So here's the story... I knew this car had rust, but I wanted to tackle it. I have a build thread going, and I have been focusing on the chassis. Right now, I have a surplus of time, so I'm gonna tackle the rust, rather than just bolting new parts onto the chassis. When I bought the car, the doors shut great. After pulling the body, and getting it up in a dolly, I noticed considerable sag in the driver side door once it opens. The driver side inner and outer rocker are there in spirit only. You can see in the pics how much the door sags once its off the striker. This is due to, I assume, the non existent support from the rockers. If I lift up on the door while it's open, I can see the cowl and dash flex. I plan to brace the floors and door opening as well as possible from the inside with the door shut to keep everything in alignment. If anybody else has any advice on how to tackle it I'm open to ideas...
The list of guys starting out with a rig that is a hell of a lot worse than that is pages long on here. It could be in the shape this truck cab was when one of the guys on a FB truck page I am on showed up with it at another members shop to be put back the way it should be.
I'm in the same boat you are. It's hard to know where to begin because so many of the body parts are dependent upon another part's integrity. If most if these parts are fucked then you're in a "which came first; chicken or egg?" Scenario. Hopefully someone with first hand experience will chime in.
i would start by getting new body mounts and putting it back on the chassis......then do the work needed to get it "square", then take it back off to finish.
Deto, you need to put the car back on the frame. Bolt the car down using all body mounts and see how it aligns. When you pulled the un braced body you may have tweaked it. So, get it on the frame and straight again, may take some un bolting, jacking, etc to straighten it out. When you have your doors fitting good again(new body mounts and new hinges installed if necessary) brace the car. I would do the rocker and floor replacement on the frame, you can pull it for final welding, grinding, paint.
You probaly should have braced the door opening with at least 2 horizontal braces I usually use angle iron then a couple across from side to side close to door opening before you remove body from chassis..I would replace rockers first taking your time there are several layers spot welded together an they can be a pain to remove cleanly sometimes..I would definitely check door fitment several times before final welding on rockers...
It would have been better to leave the body on the frame. But if you want to work on it off the frame get lots of jacks like junkyard scissor jacks or pickup truck jacks and support it in numerous places like, body mounts if any are left. Level and true the body as best you can. You will need to lift and pull inside too. Get the doors fitting perfect. If the hinges are worn replace the pins and bushings first. With the body trued up you can start welding in rockers. This is critical, wherever it is when you start welding is where it will stay. Do the rockers first then the floor.
It looks like you are in the same boat I'm in. I think the only real difference is that my rockers are mostly comprised of bondo and spray foam. My floors are mostly gone as well. Awhile ago I asked the question which to do first the rockers or floor. The general opinion was to get the floors squared away first, then attack the rockers. The reason being was that the floor can be replaced in sections which still allows plenty of support from the rest of the floor and what's left of the rockers. Then, once the floor is secure and solid, you should be in pretty good shape to replace the rockers. However, if you were to cut out the rockers first with the floor less than solid, even with braces, you could run into problems keeping everything where it needs to be. You need to get the body back on the frame before start either though. Floors are easy to make with a beadroller, and rockers look like they should be made pretty easily with a brake. Good Luck.
body mounts are solid. I am going to build a jig for this now, since I want to keep working on the chassis at the same time.
This is a friends cross braced 42 Chevy PU cab before we removed it from the frame. A bit of over kill however it needed lots of work to have any structural integrity. Door gaps were spot on when they were removed.
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