The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop First time at bodywork and welding᠁

First time at body work and welding᠁Tips and criticism welcome.

I am doing the S10 conversion and taking the opportunity to fix rusted out cowls and cab corners. My goal is to keep the paint and patina, I am not restoring it. It will be my daily driver and do not want a professional finish look. I am going for the “ 1950s farmer repair” look. I will prime and paint all repaired sheet metal flat black, then clear coat.

On the passenger’s side, I replaced some floor/toe board areas with 18 gage that I fabricated. Using aftermarket panels, I replaced inner cowl up to bottom of vent cut-out, full filler panel, and about 4” of the lower outer cowl. Everything looks good.

On the driver’s side, I replaced a toe board area with a 18 gage fabricated piece. Aftermarket panels were used to replace inner cowl (up to hood line), full filler panel, and the lower 8” of outer cowl. The lower cowl is welded only at my cut line. No other welding was done, because I think I screwed up on the outer cowl.

The top of my cut matches great (obviously, that’s where I started) and the end (bottom) as well. The lower fender hole matches too. But about 3/4” below my cut at the door jam, the patch starts to deviate (towards the door opening) from the factory door edge area above my cut (where the inside corners are)᠁.about 1/8” (see photo 2). The rear most edge (or the far right side of the panel (facing the door, from welding position ) of the patch begins to extend beyond the factory bottom pillar panel, 1/4” (see photo 3).

Questions:

What did I do wrong?

If I trim the excess shown in photo 3, will the 1/4” (photo 2) conflict with the door? How much “forgiveness” should I expect with the door gaps?

If a conflict happens, how do I correct it?

A neighbor told me “back in the day” he would shave a little bit off the door edge᠁sounds like it could work.

My plan is to stop working on the problem and shift gears to the rear cab corners (any tips are appreciated). I’ll mount the cab, remove my door supports, and try to put the doors on.

BTW, if I can figure out how to get my project journal off my ipad, I will create a project journal post.

You will have to wait for someone smarter to answer your question about gaps, but in the meantime you shouod change your username.

I keep getting excited about another local member, then disappointed when I see your location...

If it were me, and I didn't have to mess with the door, I wouldn't. I would slice the patch panel, knock it back until I had a straight edge, then weld up the slice. Similar to what I had to do on my Model A patch, up and down the outer bead, to make everything line up.

Jason, He said he's FROM Idaho.

Scott, your mistake was not waiting to weld anything till you had the door opening matched up with the door. And what you've found is that patch panels NEVER fit correctly and need to be massaged to fit. The fender bolt hole isn't as important as the door fit, as they're not visible after final assembly. What I would do is cut the patch loose, maybe at the front edge so you can make the door gap correct. Put the door on at least temporarily to get your patch panel in the correct location, and use sheet metal screws to hold the panel in position, then remove the door for welding. Also, be sure to tack weld it in place before welding in completely, because if you weld from one end, the opposite end will squirm around. The excess material that laps over the door post can just be hammered over the door post (that's what the factory did.) You may have to buy a new patch panel if you don't have enough material to adjust it and get tight gaps at your weld joint.
You can trim the door edges, but that's not the best approach. This is the voice of experience talking as I messed up my door fit and had to do that.

I'd recommend you head up to the top of the forum and review MPandC's sticky thread on MIG welding tips.

I'd second the recommendation to review MPandC's sticky thread on MIG welding tips.

Scott are you in Daytona, Florida? If so, I'm in Sanford about 35 miles away.

I had to do a bit of welding when putting mine back together. I'd be willing to lend a hand if you want.

That's what I did to fix crack in the bed rail except it's 16 gauge stock instead of license plate. Part of what makes old trucks so simple and fun to work on. Repairs you'd never consider on a '69 Camaro or Corvette look right at home on a truck, and even adds to their appeal, IMO.

How does Floridaho sound? 🤣

BTW, I hear it’s a record in the Nampa-Boise area for snow. Incredible.
We are making a visit back home, but not until August, which is means the valley will likely be filled with smoke from the annual fires in California.
Has growth slowed yet?

That’s great advice, and I think I can that. 🤞

Great advice! I probably relied on the clamps I placed along the forward edge too much when I welded the cut line.

I do have numerous license plates 😆

Luckily, I checked the doors for warpage and cowls for indentations before removing them.

Hinge pockets looked good, which surprised me, considering the amount of rust and lack of metal remaining everywhere else. I rebuilt the hinges last year because the doors were sagging.

Thanks for your input on the door shaving idea.

I’m gonna look at that post tonight. Thanks!

Cool! I’m just west of 95 and off SR 40. I might take you up on your offer. Thank you!

That looks cool!

I wouldn’t do that on my 66 mustang resto mod or my wife’s 65 GT convertible mustang 🤣, but perfectly acceptable on the 54.

It is approaching a record for consecutive days of snow, but not for total snowfall. If it snows tonight it will break the record from the 30s.

No, the growth around here is absurd.

Scott,

This is your first time with bodywork and welding? Amazing work for a newbie.

Yes, but I did try to weld about 6 years ago, before I had brain surgery to help my Parkinson’s symptoms. Needless to say, I gave it up instantly because shaking makes for terrible welds 🤣. And it took this long for me to try again. The surgery, deep brain stimulation (DBS), placed electrodes deep into the bottom center of my brain. Wires are routed out of my skull, down my neck ( under skin), and into what I call my voltage regulator, under my skin on my chest. It’s kinda like a pace maker, but I get to control how much electricity is directed into my brain with a remote control. I reached out to the manufacturer and enquired about the impacts welding might have on the setup. They said we don’t know, so don’t do it. I’ve been researching for 5 years now..,nothing indicates a small inverter welder puts off any electromagnetic fields that are harmful. So I took a leap of faith last month᠁now I want to weld everything I see!

Probably more than you expected, but that’s the back story about me and welding.

Thank you for the compliment!

Kevin,

Should I cut at my original weld line?

If I am following you correctly, I cut horizontally, and as I get closer to the door, try massaging the piece clock wise to align it with the door. As Mark indicated, I might need to make a vertical slice too

Or do you mean cut the panel completely off?

Yes, I would cut your original weld starting at the front. You might be able to get it to move once you get within 1/2" or so of the edge adjoining the door. If all else fails, cut it off completely and start over. Use as thin a cutoff tool as you can get.

Interesting story about your Parkinsons. Glad that gizmo is helping. Trying to weld with the shakes would be real difficult. Kudos for doing the work you're doing.

🤞
Thank you!

I can only empathize. I used three patch panels on the lower cowl. I replaced the whole cowl on the passenger side and it was much easier The lower cowl is the one area on my truck I’m not particularly proud of and probably the main giveaway that I’m no pro. As others have said the door needs to be hung and aligned. I had to grind that lip after I had it all spot welded in.

I was hesitant when I started the outer cowls. At least the floor, toe board, inner cowl and filler are hidden from view 😂
Fingers crossed the cab corners go well. Fortunately, mine are not rusted too high up and the ends look good too. I hope this hold true so I don’t have to cut out the door area!

The cab corners aren’t really that visible either. I didn’t really love my patch on the cab corners but body filler can cover a lot of sin there. It doesn’t show well in the picture but the actual radius of the patch panel is off. I should have hung the doors after I put it into black primer (before paint) because I really didn’t notice the radius was off until after paint and after I installed the door. This was my first time welding and painting and my truck came out better than ok, so you can totally do it. You may have to do a few things twice. I did a patch on by bed panel 3 times. There is a thread on here where these guys walked me through it.

That looks great! Nice job on the paint too!