Got a new to me truck

[mrboyy17]

got to work today on the wire wheel and cab....ive never done this before so can you guys tell me if its good enough to por 15 now?  my buddy says to leave a little rust on to let it bite?  i need your help.here is the b4 pic

here is the after    close up...  and im not sure what do do with these rail things that the seal goes on....should i dig out the old crappy seam sealer and por 15 in there too?   and here is one of behind the kick panel
  like i said ive never done this before i need help......on a side note my drivers floor patch panel arrived today from buying it on this site....gonna get to cutting soon!  thanks for all you guy's help on my new found hobby...my truck!
mark

[beastie_3]

I would keep going, but I dont know much about POR 15. They have wire wheels that look like metal cut off wheels and you can use that for that "rail thing"

[bake74]

     I used Por-15 on my axles.  You are suppose to remove any flaky bits and leave the rust.  Your friend was correct, Por-15 chemically treats the rust to change it from oxidized metal (which is what rust is ) to metal that the Por-15 has chemically altered to now coated metal, that is stronger that painted metal and will last longer ( or so they claim ).
     I am very pleased with my axle's and after following the directions and drying, my axles have a hard coat of paint that will not chip if a tool hits it anyways, I tried it with a wrench and not a scratch.

[jaredts]

Maybe its just me, but I wouldn't stop there.  I consider por15 type stuff a little better for thick metal like frames.  What kind of wire wheel are you using?  You should be able to get it almost perfect.  I personally use a little rust converter and alternate between that and the wire wheel.  The only thing you can't get perfect on sheet metal with that method is the bottom of some of the pits.

[mrboyy17]

THe wire wheel is one that goes on the drill.  well bought a new 4 1/2 in grinder and a cutoff wheel and got started today.  This is my first time ever trying this out.  Confirmed....frame and cab support underneath are a-0k.  Need to keep cutting but im learning maybe to use a long sleeve shirt and gloves lol!  more fire flying around than i had anticipated.    The darn thing takes awhile too.  i thought it would cut right on through and just zip be done but i guess not.  Now im starting to think i need the rocker panel too or something.  whats the piec called that is behind the kick panel cuz the rust is climbing up that wall too?
mark

[vervepipes]

makes me glad I have a plasma cutter at my disposal!  Other than the time and sparks, how do you find the grinder for cutting through the floor?

[paniolo]

im learning maybe to use a long sleeve shirt and gloves lol!  more fire flying around than i had anticipated. 

Can't tell in your pic ... but if you don't have them safety glasses are the first thing to get.  Hot flying metal in the eye is NOT good.  Then the eye doc sticks even more metal in your eye to get that out. 

Get a wire brush that fits on that 4.5" grinder, it will do a lot better job than your drill.  You will need safety glasses, gloves and long sleeves for that too.  Those flying pieces of wire that break off will stick right into skin like little darts

[mrboyy17]

yea i had on safety glasses.  the grinder works for cutting through the metal vervepipe but it just takes time and i have to keep stopping to check cuz with all the sparks you cant really see what your doing or where your cut is going very well.  yea ill go get a wire wheel that goes on my grinder that would probly work better.  ive decided that this sux and i keep worring that the sparks gonna burn up some wires under the dash or something so i do short spurts. oh well ill post more pics later
mark

[jaredts]

That's the same grinder I use for both wire wheel and cutoff wheel.  A word of caution:  using a cutoff wheel with an angle grinder is very dangerous.  Mine kicked back on me and cut my ankle pretty bad.  Use both hands and hold on like your life depends on it.  A pneumatic cutoff wheel would be safer and just as fast if you can.  The wire cup wheel on that grinder will knock the rust off pretty well, but it takes work and its hard to get into the pits.  That's why I use it along with a rust converter--it seems to soften it and changes the color so it highlights where you need to concentrate.  Wire wheel on a drill is useless for this.  Gloves and glasses are a must.  The wire wheel is a wicked, painful tool.  The wires will fly out at very high speed and will go an inch deep into your skin if you're not protected--so don't skip the gloves and keep your face away unless you're gonna use a face shield.  You won't likely burn the wires but you can catch the insulation on fire that is against the firewall so have a hose or extinguisher handy (stuff a welding blanket against anything you want to protect from sparks as well).  If the rust goes up behind the plastic kick panel you need a footwell patch (sold here).  Think this through because once you get into footwell and rocker on something with some rust you're gonna likely be into a huge project and replacing more than you think.  Decide where you're going to stop and stop there (unless this is a show truck).  Find Blazin's writeup of the 5 pc. cab repair and look at how the pieces go together to help you decide.  One more thing:  is your gas tank still in?  Do you smell the slightest hint of gas?  You're cutting right over it and bouncing sparks off it.  A well placed welding blanket stuffed over it may be enough protection if it doesn't leak any fumes at all, but otherwise it needs to come out.

[paniolo]

A pneumatic cutoff wheel would be safer and just as fast if you can. 

I've got cut off wheels for my 4.5 grinder, but I never use them.  Harder to control the cut and any kickback is vicious.  Pneumatic cutoff wheel or sawzall are the best ... next to a real torch!

  The wire wheel is a wicked, painful tool.  The wires will fly out at very high speed and will go an inch deep into your skin if you're not protected--so don't skip the gloves and keep your face away unless you're gonna use a face shield. 

Perfect explanation!  I sometimes feel like a porcupine plucking the wires out, but in addition to being wicked and painful  it is also a very effective tool.  Hold it really tight and try not to be in the kickback zone cause when it catches an edge it will fly a couple of feet before you can control it.

I forget the circumstance, but one time I was someplace where one got dropped on the floor and bouncing and running out of control.  Seeing a bunch of grown men trying to climb up on what ever was close was pretty funny ... once it actually got stopped. 

[jaredts]

The little pieces of wire feel really good if you step on one with bare feet too!

[thirsty]

I use a 4 1/2" grinder a lot in the garage. One other thing that was not mentioned is that if a disc is damaged it goes right in the garbage. Don't use it.

Your cab doesn't look bad compared to some I have seen rebuilt. Capt. sells everything you need and people here can give you help when you need it.

[snibook7537]

All I gotta say is I wish the trucks in Buffalo that looked like that could be called rough. My truck I think is rough and there is a lot more of it missing.  Looks like your making good progress though.

[mrboyy17]

my neighbor wants to help me just swap a different cab on the truck....after diggin around the footwell is gone, the rocker panel is gone, the cab corner is gone so the floor piece i got wont work to fix this.  i found two cabs yesterday and one is a 79...my truck is 86 so i know the dash, and windshield wipers is a little different but is everything else the same?

[slammed79]

Short answer is no.

The 86 has the "short hood" where the donor cab has the longer hood, the hinge locations are different.

http://forum.73-87chevytrucks.com/smforum/index.php?topic=9070.0

That will have the builk of the info you'll need. Its some work to do, and I'd hold out for a 81-87 if it were me.