[HO455]

Long day yesterday on the C-10 Ab Blaster. With all the pieces finished it was time to bolt it all down. First thing to do was jack the body back up off the mounts about 1/2" in the rear. This allows the underside support channels to be moved about easily. Then it was time to put bolts in all the holes (with the nuts and washers loose) and make sure everything lined up. Then I installed the spare tire well with the bolts loose.

For the most part things went well, a couple of holes weren't perfect and I had to run a drill down to get things to line up. The biggest error was on the rear angle piece. The non countersunk hole on the passenger side has a square hole and it has to line up with a square hole in the spare tire well. Not only was I off in location I was 45 degrees off in orientation. (Photo #1 red arrow) I didn't realize the two holes shared a bolt. (The green piece needs to slide down so all three holes line up) huh

Now the main piece of the floor was located it was time to test fit the "Key". It is supposed to slide from inside the fender well forward in a groove in the main piece and a sheet metal channel on the outboard side. Hopefully the photos will explain this better than I am. The last photo shows it in installed. I did have a bit of modification to the Key as there was an odd bit of sheet metal in the outboard channel that interfered with how the piece fit. I'm assuming it was some poor fit up issue from when the truck was assembled. Adding to my feelings that I have a Monday or a Friday truck. Ten minutes with a chisel and it was good to go.

After everything was finally right so I worked my way around (like it appeared the factory did) inside of the perimeter applying the sealer. I used Dap 230 in Almond as it seemed to be a close match to the surface color of the plywood. By prying the flange up with a thin pry bar it was easy to squirt the sealer in the gap. The spare tire well got sealer on all seams. When I did the final install on the " Key" I put the sealer on the lower half of the tongue and groove. I didn't want it too "glued down" if I ever have to remove it. I also coated the insides of the holes for the underside support channels and the holes for the body mount bolts with the sealer.

Then it was time to dive underneath and tighten all the nuts. It was time consuming but it sure was nice to have the nice light colored floor. It makes it so much easier to see things from below. Too bad it won't stay that way.
I did manage to twist off one of the 1/4-20 wide head carriage bolts. I know I bought a spare of each bolt but it was nowhere to be found when I needed it.
Now the wood was in place I replaced the body mounts and dropped the body back down on the frame and tightened the bolts up. My bright idea to put a doubler on the back of the lower half of the mounts fell through as the bolts were not long enough. I did find some extra heavy duty thick washers to replace the ones the mounts came with.