To assemble the front end, do I first put the inner fenders on, then slip the grill so those lower tabs go between the inner fenders and the core support. Then put the outter fenders on, then the hood latch section last.
Old question... never answered I was looking back through the archives to see if anyone talked about the body assembly order. I found this question, but it seems no one ever answered him. Anyone know of any good resources for the order of reassembly. I have the Shop Manual, Factory Assembly Manual and Tom B's book and no one talks about the correct order. Greg
Good one What I usually bumble into is: put it together, realize that this must come before that, undo it, and put it together to find the next part needs, this before that, before that. It eventually happens in the right order, but takes all day instead of an hour or two...
Ken or Andy~ You got this? Both of these guys just got through doing this very thing~ with a Chevy~ Ken's done it twice in the last couple of years, so I'm sure he'll set you straight. IIRC, he did say to bolt the inner and outer fender together first? We'll see... Ken is no doubt knee deep in pine tree right now or pouring over plans for a three car garage complete with a service pit!
1. Assemble inner and outer fenders. 2. tape fender to body areas so you don't scrape them up. Hint...put the tape on your shirt to reduce the tackiness and make the tape easier to remove. 3. install the rad. support. 4. Install fenders, get hardware started, but leave everything lose. 5. install splash apron. 6. install grill. 7 install hood. 8. take measurements to square up sheetmetal. 9. begin tightening everything up, checking for hood alignment and squareness. 10. Install bumper. 11. Do big smoky burnout in driveway.
Thanks Ol' Chebby (Russ?). That is just what I needed. I want to do a test fit before I begin painting the basecoat. Greg
...Not to mention the consumption of multiple adult beverages to ease the stress of such a task. Andy
colorful language is pretty much required with any mechanical work. Just remember to keep everything loose until all pieces are in, then tighten everything down.
Ol' Chebby pretty much said it all! Good write-up Russ! A couple of more things I thought of. When putting the front end back together: Pay attention to detail. Now is the time to put the anti-squeak kit in between the inner and outer fenders. Metal to metal causes 2 things: noise and rust. Prep the inside of the fenders with some kind of chip protection, either "chip guard" or undercoating, as there is nothing to protect your fenders from rocks, chips etc coming off of the tires. Take the time to install your front fender welting properly to the fender (cut out triangular pieces around the hard curves and tack the welting to the fender metal with adhesive). Spend the extra coins and attach everything with stainless steel bolts, nuts and washers. It will pay off in the long run. As Russ said, hand tighten everything and take measurements before tightening any bolt. Remember that every part on this truck depends on every other part being lined up just right before the torque is applied. Tongue placement is essential! Being left handed, my tongue is ALWAYS hanging in a downward position, left side of mouth. Remember that you can be liberal with profanity. The most universal word in the English language is the "F" word. It can be used as a noun, pronoun, verb, adverb, or adjective! However, please use caution using the word around youngsters! I use the numbering system around them. I have secretly come up with a code using a number for each word. So, when my grandson is here and hanging on every word, if the use of one of those words is neccessery, i merely say, "oh, 1, 6, 4, 5, 2, 4, 3!!!!!! Makes me feel better and he giggles! Good luck! Hope this helps! Ken
I will be assembling the front of the 53 as soon as the body shop gets through painting it. I'll try to do a photo tech article on it. Ken, maybe you should post your number system....that way if any of us are working together, we know the severity o the words required....
When I installed my grill I discovered that my fenders weren't squared off up front. Somebody somewhere in the last 58 years had run into something making the front crosseyed. I had to push the fenders forward along the grill side bolts. I ran out of cuss words and started amking up new ones. I'm going to pring off ol' chebby's list for future reference.
Please To Remember : Back when these trucks were new , GM could have easily sold 1/3 more than they were able to produce so quality just went right out the window ~ body panel fittment was simply wretched and rain leaks and wind whistles were part and parcel of any AD truck when it was new . I well remember working on cherries that had hoods off by 1/2" , doors that required Herculean slams to keep closed and on and on.... The passenger side door alignment was the very worst part , most of you here want them to be made to modern Japanese car quality ~ it just ain't so . The fact that there's so many of these fine trucks left around is due to vastly superior design by GM ~ brand F trucks of the same vintage have better gaps and body line alignement but way fewer made the long haul of daily battering by heavy use and poor maintenance . So , keep up the good work but don't be put off by poor body alignment .
I have been known to come up with a few hybrid swear words when in the heat of the moment.......just makes things go better. I also find that the proper words for the curse words work well when the children are present...excrement, fornicate, etc.
