mattb73lt

All in primer now! Finished the cowl belt line patches today and primed the lower cowl panels. Now just a lot of small repairs and the windshield area before the body work starts.

It has been impressive watching that truck come together. The scale of it is impressive, every piece is massive. The quality of the restorations that come out of Matt's shop only get better with each one.

It is new and made locally. The original body was much larger and wider. The original picture Matt has of it is rather impressive and the body is silver. I think the reason for the smaller body was for transportability, you would need oversize permits any time it needed to move.

I hope so, I’ve got a long way to go to get there. If I don’t, it’ll be close. I am going this Sunday, if the weather is good.

Well, this makes me feel pretty good about the progress on this cab. Everything lines up and it's almost all in one color, instead of the faded paint, primer and rust.

I'll probably look at some of their products to finish this cab. Luckily, I do have new windshield seals I sourced years ago from a guy in Mass.

Scrounging parts, fixing, priming. The finished parts are stacking up, all the frame repairs are complete and it's fully primed. I bought my first gallon of color, to paint all the mating surfaces on the frame. Also bought a ton of nuts, bolts and washers to start assembling the frame. Slow and steady is getting it done.

Still slugging away. Took a break on the cab, after getting the sheet metal back. Doing some chassis work to get the frame mobile again. I have the front axle out and took the front springs to a local shop to be re-arched and matched up. The right spring was really bent and was a lot lower when it was in, even with the empty frame. Three work day turn around and the shop had everything I needed, even for both axles. Cleaned and primered all the parts and the right frame rail, but ran out of daylight to get the left one done.

I lucked out with my B-42. It was owned by a tree company and was mostly used in the summer months and garage kept. It had a shag carpet covering the floor that was soaked in chainsaw oil. The floor and cab back were like factory new, with a sheen of oil on the factory paint. It also had less than 100K on it. It was a really easy clean up and repaint after I converted it to diesel. The B-73, not so much, used hard and then abandoned outside. That definitely took its toll. I had thoughts of getting it on the road, but I think that would have destroyed what I did have. This will be like new if I can keep going and get it done.

A little before and after showing the reconfigured floor.

I've been posting a lot because I've had a lot of time to dedicate to this over the Winter and I'm trying to get as much done on it before things pick up at work. The cab structure is done, with only a few minor things to complete. I test fit all the sheetmetal this morning, before I take it to the stripper. It all looks pretty good, but I'm sure there are a few headaches awaiting me. I stacked up most of pieces that have been replaced, plus a bucket full of other scraps, as I was cleaning up the shop. Amazing when you line it all up as you lose track of what you've done, as you fix each issue. The rear cab structure really came out nice and clean, as all the damaged and crushed pieces were fixed or replaced. A lot of strength has come back in it with very little flex, compared to how it was.

Thanks, it's been a lot of work, so far. Looking at using Lizard Skin, like you mentioned for soundproofing. Under the cab, inner doors, roof, cab back wall and firewall. Pretty much everywhere that won't get standard paint.

You mentioned you were having some issues with your cab, after getting it back from the shop that did the work. What did you do with the door seals and the metal retainer that holds them in place? Mine are not usable and I was thinking about using a self adhesive strip to seal the door. I'll be doing a lot of assembly/disassembly as I go before making things permanent to make sure it all fits.

And one more from the bottom of the cab, after welding it all together and priming, before turning it upright. It looks so nice, considering what I started with.

HUGE sigh of relief today. I cut out the cage and test fit the doors to check my work. Everything lined up and the gaps appear very even around both doors. I've been so worried about shift, having cut so far into this cab to save it. Like I've been saying, this is the worst part and time consuming. But, being careful and thoughtful about how I've gone about it is paying off.