Primed

After completing all of the work with the body filler, the guys primed all of the new metal and have it nearly ready to prime the rest of it and start painting.



The right rocker panel is all that must be completed before the whole tub is under primer. There was a bad rust spot along the top edge of the rocker panel in the lip of the doorway. This was ground down, converted and then filled, a process that slowed down the works a bit, but since that piece of metal is not available and would have had to be fashioned by hand, it was worth taking the time to save.



Trevor also welded shut a hole that once made room for the radio antenna by placing a piece of copper on the back side of the hold and welding the hole shut. The weld won't bond to the copper, so it filled in the nearly inch-wide hole.

I don't plan on having a radio in my truck, though they were offered for the first time in 1973. These trucks were delivered without radios and the dealers installed them. There was a recess in the dash to accommodate a radio and the wiring was integrated into the harness, but they came with a blanking plate made of plastic where the radio fits into the dash. The antennas had to be installed as well. Most were placed on the passenger side, but the dealer who sold mine placed it on the driver's side.

Someone along the way was dissatisfied with the factory AM radio and sawed out the hole to make room for a larger, aftermarket radio. Welding all of those saw marks would be a tricky fix, so I opted to go without the radio. I like the idea of not having a radio anyway.