12.25.21 GOOD DAY WITH A TALENTED FABRICATOR

On Sunday, I watched a talented metal fab guy turn two standard-issue trailer fenders into the humble beginnings of mini tubs for my Suburban’s inner fenders. We also got the cross-member marked up and began the cuts that will result in a 1.5” inch sectioning of the front cross-member.

I’ll be performing more prep before my fabricator returns. Feeling relieved and stoked to get started on these mods so we can start priming and painting everything and start the reassembly.

It was a good day. It's nice to see a pro do it.

Special thanks to C10 owner Jean Marc Barrette who inspired this mod and provided preliminary measurements. Here are some shots of what Jean did on his C10 truck.

WHAT'S NEXT?

My next few days will be spent prepping the firewall and inner fenders for welding. The process involves gloves, eye protection, and a drill motor with a wire wheel attached. That, and time.

Grinding fresh edges everywhere that we trimmed metal from the inner fencers, and around the factory welds all along the top edges of the firewall will result in clean welds. And in the case of the firewall, an even-cleaner-than- original finish. Done properly, only a handful of people will notice the difference But I'll know.

This is the small detail work that I find really makes a difference in the end. Rush this stuff and you end up with shoddy work. Take your time and your world looks factory original, or in some cases, better.

So the next few days will be about prepping metal for the welding, which will hopefully be happening this coming weekend.

The other task still in front of us is to finalize the cutting of the factory cross-member for sectioning, otherwise known as pancaking. But first, the firewall and the inner fenders.

Stay tuned. And thanks again for providing the measurements, Jean.

It was a huge help.

Onward.