Rain Gutter and Top Restoration

[jvincig01]

Hello @jvincig01,

Did you use butyl tape, or did you find another solution for the gap? Pictures would be appreciated. I am in the same process right now.

Thanks.

I ended up using butyl tape I picked up on Amazon. Worked out great!

 

[MYSHERPA]

If the brotherhood of the traveling vice-grips is still in effect, I could use them. After trying to remove all the old caulk/seam sealer from my top in an effort to reseal it, I'm throwing in the towel and just going to remove the gutter completely to ensure I get all the gunk out of there before resealing.

 

[jvincig01]

If the brotherhood of the traveling vice-grips is still in effect, I could use them. After trying to remove all the old caulk/seam sealer from my top in an effort to reseal it, I'm throwing in the towel and just going to remove the gutter completely to ensure I get all the gunk out of there before resealing.

The brotherhood still exists. Send me a message with your address and they will be on their way

 

[zerotreedelta]

Need to carve a notch in the handle for every gutter they've riveted.

 

[jvincig01]

Need to carve a notch in the handle for every gutter they've riveted.

I literally thought the same thing!

 

[Wildcat Walker]

And whomever uses the pliers MUST document their repair in this thread.

 

[MYSHERPA]

And whomever uses the pliers MUST document their repair in this thread.

Thanks again for the customized vice-grips. I can't say this job was too exciting, but it was riveting They are now available to be passed along to the next person that needs them, just give me a shout. One thing I noticed is that if after clamping them if you give them a little 1/2" wag back and forth the formed dome of the rivet seemed a little more uniform.

"What I really wanted was rivets, by heaven! Rivets. To get on with the work -- to stop the hole. Rivets I wanted. There were cases of them down at the coast -- cases -- piled up -- burst -- split! You kicked a loose rivet at every second step in that station-yard on the hillside. Rivets had rolled into the grove of death. You could fill your pockets with rivets for the trouble of stooping down -- and there wasn't one rivet to be found where it was wanted. We had plates that would do, but nothing to fasten them with." -Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

 

[igotta40]

I'm in a similar spot as you are. I started to rehab my existing drip rail, but as I battled with rust, deformed sections and broken screws I decided it would be better worth my time to replace it.

I received my ccot drip rail today - it is nicely made and it seems to line up well. I was pleasantly surprised that it had the captured bolts already welded in place. As @DangerNoodle's post above describes, it will require some work to get the sections to fit exactly. I say get a welder (I splurged last year on a lincoln powermig) and have at it.

In contrast to @DangerNoodle's method I think I'm going to tack weld it while installed on the truck. The existing drip rail isn't an accurate flat surface in my situation.

View attachment 2957127View attachment 2957128

Those CCOT pieces look pretty good. I’ve only seen the images on their website. Question- how well do those blind nuts align with the holes in your existing side panels?

 

[jlizar]

Those CCOT pieces look pretty good. I’ve only seen the images on their website. Question- how well do those blind nuts align with the holes in your existing side panels?

I also use the gutter from CCOT, and everything works perfectly. There’s no problem with the blind nuts; they align at the correct spot!

 

[igotta40]

Personally I would have it fixed. Or better yet, take the opportunity to get a little MIG welder and learn- it's not hard at all to learn how to do the welding necessary for sheet metal work! Don't be intimidated. This isn't a structural repair- nobody's life depends on it. And if your welds look crappy, you're going to grind them down anyway.

I think you should repair it because If you hit it with a wire wheel/angle grinder, I think you're going to find that the rust turns to dust and you're going to have holes. That rust is pretty bad.

I would recommend patching the bad spots rather than getting a new gutter. The Cool Cruisers full gutter comes in pieces without any of the rivet holes drilled. So it'll require some careful fit-up work (bolting the pieces down to the hard top sides and door headers, placing the fiberglass top on it to make sure it's all aligned, adjusting, tack welding, and then carefully drilling the many holes for the rivets. Fiddly work. If you take it to a pro, they're going to need the entire cruiser to do this properly, and frankly I wouldn't trust a shop to have the necessary patience. If you can bend the damaged sections back to flat (I'm sure you can), then I'd just patch the rusty sections. It looks like it's just the horse shoe sections that need replacing.

An in-between solution would be to just replace the "horse shoe" section with the cool cruiser panels if those are your only bad spots:

https://www.coolcruisers.com/ragucoch.html

I would first bend the bent sections flat, brace it by tack welding some angle iron across the corners to keep things from moving on you, carefully cut out the corners, and fit/weld in the new horse shoe pieces. Then you just have to drill a few holes for rivets.

One of the things I learned with my resto is that sometimes it's easier to just patch the rusty spots than replacing the panel with aftermarket parts. Aftermarket parts always require a lot of fitment and adjustment because they're never perfect... and you have to spend a lot of time aligning the parts and measuring before welding in the replacement panels. Replacing entire panels for one section of rust can easily become a "throwing the baby out with the bath water" situation. Your rusty original panels fit your rig, so there's an advantage to keeping as much of the original panels as you can.

But seriously- get yourself a MIG welder and watch some youtube tutorials. You'll soon realize that basic MIG welding isn't a dark art and that you were intimidated for no reason. It's really not hard.

I like that idea. Could you recommend a welder? I looked at the Harbor Freight website at a couple of cheap ones. Are you talking about a 110 volt flux core wire feed model?

 

[Green Bean]

I like that idea. Could you recommend a welder? I looked at the Harbor Freight website at a couple of cheap ones. Are you talking about a 110 volt flux core wire feed model?

A small MIG welder in the garage definitely comes in handy. Last year I took the plunge and purchased a Miller 211 setup. It is probably more welder than I will ever need. It operates on either 110 or 220v. There are plenty of tutorials online and it is pretty user friendly to teach yourself.

 

[Wildcat Walker]

A small MIG welder in the garage definitely comes in handy. Last year I took the plunge and purchased a Miller 211 setup. It is probably more welder than I will ever need. It operates on either 110 or 220v. There are plenty of tutorials online and it is pretty user friendly to teach yourself.

Hard to beat a 211. I have the transformer version of the 211, not the inverter. It's about 80lbs, should last me a lifetime. 14 years strong! Welders fit the old saying, you get what you pay for.

 

[Pierps]

I like that idea. Could you recommend a welder? I looked at the Harbor Freight website at a couple of cheap ones. Are you talking about a 110 volt flux core wire feed model?

I don't have experience with any welders other than the one I have (Lincoln 110 volt unit... Weldpack something or other). But I think it's worth saving up for a decent quality Miller, Lincoln, Hobart, ESAB etc welder. If you don't plan to do weld anything thicker than like 3/16", a 110 volt welder will be just fine. I would also consider getting a MIG welder rather than flux core. Flux core can weld thicker materials, but it leaves slag on the surface and can be a little tougher to avoid blowing through thinner materials.

This means more money upfront- you'll need to buy a cart, Argon/C02 bottle, gloves, helmet, etc. So it's an investment, but if the alternative is paying a pro to do your work, it'll probably pay for itself on the first job.

Also, welding is super fun.

Good luck!

 

[igotta40]

I don't have experience with any welders other than the one I have (Lincoln 110 volt unit... Weldpack something or other). But I think it's worth saving up for a decent quality Miller, Lincoln, Hobart, ESAB etc welder. If you don't plan to do weld anything thicker than like 3/16", a 110 volt welder will be just fine. I would also consider getting a MIG welder rather than flux core. Flux core can weld thicker materials, but it leaves slag on the surface and can be a little tougher to avoid blowing through thinner materials.

This means more money upfront- you'll need to buy a cart, Argon/C02 bottle, gloves, helmet, etc. So it's an investment, but if the alternative is paying a pro to do your work, it'll probably pay for itself on the first job.

Also, welding is super fun.

Good luck!

I’ve done a ton of brazing, and just enough stick welding to illustrate that I have no idea what I’m doing, and neither will work on sheet metal so I’m trying to get a feel for what’s involved. Thanks for the info.

 

[RevISK]

Miller 211 vote here. Will do pretty much anything you need on a 40. A bit of an investment after the kit, cart, tank(s), helmet, gloves, expendables etc... but cheaper than paying someone else and no waiting.

 

[RevISK]

I’ve done a ton of brazing, and just enough stick welding to illustrate that I have no idea what I’m doing, and neither will work on sheet metal so I’m trying to get a feel for what’s involved. Thanks for the info.

make a trip to Austin and I'll get you welding in no time flat on my setup.
You'd be surprised how not hard it is to make serviceable beads. Once you've become a proficient enough grinder, you'll really focus on becoming a better welder. Grinding sucks. Prep sucks less. Welding is fun.

 

[Pierps]

I took a weekend course that a local fabricator puts on. That was all I needed in order to be effective at welding sheet metal. MIG welding really isn't that hard at all, especially if you'll be welding body panels only. I would seek more training if I were looking to weld anything that lives depend on.

Stick and TIG are way harder than MIG.

 

[Curtice]

make a trip to Austin and I'll get you welding in no time flat on my setup.
You'd be surprised how not hard it is to make serviceable beads. Once you've become a proficient enough grinder, you'll really focus on becoming a better welder. Grinding sucks. Prep sucks less. Welding is fun.

While my welds from my last project are still holding (so far!), I can certainly improve in making good beads. Also, need to learn how not to warp the sheet metal when welding body panels. If you are putting on a class for Houston folks, I'm in!

 

[RevISK]

While my welds from my last project are still holding (so far!), I can certainly improve in making good beads. Also, need to learn how not to warp the sheet metal when welding body panels. If you are putting on a class for Houston folks, I'm in!

Oh, I am no expert. I just suck less then someone who has never done it..

using smaller wire is a must when welding sheet metal... and patience.

 

[OlYellr]

you can just refer to me by name @RevISK