Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

I was able to finish weld and smooth the driver side floor board. Up next are repairing the kick panel and door pillars.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Your metalwork is outstanding, I really enjoy watching your build.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Great job!!

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

I haven't seen a torch in any of your pictures, so what kind of welder are you using, and why are you hiding it? I like the way your weld beads look. I tigged mine in, but had more heat area at the welds. Whens the crate engine getting pulled from the donor? I wanta be there when it happens. Trucks looking good. Jim

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Turned out amazing! Would you mind telling me/us how you metal finish everything. I seem to have the hardest time getting my repairs to look any where near that nice.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Here is a picture of my MIG welder. It's a Handler 187 by Hobart. I have used it for 99% of my build and it works very well. I like to use 0.024 inch wire for sheet metal.

I also have a Lincoln 185 TIG welder that I only use when I can take the part over to my welding bench. Even then I typically just use it for welding on flat sections that I will need to hammer and dolly later. I really enjoy TIG welding but I like how quick and easy the MIG welder is especially when you are in awkward positions.

I'm still debating the engine choice but I am going with LS power.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Thanks for all of the encouragement! I'll be sure to capture a more detailed look at the cab corner installation on this side of the truck to give you an idea of how I work things from start to finish.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

You already have your go baby go machine so a great choice for your truck would be the 5.3L Vortec w/4l60e and 3.42:1 gear.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

I second the 5.3/ 4l60e. Good milage, available at reasonable prices, and plenty of pow.er for hauling stuff. Unless you just want to go really, really fast .

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

I'm in on this. Looks like I could learn a thing or two. Awesome work

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Your doing some real nice work on the rust repair. First time to your build, my eye caught your title "Financial Burden" I can relate, i was thinking i should have named my trucks thread "Going Broke" :) keep up the good work!

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

It has been a while since I have published an update. I'm glad this brutal winter weather is behind us so I can get some work done! Here are some more images of the driver side progress.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Going to go with a rear mounted gas tank for the LS engine fuel system. No need for the filler neck hole on the cab anymore although it is one of my favorite features of these classic trucks.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

That would be a great combination. I have a 5.3L engine I will be using for mock up. I am still up in the air on what combination I will settle on. I think I change my mind every other week.

Thanks for the comments. Back when I was a kid my older brother told me about a drag car he saw labeled "Financial Burden." I've always thought it was a great name for a project. I like "Going Broke" too!

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Man that rust repair looks oh so familiar. So glad that stage is over for me! Your metalwork looks meticulous! I like it!

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Love your craftsmenship. Your doing a fine job and its looking great.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

You have done a great job on the chassis and cab. I really like the rust repair work. You are making it look too easy. I remember before I repaired my cab, I saw a bunch of pictures like your's, I thought well that looks easy enough...little did I know the repair panels were a joke in many cases, the rust is everywhere on these old trucks and it takes some serious time to do it right. Very clean work and some nice welders you have there.
Looking foward to following the rest of the restoration.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Thanks again for all the comments. It sure helps me stay motivated. I was able to save the lower part of the original rear door pillar and finished up the front pillar repair.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Since I've gotten a few requests to show more details around my work I've decided to do a more in depth summary of the cab corner replacement on this side of the truck. The first thing you need is a quality replacement patch panel. This picture shows the main thing to look for in a cab corner patch panel. You want a nice 90 degree contour on the bottom of the panel just like the original. This task is already challenging enough so make sure you start with good materials. The lower panel would have been a lot more work so I used the Goodmark branded panel (that I got from GMCPaul's Truck Parts) and sent the other one to the scrap pile.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

I then used Eastwood's Weld Thru Primer on everything that was going to be covered up by the new patch panel. I was able to cut along the brace line for this repair which hides most of the patch seam where you can't see it from the inside. I also added a small brace (before I cut anything out) to help keep things in alignment.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Using the old panel as a template I made a rough mark on the patch panel with about 3/4 of an inch to spare. This helps get the panel in a more workable size. I also like to use a small round file to remove the burrs left behind to prevent cutting my hands up. Always were gloves when handling sheet metal!

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

I then prepped the rocker panel and cab corner interface to get a nice tight fit between the two pieces. I used a hammer and dolly to get things flat and then removed a bit of the "puckered" areas with a grinder.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

I then clamped the patch panel in place making sure to align it with the rocker and scribed the inside of the panel for the final cut line.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

To get the other side of the final cut line (since I could not scribe it from the inside) I made an offset mark from the cab cut line using my 12 inch steel ruler. I then clamped the patch panel back in place and used the offset line to transfer onto the patch panel using the same 12 inch steel ruler.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

I then added a couple of rosette weld locations at the bottom of the panel and trimmed off some excess material. I like to use a red scuff disk to remove the e-coat and prep everything for welding.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Now we can start welding! I like to start near the rocker panel and work my way around about every inch or so making sure that the panel fitment is tight along the way. I then weld in between the previous set of welds and then in between the next and so on until you have a continuous weld. I like to lightly smooth the welds in between each round and use a wire wheel to keep things nice and clean. The wire wheel also removes the heat marks so you can see exactly where your new round of welds are located. I take a lot of time in this process to keep the panel cool.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Now that the panel is fully welded I smooth things out with a variety of sanding disk including the sanding rolls that are used for porting cylinder heads. Now you have to be sure to work the hammer and dolly when necessary in between all those rounds of welding to keep everything as flat as possible. I hope this was helpful. Now onto rocker panel installation...

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Now onto the rocker panel installation. You can never have too may clamps.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

I put on some primer just to keep the bare metal from rusting and took a picture of all of the sections I had to remove.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

I had to make some room for the Tremec T56 transmission I am planning on running by doing a high hump conversion.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Very nice work!

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

X2 ^^

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Excellent write up and pictures. You are a master at making those repairs look easy:).
Keep the pictures coming.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Had to fix the 1990's era modifications for a CD player. Luckily I scored a patch panel for $10 at a swap meet.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Nice work! I sure wish I had these skills.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Awesome work!

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

VERY VERY nice work, I am really impressed with your repairs so far. I'm ready for more updates so get with it!! :lol:

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Excellent job on the radio fix.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Thanks again for all the encouragement. I had some nasty dents in both of my doors that created a lot of distortion throughout the panels. I decided to re-skin them and this also gave me a chance to do a good repair on the door bottoms and near the lower hinge. As always more pictures...

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

More pictures...