Rust Repair questions and alignment

[twoskies]

have a 72 c10, drivers door had a wide gap compared to passenger, welded cross braces, figured i could square the door when all parts were cut out, got cab corner, outer floor and what was left of rocker cut out, door jam doesnt move very easily, i can break the weld in front and maybe realign

also maybe im not seeing how it fits but where does the outer edge of the rear floor attach to the cab corner to seal or am i missing something


any suggestions or help appreciated


jeff

[kenr74]

Looks like what I'm about to dig into. Watching progress.

[twoskies]

Kin of figured I'd be able to twist after cutting. Guess my braces are holding it. Before bracing I could stick a metal pipe through gas hole and with a block of wood. Push into place. So I'm probably going to break my weld in front on this side tweak and reeled. See what happens. Anyone got any other suggestions. Thankd

[twoskies]

Darn it. Can't spell and when I can. Spellcheck. Changes it. Lol

[twoskies]

ok
tried breaking the welds for braces and using a ratchet strap from latch to latck, pulled the pieces together, welded braces back, springs back

sprung corner ?

the po had a rocker screwed in place but the door still had a gap

can one of the body gurus chime in

Thanks

[Clatterville trolley]

Originally Posted by twoskies

ok
tried breaking the welds for braces and using a ratchet strap from latch to latck, pulled the pieces together, welded braces back, springs back

sprung corner ?

the po had a rocker screwed in place but the door still had a gap

can one of the body gurus chime in

Thanks

Not a 'body guru', but I have a cab that I am replacing the floor in right now. The body shop guy down the road from me (very good and does classic cars and trucks) said the main thing was to line up the doors and set everything to that. I had to replace the front lower door posts on both sides and the lower rear door posts on both sides. Everything seems to be working out by doing what the body man told me.











Not real proud of my welds, but most will be covered up by other sheet metal. The floor was out of an entirely different cab and I repaired it, then installed it in the shell of my cab and started to piece in the other metal to replace rusted out parts of the cab.
Hope some of this might be a help to you.

[twoskies]

Thank you Clatterville Trolley. The rear drivers is the only one out of whack. Pass door shuts nice and gap is very consistent all around. Without the braces holding anything I can twist it with a pipe. Didn't want to cut door jambs out. But not out of the question. Lol

[twoskies]

Tried again today to realign. Broke all my cross braces to try to tweak rear drivers door post. Not much good. Anyone ever tweak into place and welded a box into the corner. Could frame for a speaker. Only issue with this is using original gas tank. Any help appreciated

[saxart]

If I'm understanding correctly, your door gaps are off? Could you use a ratchet strap on the cab (opposite corners) to tweak the cab so the door fits better? (Cab braces will have to be off) Maybe tack-weld a washer or something on the cab to act as a strap anchor...?

Fair warning, I'm not body-man, so take what I just said as just a random thought.

[Clatterville trolley]

One thing I forgot to ask earlier was if there were any dents in the rear panel at the outer corner? Sometimes a dent will "lock" the metal so that it will not return to an original configuration no matter how much you force it. Unless, and until the metal is relaxed by metal working the dent back into basic alignment the spot giving you trouble won't give in to your force.
I had that on my cab and I worked them back as closely as I could before trying to get the final alignment on the doors.
Again, I hope that might help you.

[57taskforce]

This kind of shows how the lower pillar bolts to the inner rocker. The inside of the cab corner will have a “pocket” between the outer corner skin and the inner rocker. The inner rocker seals the inside of the cab corner. I can take pictures on Monday if it will help. The way I pulled my drivers side pillar in to tighten my gap was attaching the ratchet strap in the empty fuel filler hole (tank out of truck) and the other end to the brake booster bracket. This is with the rocker and cab corner cut out and the door mounted. The pillar was not bolted to the new inner rocker. A couple clicks pulled the gap in and I drilled the Pilar mounting holes in the inner rocker to bolt it in place. Hope this helps some!

[twoskies]

hey everyone
Thanks for replying

there are no dents in the panel, but will definately look closer
ive tried ratchet strap and , i can do it that way but will have to weld a permanent brace to make it hold,probably from behind door latch to outer curved radius, so clears gas tank if i use original tank, might be best at the time, maybe after all the rest of the panels are in , the part under stress will relax, still leave braces in though(speaker box, lol)
Thanks

[too much stuff]

Just a thought, how about trying a different door? I went through 3 original GM doors before I found a good fit with one.

[twoskies]

hey
finally got it, looks alot better

thanks for all the help and the pictures helped

ill try to post pictures later tonite

now got a 4 day weekend over the holiday coming up, guess ill be welding the new metal in at least the drivers side

Thanks

[twoskies]

side to side are alot closer
will be welding cab corner outer floor, rocker, pillar ,door patches and front and rear cab and supports next weekend(drivers side, pass side will be later)

only question at this point is the supports, ive got all the welds drilled out but its still got some solid attachment to front floor, any suggestions, i think i can get to the rear one since ive got the cab corner cut out, i could always cut the floor around the supports and weld new metal in if needed

any extra pictures would help

Thanks for the help and pictures

[saxart]

That looks good. What was the method used to get it right?

[twoskies]

was able to use the ratchet strap from the gas tank hole and attach to the hood latch, did not take a lot of pressure but definately pulled it in, welded brace from inside before removing strap and im hoping when i get everything welded in it wont try to spring back

again Thanks for everyones help