The Stovebolt Site Forums Project Journals Archived Journals 1940 Chev 1/2 ton “Franken/Restomod”

Hello all, a quick post tonight.

I was able to get back into the shop today for a couple hours. I wanted to get the underside painted while the cab was still in the blasting bay and on a day when no one else was there to minimize the contamination.
Steve (20Mercman) I am using UTECH 250 which is an epoxy primer/sealer. The way I understood it was for bare metal it is the best base coat and body work is done over top. POR15 is the other preferred base but it is used mostly on frames and underbodies. For my frame, I am either going to use POR15 or a similar product, I am not positive on the name but I think it is armour?

Thanks Craig for the kind words.

Pictures to be added shortly,
Stay safe,
Steve

Hello again;

Thanks for checking and following along.

It has been a busy few weeks.... we bought a house! We have been looking and working on options for years now and I was beginning to think it would never happen. Things fell into place and tadaaa, we are moving.
We have been renovating the master suite in our existing house, so that has been fun...
At work we are gearing up for a May outage...
We enjoyed our mountain excursion in Feb so much we went back again last weekend...

I have been reading everyone else’s post and Jonesing to get some work done on mine. I was able to spend the day at the shop yesterday and got the cab complete in epoxy. I had tried the weekend before we went away, but the brand new shop compressor was down and the air just wasn’t there.
Friday after work I went in to the shop and got things set up so that when I got in Sat I could get straight at it. I wanted to freshly blast the cab inside and out which took me about 3 hours. Blowing the dust and debris out of all the knooks and crannies probably took me another hour. Next up, using 180grit, I hit the outside with the orbital sander. The primer booth happened to be available so I cleaned that out then rolled the cab in. One final dust off, and then a wash down with degreaser to be sure it was clean. I had a few other cab parts to paint, so those got hung by the chimney with care...
I sprayed everything with at least 2 coats of the U-tech epoxy which took me a couple of hours. I started at 10 and finished up a little after 6, staggered home and hit the shower.

I am feeling it today, but I can have a bit of a lazy day. All I have to do to stay in the wife’s good books is install a toilet and sink and then do a little electrical work. I better get going or I will be at it late again.

Stay safe,
Steve

Bonus content!!

He are a couple pics of the Fuzor product- metal to metal permanent bonding adhesive and the paint I am going to use on my frame. I said before that I thought it was called Armour, that was wrong, it is called Hempadur by Hempel.

Also, do you recall the pictures I posted of a Fargo I was body working when I worked at the shop? It is in final assembly and it looks really good so I threw a couple of those on. And a sunrise, enjoy!
Steve

You need to post some pics after you apply the paint to your frame. Love the color on the Fargo!!!

Hello all;

Thanks for checking in and following along.
Happy Easter, if that is your jam. If not, then happy spring? Either way I hope this post finds you healthy and happy.

Tuts, I will be sure to post a picture of the frame once I have it painted.

Today was a busy day, I got a lot accomplished though you wouldn't be able to tell from the pictures. I wanted to remove the box and finished welding it out. I had beefed up the box frame to be sure that it will handle my motorcycle with no issues but had not finished welding it out. I had also reinforced the areas where the tie down strips will go have some good material to anchor the tie down strips to. I was probably 75% done the welding on top and maybe 30% complete underneath. So today was weld and grind, weld and grind, flip then rinse and repeat.
Nothing glamorous, but it is done and I can get the box sandblaster and epoxied next.

Stay safe,
Steve

Good day all;

This is my 2nd try writing this as the first time I had written the post when I tried to add the pictures I had an issue and hit the back button. Darn it, I lost it all so I get to do it again...
This post is also very similar to the post I made about the cab so if you experience déjà-vu its not you.
Friday I left work early as I wanted to get to the shop to set things up for Saturday morning. When I got there I was asked to get my cab onto a cart to make it mobile and easier to body work. Yes, you heard that right body work has started! The new apprentice at the shop, Kelsey has been working hard on my truck parts. She has the fenders scuffed and it sounds like she will be starting in on the cab next week. I think I was about an hour fabbing up the cart mounts to match the cab mounts then I was able to get to the box.
The box was to be the main focus for the weekend. It represents the last of the “BIG” pieces to be epoxied. Last weekend was the big weld up so I need to get the box blasted, sanded and epoxied. Friday I got the box loaded into the blasting bay, cleaned up the bay and loaded the pot with sand as well as changed the lens in the helmet. Since I am borrowing the space I like to clean it up and leave it in better shape than I find it.
Saturday morning I was up early, and was at the shop for about 8:30. Since everything was prepped I was in the bay blasting almost immediately. I had a number of loose pieces that I wanted to blast and epoxy as well since I was at it so I started with those. The wheel tubs were in that pile and while I was blasting them I noticed some pin holes. I stopped and popped out with them to the welding bay to fix the up and while doing that I noticed that I hadn’t finished repairing one tub. When I was first putting the tubs in I had cut away a portion of the bottom that I thought would be in the way. What I thought would be covered by the bed wood Turned out to be visible. I had replaced the cut portion on one tub but hadn’t done the 2nd so I fixed that up.
Back into the blaster I went and by noon I had the loose parts blasted and hung in the booth. After some lunch I got started on the box and having the hoist in there was sure a blessing. I can only imagine how hard it would have been to get the underside completed laying on the floor. After a couple of false starts; thinking I was done, blowing away all the sand only to discover some spots needing attention I was done! Whew, that feels really good to say... I probably spent at least 30 minutes blowing sand and crud out of all the nooks and crannies, but eventually I think I got it all.
Next I hit all the visible flat panels with some 180 grit to knock down the dimples. Once done, a quick last blow down and I was ready to paint. I have been putting on 2 coats of the epoxy, As I like the idea of the additional protection. The epoxy is the U-tech 250 stuff that I have been using. I started with the hang parts as I wanted a bit of a break for my aching back. I was pretty tired by this point and I was regretting adding in all the loose parts. To give the surfaces time to dry before adding the 2nd coat I bounced around getting the hanging parts then the underside of the box moving to the upper side and then starting over with the hang parts. I did stop for a 15 minute break for a snack and some water when I needed to reload the gun. The epoxy is a 3 part mix for a spray application. The ratio is 3:1:1 in that it is 3 parts base epoxy, 1 part hardener and 1 parts reducer.
I was home by 8PM, showered and relaxing on the couch by 8:30 and enjoying a well deserved beer. It is probably good that it was such a marathon of a day as it will stand out in my memory for a long time!

That is all for now, pictures to be added shortly.

Stay safe,
Steve

Extra pictures

Man, you are moving right along and looking great to boot! Nice job!

After doing the same thing twice, I write my Project Journal or any lengthy post in “Notes” (or any word processor) first, then post it to Stovebolt! Saves my sanity!

I have done the same thing, compose a full post only to loose it somehow. As I post most of my updates from my phone, (that is where the photos are.), it is a pain to type on the phone. I am much better with a keyboard. Old school I guess.

Nice update!

Steve

I use an iPad which is just like a phone but bigger. I think most phones have a place to type notes, unless you still have a flip phone. Now thats real “Old School”.

That's funny, I upgraded from my flip phone 8 months ago....true story.

Steve

Hello all;

Thanks for checking in and following along.

Regarding the phones, I just got a new one. I had mine in my back pocket and must have leaned up against something as I cracked the screen. I had an expensive screen protector, which was didn’t crack, however the phone screen was in tough shape. For 5 bucks/month more I went from 2G fo data to 6, while the phone itself costs 20/month. I chose the Google Pixel 4A-5G as it has an upgraded camera. I am curious to see if anyone can tell the difference in the quality of the pictures.

Monday was a day off for me and I spent it checking the dimensions of the rear suspension. Something was amiss as the diff was 3/8” off of center and before I welded everts final I wanted to confirm everything was correct. I spent pretty much all of Monday measuring and resetting the suspension in an attempt to figure out what the issue was. In the end I never found a “smoking gun” which I guess is a good thing, sort of? The only thing I could figure might have been the issue was that the coil overs may need longer extensions to keep them aligned as they seemed to be leaned towards the front which may be causing the off-center issue.

Since everything measured out okay I spent today welding everything out. I was laughing at myself in the afternoon though, if I was a better welder I could have been done sooner! Instead I would weld it on and then spend the time to grind it off so it looks good. I felt like I was done around 3 but want to finish so I pushed through to get completed. I finished up about 5 as it took me some additional time to sweep up all the grinding dust!
The one picture shows the grinding wheel I used today, I have never worn one out before!

Stay safe,
Steve

Great progress. per the re-typing. I type in my text, post it, then go back and edit the post to add the pictures.

Hello, thanks for checking in and following along.

Yesterday was a pretty good day at the shop. I didn’t get as far along as I wanted...I took on too much again and had to leave unfinished. At least I am consistent though, right?
I only have a couple big pieces left to get epoxied. The tailgate, the dash and the box bed trim pieces are the last of the big stuff. Annnnddd, well since I am painting, I might as well make a day of it, right? I have a box of parts waiting for just such a moment so I loaded up.
I then struggled to get the momentum going. The cabinet blaster was not working properly so I spent almost an hour sorting that out. Same thing happened when I switched to the blasting bay, the small pot was plugged and a hose needed to be replaced. That took me longer to figure out the issues as I was not the one who left it like that so you have to methodically work your way through it.
The good news though is that once I got going it was pretty smooth sailing. I got the parts blasted, finding some more pin holes so those got welded up. The dash had some holes drilled in it I didn’t want, so I filled those. By the time I was ready to quit for the day I had all the parts hung and washed, ready for paint.
Once I get my poop in a group today, I am heading down there to toss a couple of coats on.

That is all for today, stay safe.
Steve

Around here I have to fix it before I can use it, spend a lot of time cleaning up some one else's mess.

Hello again, thanks for checking in.

TUTS, I agree and as a Father I am well used to having to; fix, clean or find something before I can use it. At the shop I generally don’t mind fixing things seeing as I am getting pretty much a free ride on my build. It is frustrating though when you have a plan for the day and it gets sidelined like that...
I was at the shop again today, the plan was to get the cab reinforcements glued on. Not too ambitious, I was trying to take on less so as not to have a repeat of Saturday. As usual it took me longer than anticipated, but I got them done. After that I re-mounted the doors and then devised an alternate way to mount the fuse panel holder. I machined a spacer to allow it to pivot and get access to the underside or back. I am not too sure how useful it will be, mostly it was an oh poop this as I had forgotten to weld the mount prior to painting and now I don’t want to grind and weld in there...
That was it for the day, social butterfly as I caught up with everyone there. Nice to see people once in a while!

Stay safe,
Steve

Hello all;

Thanks for checking in and following along.

It has been quite a while since my last update. April 27 thru May 22 I worked 12-14 hours days straight thru. Work wise we were prepping for the annual outage and then executing it. We also took possession of a new-to-us home May 20th which was the last day of the outage. Leading up to moving day on May 29th, we were packing and preparing for the movers. We are now settling in the new place, finding places for everything. We had been in our previous home for 20 years and were quite cozy, uprooting everything and then settling in a new place is sure difficult. I can't find a thing in the kitchen!
I was able to get in to the shop today. I have been avoiding it actually as I figured I had a major issue I brought on myself. Spoiler alert, it all worked out okay. The last things I had been working on were the rear cab reinforcements and then putting the doors on for body working.
I put the doors on and then used the epoxy adhesive to glue the reinforcements in place. I left the cab with the wedges and clamps in place and as such could not close the doors. When I made it back in to check on it, after I removed the clamps I tried closing the doors...."ummm, that's not good" the drivers side door was waaay out of alignment and sagging by about 1/2-3/4"
At the time I had only been stopping in to check in and when I saw that, I was filled with dread that I had somehow twisted the cab while securing it to the dolly. I had then glued the reinforcements in place and I was thinking the worst, that I had fixed the twist in permanently. Sooooo much work to sort that out...
So today I started by confirming that I had not mixed up the hinge locations. When I removed them, I engraved each part with the location, so I didn't think I had it wrong. The issue wound up being that I had flipped the cab hinge and installed it essentially upside down. When I got it in correctly, the sort fits as it did before removal. The one lower hinge 1/2 had been "adjusted" at some point to align the door. When I was cleaning it up I thought briefly about straightening it and then I came to my senses and left it alone.

Whew!!!! Glad it all worked out.

That sorted, I dug out the latches and handles so the body person can latch the doors closed and not have them flopping around.

Stay safe,
Steve

Been awful quite Steve, anything new?

Helloooooo there!

Folks, it has been a while huh?
Life has been busy in my neck of the woods so I have been taking a break from the truck.

I have left the bodywork, for the most part in the hands of the shop. Working through with the body guy as to the level of perfection I am looking for, I got a bit of sticker shock. I am not going for a show winner, rather I want something that I am not afraid to use as a daily driver.
The estimated hours to complete the truck is around the 400 hour mark. Even with a discounted shop rate the total will be North of the 30k mark. I am far enough into the build that I want to see it through, I am able to still put in hours to reduce the overall cost so that is what I will have to do.
I left the truck freshly primed with epoxy. Some work has been done to prep the parts for bodywork which revealed an issue with adhesion on the rear fenders. The rear fenders are new and came primed. I did not fully blast them to bare metal, rather I “tickled” them to remove the shine. They were sanded and cleaned prior to applying the epoxy primer. While prepping for further bodywork the body person used compressed air to clean off the accumulated dust. The air got under the primer and caused it to flake off in several places.
Sooooo, it was back into the sandblasting bay to get the fenders back to bare metal and then a sand and then a spray with epoxy.

2 steps forward and 1 step back?

Stay safe, stay healthy.
Steve

OUCH....400 hours. I was glad to see your back on the truck, to bad about your fenders the good thing is it can be fixed.

Hello again;
thanks for checking in and following along.

Craig, yes a shock for sure. I am hoping to reduce the shop hours by putting in as much sweat equity I can. Finger crossed...

I have been somewhat impatiently waiting my turn for the truck to go through the body shop. I had been in to speak with the owner to ask when it might get worked on next. I was told that it may be next week.
I was pleasantly surprised then when I got a text with some pictures and a request to come in and do some work. At the moment the doors need the gaps sorted out to get the optimal fit. As they were working on the doors they needed to adjust the latches in to get the fit. The latches are adjustable, however I had not removed them as part of my work. They thought it was going to be an ordeal, so they gave me the task to save me some bucks. The text I got was that they are likely seized and may need some heat to break them free.
I assumed that they had tried to loosen them with no luck. I don’t think they did as I showed up Saturday prepared for anything and I was able to get all the screws free in about a 1/2 hour. I used an impact screwdriver which torques the screw loose as you drive it into the slot. This is better, generally as it prevents the driver from tearing out the slot of the head. Sometimes this results in the head of the screw breaking off, but that is the chance you take. If you are somewhat gentle with your hammer blows you can finesse them loose most times.
Since I had so much extra time, as I really did not expect them all to loosen without breaking. I looked in my box of items to clean and paint. I selected the glovebox hinges and the emergency brake handle. I took them apart, blasted and applied some paint. I found a can of grey which I was using on items that would not be seen. I am really liking the grey as it looks, to me anyways, like something from that period. I am reconsidering the “all black” motif I have been going for thus far.

Anyways, not too much got done. But as I have been struggling to get back into it, a small win feels good and can get me motivated to keep on making progress.

Stay safe,
Steve

Hello again, thanks for checking in and following along.

I have been somewhat patiently waiting for my turn in the body shop.
After a 2 week delay, I was up on deck᠁
I took the week off from work so I could be there and “double” the effort.
We decided to focus on the box to start. The bodyman, Chris worked the box while I worked on some trim pieces and other loose parts.
The week went by pretty quickly and though we got a lot of work done, I was hoping to get a little further.
I went back to work Monday, but was pretty excited to get a few pics from the shop in the afternoon showing all the parts hanging in the paint booth. They had been sprayed with Slicksand, a final sprayed filler.

Work continues, I am hoping to have a flurry of additional posts in the next week(s)

More soon,
Steve

I was wondering about your progress. You have come along way, the work looks great.

Hello again;

Thanks Tuts, me too

The rear fenders have been finished to slicksand. The hood has been started᠁
No point posting pictures of the rear fenders, they are Grey, that is all you can tell.

I was supposed to have Monday off, now I don’t
A little disappointing but a minor thing really.
I will get in there and get some work done and more pics soon enough.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend,
Steve

Hello again, thanks for checking in...

I was in the shop Friday. I was encouraged to see more progress as the hood and side pieces as well as the rear fenders were hanging in the booth, sprayed in slicksand.
I spent the day working on:
- cleaned up the underside of the hood halves.
- bodyworked the headlight buckets
- bodyworked the dash
- started the visor
Chris continued to work on the front fenders. There was so much metal work done to them that the bodywork is quite difficult. Getting the round and smooth is a chore for sure.

Short post today, more soon.
Steve

Hello again;

Quick post with a few pics.
The front fenders are almost done, they have about 30 hours each so far....
I have prepped the head lights, dash and am working on the visor parts.

The last pic is of a display I put up in my shop above the overhead door. Notice the front and center?

Moving slowly, but moving.
Steve

Hello again;

Today was a productive day. I got quite a few smaller items prepped for slicksand. While searching for parts to assist with the main area of work, I also came across a few items missed that I needed to clean up and prep.
I got the sun visor prepped, the head light base mounts, tailgate hinges, bumper guards and a few interior pieces as well.
I also stripped the dash trim pieces down to bare metal. I used Acetone rather than blasting to preserve the finish. It was a bit more work, but I am happy with the results. I light polish and they should look great.

Stay safe,
Steve

Wow nice job, let me know when I can come have a look in person! I have a 50 license plate you can have for your wall too.

I want to see, too, Steve! It looks great fella!

Steve, it seems like it's all the small parts that take up the most time. This thing is really coming together, you'll be bolting parts to the chassis before long.

Hello again;

Thank-you Doyle for the offer. I would love to add your plate to the wall.

Body work continues, all the small parts and the running boards have been completed to the slicksand stage.
I have decided on a paint scheme...
Part of the decision was based on the desired look, with concessions on my part because of the cost for the body work. The one thing I cannot do without is gloss black fenders, so the time was spent to get them done to the level needed. The cab exterior and everything else will be charcoal grey, but in a matte finish. The engine bay and firewall will be black as well.
I am still working out the interior, at the moment I am leaning towards charcoal grey. The rims will be a tractor red and sport wide whitewalls. With some subtle touches of red pinstriping to tie things together, I think it will really gel the look and I am looking forward to seeing it!
I have attached a couple pictures of some trucks I found on the web. The 1st black one is the one I have been using as my muse. The 2nd black one shows the contrast between the gloss fenders and matte body. The grey one is for contrast of the black/grey combo.

best wishes to all ,seasons greetings!
Steve

I like where you are going with this, the gloss fenders and Matte gray body will look killer together. Personally I lean towards red for the interior, that's just me though.

Hello all;

Thanks everyone for the support and encouragement, it does provide me with a boost of energy to keep going. Of course I am not contemplating quitting, waaay too far gone for that, but your comments do help.

I am really looking forward to the end result, as that is the main driver for me now.
Had I known then what I know now᠁.
If Mother’s were the same way, there would be no more “natural childbirth”!!

Thanks again folks,
Steve

Good day all;
As always, thank-you for checking in and following along.
I realized that I never posted the update that I wrote for Sunday the 12th.
It went something like this᠁
I wasn’t supposed to be in the shop this week, so today was a bonus day. I had intentions of getting a few parts so far forgotten about, blasted and coated with the epoxy primer paint. The paint booth was occupied, so I switched gears and worked on some polishing. I had a basic understanding of how the polisher works, and figured I could work out the finer details as I learned. I did alright, trying different wheels, pressure/force and clay, etc. All was good right up to the point the wheel ripped the headlight bezel out of my hand and threw it across the room. I thought to be more careful and also changed how I was presenting the bezel to the wheel, but it happened a 2nd time so I stopped. Thank-fully the bezel seems to have suffered only minor damage. I think I can polish it out᠁.
I will do some research and chat with the guys to get the best method or I may just need to do it by hand.

I was in the shop yesterday, Dec 19th and as the paint booth was unoccupied I was able to get the parts I had tried to previously blasted and painted.
It was a pretty uneventful day, I had the shop to myself so I could focus and avoid distractions. I was done by 3PM and off for a shower and go get some Christmas shopping done.

Stay safe, best of the season to you and your families.
Steve

Hello again;

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. Ours was less than perfect, though there were some very special moments. New year's Eve was also my 49th birthday, but we were pretty exhausted and wound up calling it an early night.
The temperature here has been below -20 C for about 3 weeks now and to say we are ready for some warmer temps is a mild understatement. Cabin fever and hibernation have been constant companions it seems!
My brother came to visit over the holidays and due to the family emergency we were only able to see home for a few days. Couple that with the weather and our exhausted state, we were not the best of hosts. We did get out and do a couple fun things; bowling was a good time and we spent an afternoon in the woods snowshoeing.
The truck, right you probably want to hear about that? I was in the shop after work on Thursday and the cab was done. Chris was just finishing up on the driver's door and it would be ready to go for slick. The next steps will be to remove the cab from the frame and paint the frame.
"Do you know what that means Marty?"
It means I can start bolting stuff on final!!!!

1.21 GIGAWATTS at 88 MPH!!

Happy New Year everyone, thanks for checking in.
Steve

Good morning;

Thanks again for checking in and following along.

The bodywork is done!

I am sooooo excited, with the bodywork done I can finish the frame. With this weekend being a long weekend, for me at least, I wanted to blast out ( sandblasting pun intended) the frame. Friday I stripped the frame of all the piece that could be removed. My son gave me a hand and we got the frame mounted to the rotisserie.
Saturday was a 12 hour marathon. There was still some welding that needed to be done, underside stuff I was waiting to get done on the rotisserie. Once done welding, I went over it with a grinder making things as pretty as possible. That took me to about 2PM, then I moved into the sand blasting bay to clean it up for paint. After that it was off to the paint booth for 3 coats of paint.
By the time I got home it was after 9 PM. I am sitting here having breakfast and trying to get my back to loosen up a little. I need/want to get back to the shop to get all the unbolted parts organized, blasted and painted too. I am struggling with motivation at the moment᠁
The frame paint I used is an industrial epoxy from a company called “Hempel”. It is very reasonable cost wise, the 1 gallon was under 100.00 which compared to the U-Tech product is less than 1/2 the cost. The shop prefers the U-tech for body parts but likes the Hempel for frames. I like the finish as it looks, to me anyways, to be a satin. It has a gloss, but not a high shine and I think it looks factory applied. Coverage it really nice as well, sticks where you put it and doesn’t want to run.

That is all for now,
If I can get up the energy to get going, I will post again later. I am going to get going, I am too excited to be moving this forward to quit now. Besides the shop is deserted so I don’t have to compete for tools or compressed air.

Stay safe,
Steve

Hello again;

So I made it into the shop.

In order to take advantage of the empty shop I needed to get the remaining frame parts blasted and painted. Suspension parts like the 4 link bars, torsion bar, transmission crossmember, differential housing, spindles and front frame brackets.
I started out pretty stiff and sore from yesterday, So I was relieved that once I got going I loosened up. I was not intending on spending the same amount of time there today, I was trying to work quickly to save a bit of my Sunday to relax.

Stay safe,
Steve

🤤🤤🤤 Wow.

Looking great, fella!!!! Hey Doyle! I think a spring time brew/burger might be in order to make sure the bolts Steve has installed are tight!


I found lots of motivation too when shiny stuff started going on for the last time. I’m very excited for you. 👍🏻

Hello again;

I was in the shop again today. So thankful that I did not have to make my usual commute this morning. Mother Nature in her wisdom decided that a full day of rain would be a great idea. This, after 3 weeks of -30C weather. The roads are covered in 4” of compacted snow and now we get a crapload of rain today. This morning was a nightmare of freezing rain and the ditches were littered with wrecks. Now, tonight the temperature is supposed to dip back down to -20C, is this end of days?

I hope not because I want to finish my truck.

As I mentioned before, I was in the shop today. The plan for the day was to tidy up my mess from the weekend. I had all the painted parts in the booth, which I needed to clear out. The remaining parts removed that weren’t painted also needed to be stored away. Mainly though I wanted to remove the tires from the rims and get them to the powder coating shop. Heading over to the shop was treacherous, at least until I got out of my subdivision, so I was very concerned that a trip into the “big city” would not be a good idea. By the time I was ready to leave the shop, it was still raining, but the temperature had warmed up enough that the roads were safe enough to travel on.
The wife and I made the trip in with out incident. I dropped off the rims at the powder coater and also got a tour of the facility. They have 2 ovens which are huge! They have the space to do my entire frame if only I had known᠁

I did not take any pics today, I will post some of the rims when I get them back.

Stay safe,
Steve