Saved From Scrap

Love the old doors on the wall.

 

Was going to drill them out, then remembered I'm junking the panel anyways so who cares? All I want are the brackets and framework off it.

 

Started working on the rear beam I welded in a few years ago. Cutting all those oval holes in the front side for access to the cab mount bolts and so I can get a bar in there to buck the rivets that hold the rear panel skin to the beam. Original panel was held on the bottom with a single row of Robertson wood screws. I will likely beef it up and run 2 rows of 3/16" rivets.

 

When I start putting this thing back together I obviously have a steel frame with an aluminum panel. Would I be better off using aluminum or steel lockbolts to hold the panel to the steel frame? The aluminum frame I removed from the rear panel skin today was held on with steel lockbolts and there was no noticeable corrosion around the heads or the collars.

On the bottom of the rear wall panel I'm wondering if bucking solid steel rivets would be the best bet since the primer and paint would seal moisture out on the nice side. The back side will likely hold moisture inside the frame for a while when running in rain and probably accelerate corrosion if the rivets were aluminum.

Thoughts? I do plan on using some sort of glue or sealer between the steel frame and aluminum panels to help keep the cab weather tight and to act as a corrosion barrier.

 

That's the next tool on my wish list.

I've seen a couple pop rivets that might possibly be shaved head rivets on this cab but I think those were used to replace hucks or solid rivets that popped off over the years. Everything up the A-pillar on mine, along with along the top of the windshield and under the doors were solid buck rivets.

 

Due to a worn out 1-1/2" hole saw I am done with this for today. Guess I will hit up the Newfie Speed and Sport tomorrow and get a new one.

 

Original piece back there was a fabricated beam. It was rust jacked, rotted and sagged. Too far gone to save.

I had 44k SSHD Rockwells in there originally. Believe they were 5.29 gears. New diff is a 3.73.