Sergeant Rock Gets Metal Work Done

Hey, welcome to trucks.

I

got a great show for you today because I'm dealing with a subject that I get a lot of requests for

metal work. Now, the reason

that this is so important is that most trucks are in pretty rough shape. They've been used hard, they've been abused. Heck, this one even got drafted

and by the time somebody starts to work on them,

there is some damage and some rust that really needs to be dealt with.

Now, replacement panels, they might be available.

Then again, they may not be available. So today, I'm gonna show you how to make your own replacement panels for some of the biggest problem areas on a truck

and show you some really cool tools at the same time.

Ok, without a doubt, one of the main areas that is prone to rust on any vehicle

is what is known as a dog leg. Now, that would be the area around the windshield

or around the lip of the fender

or up under the cab or the rocker

or even into the door jams. Now, the reason that these are so bad is that each one of these areas create a little shelf that can hold water, moisture, whatever and that of course, will cause rust. So I'm gonna show you how to make a replacement panel for these areas. First thing you wanna do is take your tape measure

and measure the area that you're gonna replace. Now, as you can see,

this is very solid. I'm not gonna replace this, but

I am gonna use it as an example.

Now transfer your measurements to a piece of 18 gauge sheet metal

and cut it out.

Follow that with a trip to the sheet metal break.

Now, this will allow us to put a 90 degree bend into the metal.

Now we're gonna move on to a tool called the shrinker stretcher. Now, what this does is it actually shrinks or stretches the metal along this edge and that allows you to form the panel to whatever contour that you want.

All

almost there. We need a little more bin right in here.

Oh, look at that. A perfect replacement panel. Now, all you've got to do is put it in.

Now, some of you may be tempted to take some shortcuts here

and weld or rivet this panel over the top of the old rusty piece and then just smooth out the ends with some filler. Oh, no, don't do that. That's hacking. Don't do that. What you need do is cut out the old piece and weld the new piece in. So it's nice and flush looks good. It'll be strong

and it will last as long as that old original piece did. Now we need to move on to an area that really does need some help on this truck and that's that gaping hole that used to be a floor.

But first I need to get these seats out of here.

That is nasty. Look out.

No,

there it comes.

That's nasty. Cait

mo.

Oh.

Oh man,

there's some stink happening in there.

No.

Wow.

Oh

yeah.

And stink.

You still, you still rolling

out?

Hey, if I gotta be here, you gotta be here.

Disgusting stuff.

All right.

Now that the nasty stuff is done, we can move on to the floors. Now, most of you know that floors are one of the main areas that you're gonna find some problems on a truck, especially an old one like this.

But if replacement panels are available, you're already halfway there. And I showed you how to put those in on the crazy horse project. But

what if they're not available?

Easy? You get to make your own.

Now, since every floor pan project is a little different, the key here is to decide what you want the floor to do

besides keep your feet off the transmission. In other words, do you want it to mount flush? Do you wanna roll beads around it?

Do you want a removable panel for the transmission? Are you going to stay with the standard shift? You're going to an automatic.

There's a lot of things here and the only way to answer these questions is to look at the floor and lay out the project before you get started.

Now, you may remember that our old 41 Dodge has

floor, but that's not because of rust. No matter of fact, this is a very solid cab, perfect raw materials where it does need some help is this removable panel that originally gave you access to the battery and the transmission is gone

and the chances of finding one are like impossible. So we are gonna make that panel and it's gonna be better than what came from the factory. Take a look at this.

This lip is recessed about three quarters of an inch and you have threaded holes that held down the original floor. So we're gonna start by building a perimeter frame out of three quarter inch square tubing.

Now to bend that tubing,

I'm gonna use this tubing bender that we got from Woodward Fab

and it is perfect for the smaller projects. Look at this, you have dice and rollers to do everything from 3/8 round tubing

all the way up to 7/8 round tubing

and you can also do two different sizes of square tubing. Now, all you've got to do is pick the dye that you need to use, slide it onto the spindle,

put your roller onto the bending arm,

put the arm on the spindle

slide in your piece of tubing

and then

pull on this sucker for all your worth

and

yeah.

All right. We've got the sides and the back of our framework done time to take a break. But when we come back, gonna finish up the front

and show you how to cover it with sheet metal. Oh, you don't want to miss that.

Welcome back to trucks where today's show is about working metal and building custom replacement panels for your project.

Now, I've already shown you how to build a piece like this.

This will replace areas around the windshield or in the door jams or in the lip of the fender, all problem areas.

Now, I'm in the middle of building a custom replacement floor for that 41 dodge which has no floor. Now that we've got all our pieces cut,

it's time to see how they fit.

Now, an important thing to remember. Any time you are doing patch panel work,

you need to make it fit your application. Don't expect it just to drop into place, especially something as old as this that's been hacked on by, who knows who?

Now, I'll be prepared to do a little bit of hammering, a little bit of twisting, a little bit of bending to get everything to fit right. Because it is this step here, all this pre fitting

that's gonna decide just how nice. All this is gonna go together.

Look at that

once all your fitting is done. You'll need to tack weld it all together. Now, this is where a meg is really nice because it is so quick and easy

with the structure all tacked together. It's time to finish weld all the seams. Now it seams this tight and neat. I prefer the preciseness of a tig welder. But if all you have is a mig, it will do a fine job too.

We'll follow that up by smoothing down the wells

and then you'll be ready to set the frame in place and see what you have.

All right, look at this

perfect fit, but I'm not done yet. I still have a couple of shifters coming up through the floor and I would like to have access to them without taking out this whole floor piece. So

I am going to build a removable panel over the shifters.

First, we'll build the framework around the shifters,

then finish it up by adding bracing to tie it all together and make it very strong.

Once your framework is done and all your seams welded up, it is time to cover it with sheet metal. I'm gonna take care of that after the break.

Welcome back to trucks today. I'm showing you some of the tools and techniques that it takes to do some quality metal fabrication on your project. Now, I'm right in the middle of building some floors for this old dodge that's been given up on by everybody including the junkyard.

Now, when I left off, I built this framework to go in the opening of the floor. Now

it's time to cover this thing with sheet metal.

First, we'll lay the frame on the metal and trace around the perimeter and all of the braces

then cut it out with cheers

and a jigsaw.

Ok. You probably know that there is not much strength in a flat piece of sheet metal, especially

the bigger it gets. So to give us some more strength

here in between these braces, you can see where I've laid out some lines where we're gonna roll some beads and we're gonna do that with a bead roller.

Now, a bead roller is a machine that allows you to roll a bead into a piece of sheet metal without distorting it

by running it through the rollers

as you rotate the handle.

Now, the magic of one of these things is that you can follow just about any design you can imagine by rotating the metal as you turn the crank, you can do flames, scallops. Heck, you can literally write your name.

Now, this particular roller is from a place called machines and more and it is unique in a lot of different ways. First of all, it's got precision gears and bearings and dyes for years of trouble free service.

Then you've got a nice deep throat here so you can get some big pieces in there and work them

and then it's constructed out of heavy gauge square tubing.

That way these dyes aren't gonna flex on you when you're rolling your bead, that will give you a nice straight true bead.

Now, all we have to do is roll the beads following our pattern,

then punch holes in the outer edge where the framework is going to meet the skin,

follow that by welding the skin to the frame

and finally dress the well

and that takes care of the main floor. Now, let's go see how this thing fits.

Oh Man, that is awesome. Now, the only thing we have left to do is to make an access panel for our shifters to come through.

So we'll take some measurements and then we'll make a template out of cardboard.

Now, all we need to do is transfer this pattern to a piece of sheet metal. Now, you could use a jigsaw, but

I've got a much better tool that's gonna blow your mind. This is called the tracer punch and it's from heck industries. Now, basically this is a motorized punch

that will allow you to cut whatever shape you want into a piece of sheet metal. Check this out.

Now, as you can see

is a very neat, very clean, precise bur

free cuts. You can't do that with a jigsaw.

Now, you can use the trace of punch freehand like I just did,

but it really comes into its own when you use it to follow a pattern.

All you do is clamp your template down onto a piece of sheet metal, set the depth of your dice to follow the pattern and then just put it in and cut it out. If you're a fabricator,

you need this tool.

All right, let's take a look at what we have here. This is our access panel to cover the shifters and notice we've got our holes cut for the shifters to come through.

I punched some holes around the perimeter. That way we can hold it in place with screws. Then I ran some beads in it, not only to give it strength

but also. So it will match the rest of the floor. Look at this

and that looks like it came from the factory that way. And that is what you're after.

Now, chances are you're not gonna have to build a floor for a 41 dodge. But

the tools and techniques that I've shown you today you can use on almost any project that you tackle and it is a much better investment to buy the tools and do it yourself than to pay somebody to do it for you.

Now, I know a lot of you guys are thinking man, that metal working stuff is really cool. But

why are you spending so much time on this old truck? This is such a piece of junk.

Well, maybe, but if you can't see the potential in this old rig,

you just haven't been watching trucks enough. Trust me. I have got plans for this thing.

Big plans,

really big plans bigger than you can imagine. And if you're wondering what those plans are,

you're just gonna have to keep watching trucks

when you're working on your classic truck project and you've got the engine in and the drive trains done and all the suspension's done

and it looks like you're coming down that final stretch.

That's where a lot of people get stalled because they forget about those little detail things and even worse. Where do you find them?

Well, I've got a name for you, Sae's

Rod Shop. Take a look at the stuff we've got for an upcoming project, got side mirrors, we got interior and exterior door handles, gas pedal, got all kinds of weather stripping. We have some window channel, we have headlight conduit. Now these guys have everything all the way up to frames and chat.

Take a look at the size of this catalog. Now, this isn't just junk either. This is good stuff. This is socal speed shop and build its specialties and low car.

But the best part is you only need to remember one name to get all this

Sae's Rod Shop. Take a look at it. Look how it's spelled, write it down.

So you don't forget it

with the prices of new trucks and suvs going higher and higher every day.

Well, it's not surprising. People are trying to hold on to the rigs longer and

expecting them to last a little longer. But once you get over 100,000 miles, well, your lubrication needs change in your engine. That is why Haland

has come out with this high mileage oil. Now, this has special seal conditioners that keep your gaskets and seals from deteriorating. Of course, that can cause oil leaks and oil consumption.

So if you want to squeeze every mile that you can out of your old engine,

Palin can help you do that. That's going to do it for today.

We'll see you next week.