BillyBob Work-in-Progress Log

TRUCK LINKS including vendor sites for old parts, custom parts, and tools as well as sites for classic car and truck organizations

STORE Operating in association with Amazon.com, books, recordings and tools can be purchased.

PLANNING for the restoration including project schedule and cost estimates.

WORK-IN-PROGRESS is the restoration of parts of BillyBob that I can accomplish without a garage.

PRE-RESTORATION includes log entries of minor repairs and and adventures between time of purchase and the time when I started restoration, a piece at a time.

JR'S KORNER JR's Korner is the history of BillyBob before I got him authored by my brother, Wm. C. Kephart.

BILLYBOB MAINTENANCE Ever changing detailing, oil change, lube, etc. maintenance routines specifically developed for BillyBob, including required tools, materials and procedures.

19. Door of Perception

June 8^th 2002  (Apologies to Aldous Huxley) Last nite when I got home and slammed the driver's door, there was the loud noise of metal objects/glass falling down inside the door. The window was down at the time and I feared the window regulator had let loose. My guardian angel was watching over me tho', and it turned out to be the interior door handle/latch assembly. The window still worked and I could open and close the door using the outside handle. Today, on the way to the Krash Lab, I realized that BillyBob had lost about half his usual rattles and creakings! It was hard to believe how much noise had been coming from that door. I guess it's time to pay a little attention to the doors. They need everything 'cept maybe hinge work.

July 14^th 2002  Struck out on my sandblasting efforts today so I decided to start my initial door repair investigations. I've decided to rebuild one door at a time starting with the passenger side door. Took off the inside door handle and window crank and removed the upholstery panel. The door handle shaft was pretty well butchered and all the splines were gone. I need to start ordering parts.

August 3^rd 2002  No work last week. I was in Pennsylvania for my thirty-fifth high school class reunion. A chance to see the girl of my dreams again which was my main reason for going. The rest was a bonus. A bittersweet time. Door parts arrived while I was away.

I was outbid on a pristine vent window assembly on ebay. I went to American Classic Truck Parts and ordered used vent window assemblies for both doors. Ordered outside door handles (#18-107), inside door handles (#18-005), inside window handles (#18-015), inside handle gasket set (#18-043), outside door lock w/key (#18-148), left door latch (#18-523), right door latch (#18-524), left door striker (#18-629), right door striker (#18-630), left door control (#18-825), right door control (#18-826), deluxe black door panels (#19-061) and door panel frames (#19-321) from Chevy Duty.

Using a 1/4" clutchhead screwdriver, loosened clutchhead screws holding the door control, latch assembly and outside door handle. Made a tenative try at getting these three items out. The latch assembly will have to wait as the rear window channel is in the way so I tightened its screws back up. Removed the garnish moulding from around the window opening to get an idea of how the rear window channel fits in. Also reviewed the Factory Assembly Manual and Shop Manual . . . Decided to get some more replacement parts before tackling the window channels. Cleaned up the garnish moulding with Simple Green and water. I will take this thing off and paint it during a week when BillyBob is in the warehouse 'cause the window is not stable without it in place.

For want of a horse shoe nail, the kingdom was lost! Started to assemble the lock cylinder/push button assembly for the passenger side door. An internal snap ring holds the whole thing together. I had internal snap ring pliers once that I used for working on the transmission of my first car, a '59 Ferd sedan. They must still be in Pennslyvania 'cause I couldn't find them. Closed up the Krash Lab and ran over to NAPA. Got pliers with interchangable points and rushed back. Points are held in place with clamps and small allen head screws. The screws are so tight, the allen wrench begins to strip the allen heads ~!@#$%^ Used penetrating oil and MAPP torch on the damn pliers. Finally twisted the darn screws out from the back with regular pliers. I wonder if this is a common problem because two extra screws were provided with the interchangeable points to replace the two I ruined. After all that, I finally got the snap ring in place and the new handle mounted on BillyBob's door. I now have a locking passenger door for the first time since I've had BillyBob.

Next, the new door control and interior door handle was installed without incident. The door can now be opened and locked using the inside door handle again. Locking the door this way is independent from locking the door with a key from the outside. The key only locks the button so it can't be pressed in. The inside door handle locks the latch. If the door is locked using the inside handle, it cannot be opened by the outside button even if you have a key. Still, it is difficult to lock yourself out because you cannot lock the door with the inside handle until the door is closed (the handle will not move to the lock position if the door is not latched). I have seen postings from old trucks maillist members, however, whose ingenious children have overcome this safeguard!

I gave up for the day when, passing my tool boxes, the old snap ring pliers that I couldn't find earlier practically jumped out and tripped me! Jeez! I went thru that tool box three times without finding them and now I see them from over ten feet away. ~!@#$durn Murphy!

September 21^st 2002  Hurricane Isidore is starting to churn up the gulf but the weather here in the shadetree garage is good. Got some chassis degreasing out of the way in the cool of the morning before turning to the door work. A box of plunder arrived from Chevy Duty since the last time I worked on the doors including Door Rubber Seal (#03-011), Door Seal Retainer Screws (#03-091), Lower Cab Windlace Rubber-Green (#03-159), Lower Windlace Retainer-Steel (#03-257), Lower Windlace Screws (#03-282), Super Weatherstrip Adhesive (#03-299), Door Felt Kit-Std (#03-612), Door Glass Channels-Pair (#03-312), Division Bar Relining Channels (#03-405), Beaded Window Seals-pr, (#03-513), Outer Rubber Window Seal-pr (#03-712), Vent Window Weatherstrip (#03-803), Vent Assembly Rivets (#03-825), Vent Pivot Rivets-pr (#03-831), Vent Rivet Setting Tool (#03-835), Door Glass Channel Guide-L (#03-917), Door Glass Channel Guide-R (#03-918), Outside Handle Gasket Set (#18-166), Vent Handle-Left (#18-201), Vent Handle-Right (#18-202), Vent Handle Spring Washers (#18-231), Vent Handle Roll Pins (#18-251), Vent Window Lower Pivot Springs (#18-271), Door Bumpers (#18-311), Window Stop Bumpers (#18-355), Lower Dr Hinge Panel Screws (#18-446), Window Regulator-Left (#18-723), Window Regulator-Right (#18-724), Door Panel Fasteners (#19-422), Door Molding Fastener Set (#19-551), Glass Setting Tape-Door (#70-716), and Glass Setting Tape-Vent (#70-751). Whew! It's hard to believe that I haven't yet ordered everything for the doors.

Gonna start with the used vent window assembly I got from American Classic for the passenger side. This is the better of the two assemblies. It is pretty clean and rust free. Gotta figure out how to get it apart so I went to the Shop Manual which says to drill out the pivot hinge rivet first with a 1/8" bit. I don't have one . . . Visited the McMaster-Carr website and ordered a drill bit set. Besides replacing the glass and weatherstripping, I want to refinish these vent assemblies. They are the standard black finish and BillyBob's are the Deluxe stainless steel, badly corroded now. I am going to attempt to powdercoat the assemblies with a "chrome" powder finish.

September 22^nd 2002  Took BillyBob up to his warehouse bay for a week so I could exercise Renegade. Removed the passenger door garnish molding for refinishing back at the shadetree garage. Removed the inner seal felt strip, which is secured with staples, from the garnish molding. Did some cleanup of the garnish molding with wire brush, wet sanding block and 3M Automotive Paint & Body Scuff Pad before applying the PRE Paint Prep. Finished up with a coat of Rustoleum Grass Green enamel.

PRE Paint Prepped the passenger side upholstery door panel frame and clip, then sprayed with rattlecan self-etching primer. Finished up with a few coats of Eastwood's Original Trim Black (#39143). Turned out to be an expensive day. Three major rattlecan malfunctions that could not be fixed with new nozzles. After throwing the trim black can in the dumpster, I discovered I didn't have full coverage in a visible area. It's !@#$%damn demoralizing sometimes!

September 28^th 2002  Started today by installing the garnish molding with the new stainless steel screws from Chevy-Duty. Any tinkerer knows that an old part that installs easily will not install without troubles after it's been refinished. You will have problems until you mar the new finish somewhere and satisfy Murphy. This happened to me but the scratch I made was small and hard to notice. There are seven long screws and one short one for each molding. Next, new foam washers were placed on the window regulator and door handle shafts. The trim panel frame was fitted to the new cardboard trim panel and the assembly was installed using the new spring wire panel fasteners. Fibre/cardboard washers were placed on the handle shafts and the new window regulator and door handles were installed. For some obscure reason, unknown to me, Chevrolet used a normal blade set screw for the window regulator and an allen head set screw for the door handle. The door is starting to look better already!

October 2^nd 2002  'Nother shipment arrived from Chevy Duty yesterday. This time it was two "Door Glass Clear" (#70-117) and two "Vent Glass Clear" (#70-201). When JR replaced the passenger side glass with a local cut piece sometime back, he had trouble with installation 'cause it was too thick. I only discovered recently that the original AD glass was thinner than today's safety glass. I ordered from Chevy Duty hoping that their replacements meet original specs. I have my fingers crossed. Today, a backorder consisting of Lower Door Seal Retainers (#03-061) and Arm Rests Green (#19-626) arrived. At fifty bucks each, the arm rests are a bit on the high side. They appear to be real leather tho' and for all I know, were formed on the thighs of virgins before being hand-sewn in-country. I was a little put off by the plastic brackets. I don't know what the originals were made of but cast or stamped metal would be my guess. No mounting hardware either.

October 22^nd 2002  Got some more goodies from Eastwood yesterday. A Door Skin Installer (#31059), Door Skin Removal Tool (#31017) and a Patch Panel Video (#31113). The door skin tools are steep at $140 separately or $125 as a kit but, the interior bottoms of both BillyBob's doors will have to be replaced and, as of this date, the door skins themselves are in pretty good shape. Deve Krehbiel has tackled this task on his 1950 frame up restoration and documented it on his website. He had problems with the door skin crimp. I hope to avoid those problems with these tools but that remains to be seen.

November 9^th 2002  And more tools. The drill bit set from McMaster-Carr (Made in the USA). Jumbo Rod Bender from BAC Industries, Inc. (#28100) and No. 5 Junior Hand Punch from Roper Whitney of Rockford, Inc. (#28041) The latter two metal tools came from Eastwood Company. I plan on using the hand punch to make sheet metal plugs to weld shut the holes in the doors left from after market "west coast" mirrors that have been removed. I want to try to use the rod bender to adjust the door panel frames (#19-321) from Chevy Duty. The frames are flat in the plane of the panels they enclose but the door surface they ride against is curved and this is causing problems with the one panel I've installed so far. It's pulling out of the frame.

November 10^th 2002  Tackled the disassembly of the vent window assembly. It's too nice outside to work on this today but I'm fighting a lazy mood an' this is the best I can muster at the moment. I don't have a drill press and the 1/8" drill bit wanted to wander all over the pivot hinge rivet head, of course. Hunted up the Dremel Motor Tool and used it to grind the rivet down flat and to grind a dimple in the middle of the rivet to guide the drill . . . That's better. OK, now I've gotten the vent separated and unbolted from the frame. Now I'm stuck again and it's back to research. The Shop Manual sez "Drill out the lower rivet, attaching the ventilator glass rear weatherstrip assembly to the division channel" . . . This takes re-reading and study 'cause there are two rivets, not one. After a bit I started drilling out rivets everywhere 'an didn't quit 'til the drill's batteries ran low 'cause it was so much fun.

I haven't posted a log entry since August so I think I'll stop here while I'm at a head-scratchin' stage and upload this episode to the BillyBob website. The four day Thanksgiving weekend is coming up and I've got a lot of work planned for then. Still got plenty of engine compartment, brake, frame, cab work and electrical odds 'n ends in progress to report on down the road. Monday is Armistice Day (11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month 1918). Remember our Veterans.

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Issued Sunday November 10, 2002

Updated Friday June 2, 2017

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