What was I thinking...?

[Kaderabek]

Some of you may recall that last summer, Nolen saw this 40 for sale and decided that an investment in the rust market would be a good idea.

The truck had its upsides. Low miles. 2F still under the hood and remarkably original. Plus if you ever needed to pass California emissions, you’d be in good shape. And that’s about the entire list of upsides….

 

[Kaderabek]

So Grogan bought this thing. I don’t really know what his original intent was but not surprisingly, about 45 seconds after he bought it, he decided to sell it. I was in and out of the market for a 40 so I became his primary target – er, recipient of his good will.

I initially told Nolen that I was not interested in the project and that perhaps he should market the vehicle to someone considerably more visually and mentally impaired than me. And then I told him again. And again. And again. He was persistent. The timing was good. We both had ulterior motives. So I finally gave up and met Grogan in Tennessee to buy the truck. By this time, he had sold the hardtop and the rear seats, neither of which I wanted. The 40 had a tow bar on the front so after a brief and utterly disconcerting test drive, we settled in for beers around a campfire and I towed it home the next day. And yes, people openly laughed, jeered and took photos as I made my way back to North Carolina. Blog on, haters.

 

[Kaderabek]

Back home, the gravity of my decision began to sink in. This thing is really rusty. And it doesn’t run very well. And my skill set to address these and a million other concerns is about that of a squirrel wearing a tool belt. I generally create two more problems for everything that I manage to fix. But we drove it around, had fun, replaced the battery in the Lard Cruiser and generally enjoyed being asphyxiated on the road as summer drew to a close. I got some help in replacing the shocks (needless to say, those bolts were frozen with rust) and that improved the ride to some degree. Fixed the various lights that didn’t work, added a license plate light, repaired/replaced the parking brake and finally managed to pass the most lax state inspection I could find.

 

[Kaderabek]

I was also working on a plan. A very low budget plan. My main goal was to remove all of the bed liner from the exterior panels, then cut out and address the remaining rust and finally replace the fenders, rear quarters and rocker panels. Plus add a tailgate. And then get someone to paint the new parts and I’d install them. Sounds easy enough, right?

Well, removing bed liner is pretty damned difficult. Actually, it’s pretty near impossible, at least in any sort of expedient manner. I had some time though so I spent it slowly chipping and prying and peeling it off.

 

[wngrog]

Keep on.....

 

[Kaderabek]

A couple of tips here. First, don’t buy a truck covered in bed liner. Next, bed liner is easier to remove when it’s cold (but this is really hard on your fingers). The sheet metal is going to be damaged so just get over it. Finally, when you start a project like this, you will quickly discover that you have no friends. Or family. Or really anyone who will come within a five-mile radius of your house. Scraping bed liner is a lonely business.

 

[Kaderabek]

Clearly I didn’t need to scrape the bed liner off the entire vehicle, as much of the sheet metal would be cut out. I needed a lip of sheet metal at the top of the quarters and the rockers so the Aqualu panels could be riveted on. The fenders were simply removed so no scraping necessary there. The areas that needed complete bed liner removal were the front of the hood (and under the hood and around the engine bay). Also the flat panels directly under the hood and both kick vent areas. Plus the grill area. All in all, not that much square footage to work with, which thankfully shortened the job to just a few months….

What all this scraping revealed was honestly pretty shocking and I thought about quitting 100% of the time.

 

[Kaderabek]

What had been ugly just kept getting uglier….

 

[Kaderabek]

I finally had it to the point where I was done with the bed liner removal (short of using paint thinner to remove the tiny specks) and ready to begin removing sheet metal. I had a shop in mind to do the paint so at this point, I drove the truck down there to get an idea as to cost and to see what he had to say about my next phase of the project. I didn’t want to make his job more difficult by screwing up the sheet metal removal and when I told him what my next steps were, he grimaced and said, “Uh, you should probably stop now.” Music to my ears.

 

[Kaderabek]

I showed him the body panels I had and told him what the plan was and held my breath as he drew up his estimate. I had been encouraged because he was definitely enthused about saving a cool old vehicle (this guy does very high end VW restorations) but still, the odds that he would hit the target budget in my mind seemed slim. But he did…. In fact, his high end was exactly what I had hoped to pay. I breathed an audible sigh of relief because even with the inevitable cost overruns, I was going to be able to keep this project in the ballpark. Plus his estimate also included rebuilding my carburetor, something I sorely hoped would make the truck run better. I supplied all the parts; he supplied the paint, labor and expertise. Bingo.

Although neither of us loved this part of the project, there were compromises that had to be made. For example, did I want to spend $150 or $850 on the paint? Clearly $150. He showed me a car he painted with the $150 paint and it looked a little rough but OK (enough). I was a little disappointed that I wouldn’t have super shiny paint but it’s to be a trail truck anyway. Then there were things like he didn’t want to take the time to tape off the windshield frame – these were the little things where he needed to reign himself in so he didn’t blow our budget and I was fine with this and just figured it would look better than it had before.

And off he went.

 

[Kaderabek]

The one-week project turned into two weeks and I could not have cared less. He could have kept it for two months and as long as I was not scraping bed liner, I would have been perfectly happy. But he called on Friday afternoon of week #2 and said he had a few loose ends to button up but that I could come by whenever to pick it up.

 

[Kaderabek]

When I saw the vehicle, I about fell over. The $150 paint looks absolutely fantastic and the job only went about 20% over budget. There are plenty of things that aren’t perfect, that’s for sure. For example, the rear marker lights aren’t exactly where they should be – close enough though. He had hoped to cover the rivets with trim but it became cost prohibitive. Clearly there is plenty of pitting where I hammered away at the bed liner but that was the amount of prep I could afford. He did a few extra things, like cleaned up the bumpers and sprayed them with primer.

 

[Kaderabek]

Some of the compromises seem just fine. The windshield is at a 90 degree angle to the surfaces around it so it’s hard to tell that the paint is different. Get some dirt on it and no one will be able to tell the difference. The rivets look fine as they are – I may or may not dab a little paint on them. Probably not. (They look misaligned in some of the photos but that’s an optical illusion.)

And honestly, nothing about this truck is perfect and never will be – it’s just not that sort of project. I’m now getting under the truck with Zero Rust and spraying everything I can reach. But it’ll still be rusty. It needs a new suspension and probably some new spring hangers but that is a can of worms I’m leaving unopened for now. It could use a rear locker and a winch (there is an older 8274-50 on a junked Jeep at the paint shop so I’ll inquire about that at some point). But for now, I’m just going to drive it and enjoy it.

What about the carburetor? That was probably the most interesting part. Seeing it completely disassembled and cleaned up was really fun. It was running entirely on the second stage and now feels like a 2F should feel. I tried to adjust the idle over the weekend (and drove Grogan nuts in the process) but I swear, I can’t find the idle adjustment screw. Maybe he failed to put it back on when he reassembled the carb? If someone could post a pic of the screw, I’d appreciate it. I have the engine manual and can see where it should be but it’s just not there. I did adjust the two spring loaded screws in the area but neither had any effect on the RPM’s.

 

[Kaderabek]

Anyway, just thought that some of you who have seen this vehicle would appreciate an update. I’m making some progress. And thanks to Nolen for helping me with this entire concept. It seemed so far fetched at the time…. Still does, really.

What’s next? Rust prevention. I’m going to clean up and repaint the wheels, probably buy some new lug nuts. I’ll eventually get the seats re-stuffed and covered. Need to figure out how to carry a truckload of gear in the back of a 40…. Drive it. Wheel it. Enjoy it.

 

[Jordan7118]

Holy ****. That was highly entertaining! Great work. Can't believe the visionary you are to see that from start (a complete rust bucket and tetanus infection's wet dream) to current (let's be real - this will project will never end...)

I'll be honest. When I saw Nolen unloaded the banana rust rocket, I thought, "Man, whoever bought that pile of rust really must be half-blind, part crazy, and have more money than Donald Trump spends on his hair products daily (Aqua-Net by the case is not cheap, folks...). But, turns out I was very wrong. Visionary is what you are, good sir! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Kaderabek]

Thanks. Two of those three categories definitely describe me -- half blind and part crazy.

The "how-to" was definitely Nolen's idea. And that was why I bought it. The truck had potential under all that bed liner and rust.

Once I got started, I didn't have much choice but to just keep going. It's not like I could sell it.

TJK

 

[Bodean]

Nice job Todd!

 

[SHUSH]

THAT is impressive.....I dig it. Gives me hope for my rust bucket...the paint really does look incredible for $150


keep us informed.......name it yet?

"The banana boat" ??

 

[hatfieldcb]

Looks nice, Todd!

 

[Kaderabek]

Thanks. Hard to imagine not continuing to call it Rust Bucket. RB?

$150 for the actual paint. Not paint + labor. I have about a pint left.