Oregano Crewpy
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- #42
I have been working in little cracks of time to patch up holes, rust and dents. Used my grinder to cut unique shapes.
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- #43
Besides not feeling you have enough time to work on your rig, do you ever feel that you don't have enough room to work in either? This is why I am outside in the dirt most of the time working under a portable floodlight.
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- #45
I really like the concept that the mining company had. I only photoshopped the rear door. Here was the original photo.
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- #46
I'm an engineer for Apple.
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- #47
To help reduce the space between the barn doors and the tub, I made some spacer pads. Every little bit helps. I also painted the hardware black. I went with the Rustolium Black Hammered. I've use the hammered paint for so many years on so many projects. It is great for hiding any imperfections, however, I am not 100% sold on how it looks for hardware on this rig.
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Warpage from welds: I would suggest, where you can access the weld site, that you do a few tacks and then while the metal is still a bit warm, use a hammer and dolly to tap on the welds to stretch them out a bit. You see, as the weld which fills the gap between your panels cools, it shrinks and this is what causes the warp - the more welds, the more warp.
Looking at some of your repairs, first of all kudos for taking the job on. Nothing like getting your hands dirty and making your way up a learning curve.
I would say you are erring too much on the side of caution and that many of the patches you are cutting out are too small. Making fiddly small patches in the interests of minimal disturbance of the surrounding sheet metal increases the work and it's difficulty, and leads to poorer results generally. It looks to me like you're not getting at the rust underneath properly. Some of the welds look contaminated - not enough surface prep, inside and out. You want to look on the inside of the panel and make sure you have cut out all the rusty metal - or at least get the metal free of all rut before welding in a patch. You can't rely on the coatings and herculiner, etc, to do anything but conceal the rust and let it spread without your notice. You've gotta get all the rust out before doing the repair.
In some cases it would make more sense to drill out the spotwelds between pieces so as to separate them completely, then media blast the metal, then repair the pieces while you can get at them more completely, reassemble and weld - then treat with a corrosion-inhibiting primer. Otherwise I see a lot of places where that rust is just going to come right back. Grinding cutting and welding is a lot of messy dangerous work and take it from me, it is disheartening to see the rust coming back a couple of years down the line after all the time trouble and expense.
An experienced bodywork guy told me, when I was wrapping up the work on my truck, that "you'll probably have to do it twice over before it comes out the way you want it". He was right.
Looking at some of your repairs, first of all kudos for taking the job on. Nothing like getting your hands dirty and making your way up a learning curve.
I would say you are erring too much on the side of caution and that many of the patches you are cutting out are too small. Making fiddly small patches in the interests of minimal disturbance of the surrounding sheet metal increases the work and it's difficulty, and leads to poorer results generally. It looks to me like you're not getting at the rust underneath properly. Some of the welds look contaminated - not enough surface prep, inside and out. You want to look on the inside of the panel and make sure you have cut out all the rusty metal - or at least get the metal free of all rut before welding in a patch. You can't rely on the coatings and herculiner, etc, to do anything but conceal the rust and let it spread without your notice. You've gotta get all the rust out before doing the repair.
In some cases it would make more sense to drill out the spotwelds between pieces so as to separate them completely, then media blast the metal, then repair the pieces while you can get at them more completely, reassemble and weld - then treat with a corrosion-inhibiting primer. Otherwise I see a lot of places where that rust is just going to come right back. Grinding cutting and welding is a lot of messy dangerous work and take it from me, it is disheartening to see the rust coming back a couple of years down the line after all the time trouble and expense.
An experienced bodywork guy told me, when I was wrapping up the work on my truck, that "you'll probably have to do it twice over before it comes out the way you want it". He was right.
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- #49
Henry,
Thank you for the good advice. I consider myself a teachable person and respect those that have already done it. I do not have any background of body repair other than being a mechanical engineer that has worked in computer companies the last 20 years. I will start making bigger patches as to cover nearby questionable areas. I did go too small on the barn doors and started seeing holes as I started grinding. Up to that point I had just stuck a piece of steel scrap into the hole and reamed it out, then stuck it in at an angle and spot welded it until it was plugged up. Ground it down from there. Most likely on the inside there is a sharp protrusion of steel. Luckily the doors are hollow and "sealed" in that area. I just don't know how thick the sheet metal over all is in that area.
Thanks again!
Thank you for the good advice. I consider myself a teachable person and respect those that have already done it. I do not have any background of body repair other than being a mechanical engineer that has worked in computer companies the last 20 years. I will start making bigger patches as to cover nearby questionable areas. I did go too small on the barn doors and started seeing holes as I started grinding. Up to that point I had just stuck a piece of steel scrap into the hole and reamed it out, then stuck it in at an angle and spot welded it until it was plugged up. Ground it down from there. Most likely on the inside there is a sharp protrusion of steel. Luckily the doors are hollow and "sealed" in that area. I just don't know how thick the sheet metal over all is in that area.
Thanks again!
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- #50
I was offered an impact screwdriver to use from cyclosteve which was perfect for breaking all of the frozen screws. There is always one screw that doesn't cooperate. The screw broke and the sheet metal in that area bent when using the impact tool. It bent because the sheet metal was too thin in that area. I replaced the weakened area and welded a nut on the backside of the sheet metal. The barn doors should be done. Now on to patching the holes on the side panels where the PO had mounted brackets for smb doors by drilling holes through and welding the bracket right to the panel.
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- #51
I originally was going to plug the holes and fill the indentation with Bondo but was encouraged to cut out more sheet metal for a smoother result.
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- #52
more...
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- #53
I put the barn doors on and was able to put a little paint on the tail. After looking at the tail, I have to say, I really like the direction it is going.
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- #54
The guard rail on the left side was pushed in to the point of crushing in the fender. I cut out the bent part and muscled the 2 halves out using a wrecking bar.
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- #55
As I am doing body work, I took off the roo bar and decided to shorten it by 7" so that the bar is flush with the bumper. In reality, I will never have a real use for this roo bar so I might as well modify it to match my urban environment. I'll get a final picture when I finish the body work.
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- #56
More rust removal. Nice bondo-rust sandwich spot under the door. :-(
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- #57
For this, I truly feel bad about. My daughter has this little Shih Tzu dog that sleeps in the garage at night. As I was grinding away last week in the garage, the metal grindings must have made their way into the dog's water bowl. A week later the grindings rusted. The poor dog has been having to drink rusty water all week. Needless to say I will pay more attention to this going forward. Between the paint, grinding and bondo fumes it has to sleep with each night, I really need to think more about this little fella. I stopped grinding and put up a welding shield when the dog is down in the garage at least.
Got some reflectors and tail lights off ebay. Had to install the plugs from the old to the new. What do you want from Thailand?
Got some reflectors and tail lights off ebay. Had to install the plugs from the old to the new. What do you want from Thailand?
MicahMan
TLCA 20925
Great Craftsmanship. I love the hardware and the Hammered paint looks great to me!
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I agree, leave that monstrosity off the truck.