Trying to salvage rear tail light area
 

I purchased a 71 K20 about two months ago and have been cleaning it up and trying to get it ready for paint. Over all the truck is in really good shape and has no rust to speak of. It is a running and driving truck that i will work on without taking it out of commission. For example the other day I decided that I wanted to do some work on the drivers door and it would be easier off of the truck. So I removed it and installed a spare door I had so I can still drive it. Anyways back to this repair.

The rear passenger tail light area and outer rear panel of bed is in pretty bad shape. I got ready to work on this rear section by first driving over to the storage lot next to y house where I store the trucks I have bought. I had a spare bed that I had taken apart last year to use for parts when needed. I loaded the passenger bedside in to the truck and got it clamped down on a few saw horses so I could study the rear section. The one on the spare bedside is in way better shape and would work out great for a grafting of the section damaged. The only thing really needed would be to weld up the trim holes on the donor.

So just before I got ready to cut out the section on the 71 K20 my brother called to ask what I was working on and I explained and sent a few pictures. He suggested I give it a try at repairing instead of cutting out and replacing, which truly is something I had not really planned on. His point was give it a shot and if it does not work out then cut it and replace. So I started to look at the damage differently. First I thought maybe I should cut out some of it and try to straighten then weld back on. Then I just grabbed a few tools and tried working the damage from the inside with different size dowels and metal rods and did not get to far. Had a little more success after applying some heat to get the metal to move.

Next morning I thought I should try to make a tool to pry out the metal on the inside toward the light area. First started with drilling a few holes and using a block of wood and a Phillips screw driver through the hole to pry back a little. Then I grabbed a piece of metal bar stock I had in the scrap pile and cut a slot it in and that really made bending the inner section back toward middle easier. Next up was to use the stud gun I have but for some reason I could not get a good hold on the metal so I pulled out the mig welder and tacked on a few flathead nails and the really did the job at getting the metal to move back on the outer panel. I used a Steck Stud lever instead of the traditional slide hammer. The Stud lever gives much more control and can use a body hammer while pulling up on lever to work the metal.

I will have more to show and report over the next few days as I work this area when time allows. It is getting closer but still have a ways to go and I feel like this repair might just work out in the end.

Re: Trying to salvage rear tail light area
 

Next step was to take a file and work the metal edge to see where we need to go from here. After a little filing I could see that there was a gap when I laid the file on it as a straight edge. I did not want to use filler here so I grabbed the Mig welder again and laid a few beads where the gap was and in a few areas where the metal was torn from being stretched on the corners.

After that cooled down I did some more filing and think we are in the ballpark now for that edge. Still have some grinding to do on the edges and working the welds for the torn corners before I try to rebuild the bottom section of the light opening. That piece has a 90 degree bend that is now flatten against itself.

Re: Trying to salvage rear tail light area
 

It's looking pretty good for that corner. The flatter areas may be a little trickier from being stretched. They may want to oil can on you. I have one to do also, but it isn't quite that bad. I am going to cut it out and weld in a repair piece I have.

LockDoc

Re: Trying to salvage rear tail light area
 

Looking pretty good.

Re: Trying to salvage rear tail light area
 

Nice work for sure ;)

Re: Trying to salvage rear tail light area
 

Yes the side had a nice area that was pushed in, once I was able to get a few wooden dowels in there and started pushing it popped. I have started to sand that area to see the highs and lows. Not sure if i run a shrinking disc on it to get it to tighten up.

Thanks!
Thanks!

Here are a few more pictures of the work moving forward on the tail light area and starting to work a few of the other areas on that side. One picture is of the long crease I have been working on the side by using a stud welder and the Steck Stud lever the really allows a finesse on the pulling portion versus the slide hammer. The other picture is of a lower section that was bad so I cut it out and used a section of the reproduction panel. On the repop panels I really try to use the least amount as possible.

Re: Trying to salvage rear tail light area
 

Nice work, wish I had those skills.

Re: Trying to salvage rear tail light area
 

Thanks Astro-Balls. You will never know unless you try. I do this as a hobby and many of the things I do are not because I have been trained or have years of experience. I just look at what needs to be done, do a little research if I don't know the answer then give it a try. Sometime the outcome really surprises even me. This is part of the hobby that really keeps me going, the challenge and how to solve it on my own.

Here are a few updates on the lower panel spot welded in, just tacked in with spot welds in a clockwise fashion not to overheat the panel. After that was done I knocked it down with 36 grit disc and followed up with a 100 grit on a DA sander. The repair will need a little dolly and hammer action on the bottom to straighten out the part of the old panel and new panel where they meet. I replaced the section of the bed because it was so dented, twisted and folded over on bottom.

I need to get back to the rear trail light area and start working on getting the inner metal back in place and start test fitting the opening with the actual tail light housing and lens. Right now all of the measurements I am taking from the good side are very close to a match.