Rat repair.

[swamp rat]

Getting closer, the cab corner has a little more work than is shown in the picture, your still looking at high build primer, have to do a touch up sand then it should be ready for the final 2K cover..


Body guys i have a question:
I still have to figure out exactly how i'm going to make the rocker/cab corner join look symmetrical, i'm guessing feed some bondo in on the rocker side being as the rocker was not straight, i thought about just filling it with bondo but i know the factory seam should be there. Have concidered filling with seam sealer but not sure if that's the best way.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

...I still have to figure out exactly how i'm going to make the rocker/cab corner join look symmetrical, i'm guessing feed some bondo in on the rocker side being as the rocker was not straight, i thought about just filling it with bondo but i know the factory seam should be there. Have concidered filling with seam sealer but not sure if that's the best way.

Completely filling it with bondo or seam sealer will eventually cause the area to crack when the body flexes. Best way to join the rocker to the corner is by welding and it's a bit late for that. Faced with this, I'd probably opt for a bondo repair. Couple of ways to go about it.

1. You can lay a piece of string or wire in the gap, draw it snug and tape it top and bottom. Overfill the gap with bondo and wait a little bit until the bondo has barely started to set and is still fairly wet. Hold one end of the string/wire and gently pull the other to you. This will create a pretty uniform, tight gap. Let the filler set up the rest of the way and use a hacksaw blade with sandpaper folded around it to work the gap to the width you want.

2. Dispense with the string trick and fill the gap with bondo, then use a hacksaw blade after the filler sets up to create the gap you want. Then fold over your sandpaper and work it smooth. This requires a bit more finesse because you want the gap right next to the cab corner and controlling the saw blade can be tricky.

[swamp rat]

Well, if not one thing its another, started popping the main breaker on the lower service of my split buss bars when i turned on the portable AC units, this is where i added the 220 service for the compressor and welder, but when the main pops the welder and compressor are turned off. Did a test with the welder and compressor breakers turned off and the problem went away, the air units worked fine, and i added more loads via a toaster oven and microwave, celing fan, tv, and computer and everything was fine. Sigh, now i need to figure out which of the two is the culpret...

Got my inner fenders back today, pic later, they look sweet!

[swamp rat]

Here's a couple pics of the powder coat inner fenders. I have been plugging away on the truck but it does not look much different, been finalizing the rear cab corner and inner kick panel, have the welds seam sealed now. Need a warmer day to apply the final coat of 2K.

[swamp rat]

Next

[swamp rat]

Dang that first photo is a killer LOL! Posted from my phone....

[NONHOG]

Get the electrical figured out?

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by NONHOG

Get the electrical figured out?

The only real fix is to upgrade my electrical panel which is about $2000, that was a quote from an electrical company i talked to about the issue. I had a friend whom i work with who is one of the electricians for my building, he also said its a $2000 job without knowing i already had a quote from a different company.

I have whats called a split panel where all the upper 220V is always hot, the lower portion is for the 120V is controlled by a main breaker, You may recall that the 220V circuits for the compressor and welder were added to this lower section which maxed out the service.

The old main breaker is 50A, my electrician buddy said that between the panel and the 4 AWG wires coming off of the 50A main that i'm safe to use a 60 amp main breaker so i had him swap that out for me, it remains to be seen if this will help with the main tripping, but i'm hoping that the fact that the main was tripping even with the power off to the welder and compressor was that the main was as old as the house and just needed to be replaced. I have not had time to fire up my air conditioners to run a test.

[mcbassin]

Looking good Mike! Nice progress on the car and door repairs.

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Looking good Mike! Nice progress on the car and door repairs.

Thanks Mike! I know its kinda slow going but it seems every time i attempt a repair to a different area its another learning curve, definitely have made a couple mistakes along the way but that's how ya learn. If i could just go home after work and spend another hour or two on the rat it would progress quicker.. I'd be willing to use lamps and work on it but i'm sure my neighbors would protest.

[7dee2]

The wheel tubs look great Mike, suckie about your power situation man.

[swamp rat]

Well, I have the new main installed, it hasn't been hot enough to need the portable air conditioners tho, going to go with it for now.

Cab: Still doing a little as time permits, finished priming the under side of the rear cab support and the seam sealer is all done now top and bottom, i still want to look it over close to see if i missed any seam sealer before i do a final prime coat on the bottom, chances are i may have.Its been fairly cold and wet for a while so i have been holding off on the final prime coat and color coat on the inside of the cab.

Driver door: I have filled about 5 small divots on the inner cab door, will sand tonight, then I'll put together my new foldable body part paint stand that came in today. Hope to get the inside lower of the door seam sealed and primed tonight too because my wife has been back visiting with family so i can work in the garage at night, i have also been taking care of her end of the house stuff as well.

So i sat down the other day with my welder and did some more testing on a heavy piece of angle to figure out my porosity issue with my spots, I added more gas but withing the recommendation of Miller, nope! played with the feed and heat settings, no dice! Checked my heavy duty extension cord, still in great shape... Took a look at the pinch roller, still looked good but decided to play with the spring tension adjuster, there is no recommended settings on the inside of the welder lid but i backed off the spring tension and bam! welds like a champ now... live and learn.

Now for the big one, I went back to see the DR about my shoulder yesterday, i tore it up last april, he is now recommending surgery, they are putting in for insurance authorization, once that is done it go's to scheduling and they figure out a good date for me, once that is established i have to call and have FMLA paperwork faxed to my DR's offfice to be completed, then returned to FMLA for final approval away from work. He said i would be out of work for 3 months, but i may be able to return sooner on light duty if the company can place me somewhere, I'm ok if they cant do the light duty tho. but it will put a big damper on my truck for a bit once i have this thing fixed, i'm tired of the aching and nerve spikes ect. The good news is between insurance and my savings i can deal with this financially.

[swamp rat]

Drivers door is seam sealed and in the booth waiting for a coat of K2 on the bottom, sitting on my new painting stand, nice and solid, real happy with it. Yea i could hafe smoothed the bottom of the door out with bondo but this is not a show truck.

Anybody know what shade of white is on the mirrors and front fender? I admit i'm thinking about a semi gloss or eggshell black on the mirrors and front bumper to match my rear bumper and also adding a couple driving lamp ports built into the front bumper. But i also have a very good condition chrome front bumper hanging from the ceiling, what to do......

[swamp rat]

Well just barely had enough time to sand, wipe down, and clean with wax and grease remover, mixed up some color and started spraying, cleaned up and off to work..

The door has a contamination problem but not sure where it came from, a big blob of translucent black crap dropped out of the gun when i was spraying, possibly i had some traces of primer and lacquer thinner in the threads of the paint cup lid and it worked its way out?? I couldn't find anything obvious, plus i got a few fish eyes close to it as well.. Well i know its not gonna be a show truck but i may sand the door in that area and the fish eyes and try again later, or give in and have the inner doors repainted when i have someone else do the door jams and outer paint.. I need to keep in mind right now its about preservation.

Don't look at my break pedal, yea i started to loose my balance while reaching in and spraying the kick panel.

[swamp rat]

Yesterday i wiped the paint off the break pedal, LOL! Whatever dripped from my paint gun on to the door dried solid so right now its the least of my worries. I removed the rest of the door seal on the driver side and experimented with what to use to remove the glue residue, i came to the conclusion that Goof Off was the best thing in my garage, i still have a little more to remove but didn't have time to work on it today, ran some errands (paint store and Pet store) and went to work.

[GASoline71]

The paint is looking good Mike! I dig that color too!

Did you have to cut the outer rockers to get them to fit right? I have made one cut in the front of the rocker to get it to go flush against the new lower door pillar I welded on. But it looks like I will have to make another couple relief cuts in the front and rear to get it to line up correctly and still line up with the lower part of the inner rocker (outer cab floor)

Gary

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by GASoline71

The paint is looking good Mike! I dig that color too!

Did you have to cut the outer rockers to get them to fit right? I have made one cut in the front of the rocker to get it to go flush against the new lower door pillar I welded on. But it looks like I will have to make another couple relief cuts in the front and rear to get it to line up correctly and still line up with the lower part of the inner rocker (outer cab floor)

Gary

Yea i had to do a pie slice on the front of the rocker, first i cut it and and then stretched the flange that holds the weather strip a bit with a hammer, then fab and weld in the pie section, and then the area in front of the pie slice i had to get a block of wood and persuade it so it laied a little bit better into that corner. If you look back a few pages you can see where i did it. This thread talks about the problem, read it all and Note the second to last post, he's a vendor here on the forum.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=711884

Also , the rear of the outer rocker lined up fine to the cab but the outer portion where if curves down to the bottom was not flush with the cab corner, rather than try and pie slice that i opted to build it up with some bondo.

[GASoline71]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Yea i had to do a pie slice on the front of the rocker, first i cut it and and then stretched the flange that holds the weather strip a bit with a hammer, then fab and weld in the pie section, and then the area in front of the pie slice i had to get a block of wood and persuade it so it laied a little bit better into that corner. If you look back a few pages you can see where i did it. This thread talks about the problem, read it all and Note the second to last post, he's a vendor here on the forum.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=711884

Also , the rear of the outer rocker lined up fine to the cab but the outer portion where if curves down to the bottom was not flush with the cab corner, rather than try and pie slice that i opted to build it up with some bondo.

Thanks Mike... I am going to have to do the exact same thing on mine. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy.

Gary

[7dee2]

Looks good Mike, very nice column! If it was me I would install it now that most everything is out of the way. Only other concern would overspray from additional paint work?

[Zane M]

Love the color!

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by Zane M

Love the color!

Thanks, its the stock Medium Green, its funny how depending the light from the booth or outside makes it change all the time. plus if you get the ratios different for the activator and reducer it changes how it looks too, its definitely not an exact match to the stock color but for what i'm doing its close enough. I'm just painting inconspicuous areas so its not too important that it be perfect, but i'm working on getting better every time.. Learning curve...

[swamp rat]

Got the rest of the adhesive off the opening, and was about to put the door back on then i realized something, i bought a rebuilt steering column and right now everything is easy access... Debating, go ahead and install that tomorrow before i put the door back on? the rag joint was replaced about ?5? years ago so its probably fine, not sure what all i need to do as far as the connections on the shaft but it looks to be about a 6-8 bolt job otherwise... Not sure if I'll end up with a headache installing the shift lever or turn signal lever

[swamp rat]

I worked again last weekend and its been a busy week.. Not much accomplished again, would like to get this column installed but have a potential problem?

I'm hoping someone can confirm this question, MY original non tilt automatic column has a bracket of sorts sticking out just above the shift lever where the shift linkage is attached, i just realized the rebuilt tilt column does not have this plate, i emailed the guy that rebuilt it and he said not to worry it will be fine and go ahead and swap them out, I would like to know what function this plate serves? is it necessary? I have a TH350. Thanks!

[7dee2]

Here is a link were they talk about the function of the selector plate. http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=491049 Also it's mentioned in the AIM on pg 400.

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by 7dee2

Here is a link were they talk about the function of the selector plate. http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=491049 Also it's mentioned in the AIM on pg 400.

It does appear my selector is a little out of wack looking at that picture. I appreciate your link and the picture from the assy manual too.

I Pm'ed with the guy a few times and he confirmed that on the tilts the selector plate is internal, i guess tomorrow i can confirm that by applying a little persuasion and see what happens.

Shoulder surgery is the 17th, i got to get this side wrapped up soon.