68 Second Chance
 

I am always searching for quick filler projects that I can put a little time into and get it back on the road for someone to enjoy. I do these because it is my source for funding my current projects and enjoy the satisfaction of saving another truck to live on.

I found this truck on Facebook Marketplace and instantly was interested and reached out to the owner. They shot me back a message saying that someone else was coming out to view the truck. I messaged back to them, "Great, if they do not buy the truck or it turns into a no show, please give me a chance to buy the truck. I would like to get it back on the road for someone to enjoy". A day or two went by and I never heard back from the couple so I sent them another message asking if the truck sold. They came back with "He was a no show". I immediately messaged back "Can I call you if this is a good time?" and the wife said "Sure anytime here is my number". I called and explained that I was interested and discussed some of the history and their purpose for selling the truck.

The backstory is that they inherited the truck from their father that had bought it brand new in 68. He drove it and at some point the 6 cylinder motor gave up to the ghost. He had a 283 motor so he had it rebuilt and installed the 283 V8 which answers the question for the finger guard shroud. After the father passed he brought the truck to his property and his intentions were to restore it. Well life got in the way and that never happened. They are selling their property and moving to a place where they really don’t have room.

I scheduled a time to see the truck, reserved a trailer from Uhaul and was on the road to go get it. Here are the pictures that the owner sent me, the first two were from the ad on Facebook.

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Here are a few pictures of me dragging it home and doing a little cleanup be for it goes into the garage to be worked on. Major scrubbing, power washed and a tried a little CLR treatment on the hood. Last picture shows it resting in the garage with its younger cousin the K10 from the Field - build thread here.

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Looks like an awesome find. congrats!
Looking forward to the build

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Congratulations! Looks great as is.

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

So after getting the truck home and cleaned out and scrubbed down, these are the items that I will be addressing to get it back on the road.

1. There was about half a tank of gas that was probably in there over 10 years. Looked dark orange to almost brown in color and did not smell so good.
2. The motor will need to be addressed to see what it will take to get it running.
3. Check on the brakes and any other mechanical.
4. Reinstall the seat that was in the bed when I bought it.
5. Both windows will not roll down, so will need to pop off door panels and get that working again.
6. Probably will need new tires or some take offs

So last weekend I removed the gas tank and started the cleaning process. Removed the fuel sending unit which I cleaned with lacquer thinner. Blew out and ran a few small bottle brush type cleaners through the tubes. Removed the metal mesh sock that was toast. Will install a Wix filter under the truck and one at the carb until I know all is good. The gas tank is being soaked with about a gallon of Acetone and a chain. Been working it back and forth everyday after work and it is doing a good job of getting the black look tar out of the bottom and sides.

I moved onto the motor later in the day on Saturday by checking fluids, removing spark plugs and squirting a little marvel Mystery oil into the pistons. Install new battery cables and new battery, disconnected the fuel line to the carburetor and inserted into a large water bottle to catch any bad gas that the fuel pump might pushout. Put a little gas down the carburetor and try to fire it over. I tried a few times to start it but no luck.

Sunday I decided I would do a tune up and see if I could get this thing to fire up. Here are the items that I replaced:

• replaced the AC delco R44 plugs with AC Delco R45 plugs
• New Plug wires, old ones were very brittle and crusty
• Distributor cap and rotor
• Added a brand new Pertronics Ignitor II and Flamethrower Coil

After doing all of the above I tried to fire it up again and had no luck again. I did pull a plug and hold to ground to make sure I was getting fire down to the plugs and it had a nice white spark when turned over. Probably have the distributor off a tooth or two so will be working on that by pulling plug and find TDC. I needed to recharge the battery after cranking for a bit on the motor.

So I decided to pull the carburetor off since it would need to be rebuilt or replaced. When I went to pull the carburetor off which is a 2 barrel Rochester 2 Jet with an oil bath air cleaner, the front two mounting studs broke of with hardly any pressure. So I have worked on getting those out the last two days after work and finally succeded. After that I chased all the mounting threads on intake with a 5/16 18NC tap to make sure the threads were good. Ordered a new rebuilt 2 barrel carburetor from Amazon to get it going.

This afternoon I will remount the intake with new Fel-Pro gaskets and let the RTV cure over night. Friday I will put the distributor back in after finding TDC, check that all wires are going to the right plugs. Mount the new carburetor and hookup a tempory tank and see if I can get it to fire up.

Sometimes when you are trying to rescue these trucks they seem to kick and fight all the way.

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Don't send that old carb off for a core, if possible. Rebuilt carbs are a crap shoot, regardless of who's label is on them....

I used to sell auto parts...hated to sell someone a reman'd carb. I'd keep the core around for a while to make sure their "NEW" carb worked. If I heard no complaints and the carb was something I could possibly use, I'd buy the core...

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Sent the new carb back it will not fit the 2 barrel manifold. Going to rebuild the old one here after I get it started up. Reinstalled the intake manifold. made a implement to attach to harmonic balancer so I could spin the motor around to get TDC. Put it all back together and mounted the old carb back on the manifold and pour a little gas down the throat and tried to fire it up. Nothing.

Looks like I will need to go through everything again and verify I actually had TDC and that the spark plug wires are correct. As it was turning over got one little small backfire but no attempt to start.

Pict 1 - Motor torn down to reinstall intake manifold
Pict 2 - A quick made up tool to attach to the harmonic balancer to turn motor to achieve TDC
Pict 3 - Also took off front fender to do a little rust repair on front fender cup, lower back mount rust hole. After that I will attempt to buff out fender then take to NAPA to do a digital color match. Repaint the areas and buff back into old paint....photos to follow

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

The lifter valley looks clean, that is a good sign. You need to plug those 2 holes on the carb mounting surface. THey were old technology to bring heat to the carb. They just are a maintenance nuisance, you don't see those holes on much of anything past around 70 or so..

Timing cover may need to come off....

Make sure engine is grounded to body and chassis...

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

This truck was a radio delete plate truck. I found the original delete plate in the glove box. That's a nice score for sure. Also noticed since it was a radio delete truck the cowl had no antenna hole on passenger side. However somewhere along they way they put a radio in and drilled a hole on the drivers side to accommodate the antenna and just mounted some plastic radio shack speakers......I think it said "Realistic" on the speaker front and the player was a cassette player. What a classic find.

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Was able to get a little bit of the preparation for drivers side fender repair. this will be my first attempt at trying to match the patina paint for the two small repair areas. It looks like on the fender at one time they might of had some bumps and bruises from the presence of gray primer on the upper portion of the fender. Since this is a truck I will be selling soon I want to make it not only presentable but rust free. The fender had the usual front fender cup rusted out due to poor design and usually leaking battery acid. The rear bottom is another area that rust out do to poor design that traps leaves, mud, etc and allows rust to develop. The rockers are fine on this truck looks like someone must have replaced them at some point, noticed it from getting under truck and could see where the spot weld line was.

So in doing this I wanted to only fix the two rust spots and make it look as though it had never had an issue. So the process that I am attempting is by removing the fender, buffing with a buffer and compound to get to the real color under the oxidation. Then take the fender to my local NAPA automotive paint store where I buy my supplies. Have it match with a digital gun, then mix up a quart of single stage paint. They then take the single stage and pour out 4oz. to make an 2K aerosol can that has a badder inside with hardner. You then take an special activator button on the bottom to activate the bladder so the harder mixes with the paint. You now have ready to spray matched paint in a spray can that is good for up to 24 hours. If this does not work then I still have the matched paint in a quart to respray with.

Pict 1 - Buffer and compound ready to see the real color
Pict 2 - Shows the upper area buffed compared to low oxidized area
Pict 3 - Qt. of single stage digital matched paint and a 2K spray can ready to go
Pict 4 - Rust are bottom of fender apron
Pict 5 - Rust area drivers side fender cup

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

A few of the repair in progress. Started with cutting out the rear section and making a template. After cutting out had to hammer a bit to get the right shape and fit. For the fender cup I knew that the repop parts do not fit at all, actually up to a 1/2" off in length. So I tried to use as least of it as I could, making a scale with measurements that can be transferred. next I will need to make a vertical cut or two to get the proper length and fender lines to match up.

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Here are a few more pictures of the repair in progress. Was able to get the metal welded in on bottom apron section. Now it will need some hammer and dolly work next. For the fender cup I had read that the repop part was about 1/2 inch to short. So after measuring out carefully and using a grid to transfer my cut, it wa exactly 1/2 inch off after splitting it vertically. After tacking the two pieces on I tacked a temporary spacer at the bottom of the cup so it can hold shape while I finish tacking. Now it will need a template made to fill in the 1/2 inch difference on the front side and on the back.

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Great way to work around a problem! ;)

Tell me about the paint you bought, if you don't mind. I see it says color match, is it a single stage paint? What is in the aerosol can?

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

The paint is single stage paint from Napa auto parts paint store. I took my fender off of the truck and buffed it to get the oxidation off. Then took it to the store where they used a digital gun to match the paint. Then mixed a quart of paint, after that they pour 4 oz. out of the quart can and pressurize it into a aerosol can that has a hardener bladder. When you get ready to spray with it you use a red button tool on the bottom of the can to puncture the bladder and mix the hardener with the paint. After you do that the paint is good for 24 hours. After I paint the two repairs I will let it cure up a few days then I will buff the old with new.

Utech paint is a line that Napa sells, it is a step above the Martin Senoir brand. The Utech paint is one of the paints that can use the digital gun to match paint with. Since the truck paint is old and faded a bit this is the only way to get a color match without doing a complete paint job.

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Thanks for the detailed answer, I didn't know that existed! Hardener built into an aerosol can... so cool! I can see how that will be very helpful. Truth is, with the way my wife drives and 3 teenage new drivers in the house, I could really use this! I have to look into where a NAPA store with that capability is near me.

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

In the works for the weekend, finish the repair on the fender and get it ready for paint. While items are drying like primer, filler, etc. I will be pulling out the distributor, coil and plug wires on motor. Then verifying TDC again and install a new spare HEI distributor and wire set that I have. Redo the gap on the plugs for the HEI and see if I can get this to fire up finally.

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Installed the HEI, gapped plugs and got everything hooked up to try and start and had consistent backfiring. Moved all the plugs wires 180 degrees and it fired right up. So now I know it runs so I can fix the 180 out on TDC and reset the plug wires. Got the tank in the cab installed and finished blowing out lines and hooking up double filters. Tomorrow will get it running on it own gas tank and try to finish metal work on fender. Possibly install the seat and take it for its first ride in over twenty years as long as brakes check out. Exciting to get a truck back on the road that has been sitting for about twenty years.

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Ran out of time to take it for its first ride this weekend. Was able to finish the metal work on the fender repair. Adding the 1/2" strip of metal to the repop part because it was to short in length was time consuming and ending being over 50% of the welding needed to replace the fender cup.

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Did the truck running on its own gas tank now. Had to take apart the thermostat housing was leaking coolant all over the manifold. Cleaned it up well, surface sanded the housing to make sure it was clean and flat. Used a brand new gasket and Right Stuff Gasket Sealer on all areas. Hand tighten down and let it sit for an hour, then torque to 35 lbs. Next day I have a running motor that does not leak.

Moved on to finally starting to put down some filler after work on the two areas of rust repair on the fender. Pictures below are the second coat after knocking down with 40 grit and a little hammer work on a few high spots. Hope to get two more coats this afternoon and a guide coat on.

After I finish with the fender repair and touchup I will move onto passenger side cab corner and then possibly fill eight mirror holes on each door and touch up. I order a set of the 5" rounds in black and will repaint them with the single stage 501 and add a little wear to them so they look right.

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Very nice work!

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Got another coat of Rage filler on the two spots on the fender. Sanded them down 80 grit, then 120 grit and put on three coats of SEM black Epoxy primer. Had an issue at first with the nozzle clogging, soak it in acetone and blew out with compressed air. The shook the can for another minute or so and then applied the three coats.

Will block that out this evening and see if there is anything else that might have been missed. If not I will move onto the cab corner and door repairs. Once I activate the 2K can harder I only have up to 24 hours to use all the paint. Hopefully all will go as planned and if not I still have 28oz of matched paint in the quart can.

Pict1 - Fender after shooting SEM epoxy primer
Pict2 - Rear fender apron repair
Pict3 - Front fender cup repair (still need to cleanup the inner side)
Pict4 - Old Blue waiting for its fender

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Here are some of the interior shots of the truck. I have three orders showing up on Friday all for the interior. Dash pad, heater control kit, gauge bezel from one place, seat cover from another and a few consumables from Amazon.

So the interior will have new Gauge bezel, seat cover, dash pad, heater controls fixed (P.O. rigged up a flip switch after the sliding controls broke). Have not decided if I will go with the stock vinyl mat or upgrade it to the nice ACC carpet kit from RockAuto, which ever way I go it will get a full treatment of underlayment like I have done in the last few trucks. This really helps in insulating the truck floor and helps with sound deadening. I will remove the old radio and install the radio delete plate.

Door panels are in great shape, the drivers side has a wear mark where the drivers arm has rubbed of the paint over the years to match that on the upper door. Both of those areas will get a little CLR bath and buffed out with the machine. Right now I have the passenger side door panel off trying to work the regulator back and forth to get the window to roll up and down 100% both ways. If I cant get it all the way then they will be coming out and getting cleaned up and reworked. Both sides are that way been spraying PB penetrating oil and where I can reach I have been giving a squirt or two of Kroil which is by far the best I have ever used.

That will wrap it up for the interior this weekend.

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Got a few more steps closer last night working on getting the fender ready and working on the stuck windows. Blocked out the high build epoxy primer and had three spots that needed some finishing putty. While that was drying I moved over to getting the windows to roll down.

When I bought the truck the windows had not been rolled down in almost twenty years and were stuck completely in the up position. I started with the passenger side by attempting to remove the metal door panel. There are four screws at the bottom that were rusted in a bit so I sprayed a little PB blaster on them and let them sit over night. Next day I was able to remove two of the four screws with a bit of effort. The other two did not budge so I thought I would try the Kroil oil again, let it sit over night again and was able to get out the third one. No go on the forth one on the outer edge farthest away from the hinge on the door. So I grabbed my drill, center punch and a few bits and some drilling lubricant. I progressively worked my way up on the bits an finally the screw head broke off and was able to remove the passenger door panel. After getting the panel off I started to work the window with handle and my hand pushing down on the window, up and down, up and down over and over again. After about five minutes I had it going down about six inches so I grabbed a light and a can of WD40 rust penetrating spray with the long flexible nozzle and started hosing down anything I could that might help. The next day I was able to get it to go down a few more inches with the help of my free hand pushing and pulling on the window while I cranked. This time I sprayed down the window channels at both ends and finally got it to go all the way down. After working a few minutes it was rolling up and down with hardly any effort. Next on to the drivers side for the same procedure.

Pict1 - front fender apron with final finishing glaze
Pict2 - front fender cup with glaze also
Pict3 - the door that was giving me a hard time
Pict4 - The window finally down for first time in 20 years

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Busy weekend working on the second chance project. First thing was to get the shop cleaned up, tools in order and move this truck out to the driveway so I could get things cleaned up. Grabbed the seat out of the back of the bed and tossed it in without bolting it down, fired up the truck and backed it out of the garage, down the driveway and parked it in the street in front of the house. As I was walking back up the driveway it occurred to me that the truck just took its first drive on in twenty years. That was a pretty cool feeling that I was responsible for saving another truck.

I had received a few orders from the Brown Santa when I got home from work Friday afternoon. Seat cover showed up and the other box was gauge bezel, heater control repair kit and 5" round mirrors. Everything looked good until I opened the box on the seat cover and noticed right away that they sent the wrong seat cover. Wrong color and was supposed to be a two tone cover. So I double checked the invoice and the the product number and those were correct, the cover was not. So back it will go for another replacement.

Got the garage cleaned out a bit, rolled the K10 4x4 frame out into the drive and hooked up the tow bar and took it over to my storage lot next door to my neighborhood. that alone will really open up some working space. Then I started up the truck again and drove it into the garage and put it up on skates so it will be easy to move around in the garage depending on what I am working on.

First order was to wrap up whatever I needed on the front fender so I could get it mounted. Front side looked good and needed to flip iot over and address the inside extra 1/2" welding that I had to do because the repop part was not long enough. Spent about 30 to 40 minutes on that with a couple coats of Pro Gold filler and SEM black epoxy primer. I also noticed a very small area on the back of the fender where it mounts to the truck in the lower apron area had a rust spot about the size of a dime. After grinding a little bit I extended the repair area to about the size of a half dollar coin. Cut it out with a little reciprocating air saw. Made a template, cut it out and welded it in. A little grinding, a coat or two of Pro Gold and some epoxy primer and its ready to go.

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

I mounted the fender to the truck and all went well there so I moved onto a few other items I wanted to wrap up for the day. I had been soaking all the rusted mirror bolts over the last few days and was still not having any luck with getting the upper stock location ones off. So I grabbed the electric drill a box of drill bits, the drill doctor to sharpen a few of the up and some cutting fluid and went to town drilling them out.

After that was done I decide to buff out the rest of the passenger side to match the buffed out front fender. The bedside had two long surface scratches the length of the bed, looked like maybe a tree branch or something that would scratch it good enough but not break the surface of the paint. I used my larger buffer with a red foam pad and some of the Mystic Cut compound. It took about an hour to do the door and bedside, taking a little extra time to go over the scratch areas a few times to get them to disappear. I was also surprised at how much better the door looked with all the holes from the mirrors after the buffing.

Will probably go back with rivet nuts this time to mount the mirrors in the factory location. Also looked through a few boxes of parts I had in the garage and found another old set of the door mirrors with the rectangle mirror heads on them that were broken. The patina on the mirror arms will match good with the truck, so I will use the new 5" mirror heads and paint them with the 501 white I have and scuff up a little to match the patina.


Items left to do on truck:

• Get marker light and headlight installed
• Get seat tore down and ready for the replacement seat cover
• Remove gauge bezel, touchup needles with fresh paint and install new bezel
• Remove heater controls and install new sliders, while it is out I will soak all cables, clean out heater and replace vent tubing if needed
• Remove bed bolts so I can slide back bed and repair passenger side cab corner
• Once that is done I will use the color match paint to shoot the cab corner and fender repairs
• Install hood hinge and hood
• Finish CLR treatment on hood and driver side of body
• Finish buffing hood and drivers side
• Get wheels cleaned up and source one more hubcap
• Remount front bumper
• Go through brakes, make sure all is good and safe

Other Possible items for build before it is up for sale:

• Static drop or Porterbuilt stage one front and back bag system
• Vision American Muscle Rally wheels with new tires

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Got up early on Thanksgiving and started to knock off a few items from the To-Do list before throwing the turkey in the smoker.

Items left to do on truck (items in RED done):

• Get marker light and headlight installed
• Get seat tore down and ready for the replacement seat cover
• Remove gauge bezel, touchup needles with fresh paint and install new bezel
• Remove heater controls and install new sliders, while it is out I will soak all cables, clean out heater and replace vent tubing if needed
• Remove bed bolts so I can slide back bed and repair passenger side cab corner
• Once that is done I will use the color match paint to shoot the cab corner and fender repairs
• Install hood hinge and hood
• Finish CLR treatment on hood and driver side of body
• Finish buffing hood and drivers side
• Get wheels cleaned up and source one more hubcap
• Remount front bumper
• Go through brakes, make sure all is good and safe

While I was pulling out the gauge bezel and disconnecting the light switch I thought this would be a good time to see if I have lights. Pulled the switch on and off and no light. Lucky me I have another brand new switch in one of my American Auto wire kits for the K10. Grabbed it out of the box and plugged it in, we have lights. So I moved on to pulling the heater control panel to fix the broken slide levers. Then pulled out the old cassette player radio and speakers mounted to the kick panels.

Once I had the heater controls, gauge cluster and radio out, I removed the glove box lid and glove box. This gives me access to the dash pad that was in really bad shape. This time I tried a different method of removal. I used a small air reciprocating saw to cut the metal band on each sides of where it is bolted on. This allowed me to spin it lose from the top and ended up being the quickest dash pad removal I have ever done. All in all it took about 10 minutes to get it out of the truck.

With everything removed it was time for another round of cleaning, cleaning items that have never seen daylight in over fifty years. I mixed up so window cleaner from concentrate in a spray bottle and hose it down to soak for a few minutes. After about three to five minutes I soaked it down one more time. Filled a bucket full of hot water and a few microfiber towels and starting scrubbing it down. Now the truck is ready for the interior to go back together.

Pict 1 - Interior before tear down
Pict 2 - Close up of dash area
Pict 3 - Dash area all cleaned up and radio delete plate installed
Pict 4 - Door all scrubbed down

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Heater control out of the truck and ready to tear down. I had purchased an Old Air product repair kit for the heater controls. The kit is nice that the new sliders are made out of steel and not pot metal. The kit also come with a black vinyl overlay for the face plate and another printed vinyl sticker for the (Def, Air Fan and Heat) words on the control panel. I decided I would scuff it up and see how it would come out with a couple of coats of Satin black. I proceeded to scrub it with a gray scotch bright to feather out the rough areas and create a rougher surface for the paint to stick to. Wiped it down with wax and grease cleaner and laid down a few coats of satin. I like how it turned out nd I think it will make a nice refresh look with all of the other new items going into the interior.

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

First item that will need to go into the interior is the dash pad. This is where it comes to stand still until I get this color item figured out. the pad on the left that is Dark Blue came out of my 69 K10. The pad on the right is one I purchased from Truck and Car shop (Medium Blue). The pad on top is the pad that was removed from the this truck.

So I remembered that I had a can of Medium Blue dye from OER that I had used on the FIXRUPR build. I took the old piece of pad from the truck and cleaned it up with wax and grease remover. Then did a few coats of Adhesion Promoter and then sprayed a couple of coats of dye for comparison.

After spraying the Medium Blue I am at a lost for the correct color for the pad. The light pad is not the right one and the Dark Blue pad is way to dark and the tone is not close. So I thought I would pull off one of the visors and compare. The sprayed upper section portion of the pad is a pretty good match to the visors. But it is obvious that that is not what the color was originally in the truck. Possibly I will try another color from SEM or OER and do another spray out.

In the mean time I will be putting the heater controls back together and marching forward on items on the list, especially getting the bed bolts off so I can slide back the bed to repair the passenger cab corner.

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Went with the SEM Shadow Blue color. It was the closest to the original dash pad and had some picked up for the K10 build.....win win. Also finished up painting the needles on all the gauges, so that will be ready to go back together after buffing the plastic gauge lens with cleaner wax and a red foam pad.

While I was waiting for the spray to dry I started tearing down the seat to get it ready for the new seat cover. Power washed after stripping off all the batten and burlap. I noticed that the bottom bar and a little of the lower brackets had some surface rust. So I will treat with Rustoleum Rusty Metal primer. Then follow up with some satin black paint to freshen it up. The bottom of the seat brackets and about six inches of the upper arms show and the rest is covered up with the seat cover. I will replace the cotton batten and burlap with new materials. The drivers side of the lower bench has had the springs replaced at some point. They were installed correctly but just a little to high compared to the other springs. So I took measurements and went ahead and made adjustments to make those match in height. There was one or two small spots where I will cut out the foam and replace with new foam. Once the new burlap and batten material goes down it should be level.

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Was able to get the gauge cluster wrapped up today. Painted the needles yesterday, changed out a few bad bulbs and did some general cleaning. Today I took the gauge lens and worked both sides with a Micro Mesh kit. Started with the 3200 grit cloth and pad and worked up to the 12000 grit. After that was done and wiped down with a micro fiber towel I used McGuires Cleaner wax on both sides and the Groit's buffer with a foam/micro fiber pad. This really brought the lens to life and made it very clear. Put it all back together with a new gauge bezel.

Worked on getting the seat ready for the new cover. Had a bunch of surface rust to take care of and paid attention to the exposed areas that needed to get new paint. Most of those areas have been treated with Rustoluem Rusty Metal primer and will get two coats of satin black. Picked up the rest of the supplies today to rebuild seat batten and burlap.

Also was able to get the bed jacked up and 4x4 beams placed underneath so I can get to the repair on the cab corner. Cut into the cab corner to get back to good metal and also looked over the plan of attack for replacing corner and rear cab support that is rusted at the bottom of support. More pictures to follow on that repair.

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Was able to get a few coats of paint on the upper seat frame. Removed the lower seat sliders and gave them a good scrubbing to get all the hardened grease of the sides. This evening I will put them in a tub of Oxalic acid to relieve them of the surface rust. Will probably paint the lower section that can be seen of the mounts and clear the upper slide portions and re-grease.

Will be cutting back the lower portion of the right passenger rear cab support where rust has destroyed the mount and cab corner. This should be a quick fix once I get metal all cleaned up and ready for the new support section then I can further cut and fit the cab corner to work with body lines. I will be using a 4.5" angle grinder with a diamond blade made for cutting metal, also a small air reciprocating saw, sharpened air hammer and possible the spot weld bit I bought.

Pict 1 - shows the surface rust on the seat mounts
Pict 2 - picture of the type of blade I use to cut metal with, have been using for over a year now and only cost $14
Pict 3 - My Porter Cable grinder with the metal cutting blade

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

How did you learn to weld so good? Did you just learn from doing it on your own or did have a mentor to help you along.

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

I would not consider myself a good welder. I bought a 120 volt Lincoln welder years ago and took advice from someone I knew about getting the right type of gas hookup for it. Practiced a little bit and grind a lot. When doing the welding on these trucks its not really welding like welding a bead. It is spot welding in short burst. Couple of key items I found that really help are, make sure the metal you are welding is clean, your ground is good and temp and speed settings are matched for the thickness of metal. I weld all my repairs with .025 flux core wire.

I also guess it also helps that I am not afraid to try and do something I have never done before. I do the research, ask a lot of questions and try to use the best tools I can afford. There is one tip that I always remember from multiple people is "If it sounds like bacon popping you probably have your settings right" . I have also watched a few videos on the interweb about proper penetration and what to look for in a weld. Again I am just a hobbyist that enjoys building these trucks. If I had to take my trucks to others to get the work done I could not afford it and the challenge is something I embrace. Just like on my "Fixrupr Build" I painted the entire truck with basecoat / clearcoat, that was the first time I ever painted a vehicle.

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Thanks for the reply on the question that I asked. What I find out a lot on this site is that the majority of these guys are car and truck guys that are willing to learn on their trucks, make mistakes and learn as they go along. This is a very motivation site with guys like yourself showing these things to novice like myself. I saw your other site The " Fixrupr" build and read all of the your comments pertaining to that build too!!!! Again.......keep up the good work and congratulations on the new skills you have acquired by being willing to learn something new that is totally gratifying after it's done by you.

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Lots of good work! Clean ol truck!

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Thanks! Very much appreciated.

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Thank you for all these great pictures, explanations, and product names. I am following this and interested in how it turns out. It looks great. This thread is good for my education.

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Stopped off at Home Depot on my way home for work to pick up a 17 gal. storage bin the black ones with the yellow lid. I wanted to try something that I read about on one of the vintage bicycle forums. Quite a few of the members use Oaxlic acid to remove rust from whole bikes and it does not harm paint or decals. The acid is used for bleaching wood among other items, it is very cheap to buy like $18 dollars for 5 lbs. and you use bout a tablespoon per every gallon. I also walked down the aisle where paint and chemicals are. I noticed a Rustoleum Rust Remover spray gel and thought I would also give it a try.

Got home and mixed up about 10 gallons of water with the Oaxlic acid and dropped one of the seat supports into the storage bin and put the lid on it. Then moved over to the work table to try out the Rustoleum product on the other seat support. I laid down a piece of painters plastic on the table and sprayed down the seat support, then took a disposable chip brush and brushed the gel like substance around to make sure I got into all areas. Then I wrapped it up loosely with the plastic and went into get some dinner.

I remember on the Rustoleum product it says it works in 30 minutes, so after dinner I unwrapped the seat support and was surprised of how well it worked. Took it over to the garage sink and rinsed off really good with hot water and scrub brush. It looks like a little cleanup work, get it wiped down and start spraying some color on the mount portions.

I will report also on the other support once I pull it out of the Oaxlic acid bath.

Pict 1 - Rusted seat supports
Pict 2 - What it looked like after opening up the plastic
Pict 3 - After rinsing the item clean

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Not to much to report today. Here is a shot of the other seat support that I put into a tub of Oaxlic acid. It has been in the tub for about 36 hours and almost 100% of all the surface rust is gone. I will be using this method going forward on items that I dont want to sand blast. It is cheap, simple and very effective in my testing. The mixture of about two tablespoons per gallon if water will last along time. The really big advantage is that it does nothing to paint or decals.

The other picture is showing the top portion of the seat frame cleaned up and repainted with three coats of gloss black. After I finish painting the lower portion of the seat sliders I will put it back together and rebuild the burlap and batten areas before installing the new seat cover.

Re: 68 Second Chance
 

Started to finish putting the heater control assembly back together that I painted and cleaned up a few days ago. I was at the point after the new arms were installed, to finish I still needed the knobs installed. The kit came with a set of black plastic knobs and I was thinking I would rather put the old ones back on that are a resin type knob with a chrome finish. I had two sitting on the table and I thought I remembered another one being in the box of items I cleaned out of the glove box.

As I was looking through the box I grabbed an envelope and the plastic casing that held the actual manual and protecto plate booklet for maintenance. I figured I would look through the stuff to see what else I could learn about this trucks story. What I found out is that the owner bought the truck in Clovis California on July 11th 1968 at Hallowell Chevrolet. I also found out that the owner was born in 1921. There were several other papers that helped understand who they were and just a little bit more of the trucks back story.

One thing that surprised me was how the vin number was punched out with little holes on the Protecto plate booklet. I had other trucks that have the booklet but do not remember seeing that. Now I will need to pull others out of the cabinet and check them out.