project 83

[stepside83]

got this fender yesterday for 40 bucks its brand new only on a truck for 2 months

[stepside83]

my tail gate that needs a lil more work than i thought its twisted a lil, enough to make me not want it on my truck so im gonna fix the dents, paint it the color the truck will be and get a new one (to me) and turn this one in to a coffe table for the man cave

[stepside83]

heres what the garage looks like, lil on the small side, but a lot better than having nothing

[stepside83]

and next weekend the frame is getting torn apart, and hopefully the week after itll get blasted, and i can then start to put my new stuff for suspension on, theres a small crack right where one of the bed mounting holes is at, im not sure what i should do about fixing it, was thinking of welding it, after its blasted and calling it good, any tips on that would be helpfull, its not big at all, maybe a 1/4 inch long so far thats all ive seen wrong with the frame, the rest just hast rust on it form being built in the 80's and being used a work truck up untill i took truck apart

[made2drag]

nice shop....looks like you gathered up some nice parts...

[96twodoor]

good progress!! I dont see why you couldnt just weld that crack .

[made2drag]

Originally Posted by 96twodoor

good progress!! I dont see why you couldnt just weld that crack .

i agree too

[stepside83]

thats what i was thinking on doing, just wasnt sure, if that was a good idea or not since ive never done something like that, or had to deal with an issue in the frame, the bumper on the frame im using, which is the cracked one by the bed mount hole, is pretty thick metal, at least the same as the frame, prob hme made, im guessing, i was thinking of cutting a peice out of it since im not using it, a lil bigger than where the hole for bed and crack is, drill a couple holes in it and frame, drill the hole for the bolt to go through it, and weld it under the hole, and then weld the holes i drilled, and the crack, just to give it a lil suport and stength back, would that be a good idea? orwaste of time? since im not hauling anything in this truck but a cooler and some folding chairs for the shows it will atend. o and of course ill also be hauling a$$ every where i go lol, thanks for the input and encouragement, hope to have fram taken apart this weekend and blasted next week or the week after all depends on when i can get it in to blaster

[made2drag]

Originally Posted by stepside83

thats what i was thinking on doing, just wasnt sure, if that was a good idea or not since ive never done something like that, or had to deal with an issue in the frame, the bumper on the frame im using, which is the cracked one by the bed mount hole, is pretty thick metal, at least the same as the frame, prob hme made, im guessing, i was thinking of cutting a peice out of it since im not using it, a lil bigger than where the hole for bed and crack is, drill a couple holes in it and frame, drill the hole for the bolt to go through it, and weld it under the hole, and then weld the holes i drilled, and the crack, just to give it a lil suport and stength back, would that be a good idea? orwaste of time? since im not hauling anything in this truck but a cooler and some folding chairs for the shows it will atend. o and of course ill also be hauling a$$ every where i go lol, thanks for the input and encouragement, hope to have fram taken apart this weekend and blasted next week or the week after all depends on when i can get it in to blaster

can you post a pic of the crack? may be easier to help

[stepside83]

Originally Posted by made2drag

can you post a pic of the crack? may be easier to help

i cant untill saturday, at this point and time the frame is at my in laws house, thats where i use to do some of my work and thats where im tearing the frame apart, looks to me it can be welded, i just was thinking of adding something to support it and make me feel better, but ill post a pic this weekend

[made2drag]

Originally Posted by stepside83

i cant untill saturday, at this point and time the frame is at my in laws house, thats where i use to do some of my work and thats where im tearing the frame apart, looks to me it can be welded, i just was thinking of adding something to support it and make me feel better, but ill post a pic this weekend

maybe weld it, then weld a thick washer on top to make it super strong. if you need it strong there. id like to still see the pic if its convienent saturday

[stepside83]

well i took a picture of the frame, but for some reason it wont let me load the pic in to any fiesl i have for that, tried it 900 different ways, no luck, i think ill hjust try and weld it, and if that dosent work im gonna re inforce it with some metal,

[made2drag]

Originally Posted by stepside83

well i took a picture of the frame, but for some reason it wont let me load the pic in to any fiesl i have for that, tried it 900 different ways, no luck, i think ill hjust try and weld it, and if that dosent work im gonna re inforce it with some metal,

sounds good

[stepside83]

i was thinking of raising the bed floor about 4 inches so i can tuck my cell up further, and incase i wanna go lower later on, what i was thinking, was getting some angel and some how atach it to the bed 4 inches hire than stock so the wood had something to sit on around edges, and run some sort of cross memebers across to suport the center, and was gonna do the wood some how with out any bolt heads showing like the factory for holding the bed down, and also by doing 4 inches it looks like ill miss any mounting hard ware for the fenders, just not sure on how to attach the support to the bed sides and front panel any tips or ideas on that?, and was going to some how bolt the bed down with out seeing the bolt heads any where, i guess make a tab or something and weld the bolt to it and just have to put a nut on bottom, any ideas on that to im all ears? i got a ways to go before this step happens with the bed but trying to think of everything now so when the time comes i can just do it thanks again

[stepside83]

been doing a lil work, not much tho funds are a lil tight, patching a hole and making a new mounting flange for my rear fender no pics yet for flange tho

[made2drag]

nice patch! and i like the idea on the raised false floor. make the angle rectangle and then put 4 inch legs on it....do a leg every foot or so... if it is a tight fit then i wouldnt know why it would have to be attached to the bed sides. it would be kind of like carrying an empty container. with the tailgate shut it would look right. you could mount any air ride parts to the original bed floor and cover and uncover them with the boards. you can do it. may be a fun project to do since it would only take a couple 6 foot sticks of angle iron

[stepside83]

Originally Posted by made2drag

nice patch! and i like the idea on the raised false floor. make the angle rectangle and then put 4 inch legs on it....do a leg every foot or so... if it is a tight fit then i wouldnt know why it would have to be attached to the bed sides. it would be kind of like carrying an empty container. with the tailgate shut it would look right. you could mount any air ride parts to the original bed floor and cover and uncover them with the boards. you can do it. may be a fun project to do since it would only take a couple 6 foot sticks of angle iron

ya that would be a good idea as well, like i said itll be a while before im this far, and really didnt take to much time to see if my idea would work, it was just a quick thought id guess you can say, to see what you and others thought, im guessing by the legs you were refering to id would attach them to the frame? prob weld them? thanks again, and again im open to any ones ideas on this matter, since any pics i see with the floor raised dosent really have a desecription on how they did it

[made2drag]

Originally Posted by stepside83

ya that would be a good idea as well, like i said itll be a while before im this far, and really didnt take to much time to see if my idea would work, it was just a quick thought id guess you can say, to see what you and others thought, im guessing by the legs you were refering to id would attach them to the frame? prob weld them? thanks again, and again im open to any ones ideas on this matter, since any pics i see with the floor raised dosent really have a desecription on how they did it

i mean leave your original floor how it is....then build a angle iron frame with legs and feet then place it in the bed kind of like a table....then lay your wooden slats on that. all removeable within minutes but looks permanent and would cover all your air ride stuff and also let your suspension move up and down thru your cut original floor if you go that low.

but you could also weld it to your frame if you planned on not using the original bed floor....i just assumed you still had a working floor of some kind

[stepside83]

well the floor that wa there was all rotted out and in real bad need of replacing, all the strips that hold the wood down are there and in good shape, so i figured id go ahead and raise the floor, so my fuel cell can sit hire up and not so low to the ground, and can go lower later if wanted (which im sure ill want to)

[made2drag]

i gottcha....maybe make a unboltable raised floor so if needed you can unbolt it to sell it. who knows, maybe these trucks will go way up in value and someone may offer you big cash if its somewhat back to stock...i really wish i would have just c notched mine instead of the step notch...i really didnt need a step