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'72 K5 - Greg's @MightAsWellK5 Build
- Thread starter Greg72
- Start date
This is the build description. I will improve this later. (GB)
Yukon Jack
1/2 ton status
Interesting to see the changes you made to the a-pillar repo part. I sure take my hat off to you guys that can work the sheetmetal - someday I would really like to learn to weld!
No kidding! The stuff Greg and Kurt are doing is way beyond my skillset. Someday...
bp71k5
3/4 ton status
Here's a couple close ups with it just tack welded. The fit was perfect though. Unfortunately, I decided to remove the door skin to fix some rust so you can't see the fit on that portion.
You can get them from the dealer, but I ordered them from GMPD online since they were cheaper. ~$170. Check this thread.
http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=212725&highlight=rocker
You can get them from the dealer, but I ordered them from GMPD online since they were cheaper. ~$170. Check this thread.
http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=212725&highlight=rocker
Who made your repro part?
I was fairly impressed with the one I got from Tri-Pro for only $25 bucks.
Way to meld the old with the new Greg.
About time the part showed up...back-orders.
Here are a couple more photos from last night.... These are additional examples of how repro parts sometimes need to be "worked" a bit:
Rear holes for the inner rocker. The part only had one hole drilled and it was off by almost 1/2" compared to the factory mounting bracket. I cut out a small 3/8" circular metal coupon and welded up the existing hole (slightly left of the new lower hole in this pic), then mounted up the part, scribed the new hole locations, and centerpunched and drilled the new holes.
Passenger side A-Pillar - My "hybrid" new part fit great, but the reproduction stamping didn't have enough of a lip to allow for the holes to land on the part...
Oh well. I grabbed a small strip of metal from the discard pile and grafted it onto the A-pillar to create a wider mounting flange. After some grinding and shaping, this looked much more like a factory part again, and the holes landed perfectly.
Another important piece of advice for anyone doing metalwork repair. Don't throw ANY of your scrap metal away until the end of the project!! I can't count how many times I've gone back into the scrap bucket to study the shape of a factory part, or just to find a small scrap of metal for a patch. The bucket of metal is a valuable resource....
.
Rear holes for the inner rocker. The part only had one hole drilled and it was off by almost 1/2" compared to the factory mounting bracket. I cut out a small 3/8" circular metal coupon and welded up the existing hole (slightly left of the new lower hole in this pic), then mounted up the part, scribed the new hole locations, and centerpunched and drilled the new holes.
Passenger side A-Pillar - My "hybrid" new part fit great, but the reproduction stamping didn't have enough of a lip to allow for the holes to land on the part...
Oh well. I grabbed a small strip of metal from the discard pile and grafted it onto the A-pillar to create a wider mounting flange. After some grinding and shaping, this looked much more like a factory part again, and the holes landed perfectly.
Another important piece of advice for anyone doing metalwork repair. Don't throw ANY of your scrap metal away until the end of the project!! I can't count how many times I've gone back into the scrap bucket to study the shape of a factory part, or just to find a small scrap of metal for a patch. The bucket of metal is a valuable resource....
.
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blazin_blazer
1/2 ton status
nice work...that original a-pillar really didn't look that bad to begine with, after you finished it, cant tell it from new
2008.03.10 - UPDATE: SLOW AND STEADY...
With the A-Pillar modifications complete, I decided to turn to something different for a little while before diving in to the front cab support modifications/installation.
I'd cut out my old floor-mounted tweeter pods, and the time had come to put back the sheetmetal that was originally there. Fortunately, I had saved that cowl from the '67 Burb parts truck, and the metal is identical.
The rough-cut replacement behind the hole
From the back side... I traced the new patch panel shape on the tub and carefully cut out the extra metal to get a perfect fit. Those new panel clamps from Eastwood worked pretty slick too!
Tacked in place with a series of small spot welds. The patch is roughly 7" tall, and about 12" wide. I decided to go all the way from the outer flange since it gave me a good reference point for alignment. Based on how well the center crease lined up I'd say that was the right call.
Closeup - Just enough heat to melt it, but not burn through. I think I finally have the perfect "sheetmetal" setting on my welder figured out.
With that footwell patch in place, I knew that I couldn't avoid it any longer. So I started on the cab support.
As I mentioned before, these repro pieces are "generic" and don't come in LEFT and RIGHT versions like the stock ones do. This means that by the time I got the lower tabs modified and angled properly, the upper tabs (by the body bolt) were almost 1/2" away from the support they need to weld to.
It's hard to get the camera into a good position to show it, but this is the fabrication of extension tabs to reach the inside mount. There is a vertical cut where that white label is and the new piece starts from there. Basically it's a 2" tall strip of metal with a 90* bend to create the tab at the end. Once I get everything fitted up, I marked the length of the new part and cut it to length. This has already been done on the opposite side of this part. I'll still need to do some additional small repairs to it, then probably weld up the through-hole for the body mount and re-drill it about 1/4" over from where it is now.
These cab supports are tedious, but ultimately they establish and maintain the dimensions in these footwell areas, so it is important to get them right. Everything else should line up well if these are correct.
With the A-Pillar modifications complete, I decided to turn to something different for a little while before diving in to the front cab support modifications/installation.
I'd cut out my old floor-mounted tweeter pods, and the time had come to put back the sheetmetal that was originally there. Fortunately, I had saved that cowl from the '67 Burb parts truck, and the metal is identical.
The rough-cut replacement behind the hole
From the back side... I traced the new patch panel shape on the tub and carefully cut out the extra metal to get a perfect fit. Those new panel clamps from Eastwood worked pretty slick too!
Tacked in place with a series of small spot welds. The patch is roughly 7" tall, and about 12" wide. I decided to go all the way from the outer flange since it gave me a good reference point for alignment. Based on how well the center crease lined up I'd say that was the right call.
Closeup - Just enough heat to melt it, but not burn through. I think I finally have the perfect "sheetmetal" setting on my welder figured out.
With that footwell patch in place, I knew that I couldn't avoid it any longer. So I started on the cab support.
As I mentioned before, these repro pieces are "generic" and don't come in LEFT and RIGHT versions like the stock ones do. This means that by the time I got the lower tabs modified and angled properly, the upper tabs (by the body bolt) were almost 1/2" away from the support they need to weld to.
It's hard to get the camera into a good position to show it, but this is the fabrication of extension tabs to reach the inside mount. There is a vertical cut where that white label is and the new piece starts from there. Basically it's a 2" tall strip of metal with a 90* bend to create the tab at the end. Once I get everything fitted up, I marked the length of the new part and cut it to length. This has already been done on the opposite side of this part. I'll still need to do some additional small repairs to it, then probably weld up the through-hole for the body mount and re-drill it about 1/4" over from where it is now.
These cab supports are tedious, but ultimately they establish and maintain the dimensions in these footwell areas, so it is important to get them right. Everything else should line up well if these are correct.
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2008.03.26 - UPDATE: IT'S GOING TOGETHER NOW!!!
I got some quality time in the manspace yesterday and was able to finish up the modifications to the cab support. I also have started closing in the hole where the fresh-air cowl vent used to be and got the inner rocker tack-welded into position.
Pictures are below....the final step is to get the large front floor section cut down to the proper size and tacked into place. It's amazing that after spending SO much time fitting and fussing with this repair, it's suddenly falling into place in a big hurry!!!
It's been a LONG time since I've had a complete floor on the passenger side..... this is going to be awesome.
Here's the shot of the finalized cab support after a LOT of massaging, stretching and countless trial-and-error fittings...
Here's a shot from the inside of what the inner A-Pillar support looks like when you remove the inside sheetmetal skins.
A shot of the new floor section grafted in, to accomodate my new design for the footwell area. That 2" strip along the edge would normally be outside the truck and below the old cowl vent. I'm building it as an enclosed area inside the footwell.... ultimately as a weathertight area for speakers.
Here's a head-scratcher.... remember the old cowl vent? It's now replaced with a straight piece of sheetmetal that is tack-welded inline with the hinge support area. This will enclose the area more cleanly and will make the truck a few inches narrower on each side compared to the stock setup.
A little hammer-and-dolly work allowed me to recreate the curves of the original floor in my new filler pieces....
Finally! The cab support is finish welded into place and the rocker is fitted and tacked into postion also. These parts have been installed and removed MANY times, so it feels great to finally have them installed permanently.
That grey color paint is an Eastwood Cold-Galvanizing spray paint. Once I had the items in place I gave them a good coat of zinc to help neutralize the surface rust and to protect these hidden areas more than just leaving them bare the way the factory did. Ultimately, anything that is visible will still get media blasted and sealed with Line-X.
Next step: Cut and fit the cab support plate, and the large floor replacement panel. Once that's done I can move to the driver's side and start all over again!!!
I got some quality time in the manspace yesterday and was able to finish up the modifications to the cab support. I also have started closing in the hole where the fresh-air cowl vent used to be and got the inner rocker tack-welded into position.
Pictures are below....the final step is to get the large front floor section cut down to the proper size and tacked into place. It's amazing that after spending SO much time fitting and fussing with this repair, it's suddenly falling into place in a big hurry!!!
It's been a LONG time since I've had a complete floor on the passenger side..... this is going to be awesome.
Here's the shot of the finalized cab support after a LOT of massaging, stretching and countless trial-and-error fittings...
Here's a shot from the inside of what the inner A-Pillar support looks like when you remove the inside sheetmetal skins.
A shot of the new floor section grafted in, to accomodate my new design for the footwell area. That 2" strip along the edge would normally be outside the truck and below the old cowl vent. I'm building it as an enclosed area inside the footwell.... ultimately as a weathertight area for speakers.
Here's a head-scratcher.... remember the old cowl vent? It's now replaced with a straight piece of sheetmetal that is tack-welded inline with the hinge support area. This will enclose the area more cleanly and will make the truck a few inches narrower on each side compared to the stock setup.
A little hammer-and-dolly work allowed me to recreate the curves of the original floor in my new filler pieces....
Finally! The cab support is finish welded into place and the rocker is fitted and tacked into postion also. These parts have been installed and removed MANY times, so it feels great to finally have them installed permanently.
That grey color paint is an Eastwood Cold-Galvanizing spray paint. Once I had the items in place I gave them a good coat of zinc to help neutralize the surface rust and to protect these hidden areas more than just leaving them bare the way the factory did. Ultimately, anything that is visible will still get media blasted and sealed with Line-X.
Next step: Cut and fit the cab support plate, and the large floor replacement panel. Once that's done I can move to the driver's side and start all over again!!!
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Yukon Jack
1/2 ton status
That is looking great - keep at it!
bp71k5
3/4 ton status
It's always good to see well made metal repairs like that. Very cool!
Looking good! Little bit of grinding and no one will be able to tell it was repaired.
Do you have the reinforcement tab for the fender mounting hole? I don't see it in any of your pictures.
Just think how much easier the other side will be.
Do you have the reinforcement tab for the fender mounting hole? I don't see it in any of your pictures.
Once that's done I can move to the driver's side and start all over again!!!
Just think how much easier the other side will be.
You mean this bad boy....??
It gets stacked on top of all the other parts in that 4-bolts area, so it didn't get added until the very last moment of the assembly.
It gets stacked on top of all the other parts in that 4-bolts area, so it didn't get added until the very last moment of the assembly.
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That's the one. They usually rust into nothingness and don't get replaced , just wanted to check.
. They usually rust into nothingness and don't get replaced , just wanted to check.
2008.03.30 - UPDATE: FLOORED BY PROGRESS!!!
Another huge psychological step forward... the floor is finally going into place! Here are a few victory photos from yesterday.
Beginning of the day...everything is in place and has been freshly cleaned for welding.
It seems like you can just drop a nice big floorpan into place and weld it down, but in reality there is a LOT of cutting and fitting that must happen first to get the basic shape correct. Then you'd better have already come up with a plan to attach it to the cab support, reinforcing plate and other adjacent metal. Here's how mine looked after a few hours:
Lots of holes. Time to clean up the metal for welding...
The money shot:
It certainly wasn't as easy as I'd expected. The main problem is that the panel doesn't lay flat against the cab support tabs, so the whole fitment is a slow negotiation of welding, hammering, squeezing and clamping. I started with a series of tacks along the door jam area, and worked my way up the cab support. I also ran a bolt through the body mount hole and torqued it down to hold it's position tightly. I found that it worked well to have a jack underneath to apply pressure to the underside of the cab support tabs to squeeze out any "daylight: between the tab and the upper floor skin. Once I had them pressed tightly together I would weld the rosette in place, and move on to the next hole. Tedious, but slowly gratifying.
Astute viewers will see that I also cut out an additional section in the floor where the tweeter pod was and used some fresh metal. Originally I cut that part off, since the pressed-in bead didn't line up correctly. After looking at the original floor in that area some more, I decided it needed replacing so I grabbed the original part and tacked it in place (about 1/4" over from where it otherwise would have been) and now the bead lines up pretty well. The shape of the original bead is substantially more "crisp" than the repro part, so I'll have to do some hammer and dolly work to blend them together.
Another huge psychological step forward... the floor is finally going into place!
Here are a few victory photos from yesterday.Beginning of the day...everything is in place and has been freshly cleaned for welding.
It seems like you can just drop a nice big floorpan into place and weld it down, but in reality there is a LOT of cutting and fitting that must happen first to get the basic shape correct. Then you'd better have already come up with a plan to attach it to the cab support, reinforcing plate and other adjacent metal. Here's how mine looked after a few hours:
Lots of holes. Time to clean up the metal for welding...
The money shot:
It certainly wasn't as easy as I'd expected. The main problem is that the panel doesn't lay flat against the cab support tabs, so the whole fitment is a slow negotiation of welding, hammering, squeezing and clamping. I started with a series of tacks along the door jam area, and worked my way up the cab support. I also ran a bolt through the body mount hole and torqued it down to hold it's position tightly. I found that it worked well to have a jack underneath to apply pressure to the underside of the cab support tabs to squeeze out any "daylight: between the tab and the upper floor skin. Once I had them pressed tightly together I would weld the rosette in place, and move on to the next hole. Tedious, but slowly gratifying.
Astute viewers will see that I also cut out an additional section in the floor where the tweeter pod was and used some fresh metal. Originally I cut that part off, since the pressed-in bead didn't line up correctly. After looking at the original floor in that area some more, I decided it needed replacing so I grabbed the original part and tacked it in place (about 1/4" over from where it otherwise would have been) and now the bead lines up pretty well. The shape of the original bead is substantially more "crisp" than the repro part, so I'll have to do some hammer and dolly work to blend them together.
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Yukon Jack
1/2 ton status
You're continuing to amaze me!
- Joined
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All I can say is WOW!. I just spent 1hr reading and this is a great inspiration.
I agree, Greg sure knows how to get people worked up.
(of course meaning his threads are inspiring)
2008.04.01 - DRIVERS SIDE BEGINS...
The passenger side is as far as I want to take it for now, so I decided to turn my attention to the drivers side which looked to be in even worse shape. I wanted to weld up the same door-bar diagonal that I'd used on the other side, but upon closer inspection found this:
The lower hinge plate metal was substantialy "bloated" and there were signs that the metal was tearing around the plate (most noticeable just above the upper right hole). Since I didn't want to use such a weak point as an anchor and I knew I'd have to replace it anyway....I decided that I "might as well" cut it out and make my own replacement part.
Here is the basic shape that I duplicated for the hinge plate.
And here are the parts that go behind it. Basically its an L-shaped nut, and a cage to allow it to have some wiggle room for door alignment.
Once the cage nut assembly was welded onto the new part, the whole assembly went back into the stock location in the a-pillar
Here's where having a bit of experience on the passenger side starts to pay off... It helps to feel confident too. Taking lessons from the previous repair, I knew that I didn't want to use any more reproduction metal than absolutely necessary. Also I knew that the more original metal I could save, the better I'd be preserving the original dimensions and alignment.
This crazy cut allowed me to save the large fenderbolt area, and also keep enough structural strength to get the new part installed without a million measurements and concerns about shifting. You'll notice that I didn't cut out the rocker area yet either. Again, live and learn. This proved to be much easier...
It took a number of fitment attempts, but it still went remarkably fast. You'll notice that once again I had to add a metal tab to the right side of the repro part to create enough area for the bolts to land properly.
A little more finish welding, and smoothing and this area will be complete. Then I can fabricate the diagonal brace for the door support and start cutting out the floor/rocker/cab support areas.
The passenger side easily took 30 hours due to my inexperience with the repair, but I'm willing to go on record and predict that this side will take less than 10 hours.
The passenger side is as far as I want to take it for now, so I decided to turn my attention to the drivers side which looked to be in even worse shape. I wanted to weld up the same door-bar diagonal that I'd used on the other side, but upon closer inspection found this:
The lower hinge plate metal was substantialy "bloated" and there were signs that the metal was tearing around the plate (most noticeable just above the upper right hole). Since I didn't want to use such a weak point as an anchor and I knew I'd have to replace it anyway....I decided that I "might as well" cut it out and make my own replacement part.
Here is the basic shape that I duplicated for the hinge plate.
And here are the parts that go behind it. Basically its an L-shaped nut, and a cage to allow it to have some wiggle room for door alignment.
Once the cage nut assembly was welded onto the new part, the whole assembly went back into the stock location in the a-pillar
Here's where having a bit of experience on the passenger side starts to pay off... It helps to feel confident too. Taking lessons from the previous repair, I knew that I didn't want to use any more reproduction metal than absolutely necessary. Also I knew that the more original metal I could save, the better I'd be preserving the original dimensions and alignment.
This crazy cut allowed me to save the large fenderbolt area, and also keep enough structural strength to get the new part installed without a million measurements and concerns about shifting. You'll notice that I didn't cut out the rocker area yet either. Again, live and learn. This proved to be much easier...
It took a number of fitment attempts, but it still went remarkably fast. You'll notice that once again I had to add a metal tab to the right side of the repro part to create enough area for the bolts to land properly.
A little more finish welding, and smoothing and this area will be complete. Then I can fabricate the diagonal brace for the door support and start cutting out the floor/rocker/cab support areas.
The passenger side easily took 30 hours due to my inexperience with the repair, but I'm willing to go on record and predict that this side will take less than 10 hours.
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2008.03.30 - UPDATE: FLOORED BY PROGRESS!!!
It certainly wasn't as easy as I'd expected. The main problem is that the panel doesn't lay flat against the cab support tabs, so the whole fitment is a slow negotiation of welding, hammering, squeezing and clamping.... I found that it worked well to have a jack underneath to apply pressure to the underside of the cab support tabs to squeeze out any "daylight: between the tab and the upper floor skin. Once I had them pressed tightly together I would weld the rosette in place, and move on to the next hole. Tedious, but slowly gratifying.
Everything looks great, but you may want to try another way of holding the parts tightly together like is done in these pictures
http://www.1969supersport.com/floorpn2.html
The screws hold everything tight while welding. If you fab a copper backup piece to use on the other side of the hole from where you are welding, you shouldn't have any additional weld to grind off either.
