project rust bucket

[881ton]

This is what I started with, 1988 v30 454,sm 465. Truck was complete w/ dump body. cab was in rough shape, the usual rust and rot. I put a fresh battery and some fuel in it and she fired up. It ran pretty well. I drove it around the shop to check the trans , transfer case, and everything worked as it should. Then I started to tear it down.

[881ton]

cab was pretty rough but repairable. New doors, inner & outer rockers, inner & outer cab corners, cowl extensions, floor supports, and floor pans.

[881ton]

started cutting away the old floors and rockers.

[881ton]

Another shot of the rocker.

[881ton]

Trial fitting replacement panels.

[881ton]

Passenger side cowl panel rust was extensive. replacement panel only covered the lower portion. the rest had to be fabricated.

[rusty76]

It looks like you've got some good work going on.

[881ton]

Thanks rusty, its been a long project, almost finished.

[ofnaman]

What are your plans for it? Restore or a mod? Looking good so far.

[881ton]

My plans are to rebuild it and use it for snowplowing. It will be a work truck.

[881ton]

cowl extension after repair.

[881ton]

More test fitting trying to set the gaps for the door and rocker. Not bad for reproduction parts.

[881ton]

cab corner cut off

[881ton]

cab corner after replacing the inner & outer panels skim coat of filler & hi build primer.

[881ton]

checking the gaps . A little tweak here and there should do it.

[881ton]

Although it looks ok in the pic, the door & fender wouldn't line up too well. I'll need to massage the door and fender to get it right.

[881ton]

After a lot of tinkering this is how it looked. I will still have to guide coat and block it a few more times, but it is getting better. The gap at the cab corner looks tight but that is not as tight as it looks. I think it is the camera angle.

[881ton]

The rust repair was the same on the passenger side. Floorpan, inner & outer rocker panels, inner & outer cab corners. I skipped a few pics because I'm sure most of you have seen this done a million times on here. In between doing the replacement panel I have been removing all the old paint by using a wire cup brush on a 4" grinder. It works pretty well as long as you don't heat up the sheet metal. The truck was repainted once and I didn't want problems in the final product due to previous work. All paint was removed, including firewall and doorjambs, and followed by chemical wash with pre-cleaner & then a good coat of epoxy primer.

[881ton]

I tried something different to see how it looked. Instead of doing the plug welds on the outside of the rocker and then having to do all the grinding and bodywork that goes with that, I decided to do the plug welds from the back of the rocker. I pre punched the inner rocker before installing the outer, after installing the outer I welded it up. The end result is no bodywork just take a scotchbrite disc on a die grinder to dress the burned e-coat and your done. Almost looks like a factory spot weld.

[881ton]

I finished up the replacement panels and prep, gave the cab, doors and fenders 4 good coats of hi-build primer and will let it sink while I disassemble the chassis and rebuild that. The chassis has one weak area on the drivers side bottom rail near the rear spring hanger. I have decided to cut the rust out and replace it. the repair is only a 6" by 2" piece.

[881ton]

The frame has been torn down and sandblasted replaced rusted out piece and then decide to line the last 8' of the frame behind the cab. the rails were in good shape except for some pitting due to rust. After removing the spring hangers, I made some paper templates of the inner rails transferred them to 3/16" steel and cut them out. I made the liners in 3 pieces. The liners were installed 1 piece at a time then I tacked the upper and lower pieces to the side panel. once it was all tacked I welded the liner pieces completely. I only put a few stitch welds in the rear of the frame to hold it, when all the suspension hangers are bolted on that will secure the liners. I didn't want to weld the liners solid to the frame because I wanted them to flex if they needed to. I thought if the chassis was too stiff it would crack. This pic show the chassis finished and ready for reassembly.

[881ton]

Here is the finished rolling chassis. I upgraded all the fasteners from 3/8" to 7/16" grade 8. 2 1/2 ton rear springs with helpers. 4" skyjacker springs up front. Replaced all bearings seals in both axles and brake hardware including calipers. Drums and rotors were turned. new stainless brake lines from inline tube.

[madcow75]

Excellent work so far. Another square saved.

[brimc]

Really great progress. I like that you did the body work first then the frame.
Your idea about welding from the back side on the rocker, it would save time and the appearance is much better on the visible side.

[881ton]

Thank for the positive feedback, I appreciate it. I figured I would do the bodywork first let the primer shrink while I did all the mechanicals. In the end the final bodywork would be minimal and the worst job would be out of the way already.