Restoring Rusty

[Gregski]

The previous owner made a rather nifty temporary battery tray, I wonder how many years he drove with this one around.

The bottom plate was 1/4 inch nice and sturdy like, but now original so it must go

[Gregski]

so it was off to Pick N Pull for a new(er) used battery tray - $12 bucks I think I paid for this one, she aint perfect but she will do

not sure if all you all got a Pick N Pull in your neck of the woods, so I'll tell you what it is, it's like a Walmart franchise like junkyard where they let you pull your own parts, they pretty much scrap all the cars for metal, so the parts prices are very reasonable

and yes we can still find some of our trucks in those yards

[Gregski]

now as baby Godzillas grow and become teenagers they get hungrier, so they expand their battery tray diet to other parts, they love inner fenders

now since mine was missing a large chunk I was able to remove it with the front wheel still on, not sure if you might could as well, fer sure I would not mount a new shinny one using this method, but since my driveway has a significant slope and the battery was out of the truck, I did not wanna prop it up with a jack and get me one of 'em Darwin awards

[Gregski]

I guess this website uploads these pictures any which one is up !!!

[Gregski]

here's what accumulates in our front fender corners and why they rot away, shame really, poor design if you ask me, what were you thinking GM?

[Gregski]

The Greg was pretty busy

So I went back to the junkyard and pulled an inner fender - $15 bucks I think, now watch I'll probably spend twice that on materials to strip it, clean it, prime it, and paint it, LOL

Question for you all: Did GM undercoat these inner fenders at the factory, or is that just 40 years of dirt and grime stuck to their bellies?

[Gregski]

so I used the Aircraft paint stripper on the top side and it didn't do much, so then I went to the Muriatic acid and it showed better results, but when it came down to it, I still had to use a wire wheel on my small grinder to get all the rust off

man this thing flush rusts super quick, so its hose it off, then dry if off, then Acetone it and shoot it with that clear Rust Fix rust converter thing, that brand sucks when it comes out, it shoots a small narrow strip and does not cover well at all, see how it turned out like a zebra or a tiger, yet it all looked nice and wet when I sprayed it, but it comes out clear so its difficult to see what you sprayed

[Gregski]

in case you all were wonderin' how to use that bottle jack ~ here you go

[Gregski]

man lots of work, this is

cleaned the belly of that inner fender and tried a different rust converter primer this time, cheaper too, this one is by RUST-OLEUM, love the way it covers and sprays, really good coverage, also since it's not clear you actually know what you sprayed

I am gonna use RUST-OLEUM undercoating for the belly, which says you may or may not use a primer first, but I decided to use one anyway

[Gregski]

just scored this 600 CFM Holley 4160 four barrel electric choke refurbished aluminum Carburetor with vacuum secondaries on eBay for $190 shipped, should go nicely with that Weiand intake

[rusty76]

Cool work. Glad to see you keeping at it.!

[79azc10]

Truck is looking good

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by 79azc10

Truck is looking good

thank you

[Gregski]

the rain let up so I decided to go back at it, I resprayed that "tiger stripe" inner fender with the Rust-Oleum primer which is meant to shoot over rust, it has better coverage than that Kryolan clear stuff I was using

if all goes well tomorrow I will shoot the undercoating

[Gregski]

been planning on removing the Air Injection Reactor System and finally got around to it

the first pipe plug broke off - go figure, then a second one, although I did soak em in BP Blaster

one as always needed a bit of gentle persuasion - vice grips style

[pontgta]

I used to use the rutoleum but another member mentioned this..... And like the fact of no primer needed..

VHT EPOXY


Found some at advance

By the way AWESOME progress

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by pontgta

I used to use the rutoleum but another member mentioned this..... And like the fact of no primer needed..

VHT EPOXY


Found some at advance

By the way AWESOME progress

thanks I will have to check it out, sounds like POR15 in aerosol

[Gregski]

then it was off to Home Depot (well two of em since the first only had 5 of the fittings)

thanks to the good folks on this forum sharing their know how I was able to determine I needed the Brass Pipe LFA-737 plugs

can you see my plug in the red 1/4 inch (8mm) slot I screwed in to the store to show you guys what we need

[motornut]

Originally Posted by Gregski

here's what accumulates in our front fender corners and why they rot away, shame really, poor design if you ask me, what were you thinking GM?

yup ours do that up here,fall leaves/debris and then it holds the winter salt....
I opened up the drain holes in the 4X4s fender bottom,stuff flushes out easier.

[Lokin4AReason]

nice progress .... keep up the good work =0)

[Gregski]

it was too dark last night to get more than one plug in so I came home from work today and got the other seven screwed in, note the aligned bolt heads, Concourse Ready! JK

$20 bucks I paid for these and now my car looks like it has 8 gold teeth, not a big fan, if I was to stick with manifolds I would pick up some without em holes at a swap meet, but I'm getting headers come March

[Gregski]

finally got the fender in the paint booth today ~ LOL, bet you didn't know I was gonna color match that baby, I know it was black from the factory, but I like more contrast in the engine bay, the engine don't stand out if everything around it is also black, just my preference that's all

got some single stage color match paint, (OMNI brand I think it's PPGs cheaper cousin) will most likely need a second spray can too get the color to brighten up cause of the deep brownish red primer under it, note the lame color comparison of the wet fender to the dry glove box on the ground (and in different light) but hey I was impatient to see the results

[Gregski]

figured if I don't get to the blower unit now I will never be able to reach the bottom bolt after I put the shinny new(er) inner fender back on, so that baby had to come off for a wash and a respray

trying to figure out if there is s gasket between the fire wall and that blower box cause there aint much left of mine if there was one

[Gregski]

while I was literally watching the paint dry I decided to see if I could figure out why Rusty is cross eyed, well the only plastic part in the headlight assembly is what broke, that white little piece that holds the adjusting screw to the radiator support, go figure, darn plastic!

some turn signal bulbs are out too, so making a short list for AutoZone for tomorrow, lol

Side Note: very impressed with the heavy duty quality headlight chrome bezels, love working on this truck, easy to take in and out too

[KrazyRay]

Your truck is looking good! Is that paint from Jerry's Paint? I used their matching paint on my 87 GMC and was very happy with it.