Re: Rat repair.
 

Pressing forward, Doing the body work on the door, not near finished yet.. Also prepped, cleaned and sprayed undercoat on my inner fender well for the driver side, its sitting on my paint booth but no picture. Bondo work takes way too long for me!

Re: Rat repair.
 

Hey Mike, Great build thread you have going here. You have really made a lot of progress and it's really informative. Don't know why it took me so long to read it, but doing it after midnight was a mistake - It's now almost 1:00am and I am still going through the pages.

I love the paint booth you made. I may have to do that myself one day. I am definitely going to learn a lot from reading through your thread.

Re: Rat repair.
 

Story of my life! Always up late... Thanks for the compliments!

Re: Rat repair.
 

Went to Goodguys today and Met Dave Kindig.... B i t c h in!

On the way out i ran across a 67 3/4T GMC that caught my eye, i really don't need another 3/4T but it is a 67 and i have a thing about 67's, we talked a bit then he took off. The sign said 3500 OBO, i asked him what his bottom doller was and he said make an offer, i tossed out 2000, he said no cant go that low and would rather let it sit in the garage, i bumped to 2500? nope then he said his bottom dollar was 3000...

The good: Its got Buddy Buckets but they had seat covers on them, the seats didn't look broken down, the bed was immaculate, the tail gate was removed for a camper and stored inside, not a dent or any rust in it. rest of the body had no dents. V-6 351 seemed to run good, needs a tune up and exhaust manifold gasket, he drove it away when we were done talking.

The Normal: Looking in the cab there is some surface spotting of rust around the headliner but nothing that looked like full on cancer, the drivers door has some cancer as did the drivers rear fender, i found a small cancer spot behind the passenger hood hinge on the cab/cowl area. He was leaving and we were too so i didn't want to do a full on inspection in the gravel.

The bad?? It was repainted some years back, i asked him about it he said his dad had some kind of warranty issue and the dealership repainted it (red flag?) back in 72. I don't know if maybe his story is not true and he bought it and it had some bondo work to cover some stuff up?? It had some pretty fresh looking carpet that he said was original (red flag i don't think 67's had carpet and it looked like it was pieced in not like the carpet for my 72) The back of the cab was also lined with carpet and an extra piece wrapped around the gas tank, i didn't get to see what was under the carpet and neglected to look at the inner kick panels. Outer rockers looked great but were they fixed? Cab corners were not rusted but were they fixed? What are the seat covers and carpet hiding?

Overall it looks to be a pretty nice truck, If it is all original but did have some rust repair that was covered up would it still be worth it, still debating if i should call and go do a good looking over, but is it worth 3 bills?? ........

Re: Rat repair.
 

It can't hurt to take another look at it; the worst that could happen is you ended up annoying him when you say "Nope!"

If the work was done badly, then it may not be worth it. Hopefully you can get an idea of what it will cost you in both time and money to get it fixed right.

Re: Rat repair.
 

I have come to the realization that my can of bondo has been thickening most likely from not stiring it enough, i'm down to 1/4 can left and am using less hardener than the picture example shows but this stuff is thicker than every vid i see on Youtube where they are floating bondo out on large surfaces I have the contour fairly close but i need to build up the center area a little, doing research and asking the right people (Vic) i am going to find some fiberglass resin to thin it out a little.

Re: Rat repair.
 

Just wanted to say Ive been following your build and I think you are doing a great job!

Re: Rat repair.
 

Thank you CG, glad to hear someone is following along, i'm an absolute rookie at this bodywork stuff but i am getting better every time i work on it. :lol: I will add working on the vertical is not the easiest ether! :)

Picked up some fiberglass resin on the way to work, going to add a little and see what i end up with, have an appt tomorrow so will kill my progress, I'll try and get more done this weekend before work.

Re: Rat repair.
 

Went and bought some of that sanding dye spray so i could find the high and low spots better, this is the end result, sprayed high build primer and sanded with 180 grit, still not perfect but its way better.. I think i may have left too much mud from the bottom and up about 3" but i was done for the day.

I found out that Harbor Freight has reworked the cabinet sand blaster by making the sloped media collector walls steeper to help the media pool at the bottom, and they added another latch to the door, i checked the price, same as the old unit at $120'ish sale price so i took the plunge, naturally when i got home and unpacked it one of the rear corners has a nice ding, but it won't alter function so i'm just gonna keep it.

Re: Rat repair.
 

One of my best investments! You have the compressor to complement it and I'm betting it won't be long before you wonder how you ever did without it.

Re: Rat repair.
 

I think I'm gonna have to agree!

Re: Rat repair.
 

Just read this start to finish over two days. Nice work and you'll never be more proud. Get some Evercoat Plastic Honey resin for the bondo to thin it out. I do everything on my cars and have learned a ton. Great work.

Re: Rat repair.
 

It's looking great Mike, I'm jealous of your cabinet if you were closer I'd need to come borrow it! :lol:

Re: Rat repair.
 

The lower door is looking good Mike. Guide coat is your friend!

Re: Rat repair.
 

Vic, Hustlestuff, 7dee2, Rgunlock, Thanks again for the comps and encouragement!

So my deadline approaches fast, had to get the body line reworked and the Bondo covered in K2 today, as usual i had to come up with a little unconventional way to straighten things out, a 4"X2.5' section of conduit with some long board sand paper stuck to it, I had to build up some more Bondo then i sanded using a curling and diagonal movement, making a cross hatch, once i was happy with the shape of the body line i put a radius on it, now i need more practice on shaping the radius but its close.. LOL! If i have time tomorrow then i may sand and put a second coat but its at least sealed now.

So i grabbed my inner fenderwell and tried to slide it in place, i quickly remembered that the old one came out with a bit of persuasion so i'll have to jack up the driver side and maybe remove the tire to get it in place...

Re: Rat repair.
 

Very nicely done Mike!

My old rod probably won't get as much love on the exterior as yours for awhile. Glad I started following along on your build! :)

Gary

Re: Rat repair.
 

Thanks, I would have liked to not have to do so much to that door but right now i don't feel like trying to re-skin or buy a replacement, as i have said learning from the school of hard knocks! Its a 20 footer for sure right now.. LOL!

So i installed the inner fender well today on the driver side, Of course it didn't fit sitting in its free state so instead of jacking and removing the wheel i first put a ratcheting strap on the outer side and put a bit of a curl into it so i could get it to sit on the tire, then i installed a tie down strap on the inside and removed the outside strap then manhandled it from there, probably put a couple scratches into it but did my best to not damage the powder coat. Not fun for one person with torn rotator cuffs

I really wanted to be able to take the time to wire wheel the frame both in the front and under the cab, then apply some POR and paint but i just ran out of time for now. I may have enough time to apply a second coat of K2 on the lower door tomorrow.

Re: Rat repair.
 

Is that an aftermarket inner fender? I have an aftermarket inner for my passenger side and we had to beat the snot out of it to fit in the fender well. I'm yanking the drivers side inner fender out of the 1972 C25 that I have to use in my C15. It's a little rotted out in the front, but I'll fabricate a new patch panel to make it useable.

Gary

Re: Rat repair.
 

Yes i got them from Franks Pick M Up in Olympia then had them powder coated before i even test fitted them, i think i payed about 10-20 more for the powder coat than the wells, I had to loosen the front of the fender from the radiator support but after i got them past the tire and released the straps they fit rather nicely, i used an alignment punch in a few places, i only had to file the front support bracket hole as it was slightly out of alignment from the main inner fender when it was spot welded but that was the only mod. Yes i would recommend these wells.

Re: Rat repair.
 

Well, last day of working on the truck for a while, decided i didn't need a second coat of primer on the lower door so decided to wrap up the column.

About 4 years ago i found this wheel for sale on the parts thread, zero cracks but obvious wear on the pattern area, still overall a pretty nice score for $60, sure looks better than the Grant unit i had run for the last 20 some odd years. :)

I still have the stock green wheel and am hanging onto the green non tilt column for the time being, the green wheel last time i looked had no cracks and probably less wear than the black one above but its been a while since i looked at it closely.

Eventually i will put the grant wheel up for sale with the new horn kit i have for it.

Re: Rat repair.
 

That was a score on a crack free wheel, so what's up you going to get your shoulder worked on?

Re: Rat repair.
 

I have a torn rotator, tore it 3 times in april and may, 3 or 4 bone spurs and a severed Bicep that i'm having reattached. I actually have torn the the right one this year before the left some time about march, but the right side will wait. basicly anything i do anything physical be it lifting or sanding ect both shoulders start screaming at me (cramping up) to stop. I'll be out of work until about November 8th (tentatively) I check in at 11:15 today (about 2.5 hours from now)

Re: Rat repair.
 

I didn't notice right away but the column housing is rubbing on the bottom of the steering wheel, i emailed the guy that rebuilt the column and he has no idea why its rubbing, i was hoping there may be a couple screws i could access to loosen the housing and reposition it.. The pictures were taken before i tightened the wheel down all the way, it still rubs a little after tightening but it does not interfere with turning the wheel.

Re: Rat repair.
 

Maybe the steering wheel? You might try pulling the wheel and seeing how it fits on the original column.

Re: Rat repair.
 

That was the same thing the guy said in his reply, try a different wheel, I'll look into it later.

There was a mishap during shipping, the column in its crate was apparently tossed a little hard somewhere on the trip here, the lower shaft broke thru the end cap which allowed the upper shaft to come out of the hole, so the weight of the column was resting on the bottom of the housing, visually the column looked to be fine so i didn't worry about it, i did show the seller the pic's tho thinking he may want to reinforce the end caps with a little sheet of plywood. So it could be the wheel, it could be a slightly tweaked housing that i cannot see, it does not look to be egg shapped at the opening, no dents on the outside..

Re: Rat repair.
 

That's a really nice wheel you got. If you can't get it to work, you can just send it to me, and I'll "dispose" of it for you. :lol:

Did you send the column out to be rebuilt or did you buy a rebuilt one? Given the questions and concerns you had (the missing tab, the shipping issues), would you still recommend him to rebuild a column? May I ask how much you paid for the column?

I have a column that it would prob not be a bad idea to have it rebuilt; have not decided yet, and I'm not that the point where I need to worry about it. But it's good to have the information.

Re: Rat repair.
 

Hope surgery went well and you heal quickly.

Re: Rat repair.
 

I don't mind saying..... this stuff don't feel too good even with the pain killers! lol! Couldn't even sleep last night so i'm sure a nap is on order some time today before the Seahawks play.

So my drive is still alive, what can i carefully continue on as a one armed bandit as time lets me, even if its just buying supplys for now.

Which leads me to a question, the opening in the back of my H/F blast cabinet for the hose is 1" or 1 1/4", will have to recheck, rather than feed a long hose thru that hole and have a shot mess allover the place i would like to find some kind of fittings that will thread solid to capture the hole, kinda like a fitting with a nut that has internal threads so i can screw my air hose fittings and or brass fittings to, my plan is to buy a better short air hose for the inside ether 3' or 4' X 3/8" and thread it to this fitting, want to stay away from pipe fittings of possible but won't rule pipe put. .

Re: Rat repair.
 

Something kinda like this but i'm not sure if the inner threads are NPT... and it has to be pressure compliant

chttp://pvcpipesupplies.com/pvc-fittings/schedule-80-cpvc-fittings/schedule-80-cpvc-bulkheads

Re: Rat repair.
 

Hey, hope you are doing better. I know how you feel. When do you start physical therapy? My doc literally made me go from the surgery right to PT. I left the hospital and went to see the therapist. It actually helped a lot in the recovery process.

Of course, you also had a lot more work done than I did. Take it easy with the work; you don't want to shift or bump your arm by mistake.

Re: Rat repair.
 

The Dr just gave me some motion movements to work on for now but said don't try and overdue it, its only been two days.

found and ordered the bulkhead for the air fittings and ordered a short hose for inside the cabinet, i have a light plan but haven't bought anything yet, probably go to home depot next week.

Re: Rat repair.
 

This is a bit off topic, but since the blast cabinet is something you can tinker with while you recover from surgery, I figure a few photos might be in order. I have a HF cabinet also and have had to do some mods to make it more user friendly.

I added a small vacuum cleaner as a dust collector, because the real ones cost big bucks. The problem with this is that it not only pulls the dust, but also a lot of media out of the cabinet. Not having a dust collector quickly makes it impossible to see your work piece so that isn't a choice. To fix the media issue, I moved the exhaust cutout to the roof of the cabinet and added a tapered chute that lets the media settle out of the airstream before it hits the vacuum hose. I tried hanging a filter at the exhaust opening, but it caked up with dust and media and had to be changed too often.

I used an outdoor flood light for illumination. Placed an electrical box with an outlet and switch on the exterior of the cabinet that activates both the light and the vacuum when switched on.

I've also invested in some better gloves that make it easier to pick up small items like bolts. Speaking of which, HF also sells a magnetic stainless dish that works great for holding onto small ferrous items while you blast them. Saves the thumb and forefinger from wearing out so quickly on the left glove. Also be sure to put a water trap close to the inlet air hose to remove any traces of moisture. Wet media isn't the hot tip. I keep a couple of desiccant packs in an out of the way corner. If you need some, let me know, as I had to buy a 5 gallon container of them and they keep forever.

TP Tools and some other outlets sell the plastic shields for the glass. You don't ever want to blast without one covering the glass as it will frost the window muy pronto and make it very hard to see your work. The plastic shields come with adhesive strips to hold them to the glass, but I also use 3/4" masking tape to provide additional sealing around the edge. Keeps out the dust and lets you work longer between shield replacements.

Re: Rat repair.
 

Thanks for the tips Vic! I found TP Tools late last night and also watching Youtube i found another popular company that sells mods for these cabinets called Tacoma Company. They don't have much in the way of a webpage but the guy runs a media blasting business and has come up with both blasting cabinet mods and lighting as well. i like your vacuum outlet mod being at the top and the baffle, i'll concider moving the location of mine as well..

http://www.tacomacompany.com/

I did however buy the smaller bench top model cabinet and as much as i like the flood lamp setups both TP tools and Tacoma Company sells and i know they are proven to work very well i am concerned about how far down they will hang, leaves me wondering if i can find shorter flood bulbs that still have a good wattage? I am also looking at my kitchen under cabinet Xenon lighting and wondering if it would be durable and or bright enough? especially after they get frosted by the media, the glass is probably not tempered tho. The same company also has a 20" LED that is 380 lumen and a 10" thats 190.

https://www.pegasuslighting.com/xeno...ask-light.html

https://www.pegasuslighting.com/led-...ower-cord.html

https://www.pegasuslighting.com/led-...ower-cord.html

Home Depot sells a vacuum head for a 5 gallon bucket called a Bucket Head, i bought one to remove unburned pellets from my Traeger smoker, fairly inexpensive, some of the blast cabinet guys have used one in conjunction with a cyclone type media separator.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwuDRh7ALis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFUYl6Z6w9I

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Bucket-He...0100/202017218

I'm moving about trying to not sit on my butt to much, still pretty sore and doing small therapy movements, actually got to hop in the shower and shave tonight so starting to feel human again. Biggest gripe is sleeping in my recliner, what i'd give to be able to take a nap while sitting in a massage chair like ya see at fairs or just sleep in my bed LOL!

Re: Rat repair.
 

Tacoma Company is the source for the gloves I buy off eBay. Small world. The flat light might be a good choice given the smaller confines of the table top model. All I know is, the more light you can get in there, the better off you'll be. Post up your mods when you get it rolling. Hope your recovery is quick. My wife had to sleep sitting up on the couch when she cracked some ribs recently. She was positively thrilled when she was finally able to lay down again.

Re: Rat repair.
 

Hang in there Mike! I like the cabinet mods you're considering. Wish I'd done them to my cabinet, maybe it would have gotten used more. Without the upgrades, it is difficult to see your work. I just never got around to prioritizing the time and money for upgrades over time and money for the truck. Also I've read of a number of folks who upgraded from the HF gun, but mine was working ok if I use correct media.

Re: Rat repair.
 

Great info on the cabinets. Never heard of Tacoma company before. Good to know.

Re: Rat repair.
 

Vic, Rick and Nonhog, for some reason i'm not getting message notifications for my thread in my inbox again, Thanks for the replies! I'm dealing with it but already getting annoyed LOL!

Well, I called Mike at Tacoma company Monday and we had a good chat, he wanted me to ask myself what parts i may want to blast on the future and really think about if the things i want to blast will fit into this bench top cabinet, also keep in mind not just fit but the ability to move the part so i can get the ends of it and see what i'm doing when doing it. Having a look around its pretty plain to see that i'd be limited to small brackets, nuts and bolts, pulleys ect, there is no real way to do something like valve covers, air cleaners, intake manifolds or Oil pans ect.

The H/F stand up model is 36 3/16"W X 23"D VS the bench top 26"W X 18 3/8"D Absolutely the size of the stand up is what i need minimum, looking at my ever shrinking foot print in my garage i think i can squeeze it in there. So being as H/F has a 90 day return policy i think the bench top model is going to have to be returned and exchanged for the stand up one. But that isn't going to happen for a while.

Mike at Tacoma Company has a number of mods, 4 stages of lighting, a quick removal kit for the window to change the inside film easier, a couple different gun/pedal and regulator setups that work on a different principal than the gravity fed guns from H/F. It kinda depends on how much money you throw at it but his point is that the cost of the cabinet from H/F plus his most expensive mod kit at about $500 and you end up with a cabinet costing $650-700 that performs like a cabinet that would cost much more.

More reading material. http://mediablastauto.com/default.asp

Re: Rat repair.
 

I know how you feel sleeping in a recliner did that for awhile a year ago when I dislocated both shoulders.it sucks. I was off work for 7 weeks,about went crazy not being able to do anything.

Re: Rat repair.
 

Great info on blast cabinet mods Mike, your making me want one! :metal:

Re: Rat repair.
 

Its been a while so a small follow up, I'm getting better but not back to work yet, i started P/T this week tho, going 2 days a week but i'm still wearing a sling to protect my bicep when out and about, Dr says only passive movement, no weight bearing. I have been able to graduate to sleeping in the bed but I'm still lucky to get 4 hours a night in a straight shot, i usually find myself falling asleep in the chair a couple hours here and there to supplement.

Back to the blaster my wife helped me return the counter top unit last weekend and got a refund, low and behold about 4 days later i got a coupon for 25% off a single item on the mail, went back today and picked up the stand alone unit, Of course i had to have the store employee load it for me, got it home and with my good arm and wife's help on the other end its now resting on my work table. The bench unit was $120 without a coupon, this unit was $199-25%= $149. I'm glad i did this.

Going to call Mike at Tacoma company to talk more about upgrades Monday, i know I'll buy a light setup and quick change window and maybe even the upgraded blast nozzle and regulator but still debating if i should at least try the stock setup first. Above all, i know its too early for me to assemble this thing.