Truck bed metalwork

This morning I started with putting the other side of the bed together.
The rail on the inside of the panel was installed and welded on with the spotwelder.

 The top tube of the last panel was cut and tacked on the new panel.

 And then the welding was started. The whole seem was welded with the mig in alternating sequences. After the welding was done it was ground flush and then it was straightened with a oxy-acetelyn torch.

 Then the back panel was attacked. The seem where it was welded was cut off and the lower panel was discarded.

 The new panel which I bent yesterday was then welded in place  and ground flus and straightened.

 Then the place was cleaned up for the next step.

 The  workbench has swiveling feet and is was leveled. Trestle's were put in place and leveled with the bench.

 Al this to be able to put the truck-bed together. All holes were drilled the side are mounted together with bolts and then welded ( only the rear rail).

 Then the tailgate was installed in place and the hinges are put in the right location and the holes were drilled. After some final welding and drilling some more holes the truck bed is finished.

Making some parts.

Today we started with the fabrication of the rear bumper struts.
So I started with milling a slot in the four pieces of flat stock my colleague bought yesterday.

 Then I installed the rear piece of the bed to be able to mount the rear splash guard above the bumper. Now i have a reference point to take my measurements.

Then I started shaping the first bar. and with that one as a mold I made a mirror of the first for the other side.

 Then the second bar is made .

 Measurements are taken to cut the bars to length and drill the mounting holes. And after some fitting and bending the fit nicely.

In order to finish the bed I had to disassemble the parts already mounted.

 With some precut metal strips I went to work where I was able to cut the parts to the correct size and bent it like they should. After I went back to my shop I first started with drilling the holes in the L-shaped rail.

 At work I also made a new piece for the back panel of the bed.

 The parts that need to be welded together are then sanded and coated with a galvanic paint.

 The corners for the side panels are then clamped to the panel with some claps and the welding could begin. The first corner is done .

 When both corners were welded on I turned it over to weld the L-shape to the panel.

 This is the finished result so far.

 The round tube like top section was cut-off the old panel.

 And then tacked to the new panel with a Mig welder.

The rest of this story will be for tomorrow.

Assembling the car.

Early this morning I went to my work to bent the sides of the bed.
When I came home again I installed the fenders to the panel and the inner rail.
And then we mounted the bed to the truck.
A view from the front.

 And a view from the rear.

 We then started to mount the steps to the car. The driver side was pretty straight forward. But the passenger side needed some tweaking. We had to bent the mounts to the front in order to let it line up properly. On the front fender I had to do some remodeling to make the gap even with the other side.

 At the rear of the pickup we made a bar that keeps the distance even and prevent the side to bend open under the pressure of the fenders. We also had to make some risers to mount the bed so that it would rise above the frame rails.
The sides were also mounted parallel to the bed.

 The Cabin was raised at the passenger side by about 1 cm. This made the gap with the steps equal on both sides.

 Then we did mount some miscellaneous parts to look for its fit. In searching how to mount the rear bumper and truck bed lid we realized that we had no mount to mount the bumper.
We will make a pair tomorrow.

 In between wen I had some time I started with the repair of the end pillars of the bed. In the picture below you can see the result. On the right side one that needs to be repaired on the left the one that is repaired. That little bracket in between the to side is newly made. It is to hold the top riser panels in place.
The little tube in between at the bottom is were the bolt mount for the chain. This way it can not collapse when tightening it.

 After the crew went home I did repair the remaining four pillars. Rust was removed with a wire brush and grinder.

 Then the inside was treated with phosphoric acid to remove the rust.

And then it was given a protective coating with some galvanic paint.
Tomorrow we will continue the shop we started.

Mounting parts

Early this morning we started with mounting the cabin on the frame. Next we mounted the inner fenders

 Next the air duct for the radiator.

 And Next the fenders

 Then we started with mounting the doors in the cabin. And the grill.

  And then the Bonnet was mounted.

 In the mean time I had some time for a bit of fitting. The lower rear corner near the door was not correct.

 And the top of the door to the roof was touching and I had to do some stretching.

 We then also mounted the bumper and the cover behind the bumper.

 Al the previous was done with the help of 2 Co-workers. So after they went home I started with cutting an other sheet of metal for the side panels of the truck bed. These 2 pieces were then layed on top of each other. With the help of the existing panel I drilled the holes and lay out the place to make the necessary cuts.

 Next I made a mold to form the edges of the panel and started with bending the for edges of the plate. This way I get the exact contour and the panels stay straight.

 This is the first bent. 3 more will follow.

And thats it for this day.

Preparing for trial fitting

Today I made everything in order to be able to start with the trial fitting of all the body work.
This way we can be sure that everything is going to fit when it's painted.
I started with the repair of the cross member for the transmission. There were some serious cracks  that need welding.

 First the paint was ground away to be able to weld.  The cracks were then tacked together and the welding could begin.

The next thing I did was remove the battery box fabricated by a coworker. The battery would not fit.
I had one original side piece laying aside and I first made it straight. Then I used that side as a template to make one for the opposite side. Including the strut. Now it resembles more to the original box. All I need to do is make a bottom plate for it.

 And now the cross member could be bolted in place

 The welds of the cross member needs some paint and then it will be OK.

 Then I started with the brace that holds the radiator. There were some cracks that needed welding and a piece was missing. I fabricated the missing piece from some 2 mm sheet metal and welded that in place.

 Next I cut the truck bed apart into pieces.

 A work table was pulled to the middle of the work floor and I started drilling the weld from the side panels of the bed.  Everything came apart nicely.

 I then did the other side next.

 Here is a picture of how I put everything in order so we can start directly with mounting the cabin to the frame.

 Back to the bed. I laid a piece of sheet metal on the worktable and took some measurements and layout the outlines of the side panel. And then the first piece is cut out.

Tomorrow we will continue the work.

Chassis

Today the Chassis arrived together with some other body parts.
We now can start again with this project.

 The bonnet, inner fenders and some other parts.