1963 double cab build thread

[Hookdriver]

Well fellas... I am not the best with remembering to take pictures as I go. Phil and I found this double not far from our houses. Actually phil found it and gave me the little brother head start. It has its fair share of worts and bumps, but as soon as it rolled through the gate it was part of the family. I have a two year old ball of fire that would just about fight me for it! I spent all day scrubbing and cleaning just to get an idea of where I stand. Doglegs are toast. Corners may be saved about 4 inches up. Pax side rocker is poo. Bottoms of both front doors need love and the very edge of the nose. The bed has a few pinholes, nothing terrible. I am on the fence right if I will pull the bed skins. The heads up section has a link to Phil's recovery pictures. So here it is so far. Josh

[63buggin]

Looks great love the double cabs I think I'm fixing to get a single cab would love to come by and check yours out the one Im getting has been cut in the rear for bigger tires

[MRJEL]

I'm so jealous I am not even gonna read this thread............more than twice a day!

Congrats on the find. Wish I could have beat you to it, but it does look to be in good hands.

Keep posting the build.

[Grifspop]

Man, that Double Cab has such a natural patina- I would CLR - Scothbrite that rascal and fix the rust holes and roll it with new mechanicals

[Jon65]

Sweet find, man. I bet this is gonna be a sweet build. Best of luck to you.

[Hookdriver]

Well guys not much forward progress today. Spent the morning compressor shopping and getting parts to build a bigger electrolysis tank. The afternoon was tied up with the little ones.

[DiggerD]

Looks like you will have your hands full with this one, but it will be worth it!

[Hookdriver]

So no updates in a couple days. Sorry guys. My compressor is on the way. If anyone knows a good supplier of glass beads in the area let me know. I am probably going to order some media this week as well. A lot of what i have been doing so far is cleaning. I thought both my corners were toast. After a solid afternoon with hammer and dolly they will do just fine. The lower ends will still need new metal but, that is a lot less expensive than the whole corner. I pulled out my fuel cell divider wall to asses the damage in there. To my suprise the factory paint is still shiny in there.

I will be the first to admit i am crappy with a camera. The picture make this corner look a bit wonky still, it is in great shape. I am no going to worry too much about it until I patch the holes the previous owner used to install scout tail lights.


Here is my electrolysis setup. It is not the prettiest, but the cathode side will rust away quick. One of my gate latches is in there.


Here is a corner patch I am hand forming. Need a bit more practice.

This is my extrusion pressing test piece. It started out flat.

After i made it a channel I decided to see if I could form a 90 deg angle in it.
These are my test pieces the final bits will be better.

[Grifspop]

Nice metalwork!

[Jon65]

Nice metalwork!

X2.

[Hookdriver]

Just getting started.... More to follow!

[Hookdriver]

Got old rusty inside.....finally. Should have it blasted by next weekend. Try to get some pictures up tomorrow. Josh

[Hookdriver]

So I finally got started on the blasting. Progress is "steady". It is good to know exactly where I stand. Some of the pinholes were expected some not. No worries. So on with the pictures.
The side. Short rocker will need to be replaced. Lower corners as well.

Blasting inside is noooooo fun!

Cargo floor is a no go. It has more holes than a screen bottom boat. I didnt even finish blasting the floor. Every spot I hit did this.

[bumblebuggy]

You are a sick man!

[63buggin]

Dang Josh when went to blasting ......You Went to Blasting great progress

[bakertim2]

Keep up the good work. It takes time but well worth it in the end.

[Jon65]

Great work. Keep up the progress.

[Hookdriver]

So I can only blast for a couple hours in the evening while my wife is home to watch the kids. Progress is slow but steady. Here are the pictures of the other side I did tonight. Not sure if am going to be able to save the front floor. In the picture it looks more solid than it is. The corners have to go for sure jury is out on the rest of it. The dash is about 3/4 blasted.

[bayboy87]

what did ytou blast with?i used media in a harbor fright one we have and couldnt get it to knock old paint off figured i am using wrong stuff
looking good

[Hookdriver]

Black diamond media. It is coal slag. About nine bones for a fifty pound bag at northern tool. Tractor supply sells it as well. Keep the valve at the bottom of the garbage freight tank open about half way. Let the tank pressurize all the way before you open the valve at the nozzle. Stay back about 6-8 inches and it will cut like a champ. The cool thing about the black diamond media is that you can reuse it A LOT.

[macollins105]

what did ytou blast with?i used media in a harbor fright one we have and couldnt get it to knock old paint off figured i am using wrong stuff
looking good

My sandblaster hates the black diamond media for some reason. I use the premium play sand from Lowes for around $3.20 a bag. A lot of it depends on the nozzle size on how the blaster feeds/sprays. I run the pressure up to about 90-100 PSI then I start blasting and my pressure drops to about 70-85 PSI while in use. Make sure your air compressor is able to maintain a higher CFM at 60+ PSI. It takes a lot of air to run a sand blaster for a long period of time. I don't reuse the play sand. I only sandblast in low parts of my yard. "Kill two birds with one stone" haha


The double cab is looking good!

[type901]

Looking good. Jury should come back with a new floor verdict. I would rather do the plug welds then trying to splice that many sections in.

[Hookdriver]

The problem with sand is the dust can give you a bad case of silicosis.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001191/
At any rate respiratory protection is a must. I screwed up day one blasting. Forgot my respirator for the first part of the day. In the evening the dust from the rust and paint alone had its effect on me. We just have to be careful with this stuff.

I turned my garage into a scene from Dexter. The only thing getting hurt in here is the rust. Tarps from the ceiling to floor on three sides. Works pretty well to contain the media. I crack open the garage door about three inches and put the box fans down there to blow the dust out. I sweep the media into piles, vacuum it up, screen it, refill. I bought six bags of this stuff. Still on the first two bags.

The cfm rating on your compressor makes all the difference in the world. Everytime I stop to refill I empty all three moisture traps. Even with that I had moisture in the line yesterday. Not much but some. I plan on running more iron pipe with traps to help cool the air and condense the moisture out before it hits the plastic hose.

At the end of the day it is going to be easier to replace the front floor than it would to splice the 6 patches it would need. So as it stands now it is looking like front floor, cargo floor, doglegs, short rocker, lower corners, a few pinhole patches here and there, possibly bed skins. All three doors need lower repairs. Gates need lower repairs.

I used to have a 1SG that was crusty as ever. He used to say "slow is smooth and smooth is fast." My wife is really looking forward to getting this thing back on the road. I was joking with her about it last night. Said my goal was to have it done before my son starts driving. He turned one last month! Hopefully it wont take that long.

[macollins105]

I sweep the media into piles, vacuum it up, screen it, refill. I bought six bags of this stuff. Still on the first two bags.

What are you using to screen the blast media?

[Hookdriver]

A clearance rack window screen from lowes. The frame on the screen holds the screen flat over the top of the bucket. I have one of those vacuums that goes on the top of a five gallon bucket. I set the screen over another bucket. You have to use your hand to spread it over the screen or it will pile up. Once it is transferred it is ready to send into the blasting pot. Since I have been doing this I haven't had a single clogged nozzle. This will definitely help if you are using sand.

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