1980 1/2 ton shortbed...

[hotrod24]

Update. Well i am almost done I did not have much time today so I only got to fibersglass one hole. I have just one more and i am done under the dash then its to the outside and bondo and primer...

[bake74]

     That is looking much better.

[hotrod24]

Update:  Ok I finally finished fiberglassing under the dash and firewall.  All I have left is a coat of paint and then on to the outside firewall.  The fiberglass might not look its best but that is because I ran out of resin.  Lol..  I told yall that I would keep this thing going from now on.

[hotrod24]

Update... Ok the cowl and firewall is done for now lol and boy am I glad I have never worked on a spot that was that hard to get to with bondo and that was not really the hard part it was the sanding I had to take a paint stirrer stick and rap sand paper around it to at least get into the holes in the firewall.  The last hole was a pain because there was not a hole there so I had to just work in the cowl its self and that was fun lol but I got it and it might not look its best but its good enough for me.  After the layer of bondo and sanding, I put a coat of primer just to make it look a little bit better.  I also put the sheet metal back because there was no use in fiber glassing the firewall when I am just going to take it back off anyway.  So I just re-riveted the sheet metal back.  Like I said, it might not look professional, but it will do for now. ok heres some pics. injoy... 















 

















 

[hotrod24]

OK i hope that the fiberglass does seal the rust off, but it does not matter if it does or it doesnt because this cab is getting rebuilt and that means that the floor, firewall and cowl is getting replaced. Yea I just said that...lol...   I know yall probably think I am crazy but anything can be done with one of these old trucks, so I think it is worth a try.  To start off, I had to take my gas tank out because it has a leak and I did not want to blow myself up and also I took out my seat so that I would have more room.  Ok now for the update. The whole upper toeboard that goes up in the firewall is mostly gone.  Except a little bit of the middle and the driverside.  So you can sit on the seat hump and you can make the whole floor go up and down.  So, I thought I would make some brackets out of 24 gauge sheet metal to give it more strength and I plan on building a floor pan and inner rocker, that will give it strength. I also removed the floor support and cleaned up the main cab support. Ok here is some pics enjoy. 

[jaredts]

You're not gonna buy a floor pan?  How about Rockers, inner rockers, cab floor support, footwell?  These parts are pretty cheap if you consider the difficulty and time of doing the job without them.

[80stepsideguy]

Dusty you NEED to take that cab off as well as the bed and nose and start all over. Like I mentioned your putting a ban daid over a dirty wound. You really need to do that to the cab and find some better parts.
thanks
pat

[hotrod24]

Oh yea I plan on buying all of the replacement parts for the floor its just I dont have a welder yet and I wanted to wait till then lol. this is just all temporary.  Pat I plan on taking the front clip and cab off.  The cab will go on my dolly to rebuild it when the time comes...

[leafsrule16]

Oh yea I plan on buying all of the replacement parts for the floor its just I dont have a welder yet and I wanted to wait till then lol. this is just all temporary.  Pat I plan on taking the front clip and cab off.  The cab will go on my dolly to rebuild it when the time comes...

Not meaning to offend but every cent and second you spend on that cab, firewall, ect is a waste of your time. You could have a cab for cheap that needs less work, a floor pan isnt hard to do but there's a lot of hard to reach areas and simply filling them isn't going to work. I'm not sure what your trying to do but as I see it, the truck does have potential, any does, but is it really practical? Not really. Again, not trying to offend but your best luck is selling that cab for scrap money. It's a lost cause, even if you manage to fill every hole in a year (if that) everything will fall out and assuming you paint over the filler, you just wasted good paint too.

It's best to do things right the first time so you don't have to do them the second time, eventully your just going to have to do it right and if you do it right the first time, your saved time, money and headaches. Find a half decent cab somewhere, buy some new front fenders and get the front clip you want. A dash pad isn't very expensive, throw a seat in there and when you have the body off might as well give the frame a proper POR15 treatment as well. A box isn't too bad, a few patches in the floor, some patch panals on the side and maybe a few new box ribs but really, the cab is where you need to replace it. Heck, if you don't want to spend too much don't even touch the box, let it rot right off the frame which is what it will do eventully anyways, that's free! But really .. that cab, do it right please.

[hotrod24]

Wow I have been busy, I appreciate your input man but I have thought this over pretty good and I want to try and rebuild this cab.  I know alot of people think I am crazy but I come from a very hard past and I dont give up very easy so I just want to give it a try and if I screw it up, sobeit but if everything goes as planned, I will have a solid cab.  This is all temporary just so I can get the truck on the road and when I get a mig I will try and rebuild the cab the right way...  Also the bed is getting rebuilt too, but that will be later.  I am just doing what I can for now...

[thirsty]

I want to try and rebuild this cab.  I know alot of people think I am crazy but I come from a very hard past and I dont give up very easy so I just want to give it a try and if I screw it up, sobeit

I think you should give it a try for practice and then if you ever find a better cab you can replace it. That way the second time around rebuilding a cab won't be so hard especially if you find a cab that needs minimal work.

[hotrod24]

Thristy i agree. This cab will give me some good practice and that is what i am doing this for. For the practice and i like a challange lol. It might not be the best rebuild like i said but atleast i tryed and most guys would not try it either...

[hotrod24]

Update on the old 80. Well I got the pass side floor all sanded and primered and sense I got that done I started on removing the old support and getting ready for the new one, well new to me lol. I was going to order a new floor support from chris but a buddy of mine brought me a firewall that I am going to use to rebuild some of the 80s cab and it had a good pass side floor support that I am going to use as soon as I get it cleaned up and primered and painted and the cab ready. Theres a lot more work to go but she is getting there...

[hotrod24]

Hey guys and gals. Man it has been a while since I updated. The weather has been so crazy here I have not had a chance to go out and get much done and time has been tight. Anyway to start with I removed the inner rocker and let me just say it was a pain in the behind lol. I first cut it in half so it would be easier to remove, also I had to guess where all the spot welds were because the inner rocker was covered with rust but I got it out and now its a nice clean spot for the new inner rocker I made.  I also primed and painted the bottom and top lip. Enjoy the pics and there will be more to come... 

[hotrod24]

Oh yea you can also go up above and see where I edited, not the one right above here with the pics, but the one above it with the pics of me taking out the floor support I updated...