My '67 Project

[riprock01]

I would not recommend spending the $10 per spring. I ordered a set for my truck and they couldn't have been any worse than the set that is currently on it. They were cover in rust/ grease....took a day or two to wire wheel them, acid dip and wire wheel again to get to shiny metal. I say just clean the springs you have (assuming they are not broken)

[rboltz]

Lots to do but in the end, you will be glad you did it. Working in the cold is not fun!!

[67smith]

so a little bit done, brought two tires to my dads shop to change, they had the tire hammers and the rim holder, etc., but we ended up using the 55 ton press

both these tires needed new tubes, the ones currently used were no good.



but 2 hours later, we got 1 tire done, will try to get the other done so we can at least move the truck around, hopefully the other two hold up fine for now

in that pic, we had finally got the lock ring off, we just needed to break the other side. I would have tried to get more, but hard when your moving around so much

also picked up some 18 gg metal, and a HF bead roller, decided to just fab my own floors, rather then try to form up some aftermarket floors

[67smith]

well, got the 715 moved into the garage with the welder and heater, will start work on cab soon, will probably head to the local metal fab shop to get hat channels made up, mine are no good, and the other cab hasn't fared much better, picked up a 1952 Studebaker M35, so that stole most of the weekend time getting it to its new home



more info on that can be found on the Steel soldiers site, so I/we don't clutter up this thread too much

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthr...pair-and-build

I'll post pics of the M715 in its new temporary home later, got a little cold out(hasn't gotten above 20, and the wind hasn't helped)

[67smith]

I started to remove the rusty floors, I will try to save as much of the lower hat channels as possible, but may have to scrap over half of it

Before


Rear rocker support and cab mount. pretty bad, will need to see if I can salvage one from the other cab(which is just as bad as this one if not worse)


removed,


2 five foot sections of 14g metal bent up to match the existing hat channels,


the rocker supports aren't that bad, mainly just the upper flanges, so I may be able to salvage most of those, except for that rear one, I'll have to see what happens when I take the sand blaster to it.

if you notice, there was no bracing installed, the cab was already tweaked, so I am just going to try and do the best I can; obviously by not removing the cab, I should be able to get it pretty square and keep it true to the frame

more to come later

[brute4c]

I know that Vintage Powerwagons had the whole brake spring setup a while back....maybe they still do?

[67smith]

I know that Vintage Powerwagons had the whole brake spring setup a while back....maybe they still do?

maybe, I'll have to look into that, not desperate on brakes yet, need to get the cab done, and frame blasted and painted first, but some stuff is worthwhile to stock up on.


one more pic, ended up putting new rear tires and rims on my three wheeler. before breaking out the shrinker/stretcher set I picked up a while back to attempt the trans cutout on the back of the cab.



ended up making a little smaller radius with the stretcher, so ripped the metal apart. may try again, but will need to add in some more metal to completely get rid of the rot in the back panel so I may just roll with it

I know a lot of people who hate body work, but that feeling when you can form and make your pieces, and say "yeah, I did that", nothing can compare

[67smith]

pulled out the old hat channel, am trying to save what I can of the rocker support pieces, but one is really bad

ran out of welding wire, so trip to town tomorrow(with no snow there ain't a whole lot of work to be had)







I was originally gonna leave the rocker support pieces attached to cab still, but after two of them fell off when I separated the main channel from them, I said screw it. its all coming out.

making a sheet metal bender so I can do the rocker back plate, rocker itself should be able to be left for later, gonna bend the flanges for the floor with it as well, don't think I can do the rocker as well, but I shall see later how well it does

[67smith]

Can someone get some measurements for me???

need from passenger side to drivers side, about 6 inches off the floor, rear of cab.

I have the cab supported decently well, and because it was so rotted, the drivers side was drooping, and while the doors are aligned a little better, still off a little bit(and adjusted to max already)

I am wondering if the drivers corner is kicked in, that would attribute to the odd door angle at the bottom edge.

[67smith]

got some work done, spent 2 days building a small metal brake for making the 90 degree flanges, on the edge of the floor, would have liked to made a 5 footer, but only managed a 28" section, workable though, bends 18 gauge rather nicely







also my Modified Harbor Freight Bead Roller, they say 18 gauge right out of the box, but no, definitely needed beefing and stiffening. can now do 16 gauge all right



and my new floor pan(2 feet, by 26 inches)



the bead roller also did the flange on the end, so I can tuck the metal over the next sheet, although typing this, I think it may have been better to flange it the other way... oh well, live and learn

using the Harbor Freight 14 gauge electric Shear(I wouldn't use it on anything past 18, but it cuts through 18 pretty good); to cut through the 4x4 foot sheet of steel I had picked up for this project, and it doesn't cut completely straight(my shaky hands I guess), hence the reason for wanting to flange it;

sorry all the pics look blurry, using a crappy cellphone, don't have batteries for the good camera.