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**8man** · 04-22-2018, 06:13 PM

Well I have really started, time is still in short supply, but things are moving in the right direction.

I have 3 of the 4 cab corners welded up on the 48. No filler yet, just a little primer to keep the rust away.

These are my first attempt at body panel welding, so be kind, but constructive criticism is appreciated.

In the first picture the bottom is a new front lower pillar, in black, it gets lost, the lower cowl panel and the lower front cowl piece were replaced as well. You can see daylight from this angle. There is a big drain hole in the outer panel, and I have not finished welding the two pieces when this was taken.

IMG_1919 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr

IMG_1918 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr

IMG_1896 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr
I got the last corner started. I was going to start treating for rust, weld through primer on the inside and weld it up. I turned on the gas to the MIG and no surprise, NO GAS! So I had to stop at this point. I did go ahead and treat the rust and then prime the inside. The inner cab corner was cut to fit, but I think I need to weld it in prior to starting the outer panel, since the outer panel fits up against the inner corner.

IMG_1917 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr

So the only thing I could do then was do some more fitting. I showed the dash in an earlier post. It was really hacked up. I got an unmolested dash with the truck.
So out with the ugly hacked up dash.

IMG_1920 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr
And then I removed the old "cab" from the "new" dash with a grinding wheel, cutting the welds from the outside to remove the dash from that cowl metal, and then test fit it.

IMG_1921 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr

I called it "new" not "pretty". I removed it again until I can get it blasted and primed. I don't think it will rust anymore if it takes a few weeks to get around to that.

Fortunately, the 48 does not have the channel around the door openings for the weatherstrip, so I didn't have to hack that up to get the dash out. I need to do the 54 too, as that cab has dash issues too. However, one good thing about the 54 cab is that the westherstrip channel is all in tact and in good shape.

So HOW in the world do you get the dash out with that channel in place? If that is not an option, how/where do you remove the channel? If you have to remove it, where do you get some more, and do you spot weld it in?

04-22-2018, 06:13 PM	#40
8man Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Bryan, Texas Posts: 2,278	Re: Wife's 48 Well I have really started, time is still in short supply, but things are moving in the right direction. I have 3 of the 4 cab corners welded up on the 48. No filler yet, just a little primer to keep the rust away. These are my first attempt at body panel welding, so be kind, but constructive criticism is appreciated. In the first picture the bottom is a new front lower pillar, in black, it gets lost, the lower cowl panel and the lower front cowl piece were replaced as well. You can see daylight from this angle. There is a big drain hole in the outer panel, and I have not finished welding the two pieces when this was taken. IMG_1919 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr IMG_1918 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr IMG_1896 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr I got the last corner started. I was going to start treating for rust, weld through primer on the inside and weld it up. I turned on the gas to the MIG and no surprise, NO GAS! So I had to stop at this point. I did go ahead and treat the rust and then prime the inside. The inner cab corner was cut to fit, but I think I need to weld it in prior to starting the outer panel, since the outer panel fits up against the inner corner. IMG_1917 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr So the only thing I could do then was do some more fitting. I showed the dash in an earlier post. It was really hacked up. I got an unmolested dash with the truck. So out with the ugly hacked up dash. IMG_1920 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr And then I removed the old "cab" from the "new" dash with a grinding wheel, cutting the welds from the outside to remove the dash from that cowl metal, and then test fit it. IMG_1921 by Robert Moorman, on Flickr I called it "new" not "pretty". I removed it again until I can get it blasted and primed. I don't think it will rust anymore if it takes a few weeks to get around to that. Fortunately, the 48 does not have the channel around the door openings for the weatherstrip, so I didn't have to hack that up to get the dash out. I need to do the 54 too, as that cab has dash issues too. However, one good thing about the 54 cab is that the westherstrip channel is all in tact and in good shape. So HOW in the world do you get the dash out with that channel in place? If that is not an option, how/where do you remove the channel? If you have to remove it, where do you get some more, and do you spot weld it in?