OK Awhile back I started a thread on your opinion on if I should section or not, after a few good dudes stepped up and photo chopped it for me I lit the green light.... Here's what I started with, I've been driving it for 10 years, bought it from a cow pasture, put it together and chopped the top with a quickness.....drove it for a LONG while then updated the suspention two or so years ago. A seemingly solid looking 1950 Chevy truck, Straight and from out west where there aint no rust....A rock on must be submitted next to the retired welding glove that I was sick of catching on fire.. Anyway, see the uglyness on the firewall cut out that I braked up many moons ago....you know, the 90 degree angles with no lines....well I wanted to sort that out and found a sweet trans access panel fron an unknown late 40's early 50's ride at a swap....that will be going in its place...
Welp, after measuring, taping, lain paint to follow (there is NO machinists die in J-ville, I checked...the only place that said they had it, didnt) BTW I forgot to mention that when I first measured it twas LATE at night....I ended up redoing it....the line was visibly uphill....couldnt see it in the dark...you sure could during the day...luckly I didnt start cutting at night.
the point of no return....the first peice cut....gotta document that... Then more cutting, shaving, shaping etc, little by little the metal kept commin out....the real point of no return.....eh screw it, its only steel right?
the pivital moment, droppin it down the 2.5" I cut out of it.... I gotta say I was a bit nervous at first....then I saw the lines and knew it was the right thing for the truck....it just looked right. Yeah there is some tweekin and tuning to the fitment, bt it was the initial drop down....I gotta say, I like it.....alot throw in a good tribute to the retired welders glove here....shock and awe
Crap....I "hadda" take the thing down to bare metal....I found some rust in the cab corner....that was haphazerdly lathered with fiberglass on the inside and layered with 3/4" of plastic....sheesh....the idiots son that I got it from musta molested it at some point and I honestly didnt know that was there....set the radar off though and I went lookin for more....glad I did too. The whole goal right now is get the truck finished and in paint.....gloss paint.... I already knew the cowl sides were toast....I didnt know about them either but the haphazard way of throwing 4 booger weld on the side vent then laying plastic over it reinforced the radar.... oh yeah then you get to the passenger side and find the louvers bashed in with a hammer, tac welded and another 3/4" of plastic over the top of that...lovely all of that, is now cut out...actually both cowl sides are now not there
OK Enough with the complainin for now, I gotta truck to start welding back together... Those panel clamps rock....I dont know how you do stuff like this without em.... As a side bar the order got a little screwy, I welded the truck back together then started cutting the cab corner out.... Look Ma a nice peice of southwest non-rusty steel!
Aight....you remember me mentioning the radar for crappy plastic? I have a great anouncement to make.... YEAH! I Found More Rust! Passenger cowl corner was not there....fun...all four peices of metal were eaten up and covered with glass and bondo.... Least I found it... SO heres where we stand, both cowl sides are off, one cab corner (both will be replaced, the passenger cab corner is not rusted through but mighty thin) The inner cowl to fender peices are toast and now laying on the pile as well.... The last picture is the cowl side....I got some blasting to do... The good news....at least it will be all metal now as opposed to a Saturn... that and at least I know the roof was done right...Quite honestly, this is the first I've touched the lower regions of the truck's sheetmetal besides wet sanding for black....everything was so smooth I never put a magnet to it, no rust bubbles, nothin... Luckly I built the truck originally for about $250....(10 years ago without the new engine) More updates when I make progress.... Turns out the cab was a perfect candidate for cutting up....I got my work cut out for me on bumpin and smoothing this heap....I been grinding out plastic for a bit.... I woulda felt guilty for cutting up a solid southwestern truck (naw not really) thats it for now folks......
Off to a good start, should look bitchen when done. "everything was so smooth I never put a magnet to it, no rust bubbles, nothin..." I bet you didnt find rust bubbles as Plastic doesn't rust...hahaha
Looks good... It must be these truck's or something, my 52 looked real smooth when i bought it..and i too found layer after layer of glass hiding a shit load of poor body work...luckily there was minimal rot...but still a ton of work. Keep it up, i'm looking forward to seeing your progress! Tony
Thanks guys... As a sidebar for the panel clamps.... I knew I needed em, and looked all over the place, I musta not looked very good cause the only place that I found em was eastwoods....$30 for 4 of em... I know I needed more than four but thats all I ordered....I hadda hard time spending $30 for four, I figured I would make due....anyway, I needed a seal press....I stop by Harbor Frieght (hey This is the first seal I've pressed in in 12 years....I dont use em often) I walk past the welding ilse and what do I see???? An 8 pack of panel clamps.....for $7.99 I figure what the hell, I'd be an idiot for not getting em... I get home and my $30 eastwoods clamps are sitting on the doorstep...I pop em open and set them side by side to compair....The Eastwoods panel clamps were package in a simple ziplock bag....and looked exactly the same, same spot welds and everything....I put it back into the bag, sealed the the box and sent em back for a refund.... So the adage "you get what you pay for" didnt apply here...Seems I didnt get what I shoulda got OH, other projects I've had that had plastic in em always blistered the plastic under the rust....OR cracked it...this did neither...
Dude.... I woulda But I pretty much did all this in the middle of the night (I work midnights) and stayed on a midnight schedule while my wife and kid were in AZ for half the month...
I know what you mean by clean SW truck. I bought mine from the original owner in Yuma Az. Cab corners, floor boards, toe kick , two spools of eazy grind latter and hopefully I can paint it next month.
Lookin great man. Outstanding work. Looks like you're doing it right and fixing all the rust the proper way. It's all about craftsmanship. Keep it up
Dude, I appreciate that comment....I really do, thats one thing I told my pop when I told him what I was going to do was that "i dont care how long it takes, I'm doin it right and not cutting ANY corners to get it on the road sooner....I've done that in the past (on this truck) and I ended up redoing it the right way a number of years later....I dont dig doing things twice now that I'm older....Its a one shot deal....its gonna get done right or not at all....I love driving this truck...(just not too enthralled about working on it) BUT what I want most of all is to see the vision I have come to reality....and get gloss paint in the process....man I want the arrow straight, glossy as hell gloss.... Thanks again...
Yea it may cost a little more at first to do it the right way but you will save money in the long run. I'm trying not to cheap out on my projects too. I got my clamps from harbor frieght too, that about all I will get there is clamps, and I've broken those too.
I told my wife... At this stage of the game....its all about commitment...you dont gotta finish first....you just gotta finish
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