bp71k5
3/4 ton status
Yep, I didn’t use anything special. Hammer, various round metal things to bend it, and a belt sander.
CK5
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70 Jimmy--Rusty Rebuild
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Yep, I didn’t use anything special. Hammer, various round metal things to bend it, and a belt sander.
So, this hole....
Turned into this....
While cleaning up the area with the wire wheel, more and more pin holes started showing up. I had planned on cutting all of that area out anyway, but in a different order.
I had started a patch at the top. Because of the compound curves (the area is kind of bell shapped), I had to get creative with the metal.
The patch I started with. Idea was to form the top piece, and then build a patch for the vertical section, welding the two patches together (not to the rusty, holy metal). Can also see the outline for a future cut.
I just couldn't get the top piece how I wanted without attatching it at the bottom. So out came the cut off wheel and that entire section came out. Along with part of the A-pillar that had some pinholes. Found tons of bondo in that area too, either from an accident repair or an attempt to hide some holes.
After a few hours of cardboard and 16gauge this is what I have.
I did remember to make a template of where the hole for the fresh air vent was. Once it's all patched up I should be able to smooth out the curved part some with a little hammer work. I won't get carried away as it'll be burried under the cowl and no one will see it. The top piece is 22gauge, so it's easy to manipulate.
Turned into this....
While cleaning up the area with the wire wheel, more and more pin holes started showing up. I had planned on cutting all of that area out anyway, but in a different order.
I had started a patch at the top. Because of the compound curves (the area is kind of bell shapped), I had to get creative with the metal.
The patch I started with. Idea was to form the top piece, and then build a patch for the vertical section, welding the two patches together (not to the rusty, holy metal). Can also see the outline for a future cut.
I just couldn't get the top piece how I wanted without attatching it at the bottom. So out came the cut off wheel and that entire section came out. Along with part of the A-pillar that had some pinholes. Found tons of bondo in that area too, either from an accident repair or an attempt to hide some holes.
After a few hours of cardboard and 16gauge this is what I have.
I did remember to make a template of where the hole for the fresh air vent was. Once it's all patched up I should be able to smooth out the curved part some with a little hammer work. I won't get carried away as it'll be burried under the cowl and no one will see it. The top piece is 22gauge, so it's easy to manipulate.
Took the drivers door off about a week ago to test fit the rocker. It fits real well with the exception of the flange for the weather striping. It's in the right spot, but there is a gap between it and the cab floor.
Not sure what I'm going to about that or what will be the pinch weld at the bottom of the rocker. Not sure if it's "correct" for it to hang down like that. I've seen K5's with and without it before.
Not sure what I'm going to about that or what will be the pinch weld at the bottom of the rocker. Not sure if it's "correct" for it to hang down like that. I've seen K5's with and without it before.
I can't remember for sure, but isn't there supposed to be a gap between the seal and floor?
bp71k5
3/4 ton status
Yep, so the rubber gasket can sit over that pinch weld in top.
The rocker pinch seam does hang down like that, but I’ve seen it removed. I trimmed mine down.
I have nothing to compare it to. Passenger side was completly missing and the drivers side wasn't much better.
I'll probably trim it down some, or totally off. Good to know I'm on the right track with them though.
bp71k5
3/4 ton status
Totally off is hard because that’s what’s spot welded to the inner rocker. I left about 1/8” and then seam welded the edges together. Not super nice, but worked ok.
Got the upper firewall filled in for the most part. Going to grind the welds down some and see if I can get it into a more rounded shape. Not going to strees over it too much if it doesn't come out the best as it'll never be seen once the cowl is on.
Cut the last of the bad stuff out.
Patch for the area. Bends in a couple different directions.
Once it was tacked in, I used the propane torch to heat and bend it into the final shape.
Filled in the remaining gaps.
Last was the A-pillar hole.
Either will grind on some welds next, or work on getting the fresh air vent built.
Cut the last of the bad stuff out.
Patch for the area. Bends in a couple different directions.
Once it was tacked in, I used the propane torch to heat and bend it into the final shape.
Filled in the remaining gaps.
Last was the A-pillar hole.
Either will grind on some welds next, or work on getting the fresh air vent built.
Spent some quality time with the grinder. Will need a bit of filler under/around the windshield, but the rest of it I'm calling good as it's all hidden and getting covered with sealer/deadener. May touch up the A-pillar welds some, my wheel was getting pretty beat by that point.
Inside/under dash. Not quite finished here yet. Started grinding down the floor seem too.
Marked out my hole and cut into the fresh metal.
Best I can tell, from my template and measurements of the old piece and passenger side, I got it spot on.
Bent up a piece of 22g for the flange. Little bit of work with the stretcher and I got this.
Need to do another one for the top half, then fill in the spaces between them. Both will probably need a little tweaking with the hammer to fit the opening best.
Inside/under dash. Not quite finished here yet. Started grinding down the floor seem too.
Marked out my hole and cut into the fresh metal.
Best I can tell, from my template and measurements of the old piece and passenger side, I got it spot on.
Bent up a piece of 22g for the flange. Little bit of work with the stretcher and I got this.
Need to do another one for the top half, then fill in the spaces between them. Both will probably need a little tweaking with the hammer to fit the opening best.
You're going to be able to build one of these trucks from scratch by the time you are done.
Bent up another piece for the fresh air vent. I guessed at how long it needed to be and pretty much got it on the first try. Had to make a few filler strips to cover the gaps (about 1/4" on each side).
Tacked the lower one in at the bottom center then worked my way around. Did the same for the upper. The second piece I bent up got a little tweaked on the one side, so I had to heat and try twisting it into shape. Got it close enough for me and for what it is.
It's fully welded around the outside, everywhere I could get the gun. Probably overkill, but it will help add some strength to that area. Along the A-pillar, I welded it from the inside, then ground it flush.
The door fits very well. Mine are in poor shape, so I'm going to track down some better ones before fitting it. I'm guessing that I'll need to do some minor adjustments to it to get a good seal.
Some more seems to weld up and others to grind down, and I'll be about done with the drivers side for now. I don't want to make the bottom part for the cowl till I have the passenger side done and the cowl fitted in place. I may put the rocker on before I switch sides...I plan on re-hanging the door before moving over.
Tacked the lower one in at the bottom center then worked my way around. Did the same for the upper. The second piece I bent up got a little tweaked on the one side, so I had to heat and try twisting it into shape. Got it close enough for me and for what it is.
It's fully welded around the outside, everywhere I could get the gun. Probably overkill, but it will help add some strength to that area. Along the A-pillar, I welded it from the inside, then ground it flush.
The door fits very well. Mine are in poor shape, so I'm going to track down some better ones before fitting it. I'm guessing that I'll need to do some minor adjustments to it to get a good seal.
Some more seems to weld up and others to grind down, and I'll be about done with the drivers side for now. I don't want to make the bottom part for the cowl till I have the passenger side done and the cowl fitted in place. I may put the rocker on before I switch sides...I plan on re-hanging the door before moving over.
Very nice work. She’s coming out sweet. 
bp71k5
3/4 ton status
Yea, nice work. Makes me feel like mine wasn’t so bad to deal with.
Hardly any progress on this the last two weeks. I did buy myself something for my birthday for the Jimmy, no pics of it just yet though.
Going to put this here because it's Jimmy related (sort of). The barn is 30x36, while plenty big for working on the K5, ot doesn't leave me a whole lot of room to put much else in there and still have room to work...mainly my diesel. That truck won't fit in the house garage (not deep enough, plus the Camaro and R1 live there), so I'm putting an addition on to the barn. Going 24' wider to the south side. That will put me right at the 1800sf limit I'm allowed. Plan is to stick frame it next spring, but I wanted to get the pad down now becsuse otherwise it'd be June before the cement truck could get back there. This way, it won't matter how wet the ground is, I can start framing as soon as the weather breaks.
Will have two rows of block going on and with the sill plates, an 8' stud will get me a 10' wall. No need to go 14' like the other half. Will have a 16x9 door centered in thr front wall.
Going to put this here because it's Jimmy related (sort of). The barn is 30x36, while plenty big for working on the K5, ot doesn't leave me a whole lot of room to put much else in there and still have room to work...mainly my diesel. That truck won't fit in the house garage (not deep enough, plus the Camaro and R1 live there), so I'm putting an addition on to the barn. Going 24' wider to the south side. That will put me right at the 1800sf limit I'm allowed. Plan is to stick frame it next spring, but I wanted to get the pad down now becsuse otherwise it'd be June before the cement truck could get back there. This way, it won't matter how wet the ground is, I can start framing as soon as the weather breaks.
Will have two rows of block going on and with the sill plates, an 8' stud will get me a 10' wall. No need to go 14' like the other half. Will have a 16x9 door centered in thr front wall.
Got back on this a little bit.
Finished off the drivers side and put some primer on it to keep the flash rust off.
Moved to the other side. Not as much to deal with, but more smaller areas that are more complex. After cutting a good portion of the rust out, I was left with some decent holes.
The stuff under the base of the windshield is going to be the harder part. Need to cut some more of the flange off first. Thankfully, the fresh air vent it is really good shape. A small hole in its outer flange. I'll probably just treat that and let it be versus patching it.
I didn't want to, but it was inevitable, pulled the dash out. There was some bubbly rust under the edges of it at the A-pillars and to properly fix the windshield frame/flange it had to come out.
With it out, I'll have better access when I spray the sound deadener and seam seal everything. Might be easier to fix the couple random holes with it flat on the bench too.
Finished off the drivers side and put some primer on it to keep the flash rust off.
Moved to the other side. Not as much to deal with, but more smaller areas that are more complex. After cutting a good portion of the rust out, I was left with some decent holes.
The stuff under the base of the windshield is going to be the harder part. Need to cut some more of the flange off first. Thankfully, the fresh air vent it is really good shape. A small hole in its outer flange. I'll probably just treat that and let it be versus patching it.
I didn't want to, but it was inevitable, pulled the dash out. There was some bubbly rust under the edges of it at the A-pillars and to properly fix the windshield frame/flange it had to come out.
With it out, I'll have better access when I spray the sound deadener and seam seal everything. Might be easier to fix the couple random holes with it flat on the bench too.
Spent some time on this. Took a break for the holidays and a nice vacation two weeks ago (8 days in Vegas!).
Before I left, I started the patch on the lower A-pillar. Today I finished that and got going on the cowl.
Apparently I forgot to take pictures of the first part. In this one I had already started on the cowl area.
For the rounded parts of the cowl I took a different approach compart to the other side. Going with smaller strips that run side to side vs. trying one bigger piece that goes front to back.
Ran out of gas in the welder so I had to stop here, but I already like it a lot more than the other side. Did get the next two pieces cut/bent before calling it a night.
Going to AirGas tomorrow so I should be able to finish the big hole then I can start on the smaller ones and the flange for the upper cowl, then on to the windshield frame.
Before I left, I started the patch on the lower A-pillar. Today I finished that and got going on the cowl.
Apparently I forgot to take pictures of the first part. In this one I had already started on the cowl area.
For the rounded parts of the cowl I took a different approach compart to the other side. Going with smaller strips that run side to side vs. trying one bigger piece that goes front to back.
Ran out of gas in the welder so I had to stop here, but I already like it a lot more than the other side. Did get the next two pieces cut/bent before calling it a night.
Going to AirGas tomorrow so I should be able to finish the big hole then I can start on the smaller ones and the flange for the upper cowl, then on to the windshield frame.
I appreciate you putting all the pictures in here. You are doing an excellent job on putting it back to together. I'm doing a frame off restoration on a 79 K5, it's amazing the stuff you find when you remove one piece and see what's behind every thing.
Very cool on the addition. I would love to put another 32 foot off the back of my barn. But I can put my diesel in my attached garage so its not as huge of a deal.
The only area that really surprised me was the windshield channel and the spots behind the dash. Other than that it was pretty much everything I expected.
I'm looking forward to getting it done. Mainly so I can park the truck inside. I bought a beater BMW a while back to keep the miles off of my 02, so if it's going to sit around....I'd rather have it be inside. Also excited to have some more storage space. I'll probably finish out the walls/celiling before anything really gets put in there. My biggest regret so far with the barn has been not doing the walls yet (ceiling is already done and blown in on top).
Finished up the passenger side lower cowl tonight. Another series of small patches and it came out looking pretty good, way better than the drivers side.
Hard to tell with just the bare metal in this picture.
Filled in a couple of the smaller holes the shot some primer on it for the time being.
Need to address the random tears and other weird rust holes before I can move on. It'll all be covered be the cowl pannel, so I could leave it...but I won't.
Test fit the cowl again. The stamping is just a little bit off. The rear seam lines up decent. Same with along the windshield. The front seam is ok on the flat part, where it bends around the corners is where the problems are. It's almost the the die they used was 1/2" off making the pannel not quite wide enough. I can push it down into place but that throws off the rear seams when the piece flexes. To fix this I'll probably tap down the spots that interfere. Not the ideal solution, but it's only a small amount and it's in a hidden area.
Hard to tell with just the bare metal in this picture.
Filled in a couple of the smaller holes the shot some primer on it for the time being.
Need to address the random tears and other weird rust holes before I can move on. It'll all be covered be the cowl pannel, so I could leave it...but I won't.
Test fit the cowl again. The stamping is just a little bit off. The rear seam lines up decent. Same with along the windshield. The front seam is ok on the flat part, where it bends around the corners is where the problems are. It's almost the the die they used was 1/2" off making the pannel not quite wide enough. I can push it down into place but that throws off the rear seams when the piece flexes. To fix this I'll probably tap down the spots that interfere. Not the ideal solution, but it's only a small amount and it's in a hidden area.
