Dug's 1959 Fleetside

[dug224]

Managed to get the hinge pocket sealed up. Used leftover sheet metal from the '95 Bed. Yesterday, I had gotten my sandblaster out and re-blasted the driver floor and hinge pockets and made a pretty substantial mess. Took me a long time to clean up. As I started working today, sand kept coming out of every crack. After about 45 minutes, I had it all blown and vacuumed out. I stitched together 5 separate pieces. Before I welded in the largest piece, I shot it with weld through primer then some black paint on all the areas I was not welding.

[Scottish58chev]

Lot of work but looking good

[dsraven]

did you find the weld spattered quite a bit? I find the weld thru primer does that so I try to go bare metal when welding unless just spotting through a hole for a spot welded look, then I just run the drill bit through the spot weld holes to get rid of the primer on the back up material before i weld. also, the 95 box may have a zinc (?) based dip on the metal so i usually sand that off with 50 grit first along the weld area. the 04 envoy that i am using parts from has the zinc (?) dip coating on it under the paint and if you don't get it off the weld spatters a lot. also the fumes are not good for you, the weld will usually leave some white smoke trails nearby that is a dead giveaway. we should be welding in well ventilated areas anyway.
looks good. nice to have progress hey?

[dug224]

Originally Posted by dsraven

did you find the weld spattered quite a bit? I find the weld thru primer does that so I try to go bare metal when welding unless just spotting through a hole for a spot welded look, then I just run the drill bit through the spot weld holes to get rid of the primer on the back up material before i weld. also, the 95 box may have a zinc (?) based dip on the metal so i usually sand that off with 50 grit first along the weld area. the 04 envoy that i am using parts from has the zinc (?) dip coating on it under the paint and if you don't get it off the weld spatters a lot. also the fumes are not good for you, the weld will usually leave some white smoke trails nearby that is a dead giveaway. we should be welding in well ventilated areas anyway. looks good. nice to have progress hey?

Not too bad. If I could reach it, I scraped the paint off the areas I was welding or use a bit like you stated. Not a fan of any fumes. When I'm welding, I have the garage door open and I turn on my horizontal Air Handling Unit which is near the garage door to positively pressurize the garage.

[dug224]

My smooth cowl came in. Brothers Truck Parts is putting the pieces I need on sale just about the time I need them. I'll be stitching this one for quite some time.


If anyone needs my old louvered cowl, let me know and I'll give it to you as long as you cover shipping. It is in great shape with zero rust. Send me a PM if interested.




Also, a friend was tossing this Police issue Harley Davidson trunk. Was looking for some place to store the jack tools but not sure, if I used this, where it would go. Would have also made an interesting looking center console....if it would have fit.

[dug224]

Originally Posted by Scottish58chev

Lot of work but looking good

Agree and thanks! I blew through 7 hours straight yesterday and didn't even realize it. Still having fun working on it.

[dsraven]

you are right, that bag would be interesting as a console.
it's good to see you have time for some truck live. been doing the odd thing on mine as well. melding the parts together and figuring out what I will do for this and that. you been there too with the trailblazer swap thing.
I like to open the garage door and entrance door as well. just a bit cooler here at times plus I want to keep my neighbours happy with less noise so I open and close a lot if i am hammering or grinding.
nice pics.

[dug224]

Can anyone think of a reason I shouldn't just install the smooth cowl using the screws and sealer (assume seam sealer) rather than welding it? Needs to be water tight. Just seems like a lot of work for no reason other than waterproofing.

[Kim57]

I welded mine in because I didn't want the edges on the side to show. IMHO it just looks better.
Kim

[dug224]

Originally Posted by Kim57

I welded mine in because I didn't want the edges on the side to show. IMHO it just looks better.
Kim

Thx. I agree...it looks better. I see how my attention span holds out when it comes time to decide.

[dug224]

Welded up the lower cowl drain hole. Metal separated and a little ragged on the edge from me removing the original piece using a chisel.


Spot welded to reattach the separated sheet metal.


Fabricated a small patch out of the '95 bed material.


Spot welded into place.

[dug224]

Still trying to apply the two minute rule. If I can do it in 2 minutes, I get it done. In reality, it's actually a 20 minute rule for me. I'm slowly but surely working through the To Do list.

I welded in new door hinge nuts. I have managed to grind about 90% of the welds that need it. I keep making passes around the truck cleaning up mess welds and welds that didn't survive my grinding.

I installed the studs that support the bracket that holds the lower back corner of the front left inner fender. The old ones went out with the old rusted floor. Fortunately I carefully measured, made a sketch and took pictures of how I measured the locations. Never can have too much information.



Decided to set up for the install of the smooth dash. Tilted the cab forward which makes it particularly easy to access.


Scribed the lower edge of the dash. Has a slight curve to it.

[dug224]

Tech question of the day on the Smooth Dash. I plan on spot welding and stitching the smooth dash into place then smoothing the top edge with body filler......

Questions:
1. Do I have to stitch it solid along the perimeter or can I leave a space between stitches and smooth with body filler?
2. If a space is allowable, what is the maximum distance between welds that I can have and not worry about the body filler cracking?
Thanks! dug

[dug224]

Originally Posted by dug224

Tech question of the day on the Smooth Dash. I plan on spot welding and stitching the smooth dash into place then smoothing the top edge with body filler......

Questions:
1. Do I have to stitch it solid along the perimeter or can I leave a space between stitches and smooth with body filler?
2. If a space is allowable, what is the maximum distance between welds that I can have and not worry about the body filler cracking?
Thanks! dug

After a lengthy discussion off line with dsraven, looks like I'll be stitching it entirely closed.....slow and steady to avoid "warpage".

[ptc]

Originally Posted by dug224

After a lengthy discussion off line with dsraven, looks like I'll be stitching it entirely closed.....slow and steady to avoid "warpage".

Just saw this today - yes I welded it solid all the way. otherwise filler will crack in that little corner. get yourself a burr that is oval shaped and it will help grind that curve down better before putting the filler into just the places that are irregular in your weld.

Start from one end OR the other -DO NOT WELD a bunch a points and then FILL in between.... Use either air or a wet rag to keep cool. I stitched about 1" to 1.5" and then cooled and then again and again and again...... yes very time consuming and boring work!!!!

Good Luck!

[dug224]

ptc: Thanks for the input. I plan on being real slow and deliberate. The more grinding I have to do makes me focus more on making better welds!! I plan on making sure the top of the smooth dash is sufficiently far from the upper dash curve so I don't get mixed up in that area trying to grind.

Speaking of grinding...the roof has 59 holes drilled in it.

Decided this is a no weld day. Spent the morning fabricating filler panels for the holes that are to the left of the instrument panel.

Put an ever so slight curve in each repair panel to match the dash curve. Did this by hitting the panel with a rubber mallet on top of a 3" pipe.


Also managed to get the smooth dash fitted using my 1/8" Cleco's. I still need to add some material where the top of the glove box was recessed into the dash. Basically, between the 2nd and 3rd Cleco's along the top of the smooth dash there is no support or anything to weld to. Was going to slice the glove box flange and try to flatten it. Looks like it will be smarter to simply add some additional material. I have some old thick welding rods that I have cleaned off that may do the trick.

Also need to trim another 1/8" off of the top to keep away from the dash curve.

[dsraven]

it is nice that you can put the cab on it's nose for that. makes welding easier and less sparks down the sleeve, haha.

[dug224]

Originally Posted by dsraven

it is nice that you can put the cab on it's nose for that. makes welding easier and less sparks down the sleeve, haha.

Agree but I'm not as bendy as I used to be so climbing back and forth to kneel in the windshield opening is somewhat of a work out. Much rather this than welding upside down though!!!

[dsraven]

proffessor hammer, classic trucks column, has a little write up on filling holes in firewalls etc. he talks about magnets for holding metal but they disrupt the power flow through the weld. ok for tacking. he says what he does is drill the hole out a bit to make it round and full thickness on the edge, use a step drill, then he gets a package of round hole filler plugs (dunno where from but sounds like he has a supplier from mainstream), chooses the plug to fit the hole really close, places it in the hole, then he takes a hammer and dolly and uses that to expand the plug so it fits the hole and doesn't fall out. smart idea if you have some plugs. i just thought of that write up when I seen the magnets used for the hole fillers you made. looks good but those parts would be too big for the afore mentioned idea. magnets it is.you could also use the cleco's. what I have done before is fit the metal tightly as a butt joint, then drill a hole right in the crack of the 2 parts. slip a cleco through the hole and use some predilled washers that fit the cleco size on the back side to get the cleco to grab on. you end up with a nice tightly fitted set up at the crack of the 2 parts.easy to weld the parts then. you need access to the back side though.

[dug224]

Originally Posted by dsraven

proffessor hammer, classic trucks column, has a little write up on filling holes in firewalls etc. he talks about magnets for holding metal but they disrupt the power flow through the weld. ok for tacking. he says what he does is drill the hole out a bit to make it round and full thickness on the edge, use a step drill, then he gets a package of round hole filler plugs (dunno where from but sounds like he has a supplier from mainstream), chooses the plug to fit the hole really close, places it in the hole, then he takes a hammer and dolly and uses that to expand the plug so it fits the hole and doesn't fall out. smart idea if you have some plugs. i just thought of that write up when I seen the magnets used for the hole fillers you made. looks good but those parts would be too big for the afore mentioned idea. magnets it is.you could also use the cleco's. what I have done before is fit the metal tightly as a butt joint, then drill a hole right in the crack of the 2 parts. slip a cleco through the hole and use some predilled washers that fit the cleco size on the back side to get the cleco to grab on. you end up with a nice tightly fitted set up at the crack of the 2 parts.easy to weld the parts then. you need access to the back side though.

Interesting. I may give the Cleco technique a try using my 1/8" size. It'll get the bulky magnets out of the way. Also may try to expand the round filler piece to the left of dash to see I can get it in there tight. I had read something like this in the past as well. they said the hard part was holding the filler piece in place as you swing the hammer!

[dsraven]

if you have trouble drilling the edge of the crack with the the butt fitted cleco method you can alsways use a marker or pen to leave a spot on the pieces and then use the edge of a file, with the parts removed, to make a small divet in the parts big enough for the cleco to fit through. drilling the edge can be challenging unless you have some good magnets and a tight fit.

[dug224]

Took Dennis up on his suggestion and Cleco'd the patch panels. Even got to use some of the washers out of my Dad's old stuff that have been typically too small for any other use. The washers go onto the Cleco and stay until the trigger is pulled. I tried this two ways. The first way I just notched the corner of the patch with the edge of the grinding wheel. The second way I took a round file and filed the corner of the dash opening. Both work equally well. The fact that they hold the patch panel tight is a huge upgrade. No bumping it out of position with the welding wire.




Note the tidy washers. Also friction fit the round plug. Did it by hitting it with a hammer on my workbench until it would not fall out of the hole. Then tapped it into place. Tried to do it in the hole but too tricky for my skill level.


Upper glove box structure in place. Welded three tabs to the dash then the final piece on top. The top piece has a curved back and top so it fits in tight under the top of the dash. Lots of curves in many directions.


Lower structure in place to pickup the bottom of the smooth dash.

[dug224]

Had to trim the bottom of the smooth dash panel about 1/2" where it ends at the right hand side of the glove box.


Taped off all of the surfaces to be welded and did some rattle can rustproofing. Primed and painted the face and back of dash and then painted the back of the dash panel itself.


Punched holes in the bottom edge of the panel every 3" for plug welds. The radius of the panel does not quite match the old dash structure so I'll pull it into place using the spot weld vice grips (among others).

[ptc]

Handy tip note: BEFORE you weld in that dash panel you may want to do all your firewall work first. attaching nuts and bolts and everything for the electrical panel(s), A/C, Heater, ECM Devices, etc etc etc... cause its easy to get to right now and then primer it all up and even paint it with your interior color....

makes it a whole lot easier with that flat panel out of the way....

[dug224]

Originally Posted by ptc

Handy tip note: BEFORE you weld in that dash panel you may want to do all your firewall work first. attaching nuts and bolts and everything for the electrical panel(s), A/C, Heater, ECM Devices, etc etc etc... cause its easy to get to right now and then primer it all up and even paint it with your interior color....

makes it a whole lot easier with that flat panel out of the way....

Couldn't agree with you more, however, I don't yet own parts like AC/heater among other things. All of the nuts that support the steering column, brake booster and anything else I had in the truck to make it run have been compensated for. It sure is nice working on it empty and on it's face!!! I'm afraid the rest of the stuff will be taken care of during restoration #2!!???. Thx dug