70 Jimmy--Rusty Rebuild

[toomany]

Fixxed most of the passenger A-pillar. The area around the fresh air vent is thin and has some holes, the outside of that spot needs rebuilt too.

Cut out the bad and made a patch out of some 16gauge.




Gutted the rest of the firewall. Only thing really left is the dash, which will probably come out too. The drivers side fresh air vent needs some work, which will be easier without the dash in place.

 

[toomany]

Finished the drivers side A-pillar for the most part. Both sides need a little work around the fresh air vents, but those will be small, non-structural patches.

Same thing as before, cut out and replace. This is the side I replaced the lower section of the pillar (where the fender bolts). I ended up cutting off the inner pannel and making my patch extend up into what's left of the original truck A-pillar.




The patch ties everything together real well. Both parts of the A-pillar, old floor pan, new floor pan and the filler strip. The couple holes that are there is where the metal was thing and was just blowing through. Rather than chase the hole around, I'll cut back to some better stuff. Also welded some of the seam between the toe board and kick pannel as it had seperated at some point.

 

[toomany]

Not much in the way of updates for this one just yet. But despite buying a fresh short block and the Sniper EFI, I may be going a different route with the engine.

Had an LS come home with me tonight. Too good a deal to pass up. LM7 from an 02 pickup. 120,000 on it. Harness and accesories included. Supposed to have had Egr and Vats turned off.

Not sure if it'll end up in this or not (I have two other projects it could go in to as well), but it's a strong possibilty. I was really against a "modern" engine in this, not sure why but I'm starting to warm up to it now.

 

[toomany]

Started working on this again. Ordered the rocker boxes, end caps and braces a couple weeks ago.

Initial fitment seems okay. The braces, only some of the holes line up on the big ones and they are a little long on the bottom. Not sure if it's because of the offshore aftermarket parts or what. As far as I know, the braces are USA made (I'm not actually sure if these were on from the factory or not). The rocker boxes seem to fit real well. A little bending with be needed, but the overall dimensions look correct.


Passenger side parts. The big fabricated piece goes up behind the step up panel and ties into the bedside and B-pillar. Small piece goes at base of B-pillar just inside the inner rocker. Mine, being so rotted out, I'm not sure they are factory or something the aftermarket came up with. Either way, more support is always good. The raw metal will get some weld through primer then some zinc. Rocker box will get the same in the appropriate areas.




Shows how far down it hangs and will need to be trimmed.





Shot showing how big piece gets installed. It's too long now, so the rocker box won't go all the way up yet. The holes sort of line up. Most will need to be opened up a little. Haven't tried anything with the end cap yet.




I plan on coating the underside with Lizard Skin (both kinds), so some of that will probably go on before the box gets welded in.


Decided on sticking with the Sbc, will save the Ls for something else. Big push for me on this was riding in my cousins truck and then driving another with the 5.3. While good running/driving motors, I just wasn't all that impressed with them. If I'm not happy with the 350, or I'm having problems with the EFI, I might look into going Ls. Until then the small block stays.

Picked up the Holley Dual Sync distributor I needed for total timing control. Came up on one of the Sniper Facebook pages for $250 (new they are $440+). Feels like a quality part. Nice bearings and machine work. Bonus is that it resembles the original points distributor.

 

[bp71k5]

How far off is that rocker box? Looks like a couple inches? It should line up with the bottom of the outer rocker seam and get spot welded together down there.

 

[toomany]

How far off is that rocker box? Looks like a couple inches? It should line up with the bottom of the outer rocker seam and get spot welded together down there.

Once the big brace is trimmed up it will go up into place just fine. With out that brace there it tucks up behind the inner rocker.

The rocker box actually fits very well considering everything around it is aftermarket. The only place it needs to bend is up by the firewall along the seem where the new floor pan meets.

I was concerned at first when I saw that too. But after looking at it and trying it by its self I relized it'd be alright.

 

[toomany]

Timmed up and got the rocker box fitting better.

Once I cut some of the brace off, the rocker box hit a little bit on one of the floor supports. Quick hit with the grinder and that was taken care of. There is one other spot that needs to be trimmed yet. Part of the lower flange bellow the B-pillar is hanging down. There is nothing for it to connect to (the inner rocker stops a few inches ahead of it), so I see no reason why it can't come off.

Moving on to the end cap, it's almost like it's too long. It lines up decent with the all the holes, but it hangs the rear of the box down about 3/4 of an inch bellow the bedside. Not sure if factory was that way or just a combination of aftermarket parts. I may section the end cap to make it shorter, but that is a minor problem that can be solved after the box is installed.


Good shot showing how things are supposed to go. Between the brace and rocker box, they form the "frame" for the end cap.




@bp71k5 the rocker box tucked up nicely once things were trimmed. Everything hidden behind the inner.




"Tail" that I'm going to have to deal with. The couple tabs will be cut off. The bottom flange for the end cap hanging down...I may get the box tacked in then put the jack under it to push it up behind the bedside, cut the end cap in two, bolt it on then weld the cap back together where it crosses over itself.

 

[ashman]

It's amazing what parts are available now compared to 20 years ago when I first built my 72.
None of those rocker box pieces were available so I had to repair and make do.

 

[toomany]

It's amazing what parts are available now compared to 20 years ago when I first built my 72.
None of those rocker box pieces were available so I had to repair and make do.

For the most part, you can build one of these bodys from the ground up. Parts of the A-pillar, lower windshield frame and some of the structure behind the dash aren't availble aftermarket....but those could be sourced from trucks. And of course the hard top aren't reproduced. Everything else is out there and fits fairly decent for what it is.

 

[toomany]

Back from the depths of page 7!

Finally getting back to working on this again. Been busy with work and summer activites. Was given a free boat, turns out...I like boating. So that has taken up some of my time.

Got back at it by getting the braces to fit to my liking. The big one needed new holes drilled and the small one pretty much bolted in. Had to trim both of them down so the box would go all the way up.





Both will get welded in once the metal is prepped.


Moving on to the rocker box. For the most part it fits great. Up around the firewall is nice and tight, same with the brace running the length of the floor. Once it get to the back is where things start going wrong.

The very end of it has a bolt that ties into the bed floor crossmember, it's almost as if that's too long. When it's bolted, the box hangs too low, below the quarter by an inch or so. Jacking the box up so it sits behind the quarter puts some twist into it (from the looks of it, because of the torsion rod). Unbolted, I can push the box up to where it needs to be, but then the end cap won't fit (the "square" it needs to bolt to gets distorted). My solution is going to be, cut the back end of the rod loose, get the box into position and clamped/bolted at the back, start at the firewall and work back welding it in. Once it's welded in, re-weld the rod wherever it lands. The end cap will then get cut up, basicaly cutting the flanges off, bolting them in and re-connecting them with a new center piece. I spent a good 3 hours on the drivers side tonight and that was the best way I could think to get everything to play nice.


This picture shows with the end cap botled to everything (bed floor, rocker box, inner brace). Can see how it hangs down. Removing the end cap, pushing the box up and sectioning out some pieces, I think I can get it in the correct place.





Did pick up my LizardSkin sound control. It gets applied before the heat shield. Going to do inside the boxes and anything that will becovered up once they go on. Not planning on applying the heat shield to the area inside the boxes, mainly the center of the tub underneith and firewall.




Before I spray any of that I really should wait for the humidity to drop some or get a better water seperator on the compressor. Which if I'm going to do that, I want to re-run the lines in the barn how I really want...and to do that I need to start framing out the walls and insulating (atleast the one wall). So I might fall down that hole and end up on that project in the near future.

 

[toomany]

Rocker braces got welded in last weekend. Passenger side fit worse than the drivers. Only two of the holes lined up, had to drill/open up the others. Wasn't a big deal beacuse I decided to weld everything in anyway (didn't like the idea of only 4 bolts holding everything together in that area).

Sprayed my LizardSkin tonight. Did two coats on the floor under the rocker boxes and two coats on the inside of the boxes. Stuff sprayed real nice/easy. Very controlable with their gun. Easy clean up too being that it's water based. With the little bit that's on the floor now, taping on it, it has less of a ring now. Will test fit the boxes one more time to clean up the edges where they meet for welding...I did tape off most spots on the boxes, just not on the floor.






With the rocker braces actually welded in now, my doors close much better. Not that they were bad before. But there were times if I had them both open, the first one shut I'd have to give it a wiggle to not hit the latch. Should only get better with the boxes on.


After forever and a day, my cowl panel finally showed up. Probably could have repaired mine, but there are a couple areas undrneith of it that I need to remove it to get to. It'll just be easier to put a fresh one back on and not have to worry about patches...even though I think it's completly hidden once the truck is assembled.

 

[bp71k5]

Wow, didn’t know they made repro cowls.

 

[Robert71K5]

You are an inspiration! My 71 Blazer is not as rusty as yours, not sure how since it was a Mid West truck, but you've given me hope that it can be saved. Now, I just need a killer work space like!

 

[toomany]

Rocker boxes are in and done for the most part. Going to go back and clean up some of the welds still.



Insides were sprayed with a second coat of LizardSkin after all the welding was done. Endcaps I had to trim the bottom off and move it up some, not nearly as much work as I thought it'd be.

Everything is tucked up nicely behind the innner/bedside.




Sprayed a little more coating on some of the underside, mainly the areas that would be covered up by the endcaps or around them. I'll actually mask the frame off and tape it up when I do the main part of the floor.

With those out of the way, it was a toss up between starting on the outer rockers or the cowl panel. Decided to do the cowl, since that and the windshield frame will pretty much be the last of the real dirty metal work.

Couple shots of the problem areas before I started cutting. The first one isn't under the cowl, but it's close and I know it's hiding more under the silicone.





Nothing too bad so far. Can see the side I cut out when I replaced part of the firewall/A-pillar.

After opening up the drivers side. This is after the truck had been washed/blown out/vaccumed a bunch of times....this is the exact reason this area rots out. Note the angle iron rain gutter above what's left of the fresh air vent.




After sweeping it out some. Bottom is full of holes. Fresh air duct frame work is completly gone.




Passenger side is a little better (mostly because I already cut out a bunch of the bad stuff).




Couple minutes with the grinder and I had the old piece off. I don't think the blob of caulk is factory. Judging by the way it's applied, looks like they stuck the tube in the vent and pulled the trigger. Doesn't appear to have really done anything other than make a mess. Passenger side has the same thing going on above the air vent.




Small hole, I'm guessing what they were trying to plug. This is the one I found while pulling the dash appart.





Still need to finish pulling the other edge off, then I can get started on cleaning up the metal and rebuilding the inner parts.

The repop piece inludes the brace on the passenger side. So I didn't need to save the original one like I did. Drivers side had something on it too, but it was to rusty to even try saving.

 

[toomany]

You are an inspiration! My 71 Blazer is not as rusty as yours, not sure how since it was a Mid West truck, but you've given me hope that it can be saved. Now, I just need a killer work space like!

Thanks!

I think this build is proof that most any of them can be saved. All depends on how much time/money/effort you want to put in to it. I don't know if mine has the most rust/rot to start with, but I wouldn't be supprised if it did.

Having a nice, dedicated work space helps a bunch. Barn is 30x36 and is pretty much all taken up by this project. I plan on putting a hoist in the other bay, and was real close to buying one when I was dealing with welding the rocker boxes on.

 

[btblazer]

Hi, real good job on restoration. Where did you get the patch parts for above the rockers for the "A" and "B" pillars??

 

[toomany]

Hi, real good job on restoration. Where did you get the patch parts for above the rockers for the "A" and "B" pillars??

A-pillar patches came from donor trucks. The drivers side I got from a guy on the 67-72 board. The passenger side was the front quarter of a truck cab that came with the Jimmy when I got it. I needed to replace a good chunk of the firewall/floor and A-pillar on that side (even though I cut 90% of it back out).

The aftermarket patches for the front pillars aren't that great from what I've heard. Main reason I chose to go with OEM metal there.

The B-pillars, those came on the new bedsides. I think there are aftermarket patches for those, but no clue on how they fit.

FWIW, I've been pretty impressed with the fit and quality of the repop stuff I've used so far.

 

[toomany]

Finished removing the cowl today. Have a couple edges to trim up, but it's off and I can asses the damage and begin working on a fix.

Test fit of the new one. Fits really well. Need to trim one flange for it to sit all the way down.





Drivers side. That hole under the windshield corner looks like it's going to be the hardest to deal with.





Passenger side. More of the same. That big hole appeared after I took off the brace that ran behind the blower motor. Fresh air vent looks really good on this side. Only need to work with the "floor" under it and the flange toward the back of the truck.





Pulled the glass out. Managed to save it and the gasket, even though I'll probably get new glass. Have a couple holes and some of the flange to rebuild. The flange sbouldn't be too bad. Those holes might be a challenge, they are kind of a compound curve.

 

[bp71k5]

Pulled the glass out. Managed to save it and the gasket, even though I'll probably get new glass. Have a couple holes and some of the flange to rebuild. The flange sbouldn't be too bad. Those holes might be a challenge, they are kind of a compound curve.

View attachment 279040

You might look at my build thread about this time last year. Repaired very similar issues on my windshield frame. But I may need to fix the photobucket issues.

 

[toomany]

You might look at my build thread about this time last year. Repaired very similar issues on my windshield frame. But I may need to fix the photobucket issues.

I'll take a look.

Have a shrinker/stretcher along with a brake, so the flange should be fairly straight forward. Was thinking about picking up a bag and some hammers to form the other areas if I can't do it with the tools I have.