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Re: '65 Standard

Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 1:45 pm
by TRL
Awesome Post! Really love the look of that autocraft metal.

Re: '65 Standard

Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 10:40 am
by Dual Port
OK, I left off starting to weld the left cargo door. Sean says he wants a welding tutorial, so this may take some time. Go get something out of the fridge.

Here the weld tacks are growing together into one continuous weld.
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Now grind out the weld buggers so it's ready for mud. All the time I'm fitting/welding, I'm constantly opening and closing the door to check the gaps and for interference to make sure the door operates properly. Note the gaps are nice and even.

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Let's check the warpage with a straightedge. If you're really good, like Kirk, all you need from here is high-build primer and color. :D Not me, I need mud, but not bad, less than 1/8" will smooth this out. :roll:
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Now size up the inner panel and see how it fits into the floor. So far, so good. Note the red/pink edge of the rocker is even under the panel......
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Until you put the lock rod in. Notice the panel is now too far out at the end by the lock rod and the rocker edge disappears. This is going to need some work. I had this issue on Bus 1 also and saw it too late, I ended up cutting the latch plate out of the floor, moving it inboard about 5/8" and re-welding it. I know this is not an unusual problem as I started looking closer at other restored busses and it's not unusual to see the cargo doors "pooched" out at the bottom center where they meet. :roll: It's some kind of production tolerance on the aftermarket parts- they look identical to the OEG but they don't fit right.
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Make your pencil marks on the inner panel.
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Cut and test fit it in the skin.
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Put it all together with the lock rod and it fits like shit.
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This little SOB has to come out. :(
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Re: '65 Standard

Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 10:51 am
by Dual Port
If you look straight down through the lock rod guide you can see how much it's misaligned. Compare it to the right side lock hole.
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So drill the spot welds partially through to weaken them, then pop them apart with a screwdriver.
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Here's the bottom, compare it with the rotted OEG- not that much different.
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Open up the hole with a square file to bring the lock rod about 3/8" outboard.
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Test fit it.
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Clamp the guide back in using a hex nut as a spacer.
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Weld it in place,
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Drill some holes for plug welds, someday I'll buy a spot welder instead of borrowing Chuck's. It's not going to see daylight inside for a long time so shoot it with some weld-through primer.
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Re: '65 Standard

Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 11:04 am
by Dual Port
Clamp it in place.
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Weld the plug welds and inner panel
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From the outside, the welds have good penetration.
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Test fit it. Note when closed and latched the door fits nice, the panel is not protruding and the gaps are even. The front door skin is popped loose from its frame, that's why it sticks out so much.
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Grind out the welds and shoot some primer.
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Re: '65 Standard

Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 11:15 am
by Dual Port
OK, on to the right door. Make your pencil mark where you're going to cut the bottom off. It doesn't have to be even, or level, or in line with the left door. Leave as much OEG metal as you can, mark it just above the rot where there's good metal.
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Make your cut.
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Grind the sharp edges from the cut line so you don't hurt yourself. :shock:
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Set your new panel in place and trim the right side where it interferes with the hinge. This will allow it to sit pretty flush in place.
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Clamp it in place and set your gaps with stir sticks.
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Make your pencil mark on the inside. Make damn sure everything fits right!
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Re: '65 Standard

Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 11:27 am
by Dual Port
Make your cut, praying all the time that you didn't #&%@! up somewhere.
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Put the panel in the blast cabinet and remove the "paint". Of the 4 panels I'm using here 3 of them are AutoCraft (England) and this one is WW. All came from WW, they must have been out of the AC front skin. Quality seems to be equal among them, all are .038-.039" thick (one mm). I think I prefer the AC panels over anything. They come lightly oiled, wipe them with brakeclean and go to work.
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Clamp it in place using the HF butt panel clamps.
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Check your gaps again, this should be at least 100 times.
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Tack it.
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This edge tack is very important, it sets the location of the lower edge. Make sure you get it right.
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Re: '65 Standard

Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 11:33 am
by Dual Port
Sean was asking about the panel clamps, here's a better shot.
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Inside picture.
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Get the edge right.
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Check your gaps a few more times.
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The welds will grow together. Short tacks, blow with air in between, don't let the panel get hot. Blowing with an air gun brings the temp from 1500 to room temp in under 5 seconds.
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Make your marks for the inner panel.
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Re: '65 Standard

Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 11:39 am
by Dual Port
Cut the panel and test fit it.
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Check the lock rod guide location, it's off by a mile, big surprise.
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Not only does it need to be moved outboard, it also has to go left. :?
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Cut it, move it, test fit it, weld it.
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Once I'm happy with it's location, prime it and get ready to weld.

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Do I have enough clamps there?
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Re: '65 Standard

Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 12:04 pm
by Dual Port
Weld it.
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The inside corners (all 4 of them) needed a little hammer damage to fit. Here I have the gap too big so I'm using a flattened piece of copper pipe as a backer to fill the gap.
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Grind out the buggers. I use a "hard disc" initially to remove the mountains and get the metal level, then a soft flap disc to smooth things out more. If you use a flap disc without the hard disc you'll likely "go through" next to the weld. The hard disc is on a HF 4" grinder, they're cheap and work fine, only about $7-10 with a coupon. The flap disc is on a Mac air grinder, I'm not fond of HF air tools as they're weak.
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On the right is the weld, in the middle I've ground it out with the hard disc, and on the left I finished with the flap disc.
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The left door I ran a D/A across to make it look prettier for pictures. :D
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First coat of mud, cheese grated, and hand blocked with 36 grit.
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I figured it would be easier off the bus so I popped the pins and worked on a cart. More mud, then 36 grit on an air file.
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Prime.
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Color, sealing wax red.
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Color inside, beigegray.
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Air file with 400 to make new paint look old.
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Re: '65 Standard

Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 12:10 pm
by Dual Port
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Done, hung, glass installed. The paint match is OK but not great, it's hard to make new paint look old but it looks better than the orange rattle can that was on there. The gaps are good, in a perfect world the left door could go forward about 2 mm and the top front hinge could go backwards about 2mm. These would not be adjustments, they're either bending the hinge or bending the pillars so I'll leave them alone.

The latches work PERFECT!
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I didn't keep track of time but I started on Jan 10 and finished Jan 25 working an average of 4 hours per weekday. Is that 40 hours? OMG........