Build thread for the 72 GMC, finally. Thanks John!

don't underestimate the impact of a good before (dirty) and after (clean) set of pics. then we can all go "oooo shiny!" to enhance moral :p

This. We love before/after pictures, and clean parts! Taking time to document that detail stuff helps motivate you, and can help motivate other people as well.

As an example, my current project car is ridiculously boring to people other than me, but people were all excited by the impact of some ChemDip on a timing cover.

Reading about you finding an hour to do some little job helps motivate me to find an hour to do some little job.

mazdeuce wrote: Reading about you finding an hour to do some little job helps motivate me to find an hour to do some little job.

That's something I had not considered before.

Well, now it's too bad I didn't take detailed pictures of all of the cleaning bits.

Tunawife wanted a date last night - with me no less! So I stayed inside last night.

XLR99 wrote: This. We love before/after pictures, and clean parts! Taking time to document that detail stuff helps motivate you, and can help motivate other people as well. As an example, my current project car is ridiculously boring to people other than me, but people were all excited by the impact of some ChemDip on a timing cover.

OK then, the people have spoken!

tuna55 wrote: I have no idea why that picture came out so badly. It was midnight, but that's not an excuse. I was woken up four times in the night, twice by a child (different children) wetting their respective beds. That's an excuse for stupidness today, but not yesterday. I think I have another spot or two on the drivers side that are far easier than this one was, then to make absolutely positively sure that I'm happy with the door openings. Then hopefully it will be warm enough to paint some stuff, engine and frame and whatnot, and then prime the truck this spring. Yay!

April 25 2013, page 19 of thread, Tuna said: I am really hoping to begin painting this thing in the fall. If I wait longer than that the weather won't be on my side. Then I get to drive it. That will be the best part.

Just saying

NOHOME wrote:

tuna55 wrote: I have no idea why that picture came out so badly. It was midnight, but that's not an excuse. I was woken up four times in the night, twice by a child (different children) wetting their respective beds. That's an excuse for stupidness today, but not yesterday. I think I have another spot or two on the drivers side that are far easier than this one was, then to make absolutely positively sure that I'm happy with the door openings. Then hopefully it will be warm enough to paint some stuff, engine and frame and whatnot, and then prime the truck this spring. Yay!

April 25 2013, page 19 of thread, Tuna said: I am really hoping to begin painting this thing in the fall. If I wait longer than that the weather won't be on my side. Then I get to drive it. That will be the best part.

Just saying

Hey, thanks for the inspiration.

Here are some clean parts:

And here is the manifold with the pugs and tubes removed. This was harder than I thought it was.

Here is the finished firewall patch. Not pretty.

Now, there is one problem. I found a spot that I had not seen previously. Not sure why. The cab support, right next to the cab corner, has a rust spot. That's not exactly right. It just has a hole. I even painted it, put the cab corner over it, and welded it in place, without noticing it. So, I feel stupid, but there really are no good ways to fix this. Ideas?

Maybe a Joo-Janta welding helmet?

Or a small Grassroots sticker? I can't really get a sense for where it is exactly, but if what you are saying is that it is behind the new cab corner, and can't be accessed from the backside, then you only have two choices: Ignore or cut the cab corner off and repair.

Here is a picture of me replacing the one on the other side:

id alsmost say leave it the hell alone, tuna. just seems like it wont bother anything.

ut the other part of me says you've gone this far, might as well make a small patch.

Dusterbd13 wrote: id alsmost say leave it the hell alone, tuna. just seems like it wont bother anything. ut the other part of me says you've gone this far, might as well make a small patch.

Making the small patch and welding it in is super easy. I would do that in one night.

The issue is that I can't, the cab corner is about 4" away. I don't know if I can really do a good job in that space.

I probably will anyway.

Since you claim to be lacking things to take pics of, how about a redo of this one. Be fun to see the progress on the other projects.

tuna55 wrote:

wbjones wrote: glad you're back to posting on this truck

Thanks man! I try, I really do. The Honda slowed me way down for a while, and most of what I have been doing is cleaning. Posting "Hey look at how I spent two hours cleaning this alternator with a toothbrush!" is pretty lame. Everything is clean now. The carb got rebuilt, the clutch fork is clean, the alternator is clean, the alternator bracket is unbent and clean, the starter is clean, the bellhousing is ready to see if it can be repaired again, the engine is clean, the crossmember is clean, the other crossmember is clean, the frame rails are clean, the Z bar is clean, the clutch bracket is clean, the motor mounts have arrived, and tons of other little stuff has been brushed, cleaned, and wirewheeled to bare steel. Tons of work. It needed to be done. Really really boring, though. The one savings is that it's really easy, it just takes a while.

yea ... clean is good

NOHOME wrote: Since you claim to be lacking things to take pics of, how about a redo of this one. Be fun to see the progress on the other projects.

As a homeschool family of four kids, I can tell you that those projects take more effort than work and the tunatruck and all other considerations combined.

The Tunakids are coming along rather well. We haven't bought diapers or pull-ups in a few months, for instance. Maybe I'll try and recreate that pic someday. It's way too cold in the garage now, and the hood is on the roof making entry and exit pretty tough.

In reply to wbjones:

Now all that stuff just has to get warm enough to paint!!

I like that pic, tuna's smallest (teeny tuna) has the same size head as tuna. Eldest looks to be 3x bigger. :P

ALso, somehow I never saw that earlier in the thread.

Mad_Ratel wrote: I like that pic, tuna's smallest (teeny tuna) has the same size head as tuna. Eldest looks to be 3x bigger. :P ALso, somehow I never saw that earlier in the thread.

I vote the guy in the middle with the grounding problem "Most likely to steal Dad's truck before I'm 16".

NOHOME wrote:

Mad_Ratel wrote: I like that pic, tuna's smallest (teeny tuna) has the same size head as tuna. Eldest looks to be 3x bigger. :P ALso, somehow I never saw that earlier in the thread.

I vote the guy in the middle with the grounding problem "Most likely to steal Dad's truck before I'm 16".

The one on the right is that kid...

ROFL AT before I'm 16"

:P.

In a real tight spot, you can always load some fluxcore wire and take the nozzle off the gun.

I have at least two sick kids, and a somewhat sick Tunawife. Frankly, I have it too, but I am pretending I don't. I had to spend an hour dumpster diving looking for cardboard so Tunakid #1 and I can build a cardboard boat for an event we're in. So I went inside early.

You believe that E36 M3? No, I went outside and puttered in the garage after all that. You didn't really think I would give up that easily, did you?

Here is where the hole is. My index finger is on

My first order of business was to cut out the offending cab support. Thusly.

Then make a replacement

Now, the issue is that I cannot make a clean cut on the vertical portion of the cab support. I think I can weld it, but I don't think I can cut it very well. I have to do some thinking.

So I used the nasty knotted wire wheel (which I used to take the paint off of the patch panel) to clean off the alternator and another bracket or two.

Then I used it to clean the pulley on the alternator. It spun and made me laugh, so I then grabbed the pulley. Because I am an idiot. My finger is still numb. Ouch.

Anyway, I never got around to the clean cut, but I have some ideas. I was literally dripping boogers all over my work, and my eyes are awfully red, and I am working on the most important project at work that I have ever thought of (given by my boss's boss's boss), so I think 11 is a good time to turn in.

Adios for now!

So, now I need some help. I forgot that these were GM original cab supports. They need chassis saver on the inside. I can't do that, though, because they are completely encapsulated.

What I need is the equivalent of a Chassis Saver/POR15 which can be sprayed through a tube with a 360 degree wand.

Hive..... GO!

Can you use Eastwood Internal Frame Coat? I used it on some rockers, seemed to do the trick.

http://www.eastwood.com/internal-frame-coating-w-spray-nozzle.html

Hose is good for other stuff too, if you can get it in spray can form.

NOHOME wrote:

This has me wondering: Does this work? What kind of cleaning solution do they use? Is this just a staged picture?