desertdude
SILVER Star
nice work! i remember seeing that 80 first hand after the fact...
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so i have been thinkin about cleanin up the 'ol pigs body, i have new doors and fenders but what will it take to bribe you into a little de-stressing of the 1/4 panels???
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Your quarters are distressed enough! 
Rhino;
I have seen pics of your truck. If you were not buying doors and stuff I might think you were kidding about trying to straighten it out.
Most bent bodywork comes from a single-incident damage. The bend is in one direction from one oh sh--! situation. Your panels are multi-incident pounded. It may take more than a hell of a lot of "stress relief" to make them right. Your truck is a proven veteran of many wars and it's seriously fubared.
I have seen pics of your truck. If you were not buying doors and stuff I might think you were kidding about trying to straighten it out.
Most bent bodywork comes from a single-incident damage. The bend is in one direction from one oh sh--! situation. Your panels are multi-incident pounded. It may take more than a hell of a lot of "stress relief" to make them right. Your truck is a proven veteran of many wars and it's seriously fubared.
Rhino;
I have seen pics of your truck. If you were not buying doors and stuff I might think you were kidding about trying to straighten it out. It has been used as it was intended to be!
Most bent bodywork comes from a single-incident damage. The bend is in one direction from one oh sh--! situation. Your panels are multi-incident pounded. It may take more than a hell of a lot of "stress relief" to make them right. Your truck is a proven veteran of many wars and it's seriously fubared. Even the fabled Macgyver has limits.
The necessary smartass comments aside, I can take a look at it. I have some cahones when it comes to body stuff. If I have the time I will try mostly anything. But I have to wonder how long it will be before you have too much fun with the truck laying on its side on a rock the next time? Is it really worth it? The truck may be too much fun to paint it all up nice.
I have seen pics of your truck. If you were not buying doors and stuff I might think you were kidding about trying to straighten it out. It has been used as it was intended to be!
Most bent bodywork comes from a single-incident damage. The bend is in one direction from one oh sh--! situation. Your panels are multi-incident pounded. It may take more than a hell of a lot of "stress relief" to make them right. Your truck is a proven veteran of many wars and it's seriously fubared. Even the fabled Macgyver has limits.
The necessary smartass comments aside, I can take a look at it. I have some cahones when it comes to body stuff. If I have the time I will try mostly anything. But I have to wonder how long it will be before you have too much fun with the truck laying on its side on a rock the next time? Is it really worth it? The truck may be too much fun to paint it all up nice.
Maybe I am getting a little bit of flame on "Silvia". I don't care much about gender. If someone does not understand what I know about, I will do my best to inform.
Desert dude,
Were you there? Do you have pic's?
The truck was hurt, looking better now.
Were you there? Do you have pic's?
The truck was hurt, looking better now.
Oops, lost the thread.
Just-john. I am on your side. When I lived in Scottsdale, I used to go out and play with my car a lot. I would cover my VW desert baja with mud like a coat of tan paint on rainy days. Then I would razor off the windows and lights, shower and put on a suede sport coat and other fine clothes, and then go and throw the car at the valet for parking in a fine upscale Scottsdale eatery. They really loved me!
Just-john. I am on your side. When I lived in Scottsdale, I used to go out and play with my car a lot. I would cover my VW desert baja with mud like a coat of tan paint on rainy days. Then I would razor off the windows and lights, shower and put on a suede sport coat and other fine clothes, and then go and throw the car at the valet for parking in a fine upscale Scottsdale eatery. They really loved me!
i think the 1/4's are gone, they have/had almost a 1/4" thick treatment of bondo applied from a previous attempt. though i did bump out a rather gross corner by pumping up a football i wedged in there, worked pretty good. i would be better off welding in new sheet. just thought you might like the challenge.
what i would really like to do is get the doors working smoothly, thats why i bought the other set of doors but they dont offer pins for 55 doors anymore so i will have to make something fit.
i really do like not worrying about bumping stuff off road, but at the same time,,
what i would really like to do is get the doors working smoothly, thats why i bought the other set of doors but they dont offer pins for 55 doors anymore so i will have to make something fit.
i really do like not worrying about bumping stuff off road, but at the same time,,
A football is not a bad idea. It is sturdy and hard to puncture. I have used a variety of things to air pressure damaged areas. Hadn't thought of that one.
Previous ribbing was unavoidable. My Irish temperment will not allow me to pass up such an opportunity for smartass remarks. Not trying to get under your skin at all. With that out of the way, it may be interesting to see what can be done with your truck. When this one is done I will look for a club meet locally to bring it over, and maybe the van too. Maybe I can look at yours then. We don't want to think in terms of beauty. Yours performs best without getting too upset about the skins. Maybe we can improve things without having to work too hard.
On other biz: Kevin (tools"r"us) stayed around to help out tonight and we aced the windshield frame area on sunny belly. I had planned to go after it myself and do OK but hindsight says I couldn't have done it right with less than 4 eyes and 4 hands. And his eyes and hands are very skilled. We even got it straight without breaking the new glass! I appreciate the help very much!
Previous thoughts about relieving stress points proved correct again. After fits and false starts, pressing and pulling in several ways, we finally found the "sweet spot" where the stress was centered. We rotated (twisted) the left A pillar to correct the roof contours. I had the port-a-power pushing on the sweet spot on the left side while Kevin watched structure movement on the right. We were moving the entire roof as much as 1/2 inch back and forth, even in the back of the truck, from pressing on the front! The whole structure was moving all over the place. That 10 ton ram flat-out kicks ass & takes names!
With pressure on, I reached behind me and grabbed a 40 oz. soft face dead-blow hammer. I beat on the left rain gutter with heavy (6-7 tons) pressure from the ram just inches away and heavy tension across the windshield pillars.
(The process involves both mental finesse and physical brutality. It's kinda fun. Suits me just fine!)
While I was pounding away on the left side, paint started flying off of the right side roof pillar on the opposite side of the truck from where I was hitting. Both pillars warped and rotated. We were bending metal that much. The whole roof just gave up and moved to exactly where it should be. When ram pressure was relaxed, the roof was perfect! It just went straight and said "thank you!"
Next I will weld the structure to the skin to add rigidity, then smooth and paint. Good to go!!
Previous ribbing was unavoidable. My Irish temperment will not allow me to pass up such an opportunity for smartass remarks. Not trying to get under your skin at all. With that out of the way, it may be interesting to see what can be done with your truck. When this one is done I will look for a club meet locally to bring it over, and maybe the van too. Maybe I can look at yours then. We don't want to think in terms of beauty. Yours performs best without getting too upset about the skins. Maybe we can improve things without having to work too hard.
On other biz: Kevin (tools"r"us) stayed around to help out tonight and we aced the windshield frame area on sunny belly. I had planned to go after it myself and do OK but hindsight says I couldn't have done it right with less than 4 eyes and 4 hands. And his eyes and hands are very skilled. We even got it straight without breaking the new glass! I appreciate the help very much!
Previous thoughts about relieving stress points proved correct again. After fits and false starts, pressing and pulling in several ways, we finally found the "sweet spot" where the stress was centered. We rotated (twisted) the left A pillar to correct the roof contours. I had the port-a-power pushing on the sweet spot on the left side while Kevin watched structure movement on the right. We were moving the entire roof as much as 1/2 inch back and forth, even in the back of the truck, from pressing on the front! The whole structure was moving all over the place. That 10 ton ram flat-out kicks ass & takes names!
With pressure on, I reached behind me and grabbed a 40 oz. soft face dead-blow hammer. I beat on the left rain gutter with heavy (6-7 tons) pressure from the ram just inches away and heavy tension across the windshield pillars.
(The process involves both mental finesse and physical brutality. It's kinda fun. Suits me just fine!)
While I was pounding away on the left side, paint started flying off of the right side roof pillar on the opposite side of the truck from where I was hitting. Both pillars warped and rotated. We were bending metal that much. The whole roof just gave up and moved to exactly where it should be. When ram pressure was relaxed, the roof was perfect! It just went straight and said "thank you!"
Next I will weld the structure to the skin to add rigidity, then smooth and paint. Good to go!!
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New trim paint around the windows.
The windsheild fits!
The windsheild fits!
saweeeet !!!
dont worry bout the ribbin, just ask kevin, i can dish it out and take it too!!
not lookin for perfection, just think it would look real nice with a stock'ish two tone seafoam again and the last time i sprayed a solid color it really showed the dents and dings ALOT more.
dont worry bout the ribbin, just ask kevin, i can dish it out and take it too!!
not lookin for perfection, just think it would look real nice with a stock'ish two tone seafoam again and the last time i sprayed a solid color it really showed the dents and dings ALOT more.
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Two tone seafoam? What the 7734 are you thinking, that would be almost respectable? 
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More pix! The major body work is done, time for the nick/scratch filling and sanding, then paint.
Looking good! Please tell me that the flare holes were welded before the silly putty was applied.
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BMAN said:
The holes were welded, then primed, almost all of the red putty will be sanded off, it's only to fill small imperfections.
desertdude
SILVER Star
kevin, really inspiring work!