Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Little here, little there, it all adds up, keep at it its looking great!

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Thanks you'se guys!

Been busy as we've had some good weather here in Western WA. Family, vacation, work, fishing, and preparing for upcoming hunting seasons has been taking up a lot of my time.

So I got a bit done on the passenger side rocker panel and it fits like complete crap. I will have to make a couple of cuts to get it to line up with the front of the door opening along the weatherstrip "rail". I had to cut the entire front of it off to get it to line up with the door and front fender. I'll cut another piece out of 18 gauge steel (probably from my old hood) to make it work and weld it in to the front of the rocker panel. It doesn't line up very well along the bottom of the inner rocker as well. But I'll get it done. :lol:

More to come later... didn't get a lot finished.

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Metal thrashing mad!

I have been beating my head against a wall with this passenger side outer rocker. I see and hear cats replacing them like... "super easy, didn't have to modify anything..." Not the case with mine. I found out after I have this thing halfway installed and have had to refabricate the entire front of it, that I have panels made by "Dynacorn". Apparently they are garbage. Well... FML.

In the pics you'll see how far I had to bend the damn thing away from the pillar to get it to line up with the door and the fender. Plus like I mentioned above I had to refab the front of it to get it to even mate up with anything. I had to make a relief cut towards the inside near the door lip that I will have to "massage" into place with strategic welds and hammer shots.

So I'm either going to quit with this one, and remove the welds I already have in it and junk it for panels made by a different source... or I can make this POS work and then get a different brand panel for the drivers side. Glad I started on the passenger side so it won't pi$$ me off every time I opened the door! :lol:

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

If you look at the one i did i made a pie slice to make that inner weather strip lip line up. are you 100% sure the door is adjusted properly? checked with the front fender on place? i do think some of them are miss stamped, pretty sure i saved a thread on it..

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

I lined up the door and the fender about 300 times. I had my stepson and my buddy help me out on 2 different occasions to make sure I wasn't losing my marbles.

Sure as heck, that rocker needed to be bent outward and down in the front. I then tacked it in place. Then the lower lip has to be pushed up pretty hard to meet up with the lower lip of the inner rocker. That bows it out enough to get it to line up with the fender and the door.

So there is a chance that my cab could be a tad tweaked as well. Remember, this truck was in a wreck. The bed smacked the cab on that side. Coulda knocked it out of whack a bit.

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Got the rocker all welded up and sprayed it with some rattle can primer. Feeling a bit accomplished as this was my first time doing any rust repair and also this rocker kicked my butt. LOL :lol:

Will be starting on the drivers side possibly later today. Thanks for all the encouragement that everyone has given through this process. I learned a lot, and I have a better understanding of how these cabs go together and how to make the repairs to the rust. :)

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

More pics...

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Wow, it looks good.

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

It looks great ,I love watching you guys that are brave enough to do rust repair like that .I had a great shop do all mine as I was afraid I would mess up big time .

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Thanks guys!

flashy... I made the decision to give this a shot and ran with it. But... it was still pretty tough making those first few cuts. I was a bit less apprehensive when cutting out the floor as none of it would be seen. But the cuts into the "A" pillar and the rear cab corner were a bit more "scary". I bet I sat there for an hour and a half with the cutting wheel in my hand deciding on how to start that cab corner cut. But... again, I just went for it. It looks "decent" in primer, but it will need a tad bit of Bondo to smooth it all out. Which is something else I've never done... so that will be a whole 'nother process! :lol:

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Attacking the drivers side. It's safe to say that this side is way worse than the passenger side. The lower pillar is non existent, and the rear cab support is a tad rusted out. There won't be many pics of this side, as it will be pretty much a mirror of the other. :)

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

It.looks a little worse but you got some experience from the other side. Good luck buddy

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

What page (if any) did the hing get repaired, I have the exact same thing happening (just from rust) so would love to see how you fixed it.

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

My thoughts are to work/fit just the lower A pillar now before cutting anything else out, get it cut to length and get the lower holes transferred to it., that A pillar later will become a control point that will allow you to align the lower cab support to it, plus it will keep the floor and support from dropping too low. Ya don't want to weld it right away but it can be clamped in place later with butt weld clamps or tacked temporarily then removed when needed while fitting the rest of the floor and inner kick.

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

You did a hellofa fit up for junk panels Gary, well done! I keep a jar of small teck-screws handy during fit up. They're easier than clamps and the holes fill with a spot weld, they're more forgiving if you have to move a piece a little too. I make lap joints where ever I can for ease of welding. I cut the cab corners right at the formed point with a small lap, when I run that bead the weld becomes the rolled point and a sanding flapper disk on the angle grinder will contour the final body lines. I like the Tri-Plus body panels. Rockers should have a 3/4" - 1" hole in the end that allows undercoat or your favorite rust inhibitor to be sprayed inside the full length of the rocker. A simple thin plug installs in the hole. Heres a pic of the cab corner transition where I make the cut & weld, leave the top long for a lap from the new lower panel. I like to use the one piece outer floor/inner rocker panel as it helps locate and integrate the cab corner and pillar as well as the floor. Heres a link to my first rocker & cab corner R&R. Looks like your doing just fine though, just some ideas that may help, good luck! ;) https://www.facebook.com/michael.hil...1197237&type=3 https://scontent-dft4-2.xx.fbcdn.net...e6&oe=585BAE67

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Thanks dude! It took me a lot longer on the other side as I was learning how everything came apart as I went. Now I Have a better idear on how it all comes apart and goes back together. :)

I haven't got to that part yet. But I do have another drivers side door that is basically junk except for the hinge pockets. So When I attack that part, and figure out how I'm going to do it, I will post all that up. :)

I did exactly that Mike. Now that I have all of that lined up I went ahead and cut the rest of the floor and rear cab corner out.

Thanks dude! and nice job! I still need to cut that hole in the front of the rocker to spray some rust gunk in there. :)

Funny thing as I was cutting out spot welds on this side there were nearly a half as many less than there was on the passenger side. Dude running the spot welder on the drivers side must've been having a rough day. :lol: Drivers side was just ridiculous with so many spot welds holding it all together.

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Ahhhhhh, Crap i knew i forgot something!! :) I primed the pieces well then stripped at every pre drilled hole for a spot weld and sprayed weldable primer, but i still want to spray something in my rockers to treat the weld burn off. Guess who put the driver fender back on.. Wonder if i can snake a spray tube in from behind the fender?

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

nice job, I need to get back on mine...

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Subbed for the fine repairs and inspiration!

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Now that early deer and elk seasons are over, and Puget Sound Steelhead hasn't kicked in, I got back to work on the old hot rod.

Welded in the outer cab floor and also patched a big rust hole as well. Used another hunk of my old crushed hood for the patch panel. Now I have to line up the lower front pillar to finish cutting and then weld it in. Then the cab corner will be cut to fit and welded in.

Been thinking about using an aftermarket drivers side door. My top hinge pocket in the door was destroyed in the wreck, and it's a tricky area to weld a new "patch" in there. The drivers side door of the 1972 parts truck I bought is in very rough shape... so leaning towards and aftermarket door. This truck will never be a show truck, so I don't really care about gaps being perfect. I just want a solid door that will open and close correctly. :)

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Gary, your doing some real solid work there. Looks great!!

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Thank you Scott!

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

This truck will never be a show truck. Just low, mean, fast and loud... :lol: So I am learning as I go in the metal fabrication process and the rust repair. Today I decided what the hell... might as well give the upper door hinge pocket repair a try. If i really screw up that bad, I'll just use a different door, or... ulp... an aftermarket door!

When I wrecked this thing the drivers side door flew open and tore the already rusty hinge pocket out of the door a bit. So here is what I've done today...

Made a few cuts to the outer skin and will use what I cut out as a template to make a new skin out of spare sheet metal. I wire wheeled in there the best I could and then hit it all with some Rust Mort. Now I will let it sit overnight so the Rust Mort can dry and I'll figure some more out tomorrow. :)

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Any new updates? Youre doing nice work and a heckuva job documenting your journey.