Project "Jezebel"
 

Here we go again. I did not think I would be doing a full restoration right now. I restored a 69 Camaro a couple years ago and it really took some work. I have enjoyed the car and the ability to tell people, "I did it my self".

If you want to see the car here is a link to one of the magazines it was in. In total it was in 3 magazines 2 commercials and the cover of Rick's First Generation Camaro catalog. Sorry for the boasting, I am just proud of the work I was able to do there.

Moving on to my new project. Project, Jezebel. More on that name in a minute.

I swapped my 56 SWB truck for this 69 SWB at the Daytona Turkey Rod Run this past November. If you have never been to that show, you really need to try and make it. It's a great show.

Like I said this is a 69 SWB CST-10, PS, PB, Factory A/C, 383, 700r-4, 2 1/2 drop spindles in front, and 4" drop springs in the back. Sweet little truck.

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

Now for the Jezebel part.

I decided to replace the doors due to rust in the bottoms. Thinking that was the only major rust on the truck..,, At the same time I was going to update the A/C to Vintage Air and smooth the firewall.

I removed the hood and fenders and found this.

Digging further I found all sorts of interesting stuff. Apparently someone in this trucks prior life decided it was ok to put roofing tar over the rust in the cowl. Then they placed aluminum foil over that and painted it. Not till I started investigating what these "clumps" were did I find this mess and what it was covering up.

I went further to remove the doors, seat, and carpet. I have some interesting pictures of that as well. Apparently this person was quite creative. There was roofing shingles used as sound deadner in the cab. Lovely stuff to remove after to adheared to the floor pans.

Seeing what she was when I first got her and comparing that to what I actually found under the skin. The name "Jezebel" seemed to be very fitting considering how deceiving it was. I learned something very valuable. No matter how good it looks, dig a little deeper. There is almost always something hiding underneath.

So needless to say this is an all out restoration. I will update as often as I can and if someone sees me making a big mistake, please chime in.

I know it would be easier to replace the cab. This may sound weird, but I kinda want to try my hand at restoring this one. I want to add this skill to my mental tool box so to speak.

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

The list of places where rust will need to be addressed.

Firewall
Both sides of cowl
Both "A" pillars
Both floor corners next to "A" pillars
Lower corners of windshield track
Both front floor supports

Rockers were replace and are fine, but to get the access I need I will need to remove them. Perhaps I can put the same ones back on if not they are $25 each so relative to everything else, that is not an issue.

I completed quite a bit of this work this past weekend. I removed the Firewall, cowl, and dash. Man she looks bare.

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

More pics

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

Damn, that's a lot of rust. Don't you hate it when people do the most crappy work, cover it up and let you beleive everything is A-OK...

Nice bikini top. ;)

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

Nice camaro! You shouldn't apologize for boasting, looks like you earned it.

I can't believe that nice looking truck had so many dark secrets. I'm having trouble understanding how somebody would go to all the trouble and expense of making it look that good with such crappy fixes. I mean, they had to actually spend lots of money to put on top of that junk...paint, trim, etc...I just don't get it. Hopefully that wasn't a board member! Good for you wanting to make it right.

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

Thanks guys for the encouragement. I really want to make this right. I worked on it a little tonight. Replacing some edges on the "A" pillar. I will post some pics tomorrow.

Thanks,
Steve

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

I'll be following along. Sorry for the unwanted find...but I'm sure you'll be as proud of this as the camaro...and now it'll be a lot more of you into it...

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

It looks like your truck is in good hands. Some times we spend way to much time and money on our truck that we'll never get out if we sell. Some times it's the learning experience and the accomplishment of overcoming challenges that make it all worth while.

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

Wow i thought that truck was really nice then i scrolled down

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

Here are the updated pics from last nights work. I forgot to take a pic of the passenger side before I started so I included a pic of the drivers side. They both look to be in the same poor shape.

The lip that the cowl is spot welded to is completely gone from both "A" pillars. I had to cut the "A" pillar back about an inch and weld in a patch with a 90 degree bend and then curve it at the top to match up to where the windshield channel connects. I still have more fill in to do before finish grinding but you get the general idea of what I am attempting to do.

Hopefully I can get back out there later tonight. I have a school band meeting to go to tonight but afterwards I should be able to do something. It's a good thing I dont have neighbors or else they may not like my late night stress reliever of welding and grinding and welding and grinding.... I love living in the country. You dont have to worry about that sort of thing.

This is what I pretty much started with (dr side pictured)
Attachment 459150
This is where I am at now
Attachment 459151

Attachment 459153

Attachment 459154

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

wow...that's alot of work. I'm guessing you will be going with a smooth firewall?

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

The good news is your floor pans look really nice ;)

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

Yep, smoothing the firewall. My plasma cutter is supposed to arrive tomorrow. That will really help with that.

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

I too, hate it when someone covers stuff up like that. Take a look here and let me know if you need any thing off of this parts truck.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=330731

I'll be coming back to Pensacola in August and could bring the stuff with me. Best of luck and let me know.

R/

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

That's going to look trick. :metal:

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

Looks like it will be a great truck when finished. Since I am your neighbor if you ever need a hand just let me know...

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

Work looks good so far, cant wait to see more as I am in the same boat as you repair wise!

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

you think the previous owner had some part in the roofing biz?

Man that sucks, sure LOOKED like a nice truck, but will be soon I assume.

Hope thats not what the inside of the motor looks like.

Bill

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

Todat I was sanding my truck and forgat that I had rust repair to take care of.. I got a little upset.After seeing this I am a ok.
Keep keepin on Iam amazed at what some people will take on.

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

I agree about the roofing deal. I hope he was a better roofer than a body man.

As for the engine I have a new 383 I recently put in it along with a fresh 700r4. Drivetrain is in good shape, I just have to get this body back in shape.

I did not get anything done on the truck last night. My new Miller Plasma cutter arrived yesterday so I spent the evening playing with that and building a spot on my welding cart for it. I should have some time to work on the truck tonight. Expeting some progress there.

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

I hate it when the p.o. "s really do sloppy work...

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

I hate to even bring this up, but if he did this, is there a chance of bondo in areas like the doors/fenders/bedsides?

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

Yep I thought of that. I checked the bed from the underside and I dont see anything that looks like rust or dents. As for the doors, I am replacing those because of rust in the bottoms. As for the fenders, there is a little rust in one of them that has some bondo on it. I will look into that further when I get past this ordeal. The hood looks to be in good shape.

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

Man, it really shows you that alot can be hidden by bondo and paint.......and some roofing supplies.... ;)

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

Update::::

I was able to complete the repair to the drivers side "A" pillar last night. It was in worse shape than the passenger side. This time I had to rebuild a portion of the windshield track as well. Not too hard. I will say having a shrinker and stretcher made that job easier.

Here are some pics. Let me know what you think. My welding experience is limited. This job definately gives me the opportunity to get more welding time under my belt...


This is where I started. As you can see the outer lip where the cowl and the inner kick panel weld to is pretty much missing...
Attachment 460000

A closeup view of the rot in the windshield track
Attachment 460005

This shows how far back I had to cut the "A" pillar to get to some solid metal. I cut the upper section with a 4 1/2 grinder with a 1/16 cutoff wheel (Because of the brace in the middle), and lower section with the plasma cutter
Attachment 460007

This is about the best angle I could find for a view to show the new section welded in. I guess I am about as good a photographer as I am a welder huh?:lol:
Attachment 460009

This shows the windshield section repaired. I am holding off the top lip till I get the dash and cowl back in.
Attachment 460010

That's it for this week. Going camping this weekend with the family. Hope to get back on this next week. Let me know what you think of the work so far.

Steve

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

Damb.

I hope I dont get into all that with my cab. Taking out the seat, removing tank, and front clip next weekend.

I just hate to put 1000's in a 300.00 truck.

But it was cheap. I will be subscribing to this one.

Will you post sources for parts for panel replacements, and document like you been doing for the rest of the cab?

I dont know alot about whats called what on these trucks, and will be getting into alot of the same things.

Thanks,

Bill

P.S.

Can people start showing sources for panels other than LMC. They are close to me, about 30 miles, so shipping would be free, but they sure seam HIGH for most of there parts.

BILL

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

Nice work...having all the right tools would make all the difference in the world...

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

She sure is coming along nicely, you have a great deal of patience so a big kudos to you my friend.

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

Great work so far. Cant wait to see the cab all back together. Good job.

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

Nice work, a lot of people would have passed on that cab, me included.

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

Update::

Camping was great. I got home in the early afternoon on Sunday and after taking the wife to dinner for Mothers Day I found some time afterwards to work on the truck.

I had originally removed a section of the firewall thinking I only needed to repair that corner of the cowl. Well things were worse than previously thought so I had to remove the entire front (firewall, Cowl, Kick panels, and all). One good thing about doing it this way is I can spread the parts out to weld them better... :metal:

This is where I started. Aligned the section I removed to where it was originally. Clamped it in place and used the hammer and dolly to make sure the edges were all ligned up before spot welding.
Attachment 460834

Spot welded it every 6" or so to get it all in place and not to create too much heat that would warp the panel and cause more bodywork. (Lower half)

Attachment 460835

Upper half of the firewall spot welded
Attachment 460836

I continued spot welding skipping around till I filled it completely from top to bottom. Im afraid that if I would have run a bead it would surely have warped. This worked well. It wasnt pretty before grinding flat and took longer but it's the nice looking outcome we are looking for right?

Then using angle grinder with a 50 grit ROLOC and lots of patience to "only grind the welds" I smoothed out the spot welds. (Lower half)
Attachment 460837

All ground flat.
Attachment 460838

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

Nice and smooth...how far are you going with the smoothing of the firewall?

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

I am going to fill the holes where the A/C evap was attached. As well as a few others here and there that I am not going to use. Here are a couple pics of how I did it on my 69 Camaro. I plan to run the A/C and heater hoses differently though. I am thinking about running them between the inner and outer passenger fender and in under the cowl like 68 Short Step did on his Incredible Hulk project.

Attachment 461081

Attachment 461082

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

Hat's off to you for replacing all that rust! I would've replaced the cab! Good save though.

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

Thanks. I think I am going after it for more of the challenge than anything. I have never tackled such a task before. I see some great work done on this board by some very talented people. I want to see how I stack up.... :-)

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

UPDATE::

Replaced a part of the edge where the firewall meets the floor pan on the drivers side. I first removed the bad section then bent a new piece using a metal brake to mimic the section removed. All in all it came out well. I left the section on the right edge unwelded because I need to replace a a piece above it. Here is how it turned out.

This is where I started. The section in the lower right of this picture is what I was working on.
Attachment 461339

This is the section cut out and preped for the new section to be welded in.
Attachment 461340

This pic shows the section welded in and an ajoining section that needed replaced as well. I did not notice this section needed to be replaced till I had already welded in the first piece. I am not the most observant person sometimes.
Attachment 461341

This is how I welded in the second piece. I wanted to show how the welds looked before I ground them down.
Attachment 461342

This is the finished piece. I also had to shape the bottom edge to make it match the original. My pieces were a little long compared to the rest of that edge.
Attachment 461343

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

Update: long time coming......

I have not posted a reply in a while. I have been looking for a donor cab with a good firewall and cowl. I did not think it was going to be that hard. Well, I tell you, I have looked at over 10 cabs/trucks and all seemed to have the same issue. The seam above the ebrake where the center section of the cowl joins the right and left sides were all full of cancer.

I finally found a 71 GMC LWB that had exactly what I needed. At first I thought I would just use that cab to replace mine but the more i looked at the patch work quilt the cab was I decided that the best part was just the cowl, firewall, and roof. I decided to buy the truck anyway and part out what I don't need which is basically everything but pieces just mentioned. Anyway, here are some pics. If you see something you need let me know, odds are I don't need it.

This is what I started with.
Attachment 468181

Attachment 468182


This is what I needed from the truck. Man that was a lot of work.....

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

Update:

My plan is to remove the spot welds from the donor section and separate it into 3 pieces. Firewall, upper cowl, and lower cowl & kick panels. I will then repair any minor parts that need attention and spot weld them into Jezebel following the same procedure GM used in the day. There probably was a better way of doing this by leaving it all together and installing it in one chunk. I was just worried with door alignment as well as I did not know what shape the "A" pillars were in. This way I can apply attention to any area that needs it, it's just going to take a little more work to get there. In the end I will know what I have, unlike before.

Here are some pics peeling the onion so to speak.
Attachment 469102
Attachment 469103


This is the section that was totally rusted in Jezebel. This section will make her water tight again.. :-)
Attachment 469104
Attachment 469105

Re: Project "Jezabel"
 

man that thing is going to be nice. the work you are doing looks great.