The Stovebolt Site Forums The Side Lot Old Dominion Stovebolt Society (MD, VA, West VA, DC, DE and PA) 1951 3100 5-window - working on it

Thought I would jump in here. I am still not far from the starting line as far as the truck goes. Only managed to find two photos of it when it arrived in the shop.

As I mentioned in my Welcome Centre post, we bought this '51 3100 5-window 4 years ago for my wife. A ‘project’ which after scratching the surface turned out to need multiple patch panels ᠁ a LOT of them.

Health issues got a bit in the way. I have failed kidneys and am on dialysis 8 hours every night which kinda kills my energy, so I don’t expect to be able to get as much done as I used to.

Have a decent workshop and tools, car lift etc. so I decided it would just take as long as it takes. My best guess is 2-4 years, we shall see.

Some shots of the truck and the real problem areas, the driver/passenger front lower corners. Seems to be the usually suspect as far as these cabs go.

I will make further posts as the thing progresses.

My focus this past week or so is to get my head around the sequence of parts. Just on the drivers side I need to replace the inner/outer cowl, floor pan, rocker, lower lock pillar, lower hinge pillar, outer and inner rear corner.

Its a bit like dominoes, where to start? Doing a little research, measuring and asking questions my plan of attack is as follows:

1 - replace inner rear corner.
2 - install new rocker panel/sill
3 - both lower pillars
4 - outer rear corner
5 - floor pan
6 - inner and outer cowl

I have removed the rocker to the rear pillar but need a body saw to do some fine removal where the pillar meets the rocker.

I am conscious that the door fit is critical so will be installing panels with self tapping screws initially until I am sure both pillars are in the right position.

If I can get the drivers side done by Christmas I will be happy.

The Factory Assembly Manual is proving to be an essential resource, allowing me to check measurements although it is sometimes less than intuitive.

Onwards and upwards!

Wow you really took her down to the bones. I like the cross bracing you added that and having the cab still bolted to the frame will help considerably with your door fit. A lot of work ahead of you but looks like you have a good plan.

You do have quite a job ahead if you. As one ‘bolter has suggested (can't remember which member, sorry),build the replacement panels around the door, that being the most critical component. Another member, Klhansen, has allot of great pictures he took during his replacement process. Here is a [LINK].

Before you start any welding, get that gas tank out of there!

Thanks, yes the gas tank has been bone dry for 4 years but it really does need to come out lest there are fumes lingering. Good spot.

Paul

Started to address the driver side rear corner. Removed the inner corner and dressed the flange ready for the new panel. Doesn't look like there should be any question of precise placement as it only fits in one position. Outer corner still not trimmed to final edge yet. Will weld in the inner corner but hold off on the outer until I can be sure everything lines up with the door.

Been mocking up the rocker and where it meets the lower door pillar leaves a lot to be desired as the curves don't match.

Photos aren't great but show the missing inner corner and partially trimmed outer corner.

Gas tank removed!

Hello paul65,

Welcome to the Stovebolt. There's a wealth of knowledge here on the SB. You're gonna love it here!

It’s been a rough few weeks, health-wise, so not touched the truck of late. Managed to get the driver side inner rear corner installed this week and spent much of this morning removing the old floor pan and firewall, trying to mock up the new panels. Most of the panels are fairly obvious as to their location but the rocker can be installed a fraction too far back/forward and if so impacts the front fender location.
klhansen kindly proffered a dimension from the FAM which helps locate the rocker panel, 8.47” from the front of the dash to the leading edge of the rocker.

These first two photos are courtesy of klhansen and show the FAM measurement and how it applies to the rocker.

Next three photos are my current setup. I dropped a vertical laser from the outside of the dash (i.e. in the engine bay) and then measured from the rocker leading edge. I get something more like 8.62, so 0.15” too much. I can probably reduce this further with a nudge or two on the rocker.

I tried to mockup the parking brake brace but the three holes are at a slight angle to the rocker. I will try to work out how to fenagle things to make the holes line up better although if the rocker moves slightly rearward I think it worsens the lining up of the holes with the brake brace.

The plan is to get the rocker and floor pan fixed with ‘self tappers’. I can then modify the cab bracing such that I can reinstall the driver side door to check the gap. If and only if that gap looks fine will I start tacking the rocker/floor. The under floor mount brace is just laid in place loose as of now.

The floor was HORRIBLY out of flat as the near non-existent driver side mount meant the cab was falling into the front left corner. Included the final photo of just how bad the floor was? I used the car lift to raise the body a small amount and the floor flattened out nicely.

We just added Paul's truck story from the Project Journals to ODSS. Has anyone heard from of late? He was last seen this past July. He was pretty active up til then. He was really trying to get as much of his truck done as he could.

Anybody know??

I'm back!

Had failing kidneys this past few years due to a genetic condition. Managed to get a kidney transplant last summer. Spent the next 6 months until Feb/March of this year recovering and trying to put weight back on (dropped from 230 to 153), and am back at the truck now!

I realize there have been many gaps in my posts but it just couldn't be avoided, health etc.

Moved the cab to a dolly this past weekend to get the side sill/rocker on the passenger side mocked up. Hopefully will have something to post in the coming weeks.

Paul

Welcome back and cheers to better health.

Ditto.

Great to hear that you are on the mend!
Nothing like having one of these old trucks to work on to give one purpose. It's like therapy for me.
A good friend of mine suffered through kidney failure and finally got a good used one installed some years ago. He is a car guy. He's into Pontiacs and that has given him purpose.

Thanks guys, happy to be feeling somewhat normal once again. Really took it out of me.

Spent some time the other evening trying to clamp various panels int o place, using screws to hold them in situ etc. Will try to get some progress this weekend.