Projects My Apache...

Yeah I guess relief cuts would work also and I did think about it, but after puzzling my puzzler for a while I decide that for me a better mode of attack was to make a patch that I could lay flat. Thats the great thing about this stuff there are many different ways to skin a cat and you just have to pick the right one for you.

As far as some people not having to do it. I don't know if its a big window vs a small window thing that made it so noticeable on mine, I just knew I did not like how it looked from the profile.

You got that right buddy.lol I don't think you really want to get into panel alignment and panel gaps do you.lol Man now was a nightmare, that I hope is not revisited once I slap the truck back together. Wow that was a lot of work.

 

You know, i didnt think about the big window vs small window thing. But every thread ive seen where no extra work was required were small windows. I believe t mans thread over on the chevy forum is an example of that. And as far as door gaps, which im NOT looking forward to, i have to weld in new door bottoms, rockers and cab corners as well as rounding the door corners so i will have alot of manipulating to do with the doors. Thank god its a truck and doesnt have four doors and a trunk and all to deal with lol. And this truck will also be driven ALOT and see chips, dents, dings and scratches so im not too particularly worried about having dead perfect show car door gaps.

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Oh I forgot to mention that the drip rails also camouflages the huge gap at the top of the door, when you remove the drip rails the gap looks extreme so you will have to add metal in that area to compensate for the removal of the drip rails. Here is a pic where you can see how I added metal and the finished gap. You will also notice I rounded the rear of the door to match the rounded door corners in the front. Do not worry about your gaps until you get your doors fitted properly.

I hope you can see the huge gap in the first pic. My thump almost fits in that gap.




Just trying to help buddy.

 

Yeah, ill be rounding both the top rear corner and the front corner under the windshield as well. Is that like solid flat stock welded in for the door gap or ? Also i just got my inner lower door patches, i cant recall if you did the lower doors on your truck or not..... If you did, any tips ?

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Yes its flat stock welded in to fill the gap.

LOL. Did I have to replace my door bottom.LOL Man I had to replace everything on that truck from the rotor to the tooter. Roof, steps, cab corners, hinge pockets, floors, you name it I had to replace it.lol

Any way about the door bottoms. I replaced the bottoms interiors and outer skin, do you need to do both? I made my own patch for the outer skin because I did not like how thin the aftermarket panel was but the interior patch panel is nice. I don't want to take up space with my pics so if you interested there are pics of the repair on my flickr site under the rust repair set

This is what I did

What I did was find reference points and measured the length from them before I cut the door in half. I wrote the reference points on the door and made arrows pointing down and what the measure me should be on several locations of the door. I than measured the patch panel and transferred that measurement for the door cut line leaving it about a half inch longer. Why because if you make a mistake you can get another patch panel easier than getting another door or making up the differences. Then I trimmed the patch panel to fit the measurements I wrote on the door.

Always do most of your cutting on the patch panel because they are available if you mess up you simply buy another patch panel. Its the same with any patch you do cut the patch to fit never cut the cab, fender, or what ever to fit the patch.

 

Thanks for the tips man. I remember you had to do the roof and all, but didnt recall if you did the lower doors. And yes i need both the inner and outer patch. The d/s is ok, the p/s is trashedddd

I got one side of the driprail pretty much done minus the door fitment and gaps. Heres some pics and a comparison to the other side

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Its looking great buddy, good job.

 

here's what my seat looks like green. I don't think this seat is original to the truck if you look at the back there is no tilt mechanism on the seat

 

Thanks bam, and sqrlnts that seat doesnt look original. I dont see why it wouldnt work tho unless you need the folding aspect. I think the 60 - 66 seats and the newer early 90s seats work well from what i hear. I think terd ferguson on here used a 60s seat and i believe they also fold. Maybe contact him for some more info on that if you wanted to go that route

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Just ordered the steering shaft and a few other pieces. I have next week.off work so i plan to get a lot done. Column, seat mount, drip rail, cab corners, toe board door bottoms and door cornerz are in the plans next week. We will see....

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Small update. Got another foot of driprail shaved this mornin. Also got my steering shaft. Its actually a 55-7 chevy car replacement from borgeson. Waiting for a few other parts to start the column

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Nice work...This makes me want to start another one...Joe

 

Thanks man

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Wow, lookin good! Love well done backyard builds, this one fully applies.
The way you kept the rear leaves but severly lowered the frame is rather clever.
Gotta respect the silly low static drops LOL
No really, lookin good man. Cant wait to see the body on to see if it really is as low as it looks.

 

Lookin really good! Someday I'll own one of these trucks!

 

Thanks guys, well today i knocked out the driprail, patched the hole in the dash i cut when i was thinking about putting the chevy car clock in, and i started rounding the bed corners. I have this week off on vacation so im hoping i can knock a good amount of shit out. A lot of the panels from brothers trucks arent gonna arrive on time so that kinda sucks. Also i caught HELL trying to find parts for the steering column. But if all goes well that should be done this week too

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Looking good man, looking really good.

 

Thanks dude. Theres a small lip or peak around the drip rail lieke u were sayin but its not very noticable and bodywork should straighten it out easily. i love the look of the rounded bedsides, quite a few guys in here have it done

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Ur truck sure is alot straighter than mine

 

Small world after all I know Steve and I've supplied him with some good parts from time to time it would kill some of these guys to see these nice projects he blows apart to get you guys that needed body panel or part

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Yeah hes a good dude, but i have seen some killer trucks torn down for parts lol. I came back down and knocked out the front corner on the one bed side. They both need some dremel finishing still. I ran outta propane for heat so im done for the night.

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Also, i have dents and shit on the inside of the bedsides. Looks like a bitchhhh to get totally straight with those little ribs n all. I may just leave em as is. All fancy bullshit aside it will be used as a truck. I dont see the point in fixin it all up straight n having it dent in a few weeks again.

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Go for it...Make it dent free...Can't stop short after all this work....Look at me, I'll go 2 miles out of my way to avoid a puddle

 

Really liked the way the bed corners turned out! I've never seen that before... That I can remember? Keep up the great work , this thing is gonna turn out nice!

 

Thanks guys. I knocked out the other bedside. This bedside is strange its drilled for a different fender. Almost looks like a ford fender. U can see the shape in the pic. Maybe a different option or something ? Ideas ? Anyways the bedsides turned out pretty good. They all will need some finess work before paint n all. Im just trying to knock out as much fab as possible for now

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Thats is strange....You might just have some rare option.....Most likely some one cobbed a another fender on...

 

i had a beside like that it was from a 67 chevy truck

 

I think thats exactly what it is man, never even looked at the 67 plus bedsides. Just assumed someone threw a shit fender on there. O well, they look identical, ill just have to re drill for my fender. Some of my order from brothers came in. Both cab corners, outer door bottoms and hinge pocket. Also got a 2 piece collar to build my upper column mount, this pissed me off. Its a 1 3/4 bore, which is correct. But as you can see in the pic. Theres a gap when the collar is around the pipe. Wtf !!! Stupid part. I knocked out one cab corner. Not perfect but itll do fine. I found a toothbrush, marker, some type of kitchen spatula thing and some pencils in the corner lmao. Im deleting the inner corner as well. Always seemed like a dumbass design to me......... Also whats your opinions on the backsides of the welds ?

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Just remember if you are painting your truck paint magnifies any imperfection in your body work. So always think about that when you do a mod so that you can live with the results. I'm nuts I can't leave well enough alone, but sometimes I wish I could.lol Its a sickness on my part.

Also we were talking about panel gaps, the lighter colors with magnify the panel gap issues the darker colors can hide them a little better. Its a shadow thing. I know you said that you are building a driver, but I just wanted to make you aware of that.

 

On mine I shot bedliner on the inside cab (corner) to seal up that area. Then a heat shield after I made a sheet metal close out over the gap then sound deadner/carpet. I found $20.00 in coins and a unused rubber in mine....both are in my wallet now.