Re: 69 GMC "Ol' Blue"
 

mjensen - I must say you've done a wonderful job so far. I'm glad I came across your thread because my cab has similar damage and I'm about to start repairing it this week. Not gonna lie - staring at all that rust, and then looking at all the patch panels layed out on the floor - I'm very intimidated!

A couple of questions:

1.) How did you decide which order to replace everything?

2.) From your pics it looks like you just cut out all of the bad areas and then trimmed the patch pieces to fit, but my question is, with so much metal cut away, how did you line everything up?

Re: 69 GMC "Ol' Blue"
 

Thanks for the kind words! Once you get into it, it won't be as bad as you think. Patience and take your time.

As for the order of replacement, it was pretty much dictated by the pieces I needed to replace. Before making your first cut, take several measurements so that you have a reference of where the new parts need to be. The more measurements the better. Hopefully that helps, but if you have more questions, please feel free to ask.

Thanks,
Mike

Re: 69 GMC "Ol' Blue"
 

Well, the cab will be on hold until I find a new driver's door. So, I decided to work on my welding cart. I had it all together, but I needed to add a shelf to hold the bottle.

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Re: 69 GMC "Ol' Blue"
 

looks like your doin it right just thought i would give you a few more motivating pics lol this is my 71 my grandma was the original owner but keep up the good work cant wait to see it when your done

Re: 69 GMC "Ol' Blue"
 

try this again i dont think i posted any pics

Re: 69 GMC "Ol' Blue"
 

mjensen this is a great build, I like the idea of the Bud light Blue, I am thinking of a light blue and white on my build much like the pic that ctpchevy posted. I hope you all the best with this build, you haul your bikes to the next big bike weekend with this truck and everyine will be envious. I will say last that I am impressed I am doing some of the work but most of it is being done by professionals and it still is taking a long time.

Re: 69 GMC "Ol' Blue"
 

Any updates?
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Re: 69 GMC "Ol' Blue"
 

Unfortunately I haven't had any luck finding a door that is close and in decent shape. So, basically I'm stuck until I can find one. :waah:

Re: 69 GMC "Ol' Blue"
 

ctpchevy that truck is beautiful! That is motivation for sure!

west9378 Thank you for the encouragement and kind words! Hopefully I can find me a door soon and get moving again.

Re: 69 GMC "Ol' Blue"
 

Well, after weeks of perusing through the local classifieds I have located a driver's door! I'm going to call today and see if he still has it and try to pick it up. If not...search continues :lol:

Re: 69 GMC "Ol' Blue"
 

Well, I might actually be able to move forward with this project today. I found a driver's door and a bedside that I'm going to go check out. Here's hoping :D

Re: 69 GMC "Ol' Blue"
 

Okay, any more delays on this cab are all on me :lol:

I was able to pick up a "new" door and the guy even had a driver's side bedside for when it comes time to do the bed!!! The door is in decent shape, no speaker hole cut in, and the bottom isn't all rusted out. It does have a slight crease in the bottom, but I think it should be good.

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Re: 69 GMC "Ol' Blue"
 

Well, I'm pre-fitting everything....I can tell that I'm going to have my work cut out for me. They look okay in the pictures, but they're not :)

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Re: 69 GMC "Ol' Blue"
 

Well, I had to drop the front of the inner rocker about 3/8" to line up with the door. Tomorrow I should work on the outer rocker. You know, it doesn't sound like a lot of work...but it took all day :)

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Re: 69 GMC "Ol' Blue"
 

Okay, so I got the outer rocker fitted today. I wish the passenger side would have turned out this tight. Luckily this is not going to be a show truck, but it does bug me a little bit. Of course I guess the tolerances weren't that good from the factory. That's my story and I'm sticking to it :lol:

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Re: 69 GMC "Ol' Blue"
 

Pulled the door, and finished fitting the rocker....took some slicing and dicing...

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I am pretty excited to be this far.

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Re: 69 GMC "Ol' Blue"
 

nice work!

Re: 69 GMC "Ol' Blue"
 

Thanks!

Re: 69 GMC "Ol' Blue"
 

Very nice work and great find on the parts!

Re: 69 GMC "Ol' Blue"
 

Nice project! I'll follow along too. Everyone loves rust repair.

Re: 69 GMC "Ol' Blue"
 

nice work. I wish my rockers had turned out as nice as yours. subscribed

Re: 69 GMC "Ol' Blue"
 

Thanks! I appreciate that!

Thank you very much...I'm not sure if I would classify this as love :lol:

Thank you! I think it's turning out okay considering I'm a computer geek and have no experience with this stuff.

Hopefully I can keep this project moving now that I have all the parts for the cab. I should be able to finish at least the cab corner this weekend. The floorboard will need some help from a buddy of mine (I'm going to have him put the bend in the front so that it fits snug where it meets the firewall)

Re: 69 GMC "Ol' Blue"
 

mjensen... I am in the same boat as you. I’m just about to finish up my suspension and want to do all the replacement panels..... but I am very intimidated. How did you get started on this? Did you just start this and learn as you go? I really have no idea where to start. I just learned how to weld working on my suspension (welding in come notches). so I pretty scared I will screw something up pretty bad.

BTW... do you have the measurements on your roll around for the cab? I’d like to build one for mine.

Thanks for doing this thread. It really helps us rookies!!!

Re: 69 GMC "Ol' Blue"
 

I started by reading all the posts I could find on this wonderful site (there are a lot of them on cab repair). I was very intimidated at first, but after taking copious notes and measurements I started dicing away. My only suggestion would be to make small cuts and trim the parts down with a grinder to get them to fit, and only cut the minimum necessary to replace the damage. I know that it probably would have been best to go up to the body line on the cab corner, but I didn't trust myself to get that line right after welding the new piece back in. Take your time and plan on 3 times as long as you think as you will be fitting, tacking, grinding, fitting, tacking and grinding :).

As far as the dolly, I'll get measurements for you and post them here in just a few minutes. I'll even give you my suggestions on what I would change with it (it's a little too tall and a little too wide).

Thanks for looking, I really appreciate the encouragement. It's been fun, frustrating, exciting, and nerve racking all at the same time :lol:

Re: 69 GMC "Ol' Blue"
 

The dolly's outside dimensions are 39" x 48" x 24" tall. If I were to do it over again, I would make the width 37" (to fit between the cab supports) and the height I would trim down to no taller than 18" as the roof is pretty difficult to reach. It's a very stout dolly and other than being a bit to big, it works out perfectly. Let me know if there is any other info you would like about it.