Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Wow man you have some serious metal working skills.
I hope I am that good one day.
P.S. It just occurred to me that I say the same things over and over every time I comment on this build but I can't help it because I'm just damn impressed with the craftsmanship.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Just foud your build and Wow, killer skills!
I'm along for the ride. :metal:

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

I'm joining in now too. Great work so far.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Nice work man. .. looking good

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Excellent work on the door repairs. Looks great!

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

I have never wanted to do any type of bodywork in the past, but with your pictures and detailed technique that may change in the future! Thanks

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Thanks again for the comments. I can almost see the finish line for the cab metal work. Here are some pictures of how I smoothed out the firewall with parts from Porterbuilt and Infanti Machine.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Nice work it looks great.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Firewall looks great!

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Nice work!

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

I finally have some new updates to pass along. I bought a stud welder for fixing some of the random dents located on the cab that I could not back up with a dolly. I experimented on a few pieces of sheet metal and found that the best results are when you pull and release the trigger as fast as possible. The stud has adequate connection and it makes removal much easier. Holding the trigger down any longer than mentioned only makes it more difficult to remove the stud and increases the heat you put into the panel.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

What stud welder did you buy?

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

I also found some rust lurking underneath the dash that was quite a challenge to repair. I had to make a few custom panels with the most difficult one taking the shape of a potato chip. I was able to form it by hand with some patient work with the hammer, dolly, shrinker, stretcher and using one of the cylinders on my slip roller. Hopefully I can test fit the cab on the frame soon.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

H & S Auto Shot 4550.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Also what grit roloc disc do you use to knock your welds down? Nice job on the repairs.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

grate build so far. awesome and very clean metal work keep it up

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Nice work!

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Look'n Good Billy Ray!!!

Have you found and engine yet???

Any pictures of the door skin job???

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

I use 3M Green Corps Roloc Disc, 36 grade, 2 inch, PN 01397 to knock down most of the weld and then follow up with 50 grade, PN 01396 to finish sanding. However, recently I have started to use 3M Cubitron II Fibre (purple color) Roloc Disc, 2 inch, 36+ grade, PN 33377 and 60+ grade, PN 33379. They are more expensive but last a lot longer.

I also use Scotch-Brite Roloc Surface Conditioning Disc, 2 inch, Medium, PN 07481 to prep the surrounding metal and to give everything a common texture once I have completed a repair.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

I’m still thinking on the direction I want to go on the engine. I have a 5.3L truck engine I am going to use for mock up until I get things finalized.

I’m waiting to have the door shells media blasted and primed before I hammer on my new door skins. Hopefully sometime in early spring I’ll have the doors back together.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

I am going to try the purple 60 you suggested. I use the 50 grit now, it's a bit rough at times. Thanks for the part #'s. I am seriously considering the spot welder also. The price on it seems pretty good.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

I've got rust under the passenger side of the fire wall as well. After seeing your patch panel work, It shouldn't be as hard to do as I thought. Your workmanship is excellent. Glad I came across this build thread, subscribed.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Not sure how I missed this one, but as stated before, great metal skills. Watching closely as I have all that and then more ahead of me with none of the skills. :lol:

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Nice work as always on this build.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Wow this is a cool thread, I wish rust repairs were as easy as you make them look. Subscribed to see the long haul.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Thanks again for the encouraging comments. I fabricated a mock up transmission based on the critical dimensions of the T56 Magnum transmission. This allowed me to install the mock up engine and begin making progress on the drive train. I’m still experimenting with things at the moment but I plan to make a decision soon on the overall direction I want to take. As always, more pictures…

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

I am far enough along on the cab to place it back on the frame and get a rough idea of panel fitment before tearing things back apart for media blasting. So far so good. It sure is looking like a truck again instead of a wagon! Seeing things start to take shape certainly helps my motivation.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

I like those dollies that you are using. Great progress btw!

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Awesome progress so far. I need to bookmark this for metal work tips when I start working on my truck :)

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

The original color of the truck has really grown on me while doing all of the rust repairs so I've decided to stick with it on the new paint scheme. I'm going with a really simple stripped down look but all modern mechanicals. The external look will be similar to how the truck left the assembly plant based on its glove box option list. I put together a couple of renderings using House of Kolor's "Digital Paint Booth 3D." I've got a few more tweaks I plan on doing that are not represented in the images but it should be pretty close. I’m working on getting everything ready for media blasting so hopefully the next images I share the truck will be wearing some new primer!

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

That a cool rendering. Nice work on everything.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Renderings look great! Love the direction.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Nice job.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Old Truck Fan, I just came across your build and really enjoyed the quality work you are doing along with the great explanations you provided. The rendering looks really nice and I love how clean and organized your shop is. Will continue to tag along. Thanks for sharing!

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Looks great, man!

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

The truck is now in new primer! As always I’ll catch you up with pictures. Media blasting went well with no surprises.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Following media blasting I was able to test out my own version of a mobile paint booth. I’ll post more about the paint booth later since I still have a few things to work out. My wife was the only one to take a picture of the paint booth in use. I was so focused on getting the truck in primer (since this was the last good day that was in the forecast for quite some time) that I didn’t take a single picture on my own. I also included a picture of my pre-painting workbench to give you an idea of the products I used.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Now some pictures of everything put back together with a fresh coat of epoxy primer on all of the blasted metal. It sure feels nice to reach this point. My goal was to have things at this stage before the weather was too cold to paint. With a lot of hard work and no time to spare I was able to pull it off. I’m going to take a break from body work until the spring and focus on the mechanicals over the winter.

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

Speaking of mechanical items… I was able to complete the installation of my front engine accessory drive. It is a Cadillac CTS-V setup from Chevrolet Performance. The water pump is an LSA unit. I also installed an Aeromotive Phantom Fuel System into a Blazer tank I purchased from LMC truck with a bed fill provision. Lastly, I installed an aircraft style fuel filler from Eddie Motorsports mounted flush with the bed floor.

Look for more pictures after the Holidays!

Re: Project "Financial Burden": 1968 SWB C10
 

I decided to go with the Flowmaster exhaust kit for 67-72 Chevy trucks. I plan on tucking the exhaust up into the frame but I figured the kit would get me pretty close rather than starting with a box of bends.

I started with the tail pipes first. I really like how the exhaust exits the rear on my Dodge Ram so I decided to run the exhaust rearward and merge the Ram bumper reliefs into the stock bumper.