The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Peeling apart my ’50 1/2 ton

I moved a bunch of woodworking machines out of the way today, and drove my ‘50 1/2 ton into my shop in preparation of taking it all apart as my winter project.
Long term, I have a 292 that is going to get all new internals from Jack Clifford Performance to replace the 235 that’s under the hood now. The upgrade in HP is going hand in hand with a fully boxed frame and I had a Mustang ll independent front end given to me by a friend, so that’s going to replace the straight axle.
My question is, has anyone figured out a way to remove all the big painted bits by themselves? It’s going to be easier to work on the frame with everything out of the way, but I work by myself and don’t have a couple of extra hands to hold fenders etc while they are being unbuttoned.
Has anyone tried a rolling gantry? I’ll have to build one to lift the cab and the box. I suppose I could use the same rig to hold fenders and hood while they are being unbolted. I think I just answered my own questions. Thanks for the help everyone.

Paul, I did mine by myself as well. Best piece of advice comes from Johnny Cash. Take it one piece at a time. If you are going to remove the front as one piece, you will need extra hands. Or, you may be able to block under the fenders and front and then lift with your trolley crane.

I am quite sure you can rig and remove the entire front clip with an engine lift. I would remove the hood first so it’s out of your way. I removed/reinstalled my hood with an engine lift and it was a piece of cake. will take some creative thinking to rig four lifting points but I sure it can be done. I would use a come along on either the front rigging or the back so you can balance it out when you are lifting.

For fenders, remove the middle bolts last. Make sure it is loose before you make it the last one so you don't have to fight it when it comes time. One person job. For the hood, I lay a blanket on the cowl so nothing gets scratched, use a stick from the front of the hood to the grill area ( it helps if it points back towards the firewall) then start removing hood attaching parts. Go slow and make sure the hood doesn't slip off the cowl. When everything is detached at the back and the back of the hood is resting on the cowl, I raise the front of the hood and set aside the prop. Lower the hood in to its closed position, put the nose in my belly, lean over, grab the sides and cantilever it off of the truck. After that, I can't help you because I have a Suburban and I used the overhead crane at work to remove the body off the frame.

I used an engine hoist to remove the whole front clip, including radiator. Of course, I wasn't worried about scratching paint or anything, and on some bolts I didn't even need to remove them, as they had rusted away.

I hooked on to the straps that bolt the fender support rods from the firewall to the fenders, using a 2x4 as a spreader bar. It really balanced pretty well. I think you could protect the cab surfaces with some tape or maybe stuff some blanket material after removing the fender to cab bolts.I left the hood in place to protect the engine that was still in the chassis.

Here's a pic.

As far as the cab, the same engine hoist with a 2x6 bolted to the hoist arm thru the windows will easily raise the cab off. A ratchet strap kept the 2x6 in place. Another pic of that.

Use 2 beams instead of one like in the picture, and no straps needed. And add 2 boards connected to make a T, that is if you wish to lift it higher than with the way the engine hoist is connected in the pics. Reason to lift higher? So it can be loaded into a pickup bed if needed to haul it someplace or storage.
scroll to the last post with photos. And no strap needed there either if the wood was centered more towards the front of the cab. 2X6's work best.
https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthread...028/10/59-gmc-tandem-axle-info-help.html

I appreciate all the help gentlemen. This is going to be a first for me. I have restored several large old woodworking machines after complete dismantling, with cleaning and polishing, reshooting, then remantling and putting back to work. After 5 big machines I guess I’m ready to tackle my truck.
It’s the “stepping off the edge” that has me a bit nervous, but I watched a University of YouTube video last night from a guy who removed his whole front clip and it only took him 15 minutes. I was actually thinking I had to remove the fenders one at a time, but leaving it bolted together seems the way to go. Once again, I appreciate the help and advice.

So much for the “rust free” title I bestowed on my little creampuff when I acquired it. When I was attempting to get the front clip removed, I discovered a tin panel on the passenger floor pan that had eluded my superficial inspection. While trying to find the last bolt for the inner fender I detected something that looked oddly, just slightly not original.After I pried a corner up and got a blade under the edge, I found my last bolt alright, but the leveraging of the slightly less than original tin patch, revealed a long strip of not floor pan.[img]https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthread...AE5A124-62A1-4E8C-98E0-CC4250207E09.jpeg[/img]
I have a box of repair panels coming from LMC, and will tackle the rot when it arrives. In the meantime, I’ll continue peeling apart my front end and get that moved out of the way.
This so much fun. I had an idea that I was just going to peel apart the truck and get to work on welding in the boxing panels for the frame. Now I get to learn how to weld sheet metal.

Well, at least you will know what you have when your finished!

That rust you found is pretty typical of these trucks. As far as welding sheet metal, check out THIS THREAD for some excellent advice from our metal artist, MPandC.

Check out you tube carter auto restyling he fixes a lot of these truck panels .there are a few tips on the proper parts to get also as some are better than others .

Whoever "restored" your "rust free cream puff" took the easy street. They didn't take the truck apart to do it right.
Now you get to join the rest of us with the joy and satisfaction of doing it right.

I’d be suspect of what’s under the paint too. 😬

I have had that same thought. I was cruising CL the other day, randomly looking for a media blaster and I am pretty convinced that removing all the paint is the way I want to go. Having a tin panel gumped onto the floor and covering up bolts doesn’t exactly seem like the right way to do things, but everyone has different levels of ability and also different levels and ideas about what is acceptable.
I’m not sure how usable and friendly a small media blaster would really be. There is a lot of surface area that will need attention. I talked to an old friend the other day who is in the tail-end of a restoration of his ‘56 3100. (He’s had it since we were kids) Greg went old school cheap and used wire wheels and rotary tools to tackle all the rust and crud. I’m not sure how I’ll tackle it, but for now I’ll just keep dismantling and bagging and tagging.

I have the cab bolts all freed up, the gas tank is out, and all the lines and connections to the engine are removed. I’m looking at the pedal assembly which is completely culched up with mud and grease/dirt concrete. Is there an order that needs to be followed when taking that whole arrangement off the cab?

The pedals unbolt just below the firewall. You may have to chip away the gunk to get to the bolts. The pic shows the pedals unbolted from the arms.

If you haven't already, the steering column will need to be removed, or the steering gear unbolted from the frame and pitman arm disconnected.

Thank you Kevin. I’ll start the archeological exam.