70 Jimmy--Rusty Rebuild

[toomany]

Started out last night with working on part of the windshield flange.

What I started with. Marks are where I planned to make some cuts.




Cut out, new piece bent and tacked into place.




The cowl has a slight curve to it in that section.




Welded in and flapped out.






Fit the upper cowl next. Had to hammer some of the lower parts in a little bit, and even then it was a tight fit.






I was left with two small holes from where I had to cut some of the flange off so I could repair behind it.






Measured, cut and bent.




Little bit of shrinking (or stretching, I don't know...whichever one made it curve the way I needed), and some trimming.




Little more trimming and a small bend.




Fit before welding.




Through the magic of the internet, we have one for the other side as well.

 

[ashman]

I'm loving the in process updates. Keep it up!

 

[toomany]

While I had that cowl in place I wanted to get everything ready for it to be welded down before I took it off for final prep, this included the lower pieces to close off the big openings.

These are the spots I was working with tonight (apparently I didn't take a picture of the passenger side).




Started with a rough cardboard template, then transferred the dimensions on to some metal. The added measurements are for the flanges.




Some bending and rounding of a corner and I got this.




Which fits nicely up in here. I'm able to easily push the cowl to it for spot welding when the time comes.




The other side was pretty much a mirror image of the dricerd side except the corner was a little different.






Both sides still need drain holes and I'm toying with the idea of making them removable for cleaning...or maybe an access panel that I can pull off instead. Having seen what was hiding in there before, a way to really clean it out would be a bonus.

The passenger side needs a little work on the A-pillar where it meets the cowl yet. I ordered some new kick panel vent doors earlier this week. Might have to do some fitting on the drivers side as that opening is homemade and might be off some. Once that is done I can pull everything off and do a final prep before welding things into place.

 

[toomany]

I'm loving the in process updates. Keep it up!

I'm just trying to document all the little things it takes to rebuild one of these from a pile of parts...and everyone loves pictures.

 

[toomany]

Decided that I wanted to add a clean out spot on the panels I just made. Figured it couldn't hurt, even if I never use them...they are there.

I wanted them to be easy to remove, use minimal fasteners and look like they belong (not that anyone will see them).

A simple square hole in the panel and a slightly bigger square piece with a tab that barely fits in said hole did the trick. Add a welded nut to top them off. Also added the normal drain holes.




In place under the cowl.




And closed up.




Awhile back I picked up a used windshield header. Mine isn't that bad, but having a second decent one to use for patch patches sounded like a good idea. Well, about 2 weeks ago one of the windshield header repair kits popped up on Facebook for a price that was too good to pass up. Got it for $300 shipped to my door, which is about $20 less than retail before shipping. So I'll replace the whole thing and be done with it. It probably has some sort of rust growing on the inside anyway.

"New" used part on the left. Majority of the kit on the right.




After I had called it quits for the night and made my way up to the house, I came across a box from Brothers Truck Parts, so I grabbed it and headed back out to the barn.

It was my kick panel vents I had ordered a week or so ago. Only pulled them out of the boxes, so I don't know how well they fit yet. But initial impressions are that they are quality pieces. For once I found an aftermarket parts that is heavier the it's factory counterpart. I know I could have rebuilt mine (or the one good one I had), but for the $59 they each cost it wasn't worth the hassle.

 

[ashman]

Love the clean out holes. good idea.

 

[America.Mike]

Love the progress of the resto. Any updates?

 

[toomany]

Love the progress of the resto. Any updates?

Thanks!

Not really much progress in the last couple months. Time/attention has been going to the 86 shortbox. I have fitted the upper cowl and gotten that ready to weld on. Picked up an Nv3500 as well. Unsure if I'll use that or the Nv4500 I've got too. The lighter trans is more street friendly, which is where this one will end up 99% of the time.

I try not to pile too much stuff on it while working on other things in the barn. Once you start down that road it's hard to get back on the right path.

 

[toomany]

Back from the depths of page 15 and 4 years after picking this up.

Some, but not much progress has been made. I just recently got back going on this while waiting for parts for the 86 to show up.

Finished up what I needed to do before putting the cowl panel back on. For the most part, it fit fairly well. Had a little bit of misalignment on the passenger side. It's like their die was a bit too wide when they stamped it out.

Used some epoxy paint underneath the panel. I wanted to use something durable. This won't see much water in the area, but I still wanted something better than regular paint.




After the paint had dried, I reinstalled the cowl and marked where to clean off for spot welding and weld through primer.

Welded on and ready for some seam sealer.





Up next is tackling the windshield frame and header. Looks like I'll be replacing a good portion of the flange.

 

[btblazer]

Love the updates. Doing the same thing on a 1979 blazer. Where did you get your windshield frames? Mine are shot in the corners.

 

[toomany]

Love the updates. Doing the same thing on a 1979 blazer. Where did you get your windshield frames? Mine are shot in the corners.

The sides I'll be making. Have a brake and shrinker/streacher to form the pieces. The upper piece, I picked up one of the repair kits. The 1st gens have that benefit of the aftermarket. Finding good pieces from another K5 or a truck is also a way to go about it.

 

[btblazer]

Looks like I'll be making them also. I have the same tools. I was just looking for an easy way. I've made a template out of 20 gauge. It took quite a while to get it just right and that was on one corner. But, this is half the fun, once its done it really is yours.

 

[toomany]

Back from page 15!

After not touching this for close to 7 months, it's time to get back on it.

Where I left off.






Was in the process of fitting the windshield header and getting ready to tackle the rust along the flanges of the A-pillars. Well, in the last year or so the aftermarket has come out with replacement A-pillars. I weighed my options and decided to pull the trigger on them, along with the inner cowl. If you're keeping track, the only factory sheet metal on my tub will be a portion of the firewall.





Some of the reason I decided to replace rather than repair. Note the rust on the inside and the scaley flanges.






After staring at it for way too long, I gathered up the courage to go at it with the Sawzall and was left with this.






Reason for doing it that way was because I had already welded the upper cowl on (was before the A-pillars were available) and wanted to save it. I tried drilling out the spot welds, gave up on that. My preferred method is to grind them down and pop the flange off. Will do that from the back/bottom/inside.


After some clean up.




Did a quick test fit. I expected, and was afraid that the fit to the firewall wouldn't be that great. And I was correct for the most part. The good news is that the upper cowl has the same shape and fit pretty much the same way on the factory pieces. So I'm hoping that it will fit better this time around. The door opening matches my measurements +/- 1/4". Will double check with a door hung before I fully weld them on though.

 

[centexk5]

Where’d you find those? My a-pillars and windshield frame and roof are completely shot and I want to make mine a full convertible. Might be the better way to do it than trying to cut and repair and salvage what little is there or source a truck to cut that stuff out of.

 

[toomany]

@centexk5

GmcPauls has them, but I think LMC and MotorCityK5 have them as well. They all drop ship from Woodall, so shop around for the best price/shipping.

From the sounds of it, you have a 76+ though. As far as I know, no one makes A-pillars for the 73-87's yet. This build is a 70. All the 69-72 K5's were full convertible.

 

[centexk5]

Correct. I’m interested in converting mine and trying to find a 69-72 around here is like trying to win a fight with a woman.

 

[bp71k5]

Neat work. Was going to suggest you test fit your windshield as well before getting to far. Can be really tough to install if that gasket flange isn’t just right.

 

[toomany]

The driver's side A-pillar fit better than the passenger side. Fit along the firewall is better, at the floor there is a little gap, but not bad.






Tossed the windshield header on. I'll have to do some pushing/pulling to get it where it needs to be so the glass fits. I may toss the top back on as well to make sure it's in the correct spot. The door opening and top corner (of A-pillar) to B-pillar measures the same as before.







My inner cowl is supposed to come in tomorrow. Once I get that, I can do a final fit then take it back apart for weld prep.

 

[toomany]

Neat work. Was going to suggest you test fit your windshield as well before getting to far. Can be really tough to install if that gasket flange isn’t just right.

I plan on testing the windshield before final welding. The stock one cracked, but I still have it. Be good enough to use as a measuring tool.

 

[bp71k5]

I plan on testing the windshield before final welding. The stock one cracked, but I still have it. Be good enough to use as a measuring tool.

That’s good. Maybe even use the old one and old rubber seal to hold it all together while welding the other areas up.