New fangled products and tools...

[My52Chebby]

Hi all,

I've been hammering, fabricating, welding, painting, upholstering, doing electrical systems... etc. since the late sixties. Here is my list of the products that have REALLY helped over the years:

Mig welders, plasma cutters, good ol' oxy-acetelene torches, high-build primer, base coat/clear coat, pre-assembled electrical harnesses that are vehicle specific, mini-angle grinders... and many more.

What are your favored tools?

Below is a shot of the progress on my '52 Chevy p.u. cab. It now has base coat/clear coat on the underside of the cab's flooring, inside the rocker panels and the lower portion of the firewall. I'm amazed at how straight the firewall came out. We filled 58 holes in that firewall, that's a lot of welding and metal warping.

All overlapping metal has been seam sealed with seam sealer that we cleaned up with final wash. It does a great job, we even did the joint at the rear of the cab (over the epoxy primer and under the high-build). We pushed seam sealer in the joint as far as we could and removed the excess with a cloth dipped in final wash. It looked like a fine beige pinstripe against the greenish epoxy primer. Wish I had taken a picture.



The next step is to mount the cab back on the frame after we bundle up the frame in plastic sheet (We decided finally to mount the cab on the frame to adjust the doors but once adjusted the cab will come off again and will be painted off the truck).

Today, because we wanted to let the cab "cure" a bit longer we tackled the box sides and front panel. We welded the stake pockets closed and put two-part putty on all panel spot welds and blemishes on the stake pockets themselves. We plan to high-build and base/clear Monday or Tuesday.

Stay tuned...

My52Chebby

[enjenjo]

You using an original box, or a reproduction? What brand seam sealer? Details! Pictures!!

[river1]

and what is "final wash"?

[My52Chebby]

and what is "final wash"?

Final wash is the stuff you use to wipe your bodywork prior to painting, final wipe would be more accurate. I guess I was using a local trade name.

My52Chebby

[My52Chebby]

You using an original box, or a reproduction? What brand seam sealer? Details! Pictures!!

It's a repopped box, the stake pockets needed extensive work to make them look right. The attachment holes on the box sides to attach the front panel were oblong which was a pain because my stainless button head bolts would not cover the slots. We welded them shut and redrilled then after measuring that the front board was at the proper height for the floor boards. Oh yeah, we also closed the stake pocket holes (I won't ever be hauling wood... LOL)

The seam sealer is a great product. It's a sprayable seam sealer by FUSOR (FUSOR 800EZ) and really nice to use. Like I stated, easily cleaned up with final wipe (pre-painting degreaser).

My52Chebby

[My52Chebby]

You using an original box, or a reproduction? What brand seam sealer? Details! Pictures!!

It's a repopped box, the stake pockets needed extensive work to make them look right. The attachment holes on the box sides to attach the front panel were oblong which was a pain because my stainless button head bolts would not cover the slots. We welded them shut and redrilled then after measuring that the front board was at the proper height for the floor boards. Oh yeah, we also closed the stake pocket holes (I won't ever be hauling wood... LOL)

The seam sealer is a great product. It's a sprayable seam sealer by FUSOR (FUSOR 800EZ) and really nice to use. Like I stated, easily cleaned up with final wipe (pre-painting degreaser).

My52Chebby

By "sprayable" I meant, you can spray the seam sealer once it dries. The actual seam sealer is in a tube like bathroom caulking.

[enjenjo]

OK, that makes more sense. I just contracted to assemble a repo box. I am not painting it though. I think he will have fun matching the paint, the cab was painted 8 years ago.