Re: Roostre's 1967 C20
 

I haven't gotten the grill put back together yet, I need to paint the red. I think there is a picture earlier in this thread where I set the trim in the grill.

I'm really liking the Navajo White. I painted the trim pieces and now the roof with it. I just need to paint the bumpers now. I also painted the door frame of my shop with it. I needed a can of paint, and it was handy.

I also like the small window. That's why I started looking for a 67 in particular.

Re: Roostre's 1967 C20
 

OK. I'll backtrack. I have a short term memory thing [what's the word?] due to a side effect of my Glaucoma Medicine.

Re: Roostre's 1967 C20
 

No worries, looks like page 4 is where the grill is. I like the Navajo White because it isn't as stark as a bright white would be.

Re: Roostre's 1967 C20
 

Thanks. I found it. Post #78. Funny, I even made a comment. But then that was 3 years ago.
That Grille is Ivory, 3 years ago. Are you going to overshoot w/ Navajo?
I do appreciate it when '67s have the headlight bezels and trim rings in the contrasting colors. And I love '68s that have a contrasting grille face and silverized trim and bezels. But I hate it when people get it wrong or don't care.

The Grille on my '67 K/10 Sub in the pic on page 4 is off a '68 clip I put on it after smacking a 4-point deer head-on one dark night.

Re: Roostre's 1967 C20
 

Wow, it has been 3 years. You had me nervous with the ivory, so I had to look back. I described it as ivory, but the actual name of it is Navajo White. That is the only white color I have been spraying.

I almost painted the whole grill Navajo White in the 68 style, and if I had chrome buckets like yours, I probably would have. After seeing the white trim in the red grill, I ended up liking that better. Going with the whole grill may be getting too much white at this point.

Re: Roostre's 1967 C20
 

Chrome Buckets? You mean the headlight bezels? They are a silvery anodized aluminum. Same material they made the Trim Rings from. [I used to call them ''Chicken Lips'' because OEM were so hard to find]. The true MY 1967 Trim Rings were steel and had a cross section like a capital D. In '68 Chevy found they could make them in anodized aluminum, but needed an extra corrugation ridge in the cross section so they didn't bend as much. [The anodized aluminum being cheaper and flimsier.] Also GM only reproduced the anodized aluminum Trim Rings as replacement parts. So steel ones are hard to get. I might assume the real '67 headlight bezels were steel too, but my '67 K/10 had already been swapped to aluminum when I got it. And its Chicken Lips were missing even before I whacked Bambi's Dad.
After the Ungulate Impact event, the Sub got a '68 Grille.

Here's a pic of my original '68 Grille on the Orange Stepside on a rare nasty day in Tucson.

Re: Roostre's 1967 C20
 

Yep, I meant the headlight bezels. Thanks for the history! The only ones I have been up close and personal with are mine off the 67. They are definitely steel, and they look like they may have been chrome at one point, but I'm not sure. I documented stripping a few layers of paint off them around page 4-5.

I've always liked the suburbans of this age. Problem is they're really rare around here and seem to rust out even worse than the pickups do. And this cab is testing my rust repair abilities.

Re: Roostre's 1967 C20
 

As for Chrome, I'm not sure if there was a Deluxe or Custom trim option where the front end trim parts were chromed at the Factory, or Dealers' aftermarket?
I know a lot of hot rodders were doing that with those parts when the Action Line Series Trucks were not that old. Chrome headlamp bezels are even shinier than anodized aluminum. And the D-section steel Chicken Lips became scarce when the chroming fad got underway.

The problem wih my 3-Door Sub is that I mismanaged my insurance. I should never have claimed on an engine fire. Their adjuster looked at it [in 1998] and decided it was just a ''POS'' and I got peanuts for my claim and a Salvage Title. Needs new powerplant and drive train. Dana 44 front end from a '71 [+ Later] Blazer and rebuilt 12-Bolt rear end are both needed. Paint, interior need work. Front bench seat is OK. Glass is OK. New rubber seals needed. I want to convert a Squarebody backseat 60/40 fold down like HO455's Working Mans' Burban. It had a 454/TH350/NP205. I have a '63 292 core.
A 700R4 trans w/ OD sounds good. And keep the NP205. I also have an SM465/T221 core. It's a basket case, but an Arizona truck rust-wise.

Re: Roostre's 1967 C20
 

Insurance adjustors can be tough. I had a small fire from a lightening strike on my previous house. The adjustor came out and made an offer. Thankfully, I showed it to my contractor and he said give me the guy's name and number. He then went to bat and got a much more realistic settlement and my house got put back together perfectly without me having to do any fighting. I really appreciate that contractor.

At least you have a solid, Arizona rust body you're working with. As you can see in my build, Minnesota rust is no joke!

Re: Roostre's 1967 C20
 

That bad experience was why I didn't claim on a 4/22 collision with my '68 C/10. I had full comprehensive with Allstate, but I didn't trust them. So bringing back my Stepside is outta my own pocket.
The Suburban is a Fremont truck. I bought it from a man in Mesa [PHX area]. I have no idea of its history before 1993. I used to run it up to Pinetop in the AZ White Mountains and ski over XMAS break, but they use scoria [crushed volcanic gravel] not salt on icy roads there.

Re: Roostre's 1967 C20
 

Making patches continued tonight. I moved to the passenger's side of the firewall. It was rotted out in the same way that the driver's side was, but more so. I cut out the rot then cut and bent a patch piece for it. It fits pretty well, but I won't weld it back in until I patch the inner A pillar, just like the driver's side. For me to do that, the floor needs to come out.

So now we're to it. The part I've been procrastinating on, bracing the cab and cutting the floor out. I plan to cut the floor out, then cut off the rockers. Then I will patch the driver's and passenger's inner A pillars, then weld in my firewall patches on both sides. Next, patch the passenger's outer A pillar. From there, I will install the new floor that has been laying around my shop for 4 years, and then patch the lower B pillars on both sides. Last will be replacing the rockers. I am seriously thinking about using the 3M structural adhesive on the floor where it attaches to the firewall and where it attaches to the rear of the cab. It worked really well on the roof skin, and I think it will work just as well on the floor. The final decision will be made when I see how my aftermarket floor fits my 57 year old cab.

Stay tuned, this will get interesting. For me anyway. :)

Re: Roostre's 1967 C20
 

Quite a journey.....

Re: Roostre's 1967 C20
 

I keep plugging away. Tonight I welded in some cab bracing to prepare for removing the rockers and cab floor. I used some angle iron from an industrial shelf frame that the previous owner left in my shop. Should be good enough for what I'm doing. I welded it to the B pillars and the A pillars and then tied them together front to back. I may weld a couple of kickers to the firewall yet. I'm also thinking about cutting and screwing a couple pieces of wood to the front angle iron to set the height of the front of the floor.

Now on to the fun of removing rockers and cutting out the floor.

Re: Roostre's 1967 C20
 

Today I cut the passenger's side rocker out of my cab. What was left of the original outer and inner rockers were still there. A previous owner pop riveted some roofing tin over them and then put bondo over that. The roofing tin was also rusting through, so that fix was pretty old too. I used most of a 3 inch cut off wheel, a drill, tin snips, plasma cutter, hammer, and pry bar to get the rocker and patch off.

Having it all out of the way should make floor replacement easier, along with patching lower A and B pillars.

Pictures are of before, during, and after removal along with some of the lower pillar spots that need attention. Enjoy.

Re: Roostre's 1967 C20
 

Here are the pictures of the lower A and B pillars that need patching. The driver's side will look similar.

Re: Roostre's 1967 C20
 

I spent last night cutting the driver's side rocker and bad patch job off my cab. It was the same story as the passenger's side, so I won't retype it. I need to get ahold of Bowtie Truck Stop and get a patch panel for the lower A pillar on the driver's side. I was talking to Kevin yesterday to order the passenger's side, and he asked me about the driver's side. I told him I didn't need the driver's side yet. Well, I guess I should have just gotten one. Oh well, the driver's side isn't nearly as bad as the passenger's side, so I should be able to get by with the older, less complex version of the patch.

Here's some pictures of the progress. Not very exciting, but it makes a good scrapbook for me.

Re: Roostre's 1967 C20
 

While I was changing the oil in my daily driver, I decided to do some more rust removal today. I cut the driver's side lower A pillar off. Only the lower part that sticks into the rocker needs replacement. While I'm in there, I will be replacing the bottom of the kick panel that is rusted through. For those of you, like me, who have never been this deep into these and have a lot of sheet metal missing due to rust, the bottom of the kick panel is sandwiched between the floor and the A pillar using the top 2 bolts of the 4 bolt pattern. Figuring this out took me finally just cutting the A pillar off, I couldn't tell how the kick panel was captured there until the bottom of the A pillar was completely gone.

Anyway, the plan now is to replace both passenger's and driver's side lower kick panels and lower A pillars, then replace the floor.

Her are some pictures

Re: Roostre's 1967 C20
 

The dark before the dawn. I remember cutting into my jimmy and seeing the same thing, I felt like I'd been kicked in the groin. Stick with it, you will get there.

Good luck, Rg

Re: Roostre's 1967 C20
 

Thanks for the encouragement, it actually feels like I'm getting somewhere, so that feels pretty good. The rot I'm seeing wasn't unexpected, I just didn't pick up all of the patch panels right away because I wasn't sure what I could get by with making. I need to pick up a couple of kick panel patches and the lower A pillar patches, and I should be good to re-assemble.

Re: Roostre's 1967 C20
 

More progress tonight. I finished cutting out the kick panel on the driver's side of my cab. I cut out the patch panel and welded it back in. I then welded in the firewall patch I made a couple of weeks ago. They aren't the prettiest patches, but once the sound deadening mat and the floormat are inside and the fenders are installed, no one will see these patches, and the cab is solid through here again. Now I need to do the same on the passenger's side and weld in the lower A pillar patch panels. I think I'm going to wait for the bottom of the pillars until I have the cab sitting on the new floor to help locate them correctly.

Here are some pictures!

Re: Roostre's 1967 C20
 

Very small progress today. I went and picked up an old farmall B, and my buddy rode along. After we unloaded the tractor, I was showing him the progress on my cab. He has had a few square bodies over the years, and we started talking about radios and how we, as stupid kids, cut the dashes apart to get aftermarket radios to fit. The radio in my cab was an early 90's model that didn't fit and didn't work anyway. I always assumed that my dash was cut to make it fit. As we were standing around, I grabbed a pliers and pulled that radio out. Amazingly, my dash is in great shape and not cut at all! Small miracles and wins today!

Re: Roostre's 1967 C20
 

I started on the passenger's side today. Same story as the driver's side, I cut off the lower A pillar to access the kick panel then marked and cut the kick panel. Unfortunately, the kick panel patch isn't large enough to fix all of the rust, so I'll have to make a second smaller patch panel. I just got going when I ran out of welding wire and was forced to call it a day.

The lower A pillar will be cut again above the lower hinge mounting points, the patch panel I ordered has the captured nuts in it already, but hasn't come in yet.

Here are a few pictures.

Re: Roostre's 1967 C20
 

I bought a new spool of welding wire, so I was able to finish patching my passenger's side kick panel and firewall. As I said in the last post, the patch for the kick panel wasn't large enough to replace all the rusty parts, so I had to make a small patch out of some left over pieces of the driver's side kick panel. I need to grind down all of the welds yet, but I think it turned out ok, especially for a guy who had never done this before and has no idea what he's doing.

Unfortunately, I've fallen back into my habit of working away and not getting any pictures while I do. I need to get better about that. Here are a few after pictures and one of some of the rust I removed.

Up next I will be removing the floor. I'll fit the new floor so I can put in lower A and B pillar patches on both sides. Then I'll do final installation on the floor. I'm waiting on final floor installation for a couple of reasons. First, I ordered a patch panel for the passenger's side lower A pillar and that hasn't arrived yet. I want to have the lower pillars patched before I install the floor permanently. Second, I'm waiting for the weather to warm up a little because I think I'm going to use structural adhesive on the floor where it attaches to the fire wall and the rear of the cab. I'm leaning towards 3M 7333. It is an impact resistant structural adhesive, and it looks like a better product for this area than the panel adhesive I used on the roof skin. If course, this all depends on how well the aftermarket replacement floor fits my old cab. If it doesn't fit well, I'll have to scrap the adhesive idea and go back to spot welding to be able to better pull it into place.

Re: Roostre's 1967 C20
 

I had a late night in the shop last night, but the floor is cut out of my cab. I started out with the wire wheel to figure out where the spot welds were on the 2 braces where they connect to the ones on the firewall. On mine, there were 4 welds on the sides and 2 welds on the bottom, but I don't think the side ones were holding on the driver's side. After drilling them out, I started cutting with the plasma cutter. In the front, I cut from inside the cab on either side of the transmission opening to where I had cut into the floor earlier to patch the fire wall. Then I moved to the back. I decided to cut from underneath because I wanted to leave the 2 supports that the cab bolts go into in place to help position the new floor. This meant I needed to cut out what was left of my rear support so I could get the plasma cutter in there. I got that cut and lifted on the cab. With some prying, and a little hammering, the floor came out. Now I need to cut the spotwelds and remove the little strips of floor I left at the seams. I did get some pictures, but not as many as I should have because I was on a roll and it was getting late.

Re: Roostre's 1967 C20
 

Here are a few after pictures of the cab in the air, one of the old floor out, and one of how the cab is sitting now. All in all, I'm pretty happy with it this morning. I must say that I had a couple moments of doubt last night, looking at it in pieces thinking I really stepped in it this time. This is without a doubt the most intensive body part replacement I've attempted.

Re: Roostre's 1967 C20
 

I made a little more progress last night. I cut the spot welds and took it the remaining edges of the old floor from the firewall and rear of the cab. There isn't really anything interesting to photograph, so I just have before and after pictures of the driver's side. The rear and passenger's side look the same. I started fitting the new floor, but decided to stop and get the final prep of the cab and floor done because it's going to take some work to get the floor into the cab and I don't want to have to do it more than once if I can help it.

Up next is fixing a couple more rust holes in the back of the cab that appeared when I removed the old floor. I'm then going to clean the surface rust off the firewall and back cab sides of the seams and cover them with weld through primer. I will then remove the ecoat from the mounting surfaces of the new floor and cover them with weld through primer. I'm also going to scuff the new floor for painting because I think it will be easier than doing it when it is in the cab.