How To: Ruin a Perfectly Good K/5

[Tom Vogel]

You could just haul it down to '*****en Rides' and be done! lol

[mcbassin]

Awesome work dude!

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by Tom Vogel

You could just haul it down to '*****en Rides' and be done! lol

Haha, I wish I had the money. Don't really have the time, either, but I'm better at finding minutes than dollars. I will need to find some extra cash for the next planned phase...

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Awesome work dude!

Thanks, chipping away

[gringoloco]

Well, I finished up the kick panel and A pillar patches, then mocked up the outer rocker. Turns out, my bedside repair is just a touch off. Looks like it will need a pie cut to move it over to better align with the rocker Pretty happy with the kick/pillar area, though...

Hope to wrap up this side early tomorrow and start tearing into the passenger side.

[gringoloco]

Fixed the quarter--gap is much better now Rocker is ready to burn in, as soon as I fix one little fitment issue and hang the door and fender one more time...

[gringoloco]

Plug welded the rocker in place, taking extra time to get the fitment right and I'm pretty happy with it. Also, this signals the end of rust repair on the driver side Pulled her out into the daylight for the first time in a while, to make the passenger side accessible

[gringoloco]

On to the passenger side: I started in the A pillar area, after getting the outer rocker cut off. Found pretty much the same damage in the floor support and rocker box just beneath it as the other side. Decided to open up the box (wish I'd done it on the other side) for better accessibility to patch the support and clean inside the box. Finished the day with patching the support and POR-ing everything I could reach

[gringoloco]

Bonus: the kick panel and floor are solid on this side. Nice, shiny metal once I got to digging Hopefully this means this repair will go a little faster.

Second pic--anyone know what this is stamped on the firewall? This was hiding under a big glob of sealant, just above the floor seam.

[gringoloco]

More progress: buttoned up the A pillar, coated the floor, and tearing into the B pillar. The last of the rust has been removed! It's all putting it back together now

[gringoloco]

Ended here for the day: B pillar support welded in and bedside support halfway done. Ran out of shielding gas, so I had a POR party on everything I could reach on the passenger side.

Need to finish bedside support, fit outer skin and outer rocker, then rust repair is complete! (though I may have some work to do on the door bottoms...)

[thor]

Rust repair is coming along great! What is your protocol for welding adjacent to POR-15?

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by thor

Rust repair is coming along great! What is your protocol for welding adjacent to POR-15?

Thanks a lot! Almost there... As for the POR; I grind back 3/8" or so clean metal, use tacks to keep it cool, then if it still catches fire, I blow it out

[aggie91]

Looking Good! That stamp looks like it could be a QC mark or Prod. mark from the stamping plant...But I am just guessing...

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Looking Good! That stamp looks like it could be a QC mark or Prod. mark from the stamping plant...But I am just guessing...

Thanks! I just had never seen such a thing; more of a curiosity than anything. I would have never seen it, if not for my OCD about the blob of sealant

Took a break last night to spend time with the fam. I'll be back at it tonight with a fresh gas cylinder and hopefully get the quarter buttoned-up. Then its outer rocker and doors--can't wait to be done with the the noisy, dirty bits, though body work isn't much more fun...

[Marshy]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

You are doing incredible work on the metal replacement. Honestly, it's exactly this kind of series of pictures that made me believe it was easy enough for me to tackle.
I know good and well how much effort that went into the finished product.
Looking forward to watching the rest of the front pillar repairs.

Awesome work as always!

Yes, I am a believer also based on his threads. The more I read the more I think I can lol. Gotta start somewhere. I think I'll buy a welder.

Good work.

[kehstr]

This is such a cool build!! subscribed to see the finished product!!

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by Marshy

Yes, I am a believer also based on his threads. The more I read the more I think I can lol. Gotta start somewhere. I think I'll buy a welder.

Good work.

Thanks, man! I have zero professional training in this arena. Honestly, I just read a lot then get after it. I've learned by borrowing from the knowledge shared here (and some other websites ). Check out posts by ebfabman, rokcrln, jaros44sr, lks dcvn, and a bunch of other great fabricators I've forgotten to mention. Hobart handler 140 is a great little welder, but if you're on a budget, the Eastwood 110v mig I'm using is working out pretty well.

Originally Posted by kehstr

This is such a cool build!! subscribed to see the finished product!!

Thanks--doing these repairs has renewed my interest in the Blazer as well. With the C10 getting a PBDM and NL coilover setup, I'll have a bunch of 2wd parts just laying around looking for a home... You may be in for a long ride if you're looking for a finished product--I don't think they're ever finished...

[gringoloco]

Finished up the bedside support, then fitted and welded in the outer skin. This time, I did it with the outer rocker in place, so I don't have to come back and tweak the fit later...

Tomorrow I'll fit the outer rocker and hopefully burn it in. Doesn't seem like it will need much massaging, but I haven't mocked up the door and fender with it yet.

[gringoloco]

Burned in the pass rocker and then hosed down the inside of the boxes with rust encapsulator in a garden sprayer. Messy as hell, but worth it...

[72 paul]

Good idea with the garden sprayer, I'm getting ready to squirt inside mine.Dont see the tension rod in that box, maybe just pic angle. Nice ruinin.

[DeadheadNM]

Great job! I'm lovin' the updates.

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by 72 paul

Good idea with the garden sprayer, I'm getting ready to squirt inside mine.Dont see the tension rod in that box, maybe just pic angle. Nice ruinin.

Thanks! Funny, I hadn't noticed that. They're definitely in there--makes it a pain to wire brush and shop-vac in there. She's not ruined, yet Maybe I should rename this thread "How to: Ruin a Perfectly Good Garage Floor"

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Great job! I'm lovin' the updates.

Thanks a lot! I'll keep em comin'. Big push this weekend--we'll see how far I get

[gringoloco]

Worked the first door--rust on both sides in the usual spot. Had to peel back the skin to find clean metal. Thankfully, the bottom is otherwise solid.

[gringoloco]

Other side is better, but still needs a little love. Seems the trim was trapping water...

[SCOTI]

Great work here. The intent still to just spot repair/paint?