Dunce's 59 Fleetside build

[dunce79]

Thats the plan. Get some ventilation going and hang new drop cloth inside after a good cleaning.

Originally Posted by Kim57

Nice job on the repairs.
With the right ventilation you could use it as a paint booth also.
Kim

[Advanced Design]

Awesome metal repairs! Way to hang in there. Thank you for sharing and looking forward to next updates.

[dunce79]

Took out the windshield and back glass last night. Got some work to do to repair the rear window channel on top. Anyone have any tips on that? Luckily the front brow is in good shape.

[dunce79]

After doing some media blasting and discovering a few more areas to fix I needed a boost to morale so I decided to fit the bed for the first time and get a good look at the truck as a whole. Going to be replacing the entire rear cab panel after working on the doors, hinge pockets toe boards and rockers.

[RockinKees]

Hang in there Dunce!!

You're doing a fabulous job on the repairs.
It's a lot of work, but you will manage that!!
Don't forget, a lot of guys, including me, are learning a lot of your repair work!

[Kim57]

It's going to look real nice when done.
Don't get too discouraged at the work to be done.
Kim

[dunce79]

Gettin some more work done...

stripped the doors and better set of fenders I picked up at auction. Then began the repairs on one of the fenders.

[daveshilling]

Seeing all of your hard work is super motivating!!! I have unfortunate amounts of rust to tackle at some point, and no welding experience to date.

[dunce79]

Thanks.. I didn't either. I'm an IT guy during the day. I started small with practice stuff.. Cut up some scrap or junk fender and try to put it back together. Slowly I've worked up confidence to try more work on body panels. Check out metalmeet.com. Amazing group of talented people there.

Originally Posted by daveshilling

Seeing all of your hard work is super motivating!!! I have unfortunate amounts of rust to tackle at some point, and no welding experience to date.

[Kim57]

Nice job on the repair.
Kim

[dunce79]

-Finished welding in the patch panel on the passenger fender.
-Fixed a rusty spot on top of the pass fender.
-Fixed a couple holes in the driver fender behind the grille
-put a patch in the lower rear section of the driver fender
-Headlight mounting points were missing from the fenders I picked up at auction so I drilled out the spotwelds on the ones attached to my original fenders, blasted them and welded them into my good fenders. Put on a little self etch primer on them for now.

Next up I need to put a fender brace replacement section in the passenger fender and then remove the front clip and begin work on the hinge pockets/doors etc.

[ricott]

Man your bodywork is looking so good. Keep up the great work, and please keep posting pictures.

Ricky

[Kim57]

You're doing a great job on the repairs.
Kim

[oldman3]

Super metal working, looks great...Jim

[dunce79]

Took off the front clip and did some more media blasting. No new surprises but revealed the extent of the repairs needed on the lower cowl sections, lower passenger hinge pocket and floor. The lower fender mounts from Hollister fit great.

Currently in the middle of doing the floor pan replacement and then I'll do the rocker/step.

[Kim57]

Very nice job on the repairs.
Kim

[RockinKees]

I'm with Kim57!!
Great tutorial! (I have to do the same...)

[oldman3]

Yes, very nice repair job...Jim

[Wingnut1]

Great work and pictures. Curious how well the indoor blasting is working and if you are finding dust or media outside off your "walls"?

[dunce79]

Finished the cowl repair last night and threw down some primer. On to the floor and rocker next : ). Not exactly a factory looking appearance with the repair but I don't care, just need it fixed. Could have bought the repair panel section and done it perfect but that panel is kind of expensive from what I've seen so I figured why not just make a patch and get it close.

[dunce79]

The indoor blasting works ok. The key for me has been to place a pretty high cfm box fan at the end close to the big door on the shop and I created a tunnel with carboard boxes to flow the dusty air outside through the door. Otherwise it gets ridiculous in there quickly. Since the blasting "room" isn't sealed, clean air sneaks in all around and the bad air goes outside. Not perfect but it beats doing it outside in the snow and/or at 20 degrees. Without air flow you can blast and keep the dust in the room but it gets so bad quickly that you can't see anything.

Originally Posted by Wingnut1

Great work and pictures. Curious how well the indoor blasting is working and if you are finding dust or media outside off your "walls"?

[ChuckDriver]

The cowl patch work looks good, but the factory left it open at the bottom so water and debris had a way to get out. It didn't work so well as stuff would clog the opening and cause it to rust out as yours did.

[dunce79]

Its hard to see but I did leave enough gap at the bottom for water to get out. I plan on either sealing up the cowl vent on top or putting in a screen -not sure yet. BUT.. anyone have a pic of how the bottom of the cowl should look so I know how much to open it up? thx

Originally Posted by ChuckDriver

The cowl patch work looks good, but the factory left it open at the bottom so water and debris had a way to get out. It didn't work so well as stuff would clog the opening and cause it to rust out as yours did.

[Kim57]

The patch looks good.
I had to do one of mine also and just did a home patch as it's never going to be seen.
I smoothed the cowl piece on mine so I'm not worried about debris clogging it up.
Kim

[dunce79]

Got the passenger floor patch fit and welded in last night. Now its on to the step/rocker before repeating everything on the driver side : ).