New Member - 72 Jimmy: Project Knuckledragger mountain commuter

[snowblind]

I've been banging away in the bed for the last couple of weeks and now it's all starting to come together. There were a number of rusty holes that needed patching so I cut out all the rust, bought a patch panel and took it to Maaco for some welding.

The first of the cutting...




To keep the costs down I had Maaco cut patch panels a little bigger than the holes and then weld them OVERLAPPING the existing bed. Obviously it would have been prettier to weld the panels in flush but my wallet is happy with the compromise. Liberal use of seam sealer above and below should provide decent corrosion protection.

Here's the bed all patched up. I also hit everything with a knotted wire wheel and then used Rust Blast etching solution to prep it for primer and bedliner







The metal plates in front of the wheel wells are remnants of an old roll bar...






Matt