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snipescastle2 · 08-21-2017, 11:19 AM

I'm not a "Seasoned" welder such as yourself, but I would recommend .023" welding wire, lots less grinding compared to .035" (ask me how I know) and buy lots of Cleco's/sheet metal butt welding clamps, and a good spot weld cutter, the harbor freight stuff is ok, but I bought a set of " Rotabroach" hole cutters, way better to cut out spot welds.
I ended up using a different cab for my build, the rust was in the usual places, rockers, cab supports, etc. someone once told me to start from the inside and work my way out. If you look at my build thread, you can see some of the hurdles I had to overcome. I ended up having to replace the entire rear cab support (the back wall of the cab is spot welded to it (probably 90 some odd spot welds) I braced the cab roof to the floor and the door pillars front to back,side to side and x braced to make sure nothing moved during my cutting and fitting. One thing I did that I would recommend doing is, to make a template out of cardboard of the inside perimeter of the door frame (trace around the pinchwelds of the entire door frame) this way you can ensure that the door frame will be perfect when you go back together with it.
You also want to make sure you have the doors on before doing the rocker panels, otherwise they won't align and you'll be doing that over again.
Hope that helps a little.
Have a good one!
Ben Smith

08-21-2017, 11:19 AM	#4
snipescastle2 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: WARRENSBURG,MISSOURI,64093 Posts: 1,518	Re: Where do I start?? I'm not a "Seasoned" welder such as yourself, but I would recommend .023" welding wire, lots less grinding compared to .035" (ask me how I know) and buy lots of Cleco's/sheet metal butt welding clamps, and a good spot weld cutter, the harbor freight stuff is ok, but I bought a set of " Rotabroach" hole cutters, way better to cut out spot welds. I ended up using a different cab for my build, the rust was in the usual places, rockers, cab supports, etc. someone once told me to start from the inside and work my way out. If you look at my build thread, you can see some of the hurdles I had to overcome. I ended up having to replace the entire rear cab support (the back wall of the cab is spot welded to it (probably 90 some odd spot welds) I braced the cab roof to the floor and the door pillars front to back,side to side and x braced to make sure nothing moved during my cutting and fitting. One thing I did that I would recommend doing is, to make a template out of cardboard of the inside perimeter of the door frame (trace around the pinchwelds of the entire door frame) this way you can ensure that the door frame will be perfect when you go back together with it. You also want to make sure you have the doors on before doing the rocker panels, otherwise they won't align and you'll be doing that over again. Hope that helps a little. Have a good one! Ben Smith __________________ "Persistence is the twin sister of Excellence.one is a matter of quality,the other, a matter of time" “Serious Black” my 1971 Short Bed Fleetside Sold to an outstanding man in Lees Summit,Mo. “Gone, but by no means,Forgotten”