46 Power Wagon Restoration pt. 2

[Desoto61]

Return of the cab

Picked up the cab from Carolina Chem-Strip yesterday. No major surprises, though there were a few bad areas that I wasn't expecting. Door came out well too, no surprises and super clean.

Have to say that it was probably a bit more expensive than media blasting, especially once you include the time and travel, but for something like a cab I think it was well worth it. Anything that is not clean steel is GONE from everywhere. A media blaster could have never gotten the same coverage.

Also had them spray everything down with Ospho to protect the metal from any flash rust till I can get the primer on.

Now I get to finish repairing the bad areas before moving on to the interior modifications. On the plus side I managed to pick up a used plasma cutter off craiglist so that should make things easier.

[Alxj64]

That looks awesome! Great deal on getting so much stuff removed from the cab. Shame I can't get my Carryall dipped. Its already got too much of that spray on insulation inside of it to bother with it. This truck is going to be pristine when its done for sure!

[Desoto61]

After I got the cab home and into the garage it was time to start working on all the holes the acid dip exposed. To make that easier a rotisery seemed well worth the time and effort.

I cheated a little on mine. Because I have the lift in the garage I just removed the pads from the ends of the arms and built the rotating hinge to sit in the post holes. I used some black pipe, a piece of angle iron, and some pieces of plate steel I had around.

I cut and drilled the plates to screw into the upper and lower hinge openings in front and the striker opening in the back. Then aligned and welded the angle iron between the two plates. I welded two pieces of pipe into a "T" to sit in the lift arms and then used smaller pieces of pipe welded to the angle iron to form the pivot joint. I drilled and tapped a hole in each of the larger pipes with a bolt threaded in to hold the cab in position.

It works well though I need to add a brace across the cab to help stiffen the angle iron, there is more flex there than I would like, but it works and I can easily adjust height and rotation to put my work site where it's most convenient. Steel tubing would have been more professional and probabaly a little tighter but this was readily available and cheap/free.

[Desoto61]

First place I decided to start with repairs was the floor since it can be accessed so easily. It's also heavier metal and less visible so easier to learn on.

There were some minor issues with the lip over the transfer case being bent, probably from the cab settling over time due to the mounts deteriorating. So I bent them back into position and cleaned up the areas underneath where the acid couldn't get.

Then I started on the rear mounting points. I was kind of surprised to see holes here as the appeared solid originally, but the dip tank doesn lie and they are full of holes now.

The rear supports are two pieces of metal. An interior brace that extends into the B pillar and ties it to the floor, and the floor itself. The brace was rotted in the corner where it curves into the B pillar, and the floor under it was also rotted in several places.

I started by cutting out the welds that held the brace to the floor and then cutting out the remaining metal where the bracket goes into the B pillar. Had to get creative with that cut due to it's location. A combination of a cutoff wheel and a sawzall blade finished off what little metal there was. Then I cut out the bad section of the floor.

The area inside the B-pillar looked solid, so I didn't start opening it up. My plan is to insert the end of my new braket into the pillar and then plug weld it to the B pillar since even with the rotiserie I'm not sure I can get at the joint with the welder.

But first I had to make a new bracket. I started with the original piece (or what was left of it) and some measurements and made a paper template that I could flatten. Then I cut it out of some 14ga plate. I made some side cuts to make it easier to bend the sides up and create the bend into the B pillar.

After some test fitting, tweaking, more test fitting, rinse, repeat I got it all fitted up. Then I welded all the slots closed to lock it into shape. Finally I cleaned it up and and hit the back side with a coat of primer since it will be sandwiched against the floor.

Because the two pieces were so tight there were areas the chemicals couldn't get to, so I had some rust on the remaining good floor sections. I cleaned that up with a small sanding disk and then coated everything with some Eastwood rust converter. Then I'll weld in the patch panel and hit it with some primer before re-installing the bracket.

[Alxj64]

Looking great! Keep it up! And thanks for being good about posting pictures! Greatly appreciated!

[Desoto61]

Once I had the bracket fitted I welded up all my cuts, cleaned it up and hit the back side with some paint since it will be inaccessable once installed.

While waiting for that to dry I welded in the new floor plate. I had to cut further back as, upon further inspection, I found some additional weak areas that weren't rusted through but were close. Since it's flat plate it's easy to do and prevents issues later.

Once that was cleaned I hit the inside with some paint and then installed my bracket. When everything was lined up and in place I cleaned off the paint in a few areas and welded the bracket to the floor and the b-pillar.

[Desoto61]

Other side followed the same formula, though it had it's own issues. The rotted area of the floor extended further into the corner, which is hard to cut and weld into. While the bracket was built off the same template as the opposite side (just turned over for it's mirror) I bent it up a little different. In some ways it was better, but in others it's not.

The piece extended into the b-pillar further but that made the bend a little harder. I also opened up the b-pillar a little since there was some rust there to replace anyway which gave better access than on the other side. However my bend into the bottom section was not as clean or smooth as I would have liked as I tried to narrow the top part before bending it into shape, which made it harder to get uniform.

The rust here also extended up the sides into the rest of the floor a little, which meant that I ended up doing three pieces. One in the lower part of the bend to match which I welded one end in and then used a hammer and a piair of pliers to bend to match the contour as I welded it in. The second on the side and top of the floor, and finally the large section on the bottom.

After some paint on the mating surfaces I installed the bracket. It didn't want to lay flat on the floor and flat into the b-pillar so I used a pair of vice-grips to hold in in the b-pillar, and a bolt through the floor to hold it flat while I welded it in place. On the b-pillar side I drilled some holes through the original support plate and plug welded the new bracket to the old one.

[Desoto61]

Next I went to work on the back lip of the floor. Both the rear outer skin and the inner floor piece were rotted pretty badly. I laid out and cut the outer skin and then marked and cut the inner floor area. This rotted area also extended into the center support brace inside the cab.

I cut a strip of 14 ga. steel for the floor part and cut slots every few inches so I could clamp it in my vice and bend it over with a hammer. This also let the piece bend slightly to match the very slight contour of the rear floor. Once it all fitted I used some clamps to hold it in place and stitch welded it to the existing metal. Then welded the slots up to lock everything in.

Since this area is basically invisible I only ground down the welds on the bending slots since the outer skin welds to this area. The rest I left alone for the added strength.

[Desoto61]

Final repairs here were the floor section under the center support post and the bottom of the support post. I cut and welded a section of the floor same as everywhere else.

For the floor support I cut off the ragged end and just built a cardboard template to go from the existing brace to the floor. I cut it slightly wider than the brace so I could weld the two together. After cutting and bending I cleaned it up, threw some primer on the back side and then welded it to the bottom of the brace and then to the floor.

It doesn't have the same shape as the origianal but it's also 14 ga. which is heavier than the stock metal so it doesn't need the extra support of the bend, which tapered down anyway. The floor welds are better then the factory ones on the other supports anyway.

With this done I am essentially finished with the floor. Now it's time for body panels where things get tougher. I figured I'd start with the outer lower panel since it is low and hidden by the bed and therefore more forgiving of my learning.

I sprayed some primer on the exposed floor section behind and then cut a new outer panel out of 16ga metal and fitted it in place. And that's where I've stopped. There is a bend at the bottom which is tack welded to the lower lip of the floor piece I replaced, but the edges have bends that go down to the cab corners. I'm not sure how to proceed with that portion of the work so some time scratching my head and thinking will be required, especially since I don't have a ton of metal forming tools to tackle this with.

[W_A_Watson_II]

Desoto61, Very Nice Work!

[CSCameron]

WOW! Wanna come do my cab, lol? Same problem areas... Great work!

[Joe Cool]

Nice repair work. That shows me exactly how to attempt to fix the same areas on my truck. Thanks for sharing.

[Desoto61]

Thanks for the compliments. That's why I'm posting the pics, hopefully someone else can get some ideas and avoid my pitfalls.

As for the body work I'm making slow progress. Sandy delayed work for a little while, and work has been busy, but I have managed some progress, or at least what passes for it.

Most of my metal bending has been with a vice and hammer. Cheap and easy, if not necessarily quick or pretty. The bottom piece was no different. Using a pair of angle iron pieces I clamped the sheet metal using the vice and about every clamp I owned and then proceeded to bend the edge over 90-degrees.

While the bending worked, the piece wasn't long enough on either end and I couldn't get a fit I liked, so I re-measured, re-cut, and re-bent a longer piece.

This one fit better, so I lined it up and installed the intergrip clamps and started stitching it together. I used all the clamps I had, and would tack and area and then move them to ensure everything was aligned. Due to the cab framework I couldn't use the clamps everywhere. Some places I had to use a screwdriver or just some finger pressure to keep the alignment while I tacked it in place.

The final step was to try and match the radius of the cab panel in the bottom of the patch panel and then weld it to the lip I bent into that replacement floor piece I welded in.

A lot of that and the panel is in, but all is not roses. The two biggest problems I had are that while I cut back to solid metal, some of it was still thinner than original, and it burned through easily. That took a little doing to get right.
The second issue was that while the seam was level, the patch did not line up with the rest of the panel. There was a low spot along the vertical weld. I've gotten most of that out with a hammer and dolly, though there is still some work there to do. I'm trying not to get to hammer-happy since I really have no real idea what I'm doing, but a straight edge and some patience and it's getting better.

The plus side is that whatever I can't hide with filler will be mostly invisible behind the bed.

One other annoyance is that while I tried to clean off the primer on that lip before I started welding to it, I was not completely successful, which has been playing some havoc with my welds. Luckily most of that will be under the cab.

I still haven't worked out the details for the corners yet, but the factory used a separate piece of metal bent into the shape and attached to the lip to form the bend. Something similar should be doable again.

[Doc Dave]

Nice job!
I had to do some of the same repairs on my cab, e.g. with the bottom back of the cab near the floor.
I also had to recreate the corrugation channel on the replaced floor pan I made up.

[CSCameron]

I still haven't worked out the details for the corners yet, but the factory used a separate piece of metal bent into the shape and attached to the lip to form the bend. Something similar should be doable again.

Great job! I don't know if these repro corners would help you out or not?

http://www.powerwagonparts.com/repro.html