel (another internet hack) and nothing worked. So, I went and bought another reel, this time in 0.030. I switched the feed wheel back to the smaller diameter and got a very pleasant surprise! This wire was more conductive than the original wire and started the arc well above the metal! The original wire definitely had to touch to start the arc. The new wire seems to burn hotter, too.

From a technique perspective, I'm trying to "perfect" making a weld dot, versus laying down a continuous bead. The rationale for this is to avoid warpage of thin sheets. Procedurally, I will make a series of dots, moving from one end to the other and then filling in the space between them, trying to spread the heat evenly, while also taking breaks to avoid over heating. I've been buying sheets of 16 gauge weldable steel at my local home store and practicing on them. I found out very quickly that warpage is a real thing! It's been an interesting learning experience. Another thing that I learned is that an auto darkening helmet is way easier to use than a permanently dark one. I started with the permanently dark one and ultimately switched. I think it's safer, too, since I can get the electrode very close to where I want to weld without fear of accidentally striking an arc with my helmet not in place.

If I were just starting out, and was operating on the limited budget that I have now, I'd probably look at the newer Harbor Freight flux core mig that has adjustable power settings and has electrode negative dc capability. I may actually switch to that welder, time will tell. If I knew that I'd be working on more trucks at some point in the future, I might spring for a name brand welder. But for me personally, the HF equipment is functional and does the job that I need to get done. Of course, I'd also switch that wire....

I hope this helps, everything here is just my opinion. Others will likely disagree and may offer other opinions and/or suggestions. That is fine, too. Good luck in your learning! I've found it very rewarding when I make the weld dots correctly and the metal pieces are actually joined together.

I found this website very helpful when I started welding.
https://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/mig-welding-videos.html

Thank you for the info. From all the youtube videos I have watched and things I've read, it seems that an amateur like myself can do a passable job. I'm not trying to build a show truck. I think you are right to take your time and keep everything cool.

I'm doing all of my cutting with a an angle grinder. One thing I have quickly learned is that it takes some practice with it in order to not butcher up everything (including yourself). I'm trying to make precise cuts with it to make the welding job easier.

I look forward to reading more of your log. Thanks again.

Hey Everyone,

A quick update today. I am able to salvage the shackle pieces! The bolts are shot, but the sides are so beefy that they'll clean up and still be plenty strong enough to use. I want to provide a big shoutout to Paul65 for providing the link for shoulder bolts in this thread. Mine arrived today and I did a quick test fit and it's perfect.

I did end up wasting a bunch of time trying to grind off the end of the bolt. I was going to use a punch to drive the bolt through the shackle. Turns out, I didn't need to do that. All I needed to do was to flip it over and drive it out from the threaded end.... Oh well, live and learn.

I did some initial rust removal, too. That's how I know that the shackle parts are salvageable. The rains from the remnants of Ida arrived while I was outside working, so no painting today. Once the rains pass by, I'll finish up the rust removal, do the painting and reassemble the complete shackle assembly. I'll post pics them.

Once again, I get to stand on the shoulders of others and succeed! OBTW, in case you were looking for those shoulder bolts, here's the direct link. Thanks, Paul65!!

As promised, here are the pics of the reassembled shackle. First two pics are before and the second two are after. I haven't installed it into the truck, yet, but hope to do so this long weekend. But first...time to grill up some beer can chicken! Happy Labor Day, everyone!

Update: I got the shackle installed (pic added), removed the rear bracing and the cab is sitting exactly where it should be. I'll call that a win and will now move onto the rear cab corners on the passenger side. Both inner and outer will need replacing.

Got some garage time today. It was slow going, but some progress was made. Before moving to the cab corners, I decided to do an initial fitting of the replacement floor pan. Before doing that, I decided that I would get rid of whatever was covering the original floor. I was concerned, since the truck is so old, that the coating was red lead paint. So, with that in mind, I took to the removal as carefully as I could. I did all of the removal by hand, sanding and wiping the dust up with a wet paper towel. Lather, rinse repeat until the entire passenger side floor was as clean as I could get it. After that, I coated it with the rust reformer paint. After the paint was dry, I laid out cut lines for removing the rusted out parts. The cut lines are visible in the attached pic. Before doing the cutting, I did do that test fit. It's pretty close, but not exact, so some finessing will likely be required. Not a surprise, based on all of the other write ups that I've seen here. Anyway, just the first fitting. Plenty more of that to come.

Hi Everybody,

Been away for a couple of weeks, but am back now and got some garage time the last couple of days. Good progress is being made! I've finished the fitting of the passenger side floor pan into the truck. It marries up to the rocker panel, under floor brace and the remaining floor structure nicely. It took me several days of finessing the part into place. Long story short, the existing floor structure had been bent at some time in it's past. There were both a high and low spot.... Once I finally figured that out, I massaged the old metal into better shape and the new floor pan stopped resisting. I think the low spot will require just a little more persuasion, and that's fine. Anyway, with everything fitting well enough, I got down to the business of locking it all down with sheet metal screws. As I mentioned earlier, I have no experience with doing a restoration of any vehicle. In fact, I don't even have experience in driving or riding in these trucks! So I don't know what I expected as to the rigidity of the floor or any other structure in the truck. My truck was always a little spongey feeling when I would climb into it. Those days are now gone! I am truly amazed at how rigid the floor structure became once the floor was screwed to the rocker, rear remaining floor, floor brace and remaining toe board.

So, what's next? Well, I'm going to take it all apart! As I mentioned above, there is still a little bit of fitting (low spot) left to do and the final cutting out of rusty metal. I put off the final cutting until I knew how and where the new metal would fit. After I get that work done, I'll reattach the parts, hopefully for good. I'm undecided if I'll weld them in right away or just use the sheet metal screws again and tackle the rear cab corners and hinge pillar first. Oh yeah, cab corners.... I changed my mind from my last post! I decided the floor was more important, plus I'll need to remove the bed to gain access to the full width of the cab corners. So, that'll happen down the road sometime.

Attached are a couple of pics. The first is where I started. Then, I've attached a couple with different angles of where I'm at today. As always, helpful comments, suggestions and questions are welcome.

Doggone good work. One your going to be proud of and you did it
Thanks for keeping us updsted.

Nice job
Brings back memories of restoring my floor.

Yep, I'm taking notes, just about to start the patch panels on my floor. Looks good.

OK, Everyone. Time for a welding update with a request for comments and suggestions. Attached are two pics of my latest practice attempt. I'm using two pieces of scrap metal that got cut off of the inner cowl patch panel, so they are exactly the same as I'll be welding when I do it for real.

In the pics, the first dot I made was at the bottom, the second was at the top and the last was in the middle.

I'll circle back and try to fill in the dots, then dress the welds to see how they look and then off to the ultimate test...putting it in the vise and whacking it with the old ball peen hammer. See if the metal bends before the weld breaks.

Anyway, I'd really like some feedback on what everyone thinks. Am I heading down the right path? If not, why not.

Thanks!

You're improving.

Your first two welds didn't get good penetration, but the middle one looks good to me. Not sure if you just need to turn up the heat or what, but give it another go.

Kevin, thanks! I think I'm getting close. I noticed the lack of penetration, too. I think it is because I was doing a butt weld, instead of a lap weld and I intentionally reduced my trigger time. The butt weld, for me, is the most challenging. I tend to burn through, especially if the gap is bigger than right next to each other. That's why you can see in the pics that the two pieces are exactly next to each other.... I am trying to challenge myself and not take an easy way out. Thanks for the feedback! I'll keep trying!

For a no-gap setup like you used, I use the highest or 2nd highest setting on my mig (out of 4) and then adjust the wire feed speed. Usually a 2-count blip does a pretty good job. If you're not getting good penetration, try either upping the amps, or reducing the wire feed speed with a longer duration. If you're burning thru, crank the wire feed speed up.
If the gap is larger, you'd need to adjust either the trigger time and/or increase wire feed speed.
Once you play with the settings a bit, you'll figure out what works best.

Kevin,

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll try them out tomorrow and see how I do. None of this is really intuitive to me and I appreciate the help!

Hey Everybody,

A quick update since its been a while.... I'm back in the garage after one planned and one unplanned medical interruption. It's life, that's the way it goes. Currently working on the initial fitting of the inner cowl panel to the replacement floor pan / toe board. Once again, not having any experience with these trucks puts me at a disadvantage. When I went to fit the inner cowl, I became confused. The floor pan had an angle built into it that reduced the width of the part. The angle started just after the inner cowl connection point by the hinge pillar. The new inner cowl piece did not have a corresponding angle. I tried flexing the part to make it fit, but that wasn't going to work. After much thought, I cut the inner cowl piece along the flange that mates up to the floor pan and bent it to match the angle. Then I cut a small piece of new metal and attempted to weld it to the new part. Keeping it honest, I managed to weld the two parts together, but it wasn't pretty. There was a bunch of back and forth trying to get it to fit correctly and I think I'm mostly there. I know, I should have asked. Someone can tell me if I messed up and if I need to buy a new inner cowl. Assuming that I don't need a new one (it does fit nicely against the floor pan and toe board...) it will be time to cut out the remaining rot on the original inner cowl panel. Once that is done and I'm happy with the fit of the replacement inner cowl, I'm going to finally address the hinge reinforcement pieces. My new strategy there will be to rehabilitate the original pieces and not replace them. I think that will work.

Different subject: how to permanently attach the new floor pan to the existing original floor pan remnants. I know everyone is assuming that I'm going to weld it in place. Initially, that's what I was planning to do. Now I'm wondering if it makes more sense to overlap the new floor pan over the remnants of the old one and epoxy them together. In essence, making a laminate. If I do that, I'm also thinking that I will weld the two pieces in strategic places. Now, without being too critical (please), am I nuts? I keep thinking that there are lots of laminates in use in the world and in very demanding instances. Why wouldn't this work for my instance? If I am nuts, then I can just weld them together. Pros and cons appreciated.

I'm attaching two pics. The first is my first attempt at fitting the new inner cowl. The second is where I started.

I look forward to everyone's comments, just keep 'em clean!

I'd say you did a pretty fair job with the inner cowl panel. They never fit right from the get-go and need to be massaged to fit. Your cut and weld looks pretty decent and that's one way to deal with the ill-fitting panels.

On the lap joint on the floor, that would work, but you definitely need to get rid of the rust to make a good joint. Panel bond has been touted as a good method for that. I don't have experience with that and butt welded my floor patches. I suppose epoxy with intermittent plug welds would work too, but epoxy might tend to crack or let go, especially if the surface isn't completely clean (residual rust). Panel bond may be more forgiving. Cons of butt welding is it's a lot of work and you need to deal with warping that may occur if you get too impatient. The floor is a spot where it doesn't have to be spot-on as it'll be covered up.

Hey Everyone,

Got some garage time yesterday and started looking at the hinge reinforcements. The first pic shows the bottom hinge reinforcement. Not pretty. The second pic shows that the bottom weld nut was gone and where I did some grinding to see what metal was left. It wasn't until I did that grinding and shown a light into the space that I realized that the bottom of the reinforcement was mostly rusted away. All that remains is an elliptical portion that was around the weld nut. It's difficult to see, but possible if you zoom in on the pic.

Well, I guess the old saying is still true: no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy. It would seem that I'm back to replacing that part, after I make one. Remembering back to earlier advice on thickness of the metal and using metal that is as close to what the factory used as possible, I went with 16 gauge sheet metal. However, this time, I did not include the wings. Now that I'm becoming more confident in my welding, I figured that I could do it the same way that the factory did and add the bracing after the reinforcing box is welded into place. I've attached a pic of my first attempt and what it looked like with the correct hinge bolted into place. Not bad, but not what I want to end up with, so I'll try again.

Where to go next? So the battle plan is now to finalize the fitment of the inner cowl piece. Once I'm happy with that, I'm going to permanently attach the rocker panel, under floor brace and floor pan. Then attach the inner cowl with sheet metal screws. Then, work on the lower hinge reinforcement and lower hinge pillar. Once those are correctly fitted and attached with screws, I'll remove the outer cowl. That piece is so rusted that I think a complete replacement is the best approach. Removing the outer cowl will allow me access to the upper hinge reinforcement, which requires a new weld nut, at a minimum. I may have to replace it entirely, but I won't know until I have good access to it.

So, I'm getting to the heavy lifting portion of the passenger side restoration. Wish me luck!