The Stovebolt Site Forums Project Journals Project Journals 1970 Chevy C10 - Grandpa’s Rebuild.

Spring break starts tomorrow. Am I excited?


Yep. Hopefully I can work “flat out like a lizard drinking water” this break and get lots more done.

Thanks Doyle. Let me know so I can tidy up. It’s so much harder getting to that stuff with littles.

Today the kids and I went out to the farm to do some digging on the parts c20. I removed the rear splash aprons from behind the rear tires. The curves on these seem tighter than the reproductions I bought. I just want to compare the 2 basically. I will use the new ones, but wanted to see side by side. I also researched that the stock 72 gas pedal assembly bolts up and will accommodate the ls style throttle cable so I pulled that too. I will have to make it work on the 70. I haven't decided if I'm using the 72 pedal or will modify the 70 style to use the 72 rod.

I told myself that I wouldn't strip that c20, but if it's 95% complete when I sell it, I'll still make my money back. It's only a gas pedal...😬😎

Also, I thought I'd ask Bolters:

Should I count time digging for parts on days like this?

Tailgate issues:

I’ve installed the tailgate. The rear sill had to be removed so I could die grind the holes a tad to get more side to side adjustment. After, I tried to close up the gate and something is really buggered here.

The right side of the gate doesn’t follow the contour of the bed side and wouldn’t close. I noticed that the gate hit the stake pockets which prevented the top from shutting fully. No problem so I pie cut the stake pocket along the vertical posts. I gained quite a bit of room from that.


Attempt 2 to close gate. Much better. The left side I was able to square up and get good gaps. But this right side is a bugger.
I’m not sure if the gate is twisted or not so I have to check it.

The bed is square.

I’m not sure exactly what to do yet, but I have to do some surgery here at some point I think.

Anybody run into similar problems with reproduction bed kits here on the Bolt? From my internet readings this seems very common with these tailgates and bedsides.

I trial ran some finishes and methods on some wood. A couple samples were actually the oak wood that came in the bed wood kit, whilst others were some planed birch I had. The aging process looks fantastic on the birch, but it turned the oak an ugly purplish colour. The far top left is the look I want, but I couldn't get it on the oak today, so more trials are needed with more stains, etc.

I tried the box again yesterday and this evening. The tailgate doesn't seem to be twisted. Box is square, level, even, etc and I still have that gap on the top right rear. I measured various points and the dimensions seem close enough to be good, so I still couldn't figure out what/why it was crooked. I dug out my contour gauge and went sniffing. The left and right tailgate contours match the left hand bedside very well, but the right rear bedside is out. A lot. I wonder if the stake pocket area was welded at an angle. I haven't measured cross corner from front to back on one side (top to bottom corners). Perhaps the right hand bedside is a slight parallelogram when viewed from the side? More digging to come, but I'm thinking I might be using that old rusty 70 bedside for a template/guide/patch if needed to get this reproduction bedside right.

Reproductions really suck. I've skipped a bunch of rust repair, but I am still cutting and welding...🤪 🔫

Buyer beware. A lot.

Hours: 406


EDIT: I can see why there are so many projects for sale that have new sheet metal. People buy this stuff thinking it's going to be a simple bolt up. This isn't always the case and people don't have the skill or tools to make these things work properly and have to sell at a loss.

This reproduction RH bedside has been in my kitchen for a while. Level, square, front-back, side-side, corners, top to bottom, GRRRR! So, the other day I took the new tailgate and lined it up with an original right hand bedside from 1970. Guess what? It fits like a glove. No weird stick out, contour is very good, no gap on the back end.

So...

I've opened the can of worms.

I am currently splicing the old corner into the new bedside. When I cut the new bedside taillight section out, the whole corner popped and twisted/shifted, hard. There was a lot of stress on that panel there. If I tried to use that piece there, I don't think I would be able to get it into that position "straight" where it was.

The original '70 taillight section fit very well over the rear cross sill. The reproduction required prying and bending to get the stake pocket bottom to slide over the sill. Then I had to rubber mallet it into position and die grind out the holes. The factory GM piece slid over like butter. Just out of curiosity, I tried the old gate on the new bed panels, and it fit like the new gate with the top sticking back and out. Ugh. At least I know it wasn't the gate's fault.

Made in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada in 1969...weird that the original box stake assembly would fit properly compared to Made in Taiwan, 2021. 🤪

I am slowly removing metal to get my fit just right. Then I'll blast the backside and paint it before welding this in solid.

Do you like worms? The reproduction inner panel was 1/8" out compared to the left. Add the twist stress and the contour and I think I found out the problem.

Oh, wait! Is anyone going to bug me about Chinese parts? Don't you dare!! Bahaha! I feel terrible for people who have gotten into reproductions on a large expensive scale and had it bite them.


Hours: 411.

https://memegenerator.net/img/instances/53115433.jpg

Dang that's a lot of slicing and dicing. Hopefully you have finally worked it out.

I,m getting ready to do my floor pans and cab for corners, I suppose I'll have my own war stories when I get into it.

Looking much better! Original "Made in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada" parts seem to be the solution. I know the gate looks low, but I have adjustment up/down to level it out. It's hard taking pictures while trying to hold a gate with no trunnion on one side, a floppy bedside, and a stake pocket sitting on a cross sill! 😎


I'm a much happier camper today.

Hours 413

That looks much better! Nice work!

I reinstalled the bed wood after tacking the new pocket in place with 7-8 good tacks. The bed wood is a little tight on the "new" corner. I see a lip on the pocket underside that needs to be tweaked, but I also suspect I may have to sand down the bed wood board on top near this location in order for it to slide under the pocket easily. No big deal. The bottom section isn't cooperating very well, but I think a slight bend/push should line it up adequately. I'll get it pretty darn close, then not worry too much as I suspect the bumper will conceal any teeny tiny discrepancies that may be behind it.

I have spot welded about half of this section back together and it seems to be going well. No big curveballs yet.


Well, that's not true. As I was fitting the stake pocket in place, I dropped it and put a big dent in the outer corner that I had to hammer out. 😡 I also pounded out a couple other minor dents that will be inaccessible once in place. Then I built up a couple areas with weld that had been damaged years ago on this piece.

Still a happy camper.


Hours: 417

Oh, by the way, we had a campfire tonight! The snow is almost gone from my yard.

Halfway home. Still happy!

Hours: 418

I texted with my cousin today, the one I bought the truck back from, and got some crazy replies. I had been wondering if he had the original owners manual somewhere around his house, and had mentioned it to my wife that I needed to call him to ask. Well, his ears must have been burning because today he texted me a picture of said manual! I was pretty happy about that as I remember flipping through it years back and reading it while I was in the truck. I also asked him if the registration was still in there because, technically, the last registered owner was my dad. I bought it back from my cousin on a handshake, and he did likewise with me when I sold it to him. No formal bills of sale. So, this actually means I have to get Dad to "sell" me the truck! I better do that before I finish it...🤔 or he might keep it! Bahaha!! Anyways, so I asked my cousin. He replied with a picture of a box full of past registrations, etc. Included in this box was a paper copy of the original bill of sale from the day Grandpa bought the truck from the dealer! I have no idea where that paper came from. I wonder if Grandma had it somewhere, if Dad did, or if it was in the truck. I don't recall seeing those papers in the glovebox ever. $1600. Unreal.

My cousin said if he lived back then he'd have bought 50 of them. Yup, me too.

But as my dad says, "They were just work trucks then. Nothing special. We used 'em. Sold 'em. Left 'em. They were just trucks."

I told my cousin that our grandkids will say to us, "You had a 2004 Duramax?!! Why didn't you keep it? Are you crazy?"

It's just a truck.

Well, some are, and some are much more than that. Aren't they?

The last few days have been productive. I went to a swap meet with Doyle in Stony Plain. I was able to pick up a set of 1970 license plates. I will use these to:

1. Create a tailgate bench for my campfire area as the original tailgate is simply too beat up to use. The license plate will go on that somewhere.

2. The other plate will go on my shop wall.

The swap meet was a lot of fun. Thanks Doyle, Neil, Dean, Louie. Sorry I missed ya, Steve. I hope that '40 is progressing.

I also did a bunch of metal work. I have finished the old tail light splice into the new bedside and couldn't be happier. Its a much better fit. I also stitched up the relief cut on the left side and metal finished it. I doctored the old stake pocket lower corner so it didn't rub the bed wood and fine tuned the corner bed wood piece to have a little more play to adjust it during fit.

And likely the most important thing...I cleaned the shop! I'm a very happy camper now. By the way, I found my spot weld cutter...in a bag with the assembly manual! Not where it belongs! Thanks kids and love! Oh wait, maybe that was me. 😬

Hours 421.

Next up:
Bed wood mock-up.
Fix side angle gap on right rear bedside near the wheel tub.
Drill holes for bed mounts and carriage bolts.
Weld cross sill pad plates.
Square up and weld solid the box/rear cross sill.
Adjust exhaust pipe height slightly.
Modify/fit rear tub splash aprons.
Drill wood for fuel filler.


Happy wrenching Bolters.

Recently, I welded out the little repads on the underside of the cross sills. I also sliced and diced the rear splash aprons. I went to a car show in Stony Plain and saw a /72 Chev C10 with a reproduction bed. I asked the fella how his bed bolted together. He said it was a bear and that it is about "95%" right. I chatted with him while noticing some of the issues on his bed that I have been addressing. His bed had the hole misalignment behind the right rear tub. It also had the widening gap on the rear splash aprons where it meets the bed lip. The tailgate also rubbed the back stake pockets where I had to relief cut mine. I have fixed these alignment problems on my bed, but was pleased inwardly that I'm not the only one who has to deal with reproduction problems. It was reassuring to see a reproduction bed in person that wasn't made to fit. I noticed that his tailgate was down/open the whole show and I didn't have the heart to ask him to close it up. With the issues I've uncovered, I bet his tailgate lined up poorly like mine did on that back right corner.

Anyways, I think I have done everything I wanted to do before I put the wood in and start punching holes in it.

Photos to follow.

Hours- 428

Stuff is lining up well now! About to mark and drill some holes. Ooo doggy!

I did notice that the boards that run above the frame rails sit a little cockeyed. This is because of the crossemeber rivets in that location. I think I will simply grind down the rivet heads slightly so the boards sit flush better.

Hours:429

That’s looks fantastic!

Bet your getting excited now! Great job!

Thanks fellas.

I drilled the wood holes and everything seems good. I then did the fuel filler. I contemplated moving the fill location, but will leave it where it is. That way it's a straight down shot. Fill her up quickly, no long flat areas to deal with, no sheet metal mods. I am considering making a rubber splash mat that could fit in the stake pocket rolled up and be unfurled to go around the filler hole to avoid fuel drips. Or just pay bloody attention whilst filling. 😎

Next, I opened my reproduction doors and I am 1/2 happy. The right fit quite well and I am happy with the gaping I have all the way around. The door fits and clears all my floor/rocker repair so far. I will be adjusting and lining up the front sheet metal and hood before I take a bunch of notes and pictures before I disassemble and prime. I still have to do the throttle hook up.

The left door is a little bit wonky I think. The cab dimensions check out left to right and I think it's the actual door itself that is the problem. I noticed when I drug out the boxes that my LH door was an "open" box. It had been taped closed. Upon opening, the packaging was not the same and I thought, "Odd..."

So I hung the door. I noticed the lower left hand corner was bent inward. No big deal. A little hand pressure to true it up. I gaped the bottom to the rockers, the rear to the cab wall , the rear window runner to the rear cab roof wall. All good. Right?

Wrong. The diagonal where the vent window sits is way out. I can stick my fingers through the gap. No seal, bending, or what have you will make up that gap. So, I am going to voice my complaint on this one and politely ask for another door. They can try to sell this POS door to someone else. The box was enough. I'm not going INVASIVE on a door, too. I had old rusty ones to do that, and we all know how that went for me.


But it is looking good!

Coming up:

Some wood work hopefully: stains/brands

Move the 1/2 ton 1950 and '62 Rambler off of the front pad to the farm.

Bring in the 1972 c20 Puzzle box truck. I'm tired of running to the farm to snap pictures. Fix its hood hinges. They seized on me while trying to close it in the winter and the RH hinge broke. 🤦🏼‍♂️

Figure firewall holes. What's needed? What's not?

Weld and modify the throttle setup.

Hang rear bumper brackets in prep for the bumper when I get it.

Seatbelts? Possibly? I will install them for sure, but I don't think I need to weld on the cab after paint for this. Maybe I'll just order them....😬

Hours: 432

I also cleaned the parts shed. Everett saw his golf clubs after I finished and said, "I FORGOT ABOUT THOSE!"

Well, it has been a year. 😬

A little side detour since we've been spending a lot of time around the fire pit these days...

Tailgate bench!

Almost done. I still have to radius the arms, add a step down contour to the back post via my pa in law's band saw, mount the 1970 license plate, and sand out a couple sharp pokey edges, but it turned out nicely.

Edit: it's done

Grandpa's old C10 box tailgate will continue to "haul *ss", just in a different way now!

I also included the kids' "Piston Cup." They love the Pixar movie "Cars" and had a little plastic trophy they would pretend was their cup, just like the movie. Well, you know what happens with kids and cheap dollar store plastic. SNAP! Tears ensued, so I told my wife I'd be in the shop for an hour...

Happy kids now.

A 235 piston and connecting rod "Piston Cup". That shouldn't break...

I had a student tell me they like the face on the piston. I thought, "What face?"

Once you notice it, you can't unsee it! Avert your gaze now! Now! Bahaha! 😂

July 1 was fun. I had a bunch of family over after the parade and festivities, and we had a campfire and wiener roast. I haven’t seen some of my aunts/uncles for 3 years, so it was nice to catch up. I showed them the truck and they were all happy to see and sit on the tailgate bench. They also gave me opinions on the bed wood samples for colours and I think we have a consensus. Not exactly as I imagined but still going to be pretty nice. I just couldn’t get exactly what I was looking for, and was scared of destroying expensive bed wood. This will look pretty darn sharp though as well. Stay tuned.


I’ve been working on the gas pedal setup. ‘02 5.3L, ‘70 cab, ‘72 gas pedal, all trying to jive together. I cut out the original mount area, cut a plate to fit and began welding it in, then I ran out of argon/co2. So I notched the original gas pedal to accommodate the ls style pull cable. I mocked up the travel and I believe this is going to work beautifully. Full travel, space for the carpeting, looks good. I did have to heat and bend the top arm to the left about 1.5” to make it line up better, but it wasn’t a hard task.

Edit:

All done for now. I will see later if the carpet interferes. If it does, I will simply remove the bracket and tweak it slightly so it gets full travel. So far so good.


Hours: 434

LH door fiasco part 2:

Reproductions...ugh. I took many measurements on the LH reproduction door, compared it to the original and the RH reproduction and it was definitely short. The a pillar slant is simply too far rearward, almost a 1/4” in some places. I was expecting the same with the new replacement reproduction door. I measured it at the vendor but it will likely fit the same as the measurements on it were also short. He had some originals but they required work as well with lots of hidden rust. Ugh.


So... steel work anyone?

I think I am going to splice the old door window frame into the new reproduction door.

Wish me luck!

On a positive note, the rest of my parts are in. I hope to line up many things beforehand with the bumper and exhaust. I will also get this door figured out, hang sheet metal, etc.

Next up:

Hang door- modify if need be.

Fill original gas filler hole and metal work. (Wish I hadn’t thrown out some original contoured bed panel scraps. They could have given me a head start!)

Hang bumper and check.

I am half done sanding the bed wood. Stain is finalized. My buddy is designing the brands. I have chosen to use letter font that will as closely match the tailgate font. My buddy can custom design it he said to match. Sweet.

I hate this part of a build. You’re so close to stripping and priming, but keep asking yourself if there is anything left that you need to do before it’s in some paint.

Second guessing much?

Gettin’ real close and Lookin’ good! There’s always a hiccup when you’re trying to button it up. Love the bench!

Thanks Phil.

I love this bench, too. It gets used everyday. Campfires, doing little jobs on it while the kids play. I have had my mother, sisters, and brother all request I build them one. My mom pointed to the Custom 20 parts truck tailgate and said, "I want that one."

So much for selling that truck complete...😎 I'd rather find other gates for those projects. It would be a sweet candidate for a bench though!

In the meantime: I cut, hammered, welded, and grinded out the old gas filler hole. I slapped some epoxy on it and will give it a small coat of filler before the high build primer goes on. This went well.

I next pulled out the shiny, new, chrome rear bumper in preparation for mock up. Installed the brackets and immediately ran into reproduction parts rearing their ugly heads. The brackets that attach to the main frame rails hit on the rear cross sill. This in turn prohibits one from lining up the bolt holes. So...out came my die grinder. I had to incorporate relief cuts above the brackets on the cross sill so I could get the bolts lined up and secured. I only got 1 side done so far. I hope to wrap that up tomorrow and hang a bumper to see what it will look like.


Hours: 438

I'll snap some photos later.


Update. The main rear bumper brackets clear all well and fine, but I think I need to pie cut and bend the outer brackets as the angle of "bolt up" is off quite a bit on the bumper. Pie cut, heat and bend, check fit, weld her back up, and install.

Be sure to cover the chrome bumper before tack welding, Fox!

Write that down, kids.

I finished sanding out the bed wood. I also had to build a couple of support mounts for the lower mounting points of the front outer fenders. Originally, the trucks had a little indented spacer/washer thingy jig. I attempted to pull the two from the C20 parts truck, but rust defeated me. They were solid chunks of rust. So, I built my own using some pipe and 1/8" plate. I hope they work well enough.

I will be attempting one more shot at the original LH door. The reproduction door was also too NARROW as well as the vent window angle being wrong. I know you're sick of hearing about what I'm going to do, imagine how I feel! One last attempt at a lower patch panel. Fingers crossed.

I dug out the big blaster today and started stripping paint and rust off the fenders, since I have to wait on parts for the door repair. They have to be stripped eventually is my thinking. May as well do it while it is still nice outside. As I blasted, I noticed quite a few new repairs that need to be done in addition to touch ups on repairs I had done already.

EG:

Better penetration on some welds.

Fix battery tray rust.

Pinholes on the lower, front of the LH fender. I thought it would be ok...nope. Fairly large surgery, again...

Inner fender rust holes on a double layered area. Who knew? 🙄

I am forgetting a couple things as well, but as always: 3 steps forward, 2 back!

Hours :
444

PS: Also had a fiasco with my compressor. I went to use it one day and it went Urch at start up. It did this a few years ago and it was the pressure switch. I was crabby as other things were irritating me that day/week and did not need that when it was my wrenching time. My parents had taken my kids for the day, my wife was working, grr.

So I assumed ( I know, I know...*ss) it was the pressure switch. I tore up to the city (1:15 one way) and got two switches(one for the future just in case), and came home. My air compressor was torn apart, it was 30°C, crabby, put it all back together and blah. Nothing. Grrrrrrr. I tested the motor. It was good. I didn't want to pull the compressor, so I followed the cord to the wall. Unplugged it. Tried the welder in the wall plugin. It worked.

Turns out the bloody compressor end plug wires had come loose inside the plugin housing.

I was so bloody angry that day. All day.

Rant over. But hey, at least I have a couple extra pressure switches now, and lots of rust to fix on fenders.

Ugh. So, you want to restore trucks, do ya?!
Things are looking up now though.

Keep at it Fox, you almost got it beat!

Just got back from a week long fly-in fishing trip in northern Saskatchewan. What a great time! One young fella there landed a 42lb lake trout. He had trouble lifting it. What a monster! Everett and I caught some "medium" pike (36"-13lbs) and a 38" trout of our own. Every outing everyday fish were on the line in numbers. I guess it kind of spoils a guy fishing here as most lakes here are overfished and have nothing like those fish left in them any longer. It was a great break. (PM me if you want more lodge details 😉)

I got a little bit done today on the C10:

E brake cable clips and rods blasted and painted.
Battery tray rust repaired and ground smooth.
RH fender delamination welded up.
Prior rust repair on RH fender penetration rewelded and hammer/dollied.
Collapsible steering shaft disassembled, blasted and painted. Awaiting to reassemble.

It was a good day wrenching.

Hours: 446

Good god, I would of called BS on this but you made my day with the pictures.

Stock, I just looked at the lodge’s Facebook page and you should see the fish they caught this week. They make mine look like minnows. It is ridiculous up there. If interested, check out fishcreelake.com.

I saw a video recently of a ‘63 Comet that had 1000+hp and no emergency brakes! Well, a nasty wreck ensued when the brakes failed during filming of this ride for a tv show. “You gotta be able to whoa before you go.” Nobody was killed, but yeesh᠁they all got lucky.

So I figured I’d mock up the e brake cable since I have everything ready now. Turns out that, with the LS/LM7 exhaust going through the crossmember, the 4l60e trans and trans mount, catalytic converters, and my exhaust hangers, I had to improvise a little bit. Instead of running the cable through the little grommeted hole in the crossmember, I had to build 2 little guides underneath it to have the cable activate smoothly. The guides are scrap 1” pipe I had lying around. I beveled the inner circumference of the pipe to 1/2 the wall thickness. It was smooth after this and even smoother after I sanded it down some with 220. I welded them on at a slight angle to line up better on both ends of the pipe. They ride on the guide, but it shouldn’t be an issue. A little touch up paint and wooo doggy. If attempted in the stock position, the cable is too short because of interference. A couple hours of thinking and figuring and I think I have it licked. I jacked up the rear, adjusted the shoes, and tried it out. The pedal locks up hard about 1/2 way through its stroke, and I still have lots of adjustment left on the parking brake cable if need be. All in all, I’m happy.

Hours:448

So I began to modify the dash to accept the air conditioning vents I am installing. The Old Air Products a/c unit I purchased was sent with the under dash rectangular pieces that, in my opinion, look like a terrible afterthought. My supplier simply made a mistake, so I began looking for original style vents. I found some on Summit. They had the left and right kit and the centre vent came separately. These are Vintage Air products. Oh, don't worry about the pieces playing nice; that's not where this story is going.


I began marking and laying out the side vent cuts. I was nervous of course, because you have to cut a 3.5" hole in the dash beside the gauges and glovebox. But my fear was baseless. Everything went well on the sides.

The centre vent however was a different story. Since it was a separate piece it didn't come with instructions. So I went on to Vintage Air's website to find some. I found some instructions for a 67-72 C10 WITHOUT factory air & installing FACTORY style vents. Golden? Just wait. I began to mark out the cut lines above the radio and my spider sense was tingling. Something wasn't quite right. With the dash pad, radio, and dash curvature, perhaps Vintage knew something I did not. So I ignored my gut and went with Vintage's instructions… for a 67-72 C10 WITHOUT factory air installing FACTORY style vents.

This is where I got mad. Trust your gut sometimes, fellas. Turns out the cut was in the wrong spot. I had to be about 3/4" lower. C'mon Peter Parker, trust that spider sense. Because of this error, I had a substantial gap ABOVE the centre vent in the dash. ARGGGGGH! So my little 1 hour job of drilling some holes turned into a fabrication session where I had to make a patch panel, weld it in, metal finish it, and then recut the opening. 4 hours later...

If someone had done this on a finished dash, could you imagine?! I am also lucky because I have the ability to fix a ridiculous mistake like this. A little epoxy, skim of filler, paint, the vent installed, dash pad installed, the repair will be invisible. I had the pad on when my wife checked in.

"I don't see the big problem and why you were so mad."

"Perfect, that's how it should be," I replied.


Hours: 452

Today I was able to hit the shop pretty hard. I first tidied just a bit to get ready for the day then accomplished the following:

1:LH front inner fender rust holes cut out, welded, finished. I initially started on one spot, but then I found another where the lower outer fender bolts to the inner. So, I had to cut that out too. Then I cut back some more as I was having issues with the thin steel and the patch.

2: I pulled out my old hvlp paint guns and disassembled the little one for priming the inside of the new door skin for the left hand side. It was a little sticky after sitting for 3 years or so. Good to go.

3. I then ground down the original LH door skin edges and removed it.

4. I had already epoxied the original inner door a couple years ago, so it was ready for the surgery. But since I was going to prime the outer skin, I decided to paint the inner skin black over the epoxy.

5. Removed leftover spot welds from the inner door panel.

6. Cleaned, wire wheeled the inner door panel in prep for primer.

7. Sprayed the outer door skin panel with epoxy.

8. Blasted and painted the mounting brackets and spacers for the A/C stuff under hood.

It was a good day.

Hours: 458

I also included a picture of the little farm welding trailer Dad and I flanged up from "freebies". It can go behind the quad if needed. Pretty handy little unit!

A couple nights ago I installed the brackets and spacers for the Old Air AC compressor on the LS/LM7 engine. The tensioner was quite tight to get the belt on, but I got it.

Later that evening, I decided to remove the stock GM bracket from the engine that held the old AC compressor. I installed it because I wasn't sure if it would need to be on there later. Well, I began removing bolts and got to the last one and discovered that I was unable to back it out all the way because the 73-87 frame engine mount was too close to the Dirty Dingo LS engine mounts. Also, the bracket wouldn't slip over the last little bit holding it on. Frick. Then I couldn't get it to rethread into the block. Well, truth be told, I really wanted it gone for sake of tidiness, so I began to examine more closely. Turned out I would have had to pull the cab, the exhaust, then the engine and trans (or lift 3-4 inches) in order to remove this ONE bolt.


Screw that. In the end, I laid on my back for 30 minutes with my die grinder, a long pencil rotary file/rasp in the chuck, and proceeded to turn that bolt head into filings. The die grinder barely reached/fit but I was able to dust that head and remove the bolt and the bracket. After it clanged to the floor, I booted it across the shop floor and barked something that rhymes with muck moo at the bolt and bracket. Grrrrr.

Progress. 🤔

Hours: 460


PS: I have also test run my pneumatic door skinning tool. It cost a penny for sure, but I'm glad I won't be doing this whole job by hammer and dolly. I have shown a few buddies and I think there may be some more use coming its way.

I have been hitting the door skin lately. It has had its ups and downs. To begin with I had to add a little steel along the inner door's front edge near the bottom. The inner lower tub reproduction was a little off, as you can see in the pictures prior. This was no big deal. Then, I began to drill plug weld holes along the outer skin replacement. I clamped it in place using scribes I'd put before the original's removal, then tacked it solid before I removed the door to fold it all over. I tacked the corners and began to fold over the corner lips to try out the door skinning tool.

It all went great until it didn't.

As mentioned above the tool is great, but be bloody careful as you can wreck stuff quickly.

The leading and trailing edges of the door went great. The door bottom had a hiccup.

If you attempt a door skin job with this Astro DS1000 door skinning tool, DON'T drill the plug weld holes first. As I moved along the bottom lip, I noticed that the holes caused weak points and the metal wouldn't move as easily and would distort outward. This gave me little "tabs/puckers" that stuck down because of the uneven pressure and kinking at the plug weld holes.

Also, as I moved along the bottom, the above issue also caused the tool to go off track, inadvertently folding the steel over, but missing the inner tub lip. This in turn caused the tool to kink the outer door skin slightly, giving me a very slight concave depression just above the lower lip. I removed some steel on the inner edge of the outer lower lip, worked the kink a bit, then welded over an extension to get back on the inner tub.

What a pain. It's even worse because, as I was moving on the lower edge, my gut told me something was amiss and I should switch to doing it by hand and dolly. Hindsight is irritating to say the least.🤷🏼‍♂️

The photos show the highs and lows, but they actually aren't that bad. A 1/16" of filler and I should be ok. I am lucky that the very bottom of the panel's edge doesn't wave up and down, so I can build a very good, strong skim of filler along that edge. It's good because the filler won't actually be on the edge this way. I'm still fine tuning but this door is finally fitting the way I want it to. A pillar gap= good, rear door gap= good, window frame gap=good, lower gap= very workable, leading edge gap= to be determined once front sheet metal is hung.

Hours 465

👍🏻🦊👍🏻

Wow nice!

I have tried to cancel my order for the lower front LH fender patch, as all these vendors "have it, but don't have it." I've been tagged along and shipping pushed back, so I have tried to cancel the order, but now they won't let me. I'm a little mad to say the least.

I have begun making my own patch instead. I discovered upon closer inspection that the rust wasn't nearly as extensive as the other side. So, I'm elbows deep, screw reproductions and wait times.

Building compound curves by hand is HARD! I need an English wheel…🤔

Hours: 467

Reading through your post history on this truck. Really pulls at the heart strings to see this come together.
I lol'd at the english wheel...sometimes the tools end up costing more than the vehicle itself!

It is special to the family. I want to push harder to complete this for my uncles and aunts. We went to a community social/fundraiser/dance last night and many of my relatives were there. I updated them on the "I'm so close to primer that I can taste it" situation. They were excited.

The good thing about tools is that you'll have them for life!

The last couple days I have been able to have uninterrupted shop time. What?! My guppies went for a sleepover at my in-laws so I took advantage. I finished welding out and metal finishing the lower front fender patch I started. It will require a skim of filler and you won't be able to tell. A person likely couldn't see it even without the filler, as one would have to lie under the fender and look up to see the repair.

I hammered and dollied the lower door edge and ground it a little straighter. I might tweak it a little more, but it's really close. Again, a little filler because of the fiasco mentioned above, but it should be invisible when done.

I hung the left door and am quite happy with its fit. The bottom right corner isn't perfect, but I don't care at this point. Nor did I before hand. It is good enough. I then realized I forgot to reinstall the door window "stopper bracket" that sits inside the door! It would have a been a whole lot easier to install with the door skin removed…🤦🏼‍♂️ Despite this, I got it installed, it just took longer than necessary.

I opened up my new engine wiring harness and I am in the process of trying to loom it and lay it into position. I had to remove and modify my first ecm mount to hold the new relays. A few brackets, buzz buzz with the mig, grind smooth and it looks pretty good. I will continue to work on laying the harness in position. Afterwards, I'm not sure…

Blow apart for priming? Wire a bit more and start the engine for the first time before paint?

Thoughts?

Hours: 472

Back from Dominican Republic...it was gorgeous there...and was down right ridiculously warm at home! I could have gotten so much done on the truck while it was warm at home. Got home and it tanked. -32°C overnights, some snow days at school because of the cold…ugh.

But it has warmed up again! So...

Inner front fenders' old rubber coating wire wheeled off and prepped for blasted.

Parts loaded in trailer. Odds and ends, hood, front fenders, inners, rear tubs, core support, bed sills, tailgate. Ooo doggy.

Bed comes off tomorrow.

Haul stuff/bed to blast booth Wednesday.

Excited!

Hours:474

I didn't count the tear down time today. It wasn't actually like "work." 😎🦊

Sand in the underpants, anyone?

I’m excited to get this box stripped down.

1. Strip, prime, body work, reprime box and move it to my house to await paint.

2. Repeat #1 with hood, doors, inners, front fenders, core support, odds and ends/brackets, etc.

3. Cab strip, prime, body work, reprime.

4. Paint cab.

5. Paint box.

7. Paint large pieces and odds/ends.

Time to mask up bolters. My forearms are going to be sore!

Nothing set in stone, but I was sniffing around yesterday. It’s a shade darker than original. Quite nice. Has some greyish tones in it in certain light.

Sand in the underpants...

I'm very glad that I chose to blast these reproductions down to bare metal. As I blasted tonight, there were areas that flaked off well before the media got close, there were areas with grease streaks from the stamping under them, areas with fingerprints, slightly rusty areas, and some areas that I couldn't figure out. Not what one would want to base a paint job on. I've heard some people have never had a problem, but from what I've seen here...yeesh. I wouldn't.

I'm not quite done. We ran out of buckets of sand and had to refill them, it was late, had to 180° the box to finish up the end pieces, so we shut it down for the night.


Hours: 476

Hours: 478

Box blasted!



https://photos.app.goo.gl/tMZBGXmVcxpJCfAL7


I thought y’all might find this interesting.

That's a pretty cool setup.