Projects My Apache...

thanks guys and i havent shown the worst parts of rot yet either. i pulled the doors off today. the d/s upper hing pocket just crumbled hahaha. the d/s door is in good shape. no rust other than the bottom outer skin. the p/s door is another story. ill show you guys that tomorrow. so yea, after work today i pulled both doors, and pulled all glass and window mechanisms. both doors will need bottom patches which i expected. other than that its all good really.

heres a before shot of each door. im also gonna have to fab some patches for the holes cut in the inner door skin




here it is knocked down lightly with some 60 grit. it looks a tad rough but really isnt bad at all



and just for shits and giggles i threw it in place on the new cab for a quick peek



btw my 2011 tax return FINALLY came this past week. i got some air tools that are just plain bitchin man. im in love !!!! a miller 211 will be on the way in a week or so

 

The welder will kick ass, I dont know what I would do without mine. It was a little intimdating for me at first but shit now I just look at something and say, yep, I can fix that. Seems like you know your way around already so I'll just leave it at that...

 

Im a total rook when it comes to welding. My buddy nick knocked the frame out, hes done so many it just seemed like a better idea to let him do something that critical to safety. As far as sheetmetal goez i think i can manage, its essentially just tacking and keeping the heat low. We will see soon lol

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Looks good man I feel your pain seem like everytime I'd weld a panel in I burn threw more rust lol but it's all worth it when your done

 

still sanding the doors down. heres a pic of the d/s with some primer to make it look a little better, its incredibly straight minus the lowers.




also got a quote for 350ish to media blast the cab and doors. and the guy is willing to come to me and do it behind my shop. im still debating but it seems like a good deal

 

Man, this thing is gonna be nice when your thru with it!! Might wanna buy it back!! haha

 

Live updates !!!! Haha i just finished pulling the hood by myself, alot heavier than it looks hahaha. Got the back glass outta the shit cab. Gonna sand the hood down n throw some primer on. Also took a few pics of the pillar rot on the bad cab

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Alright so, the hood and hinges are off. Hoods in worse shape than i thought after sanding it down. Got bolts loose on front clip. Hopefully thatll be off soon. Herez a pic of my shop i rent. All the fresh parts for the build are in the back on the shelf above the cab. The shop isnt much wider than what you see so it can get tight at times. But all in all when the cab and everything is off i can clean and paint the chassis, and get the trans swap mocked up and motor pulled while the cabs out. i may get the front clip off tomorrow after work...... Maybe lol
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Wow GreenGrenade! You're really strapping this thing on, huh?! lol

My cab has rust-through in one small location in the cab gutters and I THINK someone in the past tried to deal with some rust coming through inside around the headliner by (badly) gas welding the holes shut. I'm wondering if I cant get by fxing it from the exterior and using that Eastwood internal frame rust preventative all around the headliner opening inside? I REALLY don't want to try to remove the roof to get at that area!

Just for entertainment, here's a shot of my rattle can efforts on my door panels and Instrument Cluster (It looked just like yours before):



Door Panel BEFORE (Ugh):


Door Panel AFTER (Rusto Sage Green, Krylon Celery & Rusto Brite Metallic Aluminum):


Thought you might need more ideas. You're TOTALLY kicking my ass on progress! lol.

 

yeah that roof sounds like a total bitch! i think if you literally ordered every patch panel for these cabs there would still be rust issues on mine. its just nasty. i would have loved to fix it but it just wasnt worth the time. a member named kabwe on the 67-72 chevy forum cut the roof skin off of his 55 to get at the inner structure. it looks like a pain but its the only way to really get at the inners well from the looks of it. and i love your gauge cluster ! its something different and looks killer. if my interior plans were different i may have used a lighter color like that. and i saw your door panel a while back, totally stealing the two tone idea hahahha

 

if all plans work out this will be the daily for a long time to come and my current daily will be sold to build an ironhead

 

Nice man, sounds like a good plan!

 

btw when did you find that bitchin '50 man

 

I found the 50 in July, its sweet man.. I just dont have the room to keep it. I had to do a bit of work to get her running right but now its all good.

 

So i managed to get the front clip off after work today. Bad news is the passenger side front fender is shot. whole front of fender needs to be re done. I kinda figured that wass the case tho. The bumper was a total bitch. Complete rigged up mounts that were total shit and a major pain. Other than that not too bad really

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This why I went with glass fenders for mine! Right click to open image.

 

cleaned up some of the parts today to sell em. got em listed in the classifieds if anyones interested. im gonna get a set of wheel dollies for the shop, so that should make it a bit easier to maneuver in there. more to come tomorrow

 

Question guys. Im gonna get the cab and doors blasted within two weeks. What should i spray it with. Im assuming epoxy primer, or etching primer maybe. Will i need a sealer with it ? Or will just the primer be fine. Im gonna be doing patch work and metal work on the cab after its primed so idk if the sealer is a good idead anyway ? This is my first real paint experience.

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Ok so as of now, i pulled the whole harness. Pulled the heater and coolant lines, and im draining the brake fluid as we speak. As soon as the master and booster is off the firewall the cab is ready to pull. Windshield and battery tray and some other misc items came off as well

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Weld-through primer is some great stuff, or so I am told. No personal experience with it yet, but that is what I plan to use on the patch panels on my truck. Don't know about sealers, but I do see self-etching primer that has been used on a few blasted trucks. Always a good idea to check with the folks you buy the color paint from, if in doubt.

 

epoxy is expensive, but well worth it. it is what I have on the back half of my pickup. I went through a gallon on just the back half. Looking good so far.

 

I cant wait to get this crappy cab off the frame. Does anyone have a power brake setup on the frame rail with the stock clutch setup ? I need to figure that out, any pics would be awesome

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So i got the master and booster off the firewall, broke the bolts loose on the cab mounts. The cab is officially free. I just need to get my buddies over to gimme a hand liftin it off the frame. Btw heres a pic of the th350 shifter linkage. I dont even wanna get into that rigged up unit, it was terrible lol. I also banged out a set of kick panel covers from some 16 ga i had layin around. the hurrican is on its way in so idk how much ill be gettin done the next few days....... Time will tell

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very little updates guys. im trying to get the welder ordered this week hopefully. im still waiting for federal taxes to clear. this shit is ridiculous. anyways i got some wheel dollies so i can roll the truck around the shop...... BUT i have to wait on new u bolts for the 9 inch to get it up and rollable. few days and we should have the cab off and chassis on rollers. i hate posting on here without pic updates. i feel like a failure !!!! hahah

 

project is looking good,fun to look for parts.you had alot of fun.
getting tax return already? I'm not even done paying in yet,GOOD-LUCK

 

No the tax return was LAST YEARS. Ive waited almost 9 months. Driving me insaneee!!!!!!

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Got the dash out. I just cut it along the front edge. The area where the spot welds are were rusty as hell and the molding clips were shot so ill just graft it into the gmc dash. Also got some dollies so i can roll the chassis around when the cabs off. For as rotted as the cab was the floors and toeboard were pretty solid. Everything was pretty fried tho

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keep it up green, looking good. Wish I could work on mine, but without a job its hard to justify spending time and money on what I need to continue. Are you going to replace the dash with another? Now would be the perfect time to do it

 

Thanks 59apache. I love your build btw man. Tons of cool ideas. Na the dash i cut out is goin into the fresh cab i have, its a gmc cab so i have to throw the chevy dash in. I was thinking about doing something else but the stocker is cool in its own way. And i hear ya man work has been slow for alot of people. Hopefully youll find something soon. Stay positive brother !

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