1969 Custom 30 Tow Truck restoration

[bobs409]

Continued...

In the first 2 pics you can see why I replaced this part. They are are rotted all the way to the top. Probably the worst I've seen.

There was one other job that needed to be done to the new cowl. The donor section came from a 1967 and they use a different emergency brake set up so I cut that area out of my old firewall and installed it into the new one. (last 2 pics) I am also swapping the dash panels as a 67 had some differences. (plus I wanted to keep my original anyway) Other than those, the rest of the cab is the same 67-72.

To fill in the time between these big jobs, I've been cleaning, sand blasting and priming all the little items, and boy there are many! I have a little process going in my garage. Brackets, pulleys, clips, bolts, etc are bagged and tagged as they are removed, then they take a trip through the solvent tank, dry over night and then head to the sand blast cabinet. After that, they go outside and get cleaned with brake cleaner and a coat of etch prime is applied.

After they dry, these parts all go into what I like to call, "the done box". No finish paint is applied so I don't have to worry about scratching these pieces while in storage. All parts will be painted shortly before being reinstalled.

It's a huge undertaking, my very first "body off" resto but I am having a 1 ton of fun! (pun intended)

 

[oldskydog]

Jeez Bob, you must really love that truck. Around here, we would just get another cab...they seem to be plentiful, but just about all need rocker and cab corner work, Generally a factory air cab can be had for $300 or less.
I'm trying to make a deal with one of my neighbors for the 70 shortbed he has in his back yard. It comes with a spare cab and extra sheet metal.
I'm really kicking myself for not buying those two 72 3/4 ton 402, factory air Supers last summer for $2000 with a 69 pass 427. I could have made some money on that deal, but I just had no place to put them.
Keep it up. I love those 67-72 trucks....the last of the all metal trucks.

 

[bobs409]

I remember those trucks, I thought you did buy them. That was a gift for that price. You could have brought them home, listed them on ebay or on the truck forum I go to and made a small fortune inside a week!

Rust free or needing only a little work cabs around here are non existant unless they are brought in from your area. Here they sell for about $750-$850 for non air. Not sure on air condition cabs.

I had considered going that route for a few minutes but knew I could fix this one for less. I'm trying to keep as much of the original parts as I can but it's tough. All this work will just add interest to the story when it's done. This cab will be rock solid when I'm done with it.

 

[bobs409]

Thanks to the administrator deleting posts, I have to redo this:

Now that the firewall section is in, it was time to remove the old floor or what was left of it. I just put down a few layers of cardboard on the ground and tipped the cab onto it's back, then uprighted it onto the door frame opening.



In this position, I was able to drill out the spot welds at the back of the cab, one cut at the rear of each rocker and the floor was out. Now I'm just waiting on the new floor to come in.

One of the great mysteries about this truck is the "Wreck-Master" wrecker set up. I still haven't found any info on this company so finding replacement stickers for the boom wasn't an option.

Luckily, I found some black and some brushed aluminum vinyl decal sheet and made new ones myself! They turned out great too. I simply traced the original decals onto paper and placed that over a sheet of black vinyl and traced out with an exacto blade. Once done, the black was stuck on top of the brushed aluminum sheet and trimmed to size. Little details like this will make this truck stand out.

 

[bobs409]

While I'm waiting on the new floor, this is a good time to get the box removed. What a job that was! Looks simple enough but it's alot more clumbsy than it appears. LOL Plus trying to work on 3/4 inch stone is murder! This will be the last part I'll finish so the box gets set aside for now.



My main goal is to get the cab and the frame done this year but things are moving along nicely so I will probably get alot further. One other very important thing I've been doing is collecting all the new parts. My garage is getting full of those nice cardboard boxes stuffed with shiny new parts! More to come...

 

[bobs409]

Now that the box is off and out of the way, this is a good time to strip the frame of all removable pieces. There were a few "thin" areas on the frame rails (behind the leaf spring brackets) from rust flaking so I cut the old metal out and welded in some new. Once all done, you'll never know it was repaired.


I was originally going to attempt to sandblast the frame and parts but after looking into POR15 products, I am going that route instead. I've never used it before but have heard good things about it. This will work great on the underside of the box too.

I'm in the process of prepping the frame now. The plan is to thoroughly clean, wire wheel and clean again, then treat with their metal ready, then rinse. Once dry, this will recieve 2 coats of POR 15. Some areas have pock marks so for that I bought their body filler which will be applied while the last coat is still tacky.

Once all that is done, it will get sprayed with Chassis coat which should be the correct sheen of black.

 

[bobs409]

Got alot done on the frame but it's a long dirty process! And boring! I did get some parts like the rear springs and some brackets completely done and coated with POR but I have a long way to go.

The new floor board finally came in and it's a beauty! This is the right way to fix an old truck floor. No patch work here and NO hidden rust left behind. I've been waiting for this piece so now the frame work will be put on hold while I get back to the cab.

My first test fit went very well. Only 2 small areas to trim and it set right in place. Today I began welding it all in. A few more welds tomorrow and I can upright it and begin installing the lower pillar panels, outer rockers and cab corners.

Feels good to actually be putting parts on instead of just taking things off!

 

[jim_ss409]

That truck is really coming along.
The new floor looks great!

 

[petepedlar]

That truck is a huge job, but it's going to be fabulous when it's done........... keep up the good work Bob !!

Dave

 

[MRHP]

Bob, why was the frame repaired in strips? Seems like you are setting yourself up for problems down the road. I've never seen it done that way. Usually it is stepped.

 

[bobs409]

I didn't want to do it that way, it's the only metal I could find! I had to rely on Home Depot and that's the widest they had. Made for more welding on my part.

Believe me, it ain't goin' no where, it's strong like bull!

 

[bobs409]

I got a few more parts on. The first pic below shows the lower front and rear pillars and the outer rocker in on the passenger side. All went well. I put the door back on to make sure everything is going where it needs to be.

Once that was confirmed, I finished this area by grinding all the plug welds down and using a little "icing" to blend it all in and a coat of gray primer, then on to the other side...


The next pic shows the driver side with the new front and rear door pillars just installed. Next to go on is the outer rocker and then a door fit test, then it's on to the cab corners. Welder is getting a work out and so is Bob!



There are many ways of treating inside panels. I've decided on coating everything with a Zinc rich galvanizing welding primer. I could have used POR or even undercoating but those are time consuming and messy. The galvanized coating is the perfect coating in between panels getting welded to prevent corrosion and should do the trick especially since this vehicle won't see any bad weather anyway.

During this time I've also been working on the frame, rear axle assembly, leaf springs and assorted brackets. Each is getting a thorough wire wheeling and cleaning, then metal prepped for POR 15 and painted. I found it helpful to coat with their silver as (shown below) for the first coat, then go with semi black for the second. It helps to avoid any missed areas. This is not the finish coat, it will be finished with chassis coat which is a nice semi gloss satin black.

These pieces are coming out real nice and when done, you'll never even know there is POR15 under the finish coat. Best of all, it should never rust again!

Last pic is the new shocks just sprayed in gloss gray Rustoleum hanging around to dry. In my search of what the correct color for the shocks should be, gray turned up the most so that's what I'm going with. They aren't the original spiral type but at least they'll have a nice gray color!

 

[Old School]

Great work!

 

[SSpev]

That's real nice Bob. I always wanted a wrecker.

 

[bobs409]

Thanks guys. I just wish the laws were different. Would be so cool to tow a few cars a month to make a little scratch. I even had a name picked out, "Vintage towing". Now all I can put on it is "Not for hire"!

The way the laws are today, I'd have to mortgage the house to pay for all the insurance, permits and licenses!

Bet it wasn't like this in the 60's.

 

[Swiss Impala]

Sorry to hear this, would be cool to work with it.
Why this? Just because it is an old truck ore because the government wants to make some extra money?
Here in Switzerland the age of such a car or truck does not matter, you only are not allowed to drive it with the license
of a historic car or truck if you want to earn money with it. You can matriculate it as a normal vehicle without the advantage of historic cars.

Franz

 

[bobs409]

It's because the government wants to be in every aspect of our lives and has it's big hand out. It's unbelievable the things you have to go through to tow legal. Just a few that I know of, there is probably more:

Commerical plates
Commercial insurance for the truck
Insurance "on the hook" for the vehicle being towed
CDL drivers license
towing permit (very hard to get too!)

You also have to have a piece of property big enough to hold about 30 cars if I recall correctly. There was also mention of having about $50,000 of collateral such as a business, not sure what that's for. I think the truck would have to be safety inspected annually too so more $ there.

I am thinking about just getting antique tags for it. I was told I could legally tow any car that is in my name so will be good for any of mine that break down or if I buy any cars.

Was told it's a $3,000 dollar fine if caught towing for money without all the correct paperwork.

 

[Swiss Impala]

This is even worse :eek than in Switzerland. For example, our pickups, the
Blazer K5, the Land Rover Discovery, also our little Mazda dumping truck may be used for whatever
it is, except transporting dangerous things, such as toxic liqiuds or explosive things.
All these trucks are below or may reach the gross vehicle weight of 3.5 metric tons.
They all may tow trailers depending what is allowed by the manufacturer of each vehicle.
There was a problem with K 3500. It's total weight would have been 4.2 metric tons.
Our law says this is a truck. You need a special driver license and in this case such a truck
may not been driven on Sundays and during the night (10.00 pm to 04.00 in the morning).
During the Nineties it was possible to make working some tricks, so our K 3500 is a normal pickup.
Nowadays you may forget this, seems to be as if they have learned a lot, I mean those who
steal our money out of our pockets. This is the main reason why I maintain this pickup as well as possible!

Best greetings from Switzerland,

Franz

 

[64ss409]

Bob
You could tow one of your own to a car show. The combo would look cool.

 

[k9hotrodder409]

Hey Bob ! That truck is coming along great. I remember doing the same thing with my '64 Chev 30 series flatbed. Doing the floor/rocker fenderwells/grille shell/'67 327 4barrel/'71 Caddy front power seat etc.I think there is a picture of it in my album