Time for reassembly: can I get anyone to come and help me?
 

I've asked this before but I haven't had much luck. If any members have experience reassembling the front end of our trucks, drop me a line. I'll be willing to pay your fuel, food, and motel expenses, if you have to travel very far. I need someone that's done this before and knows their stuff. Will you do it for dinner/a case of beer? (plus expenses)

Re: Time for reassembly: can I get anyone to come and help me?
 

Good luck. I've flashed $100 an hour for one guy, and he's too busy. It's that and nobody seems to know anyone that does "home visits". That said, it's worked out for the much better. I learn at my pace, and this site is real helpful.

Did you take the front end apart? Seems if you were paying attention to detail, assembly is equal. Mine will be, less adding drop spindles.

Re: Time for reassembly: can I get anyone to come and help me?
 

Unless you need to take it to work in the next couple of days, don't panic. The only hard part of putting a front end together is putting the springs in, and that's not even bad if you have the full weight of the truck to work with (it's a bear with a naked frame tho).

How far is it apart? What's all needing to go back together?

I think it's a safe bet that with the assistance of the board and a digital camera, you can be back on your way. At least far enough to get it to an alignment shop and have it safetied!

If you're adamant about not doing it yourself, you'll have much better luck towing it somewhere than finding someone to make a house call, at least based on my past experience. Miracles can and so happen though!

Re: Time for reassembly: can I get anyone to come and help me?
 

I guess I should have been more specific.

It's only the body I need to put back on there: core support, inner and outer fenders, grill, hood, and cowl. I'm a little bit intimidated though.

I spoke with Wes at Classic Heart Beat via phone and it seems I need to remove the front cab bolts again in order to line everything up. Ugh.....

I am going to ask this custom body shop that's located about 10 miles from me, maybe I could get those guys over to my garage. I could get it hauled if need be.

I have my dad and maybe a close friend I can count on but dad's arthritis is acting up and my friend lives two states away.....I took lots of pics on disassembly and I know I can count on you guys for support. (Big thanks to everyone in advance).

Re: Time for reassembly: can I get anyone to come and help me?
 

Tackle It one part/assembly at a time and it will be back together in no time.

If you look at the whole thing it is intimidating.

Going back and adjusting, loosening and tightening bolts is just part of the process.

Re: Time for reassembly: can I get anyone to come and help me?
 

I've never done it, but having taken everything off less the core support and outer fenders...............any corrections more than welcome.......

1. Core support. I trust you got new bushings for it? If your cab bushings are shot you won't get this perfect, not that these were built to be perfect even with. Sounds like you got new though.......I don't know what the torque should be for the bushings. You might look that up. On topic, you might look at an assembly manual. They're are soft copies available. Personally, I like the hard copy. That and you might want the index. 5-6 board members made it and did a GREAT job.

2. Outer fenders & grilles. The fenders may have been shimmed, or you may want them to be. Before you settle on fender alignment sample fit your outer grille, meaning your grille brackets are installed. No need to torque anything down until it's good.

2.1. When you're happy with the fender alignment torque away. Install the hood latch support. Install your inner grille to the outer grille then install both. Install the hood latch assembly.

3. Install Hood. Mine wasn't right at all. By chance did you mark hinge placement? If not I BELIEVE the center of the two depressions in each fender line-up with the center of each hole in the hinges, as a starting point.

3.1. Install the the bolt catch plate. Only tighten the hinges and bolt catch plate enough they don't slip as you work things out. Also install all the hood bumpers. The bumper adjusters are for height. Note: The surface of the grille to the top of the adjuster bumpers on my truck were approx. 8/10". Just a guide...... At this point you want to sample fit your cowl panel, which may also need to be shimmed. When you're happy torque away, and install your cowl panel & cowl seal.

4. Install your inner fenders. If you have a new paint job or such, masking tape & padding. You can't peal away scratches.


Speak of the cowl panel, if you don't have the Snap-on tool for removing AND installing wiper arms I HIGHLY recommend it. They're cheap and make life easier. That and you won't damage your truck.

Other than that, take your time. Edit......Course I skipped over some simple stuff (e.g. headlights, bezels), but be sure to install the badges in the rear of the fenders before installing the fenders.

Wes really knows his stuff and very helpful too. I don't know why you'd need to remove the front cab bolts to line things up, perhaps someone can chime in.

Re: Time for reassembly: can I get anyone to come and help me?
 

The problem is TIME. This is not a couple hour task. I spent an entire, and I mean entire, weekend realigning my doors/fenders/hood. It wasn't just slapping it on. There was body hammers and pullers involved to tweak the new and 50 year old stuff to work together like I wanted.

I'm sure someone that is good can do it faster, but I' slow at this stuff...

If you haven't done so already, start with new body mounts, square the cab to the frame, rebuild the door hinges (once you pop the pins out, it's just new bushings and pins), align the doors to the cab, align fenders to doors and rockers leaving them loose on the core support, (shims WILL be required), install cowl, align to doors and fenders, install hood, align hood to fenders and cowl.

Depending how things work out, you may have to go back and tweak something you aligned earlier.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1149009279

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1149009279

Re: Time for reassembly: can I get anyone to come and help me?
 

If I were close I'd swing by for a weekend & help, sorry I'm not. Like everyone else said, take your time. Even if it takes a couple of weeks of working in the evening, it'll come together. Once it's going down the road you wont be thinking about the time it took.

Re: Time for reassembly: can I get anyone to come and help me?
 

Same here.

Although a case of beer and a couple plane tickets would get me there...

Re: Time for reassembly: can I get anyone to come and help me?
 

I did promise to pay travel expenses. Have you put a front end (all the sheetmetal) back onto one of our trucks and gotten it right?

Re: Time for reassembly: can I get anyone to come and help me?
 

PM sent

Re: Time for reassembly: can I get anyone to come and help me?
 

If it came with instructions they would say:

To reassemble repeat disassembly instructions i:confused:

I could give instructions but I think you can figure that out. I'm guess it's more about the alignment once assembled. Are the parts painted? That does call for another set of hands. But if you loosely assembled the whole thing a person with good alignment skills could help with that in minimal time.

Re: Time for reassembly: can I get anyone to come and help me?
 

By "shims" do you guys mean "washers?"

I am going to try and start on this project next weekend. All panels are repainted.

Re: Time for reassembly: can I get anyone to come and help me?
 

Body shims

http://www.jegs.com/images/photos/500/555/555-83859.jpg

Re: Time for reassembly: can I get anyone to come and help me?
 

I will try and get these. Thanks.

*******************

I assume the core support has to be rigid to the frame at the beginning. Is this correct?

If so, how do know I have it tight enough?

Re: Time for reassembly: can I get anyone to come and help me?
 

If we wernt so far away id be there lol.

Re: Time for reassembly: can I get anyone to come and help me?
 

Well guys, it's going to be up to me after all. (And all the advice you guys can give).

The painter I had been using to paint my body parts has gone AWOL. He isn't returning calls or texts and I even taped a note to his door in a place he couldn't possibly miss, and yet, no call. I heard he had some very bad things happen in his personal life so I won't bother him again.

My neighbors have agreed to help with the re-assembly. I ordered the Jegs shim kit suggested and linked above.

I hope to start as soon as I have a few days of dry weather in a row.

What are torque specs for all the bolts? Is that in the factory assembly manual?

Re: Time for reassembly: can I get anyone to come and help me?
 

I would recommend lots of tape on anywhere that panels can touch. Just slow and careful so you don't scratch stuff up.

Re: Time for reassembly: can I get anyone to come and help me?
 

Even if you don't have final paint on this, tape all edges with blue tape prevent chips dings etc. Fit your pieces together, bolts Hand tight. Get everything lined up before you torq anything....

Re: Time for reassembly: can I get anyone to come and help me?
 

Waking up this old thread...

Speak of the cowl panel, if you don't have the Snap-on tool for removing AND installing wiper arms I HIGHLY recommend it. They're cheap and make life easier. That and you won't damage your truck.

Can someone link this tool for me?

**I got the outer fenders on pretty well yesterday, we didn't even need the blue tape BUT I took the advice given and put a double line of it on the rear edge of each fender and a double line on the front edge of each door. I had an old college buddy help me out. Because the truck had been repainted in 1990, there was a paint line marking where the top of the rear top edge of each fender went.......that helped a great deal for lining things up. The NOS fender I bought from Hot Rod Todd three years ago seems to fit perfectly....I think OEM/NOS is the way to go. No problems with my original fender going back on, even though its rear edge saw some welding repairs.

I'm going to get my grill ready to go on, it has some clip fasteners (J nuts?) I need to put back on and try to test fit that tomorrow.

So about that Snapon tool....

Is this it?

https://store.snapon.com/Window-and-...l-P636287.aspx

*I actually have my wiper arms off....do I just push those back on? Are they both the same or are they different?