1982 Shortbed 4x4
If you saw the recent video, you know my soon-to-be-driving son and I took the ’82 Chevy Shortbed cab off the frame,
something we didn't initially intend to do. Since then we’ve moved it into the garage and stripped the cab of it’s remaining attachments: glass, brake booster, parking brake, hood release, etc. along with the wiring (both factory and "previous owner") and up-ended it to gain easy working access to the underside. http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1710061239.jpg As you're all aware, the cab corners on a lot of these notoriously rot out from the years’ accumulation of dirt & moisture and this one was no different. Some owners will choose to let them rot and drive the trucks as-is, paying more attention to the mechanicals as time & money allow. (That was a younger me.) Some will purchase replacement corners or have the work done professionally. Others will choose to cover the rot with plastic body filler to hide it before painting. You can probably guess that our previous owner chose Option #3. http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1710061204.jpg Although it may not seem like a lot of fun to most, it’s a good opportunity for one of us to see why we’d rather do things right. Truth be told, he’s already grown weary of running into all the make-shift repairs on this particular vehicle; but if it were perfect, there’d be nothing to get good at, right? http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1706051914.jpg http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1706181649.jpg We bought this as a first project and a project it is. He is seeing first-hand how and why to fix things the right way. This is the perfect first truck in my opinion. At the time of this photo we hadn’t yet started cutting back to get to good, weldable metal. We just hit what was left of the body filler a few times with a hammer, let it fall to the floor in crumbles, and then chiseled-out the remains and all the paper/cloth that was stuffed in as backing. What was left was what was there to begin with: http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1710080803.jpg Knowing we were going to get into a similar situation on the driver’s side, we went through the same routine with the hammer so we could take care of both sides at the same time. After knocking out the garbage, we cut the metal back to see how far up the cab we would need to go and then measured for what size pieces we needed to make: http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1710080805.jpg In a short time the next morning with basic tools we had a couple of patch panels ready to try. A few test-fits, subsequent trimming and trips back-and-forth to the bench grinder, and the newly formed parts were ready to tack in place: http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1710081046.jpg http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1710080942.jpg http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1710141432.jpg We’re going to wait until he rebuilds the engine/trans/transfer case and re-installs them between the framerails before lifting the cab back into place, but we’ll get it all done one piece at a time. http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1710142021.jpg http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1710290708.jpg |
Re: 1982 Shortbed 4x4
Very nice repair on the corners. A project with your son is always a good project.
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Re: 1982 Shortbed 4x4
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Rebuilding the Transfer Case
http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1801031851.jpg
Somebody before us installed the Planetary Lock Plate in the NP208 with bolts that were too long. They ground into the surface of the planetary assembly when it rotated: http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1712301841.jpg The thing had to make a heck of a grinding noise when it was in Low... if it even went in all the way. We'll be addressing this along with missing thrust plates on the front output shaft and a few other comparatively small items. http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1712301836.jpg Good thing he tore into it. |
Re: 1982 Shortbed 4x4
We also got the rest of the metal work done on the cab, both inside and underneath.
http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1710221044.jpg Welded-up all the previous-owner holes in the firewall and cleaned it up before primering: http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1710220935.jpg Applied rubberized undercoating to the bottom: http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1710241913.jpg And last night started laying-on the base-coat Light Jadestone: http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1801051804.jpg http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1801051827.jpg http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1801051837.jpg Before calling it quits for the night at 0-dark-thirty. More as it comes. |
Re: 1982 Shortbed 4x4
I miss my son being around, we were ALWAYS doing what you're doing. I still do but it's not near the fun it was. My son lives in Nashville now & I only get to see him a few times a yr. My daughter's son has NO interest in this kinda stuff, but 7 yr old grand daughter- She's gonna go for it I'm sure!
Wish you & your son well, enjoy this time it is like no other. I told my wife not long ago that I didn't have anybody to hot rod with, coon hunt with, mud ride or shoot with & she needed to have another baby! She plopped her hands on her hips & said "My Baby Havin Days Are OVER! If You Want Another Baby You Go Find Somebody Else To Have It For You!" Guess it didn't hurt to ask...;) |
Re: 1982 Shortbed 4x4
This is great. Would like to follow this as a build. Keep us updated if you're up for it. Thanks.
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Re: 1982 Shortbed 4x4
Someone has some skills to pass on and one really nice shop with some cool tools.
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Re: 1982 Shortbed 4x4
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In my mind I know they're not going to stick around forever. Something would be wrong in how we're raising them if they did. They're going to go off and live their own lives in this world. I'm thankful their willing to let me share what I can while they're here. [I started to get on my soap-box about time on electronics vs practical skills and deleted what I typed - Twice.] I think you and I could talk over a cup of coffee in the morning on the weekends before going off to our respective projects, lending each other a hand as needed, etc. Thank for posting. You make me think. Quote:
I'll keep posting as it comes together. Quote:
Regarding the shop & tools: I am happy to be out of the weather and off the dirt. It wasn't always the case. ;) Reading about Old Yeller right now. We also cut some double-front-shock bracketry from this frame. As you said in your build, must've been an '80's thing. |
Re: 1982 Shortbed 4x4
Took a nice drive today in Old Yeller and picked up a nice cruiser bicycle. Gettin old myself I guess. I want to build a nice shop and take the old girl apart and do some justice to her like you and your son are doing. I will have to have my daughters help me though.:burnout:
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Re: 1982 Shortbed 4x4
It was about a week ago in that last post that the first coat of color was applied, cab on its back, paying particular attention
to the underside and some of the harder to get at areas. Since then, we’ve oriented the cab to a more normal position and sprayed additional layers of the basecoat Light Jadestone Metallic. http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1801091638.jpg The dash is Gloss White, and as you all know only the bottom half will eventually show. We're going to put a black vinyl dash pad on top. http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1801091639.jpg A few days later he set about laying-on multiple coats of clear, inside and out. Getting the cab solid and having it look as good as it does is really motivating in that the vision is becoming a reality. He’s starting to see the actual results of all his hard work and stick-to-it-tiveness. We’re at a point where we're dealing with fewer of the previous-owner issues and the work is less of a grind and more uplifting. http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1801101638.jpg http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1801101646.jpg http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1801101648.jpg http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1801101651.jpg And while were on the subject of “uplifting”; yesterday he, his brother, and I got together after work & school and were able to collectively maneuver the cab out of the garage and back up & onto the frame without a bump or a scratch to his new paint. This is it in this frosty morning's early sunlight hours. http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1801120818.jpg http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1801120819.jpg http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1801120821.jpg |
Re: 1982 Shortbed 4x4
It has been a while since I’ve written any updates on the ’82 Chevy Shortbed, mostly because the builder has been working so hard on maintaining his 4.0 GPA
that there hasn’t been a lot of time left for the truck. What time there was did get put to good use, as seen in image left of the SM465 transmission rebuild back in February. The laptop in the foreground is where all the homework is done. http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1802251239.jpg Had he not been doing anything productive, I wouldn’t have been working on the truck for him, since the idea I repeatedly mention here is not to build vehicles for my sons and hand them to them. The idea is for them to do, and learn, and accomplish. However, since he was learning other things elsewhere, I decided I could help by taking on some of the chores where he had already built some skill. http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1804141429.jpg Obviously repetition builds skill and he could have increased his welding and bodywork skills by doing even more of the same, but my starting on these was the best way to keep the project moving forward without his missing out on some lesser-familiar process. To say these doors were a joke to start with would be an understatement. http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1804161426.jpg At some point on many of these older projects there is somewhere where many of us have to cut out bad metal to get to good so we have something decent for welding, but this is the first time I can remember having to grind away bondo in a hunt to find any metal to work with. This stuff was inches deep. The rear corner of the same door was a little better, not much, but a little… most probably because no previous attempt at a repair had been made. The metal was allowed to rust underneath, bubbling the paint in cancerous fashion. All that was needed on this end was to remove the offending portion of the outer skin before replacing it with a similarly-shaped piece of sheet and welding it in. That, and a lot of sanding. http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1804151117.jpg http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1804151142.jpg Afterwards, I flipped the door over and started on the inside. What can I say that you haven’t read? Cut-out what’s left of the metal, make a new piece to weld in, grind and sand until smooth. If I were reading this, I might think I enjoyed bodywork. Please don’t get that impression. Not this stuff anyway. This is a labor of love. http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1804161610.jpg But wait! There’s more! Evidently, someone cut four holes below the stock mirror with a 1-1/4″ hole saw. They were probably working on some “custom” installation but quit part way through since the hole on the left wasn’t even finished being cut before the bondo was getting slathered on to cover them all. http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1804161635.jpg Here’s a look from inside the door. http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1804161619.jpg So on went my evenings, by choice of course. One son working on his Willys Pickup, the other working on his education, me off on the side working on some metal or something for one or the other. No complaints about any of that, mind you. Image shows the holes properly filled and smoothed with a couple of repairs above where the mirror will mount. http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1804171552.jpg But before going forward to primer and paint, it was worth mounting the door to get a look; checking to see that the bends in my repair panels actually fit with the contours of the cab. I would hate to get it all done and then wish, “I should’ve…”. The light at the upper left of the door makes it look like a bad fit in that corner, but that’s only in the picture. It looks good up close and personal. When I stepped back to snap a shot, without a latch installed the door opened slightly in the breeze. It’s motivating just to see it hanging there. http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1804171625.jpg Then we did some primer and paint. http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1805210532.jpg |
Re: 1982 Shortbed 4x4
The engine was at the machine shop while all the bodywork was going on. We got the call to go get our stuff.
Just had some basic work done: 350 Block .060" over, deck surfaces milled, crank polished, etc. http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1806221348.jpg http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1806261745.jpg but the heads were cracked, so we went with a pair of DART Heads for kicks: 2.02" Int / 1.60" Exh Valves; 64cc Combustion Chambers; 1.437" Dual Valve Springs http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1807011412.jpg http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1807011433.jpg I see as I write this that I didn't get any pictures with the roller rockers, but here he's installing the studs: http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1807011508.jpg and then some color http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1807061832.jpg Here's how it sat last night, drying. http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1807061837.jpg http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1807061838.jpg |
Re: 1982 Shortbed 4x4
Thanks for the update, what a great learning project!
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Re: 1982 Shortbed 4x4
This is going to be a nice truck! What color is that Blue?
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Re: 1982 Shortbed 4x4
I just traded a .30 carbine for a set of Darts w/ 72 cc chambers for my SB 400. I wish I could smile like you son is when I pick them heavy ^%$! things up!:lol:
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Re: 1982 Shortbed 4x4
Great progress. You guys making it happen.
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Re: 1982 Shortbed 4x4
Thanks for all the positive support and comments.
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blue. We sanded it, covered the whole thing with a high-build, light gray, metal-etching primer, and then he hit it with the Light Jadestone basecoat/clearcoat. It's a factory Metallic Green color, just not how this particular one was delivered. ;) http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1807101609.jpg http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1807101844.jpg After rebuilding the SM465, we went to install the top cover and realized the 3-4 shift fork was bent so we got that one and the 1-2 fork as well. http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1807101339.jpg http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1807101318.jpg There was really nothing on this truck that hasn't been mangled and cobbled back together. The bellhousing had a chunk broken out from where the clutch fork came through, visible in this older photo from when we pulled it all: http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1706101619.jpg Here is the repair: http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1807251539.jpg Welded inside and out: http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1807251540.jpg And here is the engine a little closer to going in: http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1807251542.jpg |
Re: 1982 Shortbed 4x4
The lighting stinks, I know. It was late when we got it bolted in:
http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1807300526.jpg http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1807300536.jpg and then cut the valve covers to allow us to adjust the rockers / valve lash with it running without taking an oil bath: http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1808141142.jpg I didn't think Vic would mind. It's for a good cause. http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1808141147.jpg and with a couple of the other previous owner, cobbled-together repairs out of the way, like a driveshaft with a smaller than normal end welded on: http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1808151209.jpg a stretched power steering mount pushed back into alignment: http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1808151444.jpg and an engine "harness" with many hidden secrets (completely untaped by us and either properly soldered or wires replaced): http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1808091548.jpg We were finally able to move it once again under its own power: http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1808151702.jpg http://www.coloradomelons.com/wp-con...1808151712.jpg and while we didn't get a video of the very first run, this is what it sounds like with a little more required tinkering: |
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Re: 1982 Shortbed 4x4
Those pics are huge bro!
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Re: 1982 Shortbed 4x4
Thank you for your input.
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