Preparation for this summer..

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gregnash

gregnash

Anal Retentive Analyst
10 Year
Joined
Nov 3, 2011
Threads
176
Messages
12,365
Location
Carson City, NV
So this summer I have a few things on the agenda for BeBe.
1. Knuckle rebuild on both sides
2. Fix rust and weld in new steel where needed
3. Paint BeBe with Monstaliner (this has been hotly debated but decided I am gonna do it as she will never be a garage queen nor a show car and I want something durable)

So what I am looking for form the club is help on #2 mainly.... I have a friend with a welder and he has offered but is working a new job and is pretty unreliable at the moment. However, I am hoping to salvage the wheel wells without cutting out any metal but need to see if someone has a media blaster that I can come and borrow to clean out the inside of the wheel wells and possibly help with the replacement of necessary metal.

I had originally planned on doing this myself but monetarily it is not going to happen with purchasing a welder plus learning how to weld.
This is what the inside of both wheel wells pretty much look like. The white is just crap in there and not daylight. Actually pushing on the metal it still seems pretty firm (which is why I hope I can salvage it). Once done I plan to paint the interior of the wheel wells with Monstaliner's Chassis Saver or a like product.


Untitled by renofizz, on Flickr

Thanks guys, and of course :beer::beer::beer: will be on me and if we get a club day going I will contribute with some BBQ as well.
 
gregnash said:
So this summer I have a few things on the agenda for BeBe.
1. Knuckle rebuild on both sides
2. Fix rust and weld in new steel where needed
3. Paint BeBe with Monstaliner (this has been hotly debated but decided I am gonna do it as she will never be a garage queen nor a show car and I want something durable)

So what I am looking for form the club is help on #2 mainly.... I have a friend with a welder and he has offered but is working a new job and is pretty unreliable at the moment. However, I am hoping to salvage the wheel wells without cutting out any metal but need to see if someone has a media blaster that I can come and borrow to clean out the inside of the wheel wells and possibly help with the replacement of necessary metal.

I had originally planned on doing this myself but monetarily it is not going to happen with purchasing a welder plus learning how to weld.
This is what the inside of both wheel wells pretty much look like. The white is just crap in there and not daylight. Actually pushing on the metal it still seems pretty firm (which is why I hope I can salvage it). Once done I plan to paint the interior of the wheel wells with Monstaliner's Chassis Saver or a like product.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gfisicaro/8588472884/
Untitled by renofizz, on Flickr

Thanks guys, and of course :beer::beer::beer: will be on me and if we get a club day going I will contribute with some BBQ as well.
Click to expand...

We have a knuckle centering tool for rent via the club when you get to them.
I'm down to help where I can. That's a nasty spot for sheet metal replacement for the rust.
I had used hippoliner on my 62 and I LOVED that stuff!! Used herculiner on the 40 and HATED that stuff.
In lieu of doing the WHOLE rig, had you thought about doing the lower line from the fenders to the bumpers??
 
chicago said:
We have a knuckle centering tool for rent via the club when you get to them.
I'm down to help where I can. That's a nasty spot for sheet metal replacement for the rust.
I had used hippoliner on my 62 and I LOVED that stuff!! Used herculiner on the 40 and HATED that stuff.
In lieu of doing the WHOLE rig, had you thought about doing the lower line from the fenders to the bumpers??
Click to expand...

BTW... You'd still be money ahead getting a welder and learning to weld. The mig set ups makes welding so easy and you can learn it from now to when you want to do some meaningful welding.
I borrowed a friends 110v lincolin procured some scrap and started practicing for about and hour a night for a few mos. then started my SOA!!
You have pretty much no limits on what you can do when you can weld.
 
I had debated for months and months about going with a paint job from a shop, doing one myself, or doing the bedliner paint job. Really part of the reason that I decided on the liner is that this truck will be bumped, scraped, kicked, knicked, etc by myself, wife, nephew, dogs, and just about any and everyone you can think of. With that said, I could do the paint job myself but then would have to occupy our 1 car garage that has our dyed diesel furnace in it. So with all that in mind I figured I would do the monstaliner roll on job and call it good, I wont get aggressive with it and will keep the texture to more of an orange peel look.

As for the purchase of the welder, well thanks to good ole Uncle Sam that has been moved to the holding queue with only the more major things getting taken care of.
 
Thanks Krusty, I may just nab it from you one weekend to try my hand at it. I had a friend start teaching me a long time ago when I worked a TSA in Carson but then picked up another job and quit there, so I never really learned. I am always up for a challenge and would love to be able to weld my own bumpers, spring hangers, sliders, armor, etc in the future but monetarily it is just not time for that.
 
The ability to weld and fab YOURSELF completely changes how much these rigs cost to mod!! Welding will save you THOUSANDS!! No, I'm not exaggerating.... THOUSANDS!! The average shop will charge 60-70 bucks an hour just to turn the welder ON.
Its a super easy skill to learn, but you have to practice independently.
I know you're thinking about the cost up front, but long run... It pays dividends, very shortly. Even just around the house for stuff.
I'll help you learn if you like. I'm not certified or a pro by any means, but... I do okay and can teach you what I know.

K
 
I'm a pretty crappy welder but I manage to stick metal together well enough for you household stuff. I did a little trellis project last week with my Harbor Freight wo wire welder. Like Chicago said it would have cost $70 to have a shop do it.

Sent via the ether from my candy bar running ginger bread
 
chicago said:
The ability to weld and fab YOURSELF completely changes how much these rigs cost to mod!! Welding will save you THOUSANDS!! No, I'm not exaggerating.... THOUSANDS!! The average shop will charge 60-70 bucks an hour just to turn the welder ON.
Its a super easy skill to learn, but you have to practice independently.
I know you're thinking about the cost up front, but long run... It pays dividends, very shortly. Even just around the house for stuff.
I'll help you learn if you like. I'm not certified or a pro by any means, but... I do okay and can teach you what I know.

K
Click to expand...

Pretty much hit the nail on the head!

A local shop in Carson City (which is no longer in business) HACKED up my first truck when I had them build me a rear bumper. $1200 pile of crap and I was left with quarter panels cut with a sawzall... :mad:

That is what got me started in welding/fabrication. No longer would I let someone else build parts for my truck. My dad and I went out and bought a Lincoln 220 AC SMAW (stick) welder and thats what I used for years while in high school. I cant imagine how many thousands I have saved by doing work myself. Plus, you get exactly what you want in the end vs someone elses ideas. Not to mention the satisfaction knowing thats your own work.
 
Even though I was taught stick, AO and MIG in high school...yeah back in the dark ages :D...it took me forever to pull trigger on a welder. The biggest reasons that kept me from getting my own welder was the notion I wouldn't use it enough to justify the investment of $ and lack of space in the garage.

Proved myself wrong on both accounts! Of course the welder gets used on many LC projects but also, as Dan and Keith mention, projects around the house from stupid minor to bigger.

So...I get the budget thing. But before it becomes a budgetary consideration you have to want one (welder)...then its just a matter of finding the right deal, used or new; they're out there.

Having said all that...I'd do things a little differently if I had to do it over. A MIG is not a substitute for a TIG/AO set-up IMHO. Since getting my TIG the MIG has been sitting idle as my big projects are done (for now). Whereas the TIG has soooooo much more control and finesse for a majority of the projects, LC and otherwise, I need to do.

TIG's are a major investment...you won't get an argument from me over that one. But you can find an AO set-up for not much $...perfect for body work, etc. And after you become proficient at AO welding and brazing when you do get your MIG you will be a MUCH better welder.

Just my $.02 and maybe all its worth.
 
Thanks for the info guys.... I have been contemplating getting the welder for some time but like I said, their are other priorities at the moment but hopefully soon I will be able to nab myself a decent welder from CL.
Really everything at this point is dependent on funds as they come available and with still needing to do the knuckles, possible bad power steering pump, sagging springs, and wanting to take care of the rust BEFORE it gets worse I am trying to priorities as much as possible (something I do by nature anyways).

The original plan for this year was going to be the rust repair, sliders, lift, knuckles, interior sound deadened, bigger tires, and a paint job. But looks like this year is going to just be the main things: knuckles, tires, rust repair and paint job.

Unfortunately, the truck has turned into need more nickle and dime things than originally anticipated but she runs good, has been reliable and I want to keep her that way.
 
LOL... well on a small, government worker budget and owning a small business with my wife that Uncle Sam likes to :censor: with taxes, yeesh if I come up with more nickle and dime crap I think the wife is going to kill me! LOL.

Got to love that the new PSP that I just installed this weekend seems to be leaking already, looks like it is back to no PS and a smaller belt to delete that... :doh:
 
Well yup, I over tightened the damn belt and must have blown the bushing/seal on the pulley shaft. She is leaking pretty good, looks like either a Saginaw conversion will be in the future of the small list. For the time being I am going to try some Lucas Power Steering Stop leak in hopes to tide things over for a while. :bang::bang::bang:
 
Just an update, I have Friday off so I am going to see if I can tackle this leak. Seems like I now have a leak that has either sprung from the gearbox or the return lines. Figure that return line is cheap and I will give that a go on Friday along with finishing my rear panels with my new 6x9s.

To make things worse I now have a strange steering clunk that has manifested in the last couple of days. Have a feeling it is probably due to the leaking PSP on the steering damper and that sudden "lubrication" is causing things to move about. Guess I will be looking at a new damper and possibly a gearbox rebuild kit this spring. Thinking of getting a smaller length belt and just taking the PSP out of the equation for the time being.

Now one around happens to have a used, good PSP for a 60 they would be willing to sell? Not sure if I want to go through the hassle of the saginaw or not.

Paint job is probably going to have to wait until later in the year than I anticipated but on a good note, my wife's uncle has an old Lincoln 110/220v MIG/FLUX welder he is willing to let me "borrow" whenever I need. Said that the regulator on it is acting funky the last time he ran gas and so he needs to get that replaced. Anyone know how much that would cost? Figuring I could do him a solid for letting me use it and fix/replace the regulator for him (don't know model number yet if that matters).
 
Gas regulators are not expensive....$35-$75 range.
 
Something I can easily pick up at local welding supply place I am assuming? Might see if Uncle J has the old bottle and then I can just exchange for a new on and get the regulator when I borrow it. There just so happens to be a welding supply (AIRGAS) about a block from my office.
 
If you want to comparison shop you can try Sierra Welding and Praxair. If your close to Airgas neither of those are not that far away.

Stay away from Specialty Welding or whatever it's called on Glendale, they are very proud of their $tuff.
 
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