Rust Therapy - 62 C-10

[53Sparky]

Got started today on some body work.

I think a lot of these trucks have the same crease in the driver side door panel from being opened too far, but I found a donor door that wasn't creased. There was enough rust in the bottom part of the donor that I didn't want to just swap the entire door. I was surprised by the lack of significant rust inside my door panels once I cut away the creased portion.

I'm waiting on some paint to treat the surface rust inside the doors before I weld the repair panel in place. Hopefully it arrives soon.

[roll_the_dice]

Nice build! I got the same dolly and hammer set for Christmas also!

[SkinnyG]

I blasted inside my doors as far as I could reach, and sprayed epoxy primer in there to try and stave off corrosion.

[cwcarpenter98]

Nice work!

On your donor door, did you cut through where the mirror mounts? Apparently the mirror arm on my truck held water there for a long time and rusted out right around the screws. If that part is still good from the donor door, would you be willing to sell it?

[53Sparky]

Originally Posted by cwcarpenter98

Nice work!

On your donor door, did you cut through where the mirror mounts? Apparently the mirror arm on my truck held water there for a long time and rusted out right around the screws. If that part is still good from the donor door, would you be willing to sell it?

It's in very good condition. If you PM me with your address and pay for shipping, it's yours. Deal?

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by 53Sparky

It's in very good condition. If you PM me with your address and pay for shipping, it's yours. Deal?

That would be great, thanks! PM sent

[53Sparky]

Well, I'm slow, but at least I do mediocre work.

Today I patched mirror mount holes in the original doors to my truck. The passenger door had 3 different sets of holes, and the driver side had 3 different sets. Only 1 set of holes were symetrical to the other side, so I can only imagine what the truck looked like at various points in its history.

I set my MIG up for .023 wire instead of the .030 that I usually use. I had to run to the welding supply shop to get the appropriate tip for my gun. It took me a while to get the tension right on the drive wheel so that it didn't make birds nests inside the access panel. I've never really done any thin sheet metal welding so I burned a few welds on a couple coupons first to dial in the settings and then got busy. I patched up the holes in the driver door without any significant issues. I forgot to take pictures of the process, but you can see the result in the first picture.

I drilled 3 new holes in the passenger door to match the OEM mirror on the driver door, and welded some nuts on the inside. It was easy enough to reach after i cut an access hole from the inside of the door.

I struggled with repairing the holes on the A pillar on the passenger door. The holes were too close together to patch easily, and I kept blowing through when I tried to weld in the smaller patches I made, so i scrapped that idea and made a larger patch and started over. That worked better.

[53Sparky]

More Pics

Also, I found two loose brackets in the bottom of the passenger door. Any idea what they go to?

[Captainfab]

I'm not sure what the top piece is but the bottom piece is from the door check (limiter)

[53Sparky]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

I'm not sure what the top piece is but the bottom piece is from the door check (limiter)

That would explain why the passenger door opened so far when I got the truck.

[cwcarpenter98]

That top piece is the stop for the window regulator to keep it from going too far down.

Also, that's some great work on the mirror hole patches

[53Sparky]

Getting better at not blowing through the sheet metal when I weld the patches. I spent some more time yesterday dialing in the settings on my MIG so that it wasn't so hot.

I probably won't grind off any of these welds since they'll be hidden behind the trim inside the door.

[53Sparky]

Spent the afternoon working on more body work.

I started with 2 small rust patches in the bottom corner of both doors. You can see why all trucks rust right here. Then I turned to shortening the first of the bed sides 8" in the front and 4" in the rear. I spent a lot more time measuring and planning how I was going to do it than actually cutting, but I'm pleased with the progress today. This method should help prevent the risk of warping when I weld it back together. Bonus: I was going to fill in the stake holes on the bed anyway but now the front and rear holes have already been cut out, so that's 4 fewer patches.

[53Sparky]

More pics

[88Stanger]

53Sparky - Damn fine work here sir. My skills are no where near that, i just have to pick up the phone and call in a new fender or door or .... LOL Anyways sir, you are an artist.

[53Sparky]

Originally Posted by 88Stanger

53Sparky - Damn fine work here sir. My skills are no where near that, i just have to pick up the phone and call in a new fender or door or .... LOL Anyways sir, you are an artist.

Thanks - I'm just faking my way through this. It's my first project of this scale and I'm making lots of mistakes, but that's what this is all about, right? If I wanted a perfect truck right now, I'd buy a boring late model POS from a dealer. But where's the fun in that?

[SkinnyG]

Present it like it's awesome, and we won't see your mistakes.

.... that's what I do (grin).

[53Sparky]

So I've been working on shortening the bed to 7'. I have one bed side that's pretty straight, and one that has a lot of damage. The first pic shows a rough mock up of the change in scale that I'm looking for. I think the proportions of the end product are good to my eye. Not too long, and not too stubby.

This is my first foray into body work, so I'm learning as I go, but that's why I'm doing this.

[53Sparky]

The area just below the tail light on the panel with all the bondo was full of lead, and there was some crude brazing as well. I'll have my hands full as I work through all of that. I thought I had taken a picture of it for the before/after, but somehow that didn't get saved, so you'll just have to imagine what the dent looked like. There was a crease just to the lower right of the tail light and 2 dents in the side and rear.

I couldn't access behind the dent, so I cut it out. Then I worked with a hammer and dolly until I got it to fit right again.

[88Stanger]

I know i have said it before, but damn nice work there. Saving you alot of $$

[pdxhall]

I'm enjoying your build. you've got some great metal work going on. My build is also my first and I have learned so much from the members. Good luck.

[53Sparky]

Originally Posted by 88Stanger

I know i have said it before, but damn nice work there. Saving you alot of $$

Originally Posted by pdxhall

I'm enjoying your build. you've got some great metal work going on. My build is also my first and I have learned so much from the members. Good luck.

Thanks guys! I appreciate the comments.

[53Sparky]

Before I replace the end parts of my passenger bed side, I have good access to the sheet metal so I started addressing the series of creases that run the full length of the panel.

One of the dollys in the body repair kit I got for Christmas perfectly fits the curved profile where the crease is. I nearly wore out my wrist trying to hold the dolly in place, so I tacked a few supports onto it to hold it in the correct position. Progress is slow, but I'm happy with the results. I think I'll be able to rescue the majority of the original bedside.

[cwcarpenter98]

Dadgum, that's some commitment right there. Great work!

[53Sparky]

I have a love/hate relationship with sandblasting. I like watching it take the paint and the rust off and I don't mind the actual work, but hate the cleanup and how the media gets EVERYWHERE. I went out to my buddy's place out east of Denver so that I could make a mess behind his shop where it wouldn't matter. I'm happy with the results, though.

I used my little red pressure pot and the fine media in the red bag from TSC. I got it on Craigslist, but I think it originally came from Harbor Freight. Once I messed around with the air dryer to get enough dry air, things went pretty smoothly.