Steve's 50 re-re-rebuild

[Blueflame236]

Heritage fatther ,son ,grandson ect.

Nate



There are most likely many other people then moms and dads whom love and take care , embrase them and hug them focus on there good energy

Martinius.

All you who have or had , a nice Father / Uncle or someone like this , are keenly aware of how lucky you are .

My Father who's 91 and about to graduate Harvard University for the second time , still never misses a chance to tell or show me how much a disappointment I was just for being born .

Those who had fun buying and working on your rigs (or nasty Brand 'F's) are especially blessed your Father will be riding shot gun with you through the rest of your your days

 

[50 Chevy LS3]

How time gets away...

Now, fast forward to mid-winter 2012-'13. After moving from farm barn storage to my home diesel big-rig shop, dis-assembled and stored for many years, I decided to go at it again. This was prompted partly when a major shop clean-out and re-organization uncovered lots of vintage truck parts I had forgotten I even had. So, to start with I decided the cab has to be right first, without that, I don't really have a project. The cab is really in need of a complete re-build to rid it of all rust. No more home-made sheet metal floors and cowl/ kick panels, etc. So, here it is, pulled out of the corner.

Next, fabricate a method to both brace and support cab while removing all the rusty metal panels. CAB MUST BE BRACED IN ALL DIRECTIONS. Measure everything and record it!

Next, a trip to the local lumber yard for supplies to build a cradle or rotisserie of sorts.


To be continued... (this might take A LONG time).

 

[SinclairChevy]

I like the way you've started out with the re-re-rebuild! Looks like a great plan, and an easier way to work. Looking forward to following your progress.

Damon

 

[vwnate1]

Stuctural Support

Decades ago , I did high dollar restorations on old European cars , many were rusted way beyond salvage but when you have one of a few thousand ever made , you give it a go ~ .

What the big boys in Body Works taught me was this :

First and foremost you position the doors in their respective jambs then you TACK WELD THEM in place , this supports the entire body and cowl too as you replace the floors and structural metal else where .

Once the body is done you carefully cut the tack welds , remove and restore the doors and VIOLA ! they not only open and close easily , they close PROPERLY ALIGNED , saving you much effort and heartache .

I'm really impressed with the body jig you made up there .

 

[50 Chevy LS3]

Thanks, Damon, I'm still in the de-construction stage. Really hope there is some PROGRESS in the near future.
Nate, thats an excellent idea, to spot the doors in, however, the rust in my truck requires the replacement of three out of four lower door pillars. My main concern with a project of this size is door fit, hopeing the final fit up might even be better than original. I will make several templates for this job and anyone considering this job really must have the factory assembly manual, as original weld checking dimensions are on sheet 1.07, and 63 through 63.03. The rust in the pillars was really extensive, and I had not intended to load up you guys with all the pictures I've taken, but, here's some shots of the hinge pillars, both sides.

AS you can see, nothing left of the "flange" and in need of replacement. Also, the left rear one was rusted through.

 

[50 Chevy LS3]

Floor pan removal...

Next up, carefully start the process of removing the floor, side sills (rockers), etc., without hopefully hurting anything you want to keep. Used a air recip. saw, to cut away close to the rear spot welds and weld joint on the lower pillars. Then, a "Blair rota-broach" or spot weld cutter to cut out spot welds while not damaging the panel I wanted to save. CAUTION WHEN USING A SPOT WELD CUTTER-THEY CUT FAST!

At this point, I drilled the spot welds out of the lower toe-board, but left it in place because it will be replaced after the new floor is in. Also I marked centerline as well as 10" and 20" out in both directions on the toeboard. The photo is showing me drilling the spot welds for the rear cab braces, behind the gas tank (from the bottom).

 

[Blueflame236]

Body jig

That body jig you have makes doing repairs so much easyer , how does the working positions feels when cleaning , welding and repairing ?

Great pics.Thanks for sharing Martinius.

 

[ol' chebby]

DAMN! Now that is hard core.....

 

[50 Chevy LS3]

Pillar replacement...

After removing the floor, and cleaning up the remains drilled-out spot welds, it's time to start on those rusty lower hinge and latch pillars. Started by making a cardboard template of each pillar to help get the new ones in alignment. Also, started on the rear one because it had less rust and no hinge pocket. I try to use only enough patch panel to replace the rust, so as you can see, very little of the new lower pillar was used.

Moving to the front, I found the rust had reached into the hinge retainer on the right side. I had hoped to stay below the actual hinge pockets, but, determined I could not. Drilled out spot welds on the lower portion of the right hinge retainer, and decided to make the cut half-way through the hinge mount hole. VERY TIME CONSUMING AND CAREFUL FITTING ON THIS ONE. Worked until I was down to a hand file to get the right fit and proper gap. Tac-welded four places and checked everything again, then ground the tac-welds smooth and checked again. Welded them in solid and ground the weld bead with a small grinder, then a orbital sander to remove grind marks. Plug welded the hinge retainer back in on the back side. The left side rust was below the hinge pocket, but, extended up the inner flange. Decided to cut across the bottom then angle up to the top to replace flange. That way I could stay clear of the hinge mount.

I used a old Miller 35 "white face" that is missing it's number 1 heat setting plug. It did a good job, but it's too hot for what is coming up. These pillars are 16 ga., and about as light as I can weld with this machine.

 

[SinclairChevy]

Fantastic work!!! Keep the pictures coming. Indiana isn't that far from Iowa, wanna come weld in my patch panels when you're done??

Damon

 

[vwnate1]

Steve !

Wow ~

I see a lotta hard works there , THANK YOU for the pictures as others need to see to learn how it is done .

Keep those clear pictures coming ! .

I went back to my local P-A-P and the '50 3100 is still there , only the good cab , frame , Muncie 420 tranny and 235 bottom end are left .

I need to go back and get a shock mount off the '68 C/10 next to it soon .

 

[50 Chevy LS3]

Martinius, I don't believe I could do this job without centerline support of the cab. The 360 degree rotation allows flat welding on some fairly difficult welds. It's a little higher than I planned, but, I put the casters under it so it can be pushed out of the way when I'm working on stuff that pays the bills.
Damon, Iowa is not far, but I'm certain you will do just fine. One suggestion to anyone really is, practice sheet metal welding on an old damaged car hood. Probably could get one at a local collision shop. If you can weld a modern car hood, your in good shape. They make 'em thin and cheap today.
Damon and Nate, thanks for the kind words.
Russ, NO KIDDIN', I'm up to my elbows in this one!

 

[50 Chevy LS3]

Time marches on...

Finally got a little time to work on the old Chevy. A whole lot of 18-wheel motor-touring and very little time to work on fun stuff. Thought I would post what little progress I've made.

Ordered the complete floor pan and it is the correct gauge metal, but fit up was not perfect. Not surprised, but that was the first major snag in the project. I had to adjust the inner edges of the pillars both front and rear. Pillars cannot be "pulled in" or "pushed out" because the dimensions are critical. I altered the inner edges of the pillars to match-up to the floor pan. This took a fair amount of time and careful fitting and welding. The floor pan was actually just under 1/2" narrower than the original floor, and I was matching Dynacorn (floor) to Counterpart (cab pillar). You need a good fit for a good weld, the pillars are 16 gauge and the rocker panel is 19 gauge. This took repeated fit it, measure it, remove it, with an engine hoist.

Finally, got the fit to suit me and welded it in. Plug-welded where the spot-welds used to be and carefully welded the rockers to the pillars.

Still need to weld the rear cab supports, trying to figure out what to use behind them, in place of the crumbled-up tar paper. Any ideas?

 

[50 Chevy LS3]

OK... I get it, not easy to impress...

Thought I'd post a few more update pics.
Reminder, this is were this project started.

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Before

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After

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Before

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[50 Chevy LS3]

Continued...

After

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And this.

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More to come, Can't prep and prime anything in this COLD SHOP!
Working on the fit of the inner to outer cowl panels now.

 

[SinclairChevy]

Ah yes, the joys of cab patch panel work. I've only scratched the surface (pun intended) with the body work needed for my project truck. Looks like you've got a good handle on things. Thanks for sharing the photos!

Damon

 

[vwnate1]

Panel Replacement

Steve ;


That's impressive work , I can see you took your time .

Q. : since the new cab floor was 1/2" too narrow , wouldn't it have been easier to cut the sides off it and use as patch panels ?.

From the photos the center section looks O.K. .

You appear to have mad skills there , quite a few here do .

 

[50 Chevy LS3]

Nate, that was my first thought on how to best fit the floor. I figured I would make a cut from the front edge back to about the seat riser, spread the rockers open to fit, and then weld up the cut. It was one of those walk away for awhile and ponder it things you run into. After checking and rechecking the old floor vs. the new floor, the gap was actually 5/32" each side. Those lower pillar patch panels don't have exactly the same inside contour as original. The repro floor pan does, so I decided to make the pillars right and fit the floor. My only concern was if the lower door seal would seal completely, and I'm convinced it will. The toeboard is very accurate in every detail, except, the stamped ribs are not as deep as original. My street-rod building Father-in-law came over to check out my work and was ok with it. He said the reason those ribs arent as deep is it takes a HUGE die-press to stamp em that deep in 16ga. He worked at the Indy GM stamping plant for a living. As you know, Nate, these trucks were far from perfect new from the factory. I'm told the early Camaros vary so much between assembly plants, it causes restoration shops some trouble.

 

[Zig]

Steve, that looks absolutely fantastic! I am always impressed with the welding projects you all post. If my truck had needed what yours needed, I'd have been up a creek.
Thanks for the updates! What color will you paint it this time around?

 

[50 Chevy LS3]

Thanks Damon & Zig.

Zig, when I get finished with the cab, I intend to post how much $ this cab project cost. I'm sure it will confirm the fact that a person would be MUCH better off finding a dry western cab. I wanted to keep the original because it carried me to high school and I'm 98% sure the truck was sold brand new here in my hometown to the local John Deere dealer. It was built in Norwood Ohio, originally Swift Red, and I think I will paint it somewhere close to that only modern basecoat/clearcoat. I want a "sleeper" hot-rod, and don't know yet if I'll go with a chrome grill or just paint the standard one I have. It had a chrome one originally, my sister was driving it in the yard when she was about 13 and hit a fencepost. She was hiding when I came home from work. I pieced a grill together from junkyard parts, for hardly any $. I could probably sell the original painted grill if I go for a repro. chrome one.
I didn't really get angry with sis, I knew the one-pot master cyl. was junk so thats when I swapped to a two-pot m.c. and frt. disc brakes.