Rat repair.

[swamp rat]

Another couple days with too much on my plate, and a late start today.

I did a little investigating and fine tuning, then i crawled in the cab and with the door shut i took some rough measurements From the bottom of the door to the outer rocker (strike plate area) the front has around .050 to .075 more of a gap than in the rear, the rear of the door is as parallel to the cab as i can get it, i cant go any higher up or i'll hit the top of the cab, Plus the top of the window rail has an arch in it that i need to figure out how to flatten later, i cant go any lower because that will close the rocker gap at the rear of the door too much.

The inner and outer rockers are nested together with no gap between them along the strike plate area.

The hole on the A pillar is almost perfect so i don't want to shorten the A pillar.

I have the New Ft cab support clamped flat against the other body support rail

Tomorrow about the only thing i can try is to unbolt the A pillar from the floor and see if i can carefully jack the floor up about .050 and then recheck that gap at the bottom of the door. Hopefully this will be it.
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[swamp rat]

Did a little investigating, unbolted the A pillar and raised the floor up a bit, got the front of the outer rocker to come up enough to where I'll be happy with the gap at the bottom of the door, rechecked the clearance in the door jamb, looks good. I had to plug the holes on the A pillar so i can re drill, wish I had a plug coin punch to save some time. Of course this means i have to do an a couple adjustments to the inner rocker, kick panel and floor but now I'm happy and I'm going to run with it.

[rgunlock]

Sounds like persistence is paying off - glad its working out!

[swamp rat]

Not real happy with the little gap between the cab corner and rear of the rocker, not real sure if there is an easy solution or just fill it with seam sealer after all is said and done, the front of the rocker matches the front of the door pretty well.

Everything is fitted less the pie cuts on the rocker, i figured i would do them last after i have the floor, A Pillar and support welded into place.

Parts and cab are ready to be prepped for some weld primer..

[swamp rat]

Got a break from the rain and that means get after it when ya got welding to do outside..

On the truck i sand blasted the flanges for weld primer, then set up a heater under the truck and closed it off as much as possible to trap the heat, then went in the garage and did the same for the panels, then i prep sanded all the panels while waiting for temps to rise, wiped the parts clean with wax and grease remover and then sprayed weld primer on the parts and truck once they felt warm, the instructions state 70 degrees, that includes the metal, pretty sure i achieved that. I don't think it got above 55 today.

Welded in the front floor brace and the top plate then sprayed a little more weld primer on it, I have to put a slice in the outer rocker to get the outer flange to pull over to the flange on the inner kick panel where it gets spotted together, did that then called it a night.
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[swamp rat]

Got the A pillar welded on, then welded on the two lower nuts on the outer side before i realized that the two forward nuts are suppose to be on the inside, the rear two are suppose to be on the outside, oh well, don't know if i'm going to change it or leave it yet. And yes the welds holding the nuts look like crap, i was in a hurry and my legs were complaining loudly.

When i welded in the brace last night (learn from your mistakes) i didn't have it positioned exactly like it was during fit up, i had to persuade it a little but it will be fine.

[sboris]

Hey Mike, doing a fine job fitting everything. Will for sure end up better than factory.
Don't know too many that don't end up with a little seam sealer between the rocker and cab corner..

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by sboris

Hey Mike, doing a fine job fitting everything. Will for sure end up better than factory.
Don't know too many that don't end up with a little seam sealer between the rocker and cab corner..

Thanks for the encouragement Shawn its much appreciated! I have been going thru a learning curve on this one, but knowing what i should do differently will make the other side better or faster at least.

I'm sure i'll be using seam sealer but this rocker has a lot to be desired on the inner flange where the door seal go's.

[swamp rat]

Today's pictures:

Not much time spent today, decided to take a little extra time and treat myself to a steak and baked potato lunch..

I sliced it open and pulled the lip over, then i had to work the curve via stretching the metal with a hammer and dolly to get the curve to match the rest of the door jamb (Note in picture 3 how the curled lip sitting too far forward of the A Pillar by 3/16" in pic 4 it lines up properly) then made a filler.

Will tack the filler into place tomorrow, then recheck the door one last time, then fit the cab corner and tack it in place before i stitch the slice up. I'm holding off on the floor weld up until the rocker and cab corner are done just in case i missed something.

[7dee2]

Nice work Mike!

[swamp rat]

All i did today was weld up the pie slice.. Busy tomorrow so hope to get after it this weekend.

[jaros44sr]

Nice work Mike, had to do the same thing with mine. Just keep plugging away

[swamp rat]

I didn't take any pictures today, worked from 10am until 6:15, past when i couldn't see anything in the dark.

Tested the door fit one last time, got the inner kick panel welded up, then welded in the cab corner and started spot welding in the floor, got the inner rocker splice welded up on the inside so the outer rocker can go on. I'm kinda afraid to check my wire spool for fear its almost gone LOL!

I did have some trouble with the cab corner, i am assuming it was some contamination on the inside that i missed, it was spitting and spattering, first i thought i had ran out of gas, nope.. I got a wire brush on my bantam motor and cleaned it up as good as i could, it helped but as hard as i tried to get a great fit i missed the mark a bit, I got a little shrinkage but not near as bad as what i had on my gas fill door.

[skyjgmc]

Intently following along this is great!! I need to do the rockers and floor in mine and learing a lot from your thread.

[57taskforce]

Great work mike, it's coming together well... I need to go out and get after mine now, been away from it for a few weeks.

[swamp rat]

Well the weather isn't cooperating today, i don't mind having my 220V extension cord strung out from the garage, over the fence to my car cover and hung onto the truck if its a little damp or even a light sprinkle, i never let it touch the ground and its got a very heavy duty plastic sheathing that is very durable and it is in great shape, i inspect it often for cracks and abrasion and i keep the plug end high and dry, I'm always standing on dry plywood when i weld also, but once the deluge of rain starts its time to call it quits, i would like to retire some day...

I have about 1/2 of the spot welds done in the rocker, again no pictures.

[Zane M]

Yea, none of my vehicle "to do" list got touched today.

[swamp rat]

So i finally get a real nice day and what happens? no motivation..

Here's the progress pictures, still have some welding and grinding to do but its coming along nicely. I'm assuming that due to the fact i flanged the floor in i will need to smear the bottom of the flanged area with seam sealer, probably all welded and joined areas i guess.

Also, a pic of my passenger cab corner to show how small the flanges are and why i'm so concerned about sealing the gap up, kinda wishing i spent a little time welding in some extra flange material on the drivers cab corner as i think the stock corners had more material there and sealed the area better.

[rgunlock]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

I'm assuming that due to the fact i flanged the floor in i will need to smear the bottom of the flanged area with seam sealer, probably all welded and joined areas i guess.

Looks like it is all coming together nicely Mike. On my floor repairs, I spread seam sealer on both top and bottom of my welds - figuring the extra insurance wouldn't hurt. My goal for the floor was never to make it appear there hadn't been a patch done. Plus, I sprayed bed liner top and bottom of the floor as well. All of that managed to cover any ugly from my welding pretty well

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by rgunlock

Looks like it is all coming together nicely Mike. On my floor repairs, I spread seam sealer on both top and bottom of my welds - figuring the extra insurance wouldn't hurt. My goal for the floor was never to make it appear there hadn't been a patch done. Plus, I sprayed bed liner top and bottom of the floor as well. All of that managed to cover any ugly from my welding pretty well

Well with a flanged floor that's not gonna happen Thanks for the tip on the seam sealer, it will go on the bottom too.

So the weather chanel said by 3 it was gonna start raining again, so i get out there about 10, all the welding gear, 10 minutes later i'm outta gas! Oh well.. Got a new cylinder today instead, bought a new 4.5" grinder too made in Germany called a Metabo (Ma-Ta-Bo) got the 8.5 amp version, should last a lifetime, my old Skill i bought when i was 18 has served me well thru the years but the cord has been replaced, the housing is cracked in 2 places, it vibrates becase the bearings are wearing out, and the switch does not lock onto the on position any more..

[7dee2]

Looking really good Mike a lifetime grinder would be great, was it spensive?

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by 7dee2

a lifetime grinder would be great, was it spensive?

$225, about the same as my right angle 20V Dewalt Drill. The 6 amp version was about $150, there was one more powerful that was a bit over $300, the 6 amp version has a smaller body and is lighter, probably would have been fine with that one.

[swamp rat]

I do have a question, when i epoxy prime the floor and rockers is it advisable to remove the existing weldable primer and black rocker primer first?

[DWilbur]

The black rockers a electro plate black primer. it's like power coat. you can epoxy prime over it. as for the red prime try a test area and see if it sticks.

[swamp rat]

Ok thanks Dwilber

Next time i want to find a can of brush on weld thru primer, this stuff in the spray can comes out way to fast and is not controllable.