Hey fellas, It's been a while, but I'm still at it, and struggling as usual. I've completed my chassis, along with totally rebuilding my trans (Muncie M-20) all by myself I'm now trying to tackle body work and have a problem. I've gutted everything out of the cab with the exception of the lower door hinges. The bottom bolts as most of you probably know don't nut on since there is no access to the back side. I have destroyed two of the biggest screw drivers I can find trying to get them off. I've done the best I can do trying to get penetrating oil back there, but no luck. I even improvised a piece of steel plate to fit in a 1-1/4" impact socket, and it won't budge. I assume I can put some heat to it, but the threaded portion is practically hidden. I'd cut them off if I could find OEM replacements, but nothing found. Any thoughts? Thanks once again. Woody
Woody are you talking about the lower hinge and is it the bolt at the Very bottom on the inside portion of the cab? I ask because i just removed both doors and am working on my 59's cab also! If its this bolt (that tends to rust out) I had to take my plasma cutter and cut the head off to get the hinge out of the pocket there really is no good way to fix, that is on both my 58 & 59 had this problem and i ordered new lower hinge panels and replaced them both on the 58& and replacing these on the 59 right now ! really not that hard to do and i also replaced the inner pocket area piece also as these were rusted out too. Allen
Yeah Allen, That's it. The lower bolts on the lower hinges. I don't have a problem with cutting them off, but I want to go back with as original as I can get. I don't know where I could find these monsters (big slotted head bolts). The hinges are in pretty good shape, so I just plan to replace the hinge pins, but need to de-rust everything back there, including the hinges. The pockets are in pretty good shape actually. I guess that's cuz they were full of trash. May have acted like a preservative? I'm also dealing with some small cab dents, and of course they're in places where I can't get behind. Been trying these cheap cross bar pullers, with not much luck. But, I strongly believe that's because of the heat. The glue separates too easily. I just keep doing it, hoping that I'm making small steps. Woody
Hinge Bolts Here's whatcha gotta do : Get a torch and hear the head of the bolt up cherry red then quickly quench and cool it off to cool to the touch , this rapidly contracts the bolt's threads from the captive nut and breaks them loose . You can use a BIG can of penetrant or the garden hose to cool it off but the main thing is to heat it by rotating the flame around the bolt's head until it glows then cool it off as quickly as possible ~ have the hose or whatever , right there , no moments wasted . After the bolts are out , chase the Female threads before re - installing the bolts .
Thanks Nate, I'll give that a shot. How are you at gettin dents out? I tried heating them, then putting ice to them, but that was a waste of time. I'm considering cutting out a piece of the inside (back drivers side corner), then pushing out the dent, then replacing the cut out piece, like a patch panel. I've now put the cross bar on with loads of glue, about six times, and if the dent has come out any, it's just barely. I've attached pics of the dent in question.
The dent Let me put in my 2 cents worth. I can think of two ways to handle the dent. One way is to pull it out with a panel popper/dent puller. It has a sliding weight on it and a sheet metal screw. You have drill a small hole in the dent and then screw the sheet metal screw in the hole, pulling the sliding weight back will pull the metal out, of course a little bit of body work will be required afterwards. The other way would be to drill a hole inside your cab right behind the dent just big enough for what ever tool you are using, in the past I have used a 1/4 inch drive extension or a 1/2 inch drive extension, the small end of them both are rounded and work well. Good luck with the dent. I will look around my shop for the original bolts out of my door hinges, if I find them you can have them. Gerald in Florida
Gerald, As far as the dents go, I'm just trying to avoid bondo as much as possible. This morning, I actually made some progress on the big dent, and wouldn't ya know it, the pulling tool broke. So, I bought another kit, just to get the pulling piece. I'm going to keep at it, as I believe I'm stronger willed than my friend Murphy. If you can find those bolts, I could use them. I gave up on the heat, and penetrating oil today and cut em off. I'm patient, but not that patient You said that if you can find the originals? Did you buy replacements? I'd buy new ones if I knew where to find them. Woody
Bolts During the 5 years it took me to rebuild my truck, everytime I took out a bolt or screw I replaced it with a new one. Most are available thru places like our host and I used those. Here in Ocala there is a place that deals in nuts, bolts and saw blades, quite often I would take several old bolts there and get new ones, thats where I got the new bolts for the door hinges. It was great to just lay a bunch of old rusty bolts on their counter and let them find new ones for me. Ya gotta love small towns. I am sure that the old bolts are still here in my garage or in the shed, I will look around today. Good luck with your dent. One good thing about bondo, it doesn't rust. Before bondo they used lead, you might consider giving it a try. When I was a kid, I remember watching my uncle doing lead work, he made it look easy but we know it isn't. Keep on truckin Gerald
Thanks for the response Gerald. These bolts are just so unusual, with that big 'A' head on them. I've only checked out our host, and JMC, but no luck yet. About the bondo, there were two dents that needed extra help. One right next to the door frame (drivers side), that was sort of smashed, and one on the pass. side rear that totally looked hammerable. I got my cheap hammer and dolly and went to work on it. Almost had it perfect, but when I was trying to do some final touch up, one of my shop lights was out. I had my flashlight inside the cab, and when I looked around to the outside, I noticed light coming through the steel. SOB, I went too far. I bought this stuff called QuickSteel, which is an epoxy putty. I rubbed it over the area, both inside and out. After it set up, which only took a very short while, it sands out just fine. I am very happy with it, and it's hard as a rock.
bolts Sorry, no luck yet on the bolts. I might have found one, but it does not have a slot or an 'A' on it. Our host has hinge bolts listed in the 2010 parts magazine. Part number 18-486. Your luck on fixing things sounds a lot like mine, that dent has been fighting you all the way. If those bolts show up, I will let you know. Good luck Gerald in Florida
Gerald, I looked at the part you spoke of, and that ain't it. There's a note that says 'Cab only'. I believe that is the bolt that goes from the front of the hinge assembly to the front of the cab. I will certainly need those, but not this time. Thanks for the try though. These bolts I'm referring to have a head that's close to 1-1/2" in diameter. The top hinge bolts are smooth like cap screws, as are the top two bolts for the bottom hinges. The problem bolts (bottom two for the bottom hinges) are the same, but slotted. Woody
Dents & Stuck Bolts Woody ; Keep at it , you'll get there . I'm terrible at body works as I don't have the patieince for it , my poor old '46 3100 showed my bad efforts , the cab had been center punched , pushing the side mounted spare tire into the door jamb .
Woody, the nut on the back side has a cage that allows the nut to float freely so you can line up the doors (the hinge is able to slide up or down to align the door) hate to tell you this but yours has rusted out just like the many that do!! you really need to replace the lower hinge panel as there is really no way to get a nut on the back side below the hinge to tighten it up properly! Didn't you Buy a Mig welder? the patch panel is really not that hard to do! Very easy to do if you have the right tools and i believe you do! It just Take Patience and a little time ( I Just finished my 59's hinge pocket this weekend) The part to replace cost $29.00 at the truck shop ( Die grinder with cut off wheel and my Mig welder and Grinder and you will be in business!) You are well come to call me or PM me more on this if you would like! As far as the dent goes you should look into the stud welder and dent puller that harbor freight has approx $100 to $150 bucks,it welds studs to the metal and you use a dent puller to pull the dent out and then cut the stud of and grind the remaining stud Pc off works great! I would stay away from the heat and cool trick,you could end up warpimg the metal bad! FWIW, Allen
Hey Woody, the bigger cap head bolt with the straight slotted head was used on the first years 55-56 I had two 56 parts trucks and one had the slotted straight blade screw driver type of head you had and the other truck had the standard bolt head that they changed to in the later years! I think you might have to switch to the newer bolt type as I have never seen the older cap head that you have offered,( the newer bolt is more user friendly to use too)
I realize it may be too late, sounds like you solved your problems, but a Stud Welder from Harbor Freight is only $99.00 and it works great on dents like the one you had. After the dents are pulled, you just zip off the studs with a cut off saw, no or very little filler needed. It is also important to pull on the studs in the opposite direction of how the dent was created.
Okay guys, I've given up on the cross bar puller. Just a waste of time. However, I've found that the stud welder really isn't as intimidating as I first thought. Using it yesterday for the first time, wasn't so tough. I've pulled out the big dent in the roof, along with the two little hail dimples. It certainly wasn't a perfect fix, as I knew going in, but took very little filler (the epoxy putty). I believe with some practice, I might just get dangerous at this (in a good way hopefully). Gonna sand em down this morning to see how I did. I will post pics if successful. If I don't post anything, then you'll know the results . Thanks again for all the advice my friends. Woody
