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overwhelmed! where do i start?

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rtnnhazel

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i was working on my 51 and i uncovered all of this. i have been working on this truck seriously since i could hold a wrench. im 23 now and i find myself redoing alot of the work that me and my dad did when i was younger. take all of the floor rot for example, its always been there but my dads idea of fixing it was to pour an inch of urethane over some thin hammered out rain gutter. i helped him do it. i forgot about it until today. the problem is that i have tons of things like this to fix. now that i said that i should say that i really truly love this truck. i cant wait to take my wife and kids for a ride in it. it just seems like its one step forward and two steps back. its very frustrating. it looks to me like i need a new firewall and toe board. im pretty sure i can make the floor panels. i was looking through the CP catalog and the street rod firewall looks right for my 350/350 combo. has anyone used this before ? how hard is it to get the old firewall out? i know my way around tools and can tig weld pretty decent. but have never taken out such a large panel. i dont want to get anymore in over my head. thanks for listening- robert
http://s277.photobucket.com/albums/kk45/rtnnhazel2/
 
Making A Plan

Robert ;

You're looking at structural welding here so take some time and read ALL of Evan's posts , he's a good body man and many here have written extensively on floor / firewall repairs .

If you're doing this @ home and " On TheCheap " , make up an A - Frame and hoist the cab off the frame a little bit to relieve stress and allow you space underneath .
 
thanks for the reply nate. its not so much an "on the cheap" deal, cost is a factor but im willing to pay to do it right. is there a lot of stress involved with removing the firewall and toeboard? thanks again- robert
 
Looks like you have several areas needing patch panels. You have to decide how much fixin' you want to do. Complete would be to strip the cab down removing everything and weld in some stabilizers insuring that as you remove panels the cab will maintain structural stability or rigidity. I would only work on one spot at a time and don't get in a hurry. If you have the same amount of time as I it will take you two or three years to do the job. If time is not a problem perhaps sooner.
Good luck
 
Big Chevy 3600 is right on. Anytime you do a floor replacement use bracing in strategic placement around the cab to keep things square. Leave the doors on, as this will be the time to get the door gaps better than when the truck was built. Before you weld the floor panels on. Check the door gaps one last time. Look at it like eating an Elephant. One bite at a time. You'll do great. Good luck.
 
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i started removing all of the urethane today with a heat gun, worked really well. just kinda cleaning until i found good metal. i then started using my favorite tool, the air hammer, to seperate panels. its all going kinda smooth. so tommorrow im gona get some steel for bracing. would unistrut work? im an electrician so its very abundant and free. with this much to replace where do i put the bracing? i only have a tig machine so my welds are slow and hard to get into tight places. if im gonna replace the firewall/toeboards and front floor i have to go in that order because of overlap of each item? am i thinking right? well thanks for the help- robert
 
slow and steady wins the race!

Hi, there rtnnhazel, before you start any cutting of any metal get some supports in cab, x frame each door opening, x frame from b post to b post, and a bar across the bottom of the a posts should do the trick. Unistrut will do the trick as long as its thick wall, weld some thick flat pads in between the strut and the cab, tack plates to the cab with a few short welds and full weld uni to plates, it will spread the load and the tack welds will be easier to remove and do less damage to the cab, before you do this though, spend some time checking the cabs straight, not twisted and doors open and shut ok, if not, play about jacking or pushing it around till your happy with door gaps, try and get them as good as you can because once you weld everything up you will not get them any better. When you start cutting out the rust, dont go crazy and leave a massive hole where your floor was, keep floor supports in if possible and get the floor tacked into place then repair/replace supports. Do one side at a time because if you chop all your floor out the cab will resemble a fruit jelly and go all wobbly. Dont do loonnngggg welds, keep them short and move around opposite sides of the panel, look at the panel as a clock face and weld 12 then 6 then 9 then 3 etc till all the welds meet, it should keep warpage down.

I found it a bit of a struggle to get a stripped down cab off on my own, but i did it, my advice, get a six pack of beers in and ask some mates round to help you lift it off, i welded a couple of builders A stands together to hold cab up in the air while i worked on it and even laid the cab on its back on a few tyres to paint underside so you dont need anything flash to do it.

Work safe!!!!! eye protection at ALL times!!!! grinding, welding etc, dont just close your eyes when tacking, you will get sunburn of a real nasty type and fried retinas dont grow back!! move anything flamable well away from work area, and keep an extinguisher handy, while your running about like a headless chicken trying to find one your pride and joy will just be getting more damaged.

Take your time, dont rush, dont try and weld rust, many have tried before you but its just impossible, cut back to good metal and you will get a nice weld.

And dont forget.......have fun. Its a satisfying thing to get rid of the brown stuff and re-metal your truck! if you need any more advice..........ask someone else cos i aint got a clue what im on about:D
 
OL' CHEBBY
thanks for the pics. i noticed when you did yours i didnt see a lot of bracing. is it not there or maybe i just didnt see it? it looks like it turned out good. what is that grey stuff i see on the floor? it looks good.

BRIT 50
thanks for the advice. i have plenty of unistrut so i will have plenty of bracing. i dont think warpage is a problem since im TIG welding. do you think i should start with firewall or the floor? thanks again- robert
 
tig?

Tig welding? that may take you a lot longer, parts need to be spotlessly cleaned of any paint, rust etc. i would leave the floor in place and get the firewall sorted first to keep rigidity in the cab then attack the floor,
 
if i wanted to chop the top would this be the time to do it? has anyone ever done this? is a difficult procedure? i was thinking 2" in the front and 2" in the back. any suggestions or is this blasphamy? thanks again- robert
 
chopping

If i were you i would get rid of all the rust first then think about getting the gas axe out! chopping the top is relatively easy on these trucks because of one thing, flat glass all round.
 
i dont think i would use a torch, probably a peanut grinder or sawzall. what do i do about the vent windows? i would still like to keep them but that doesnt look possible. thanks again i appreciate all your advice- robert
 
Gas axe

Sorry, gas axe is just a term used over here, didnt mean to suggest you use oxy/acet to cut body! vent windows would be a problem.....unless your real good!
 
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