Salan's 1980 Something

[salans7]

I find working on trucks relieves some stress - although it sometimes creates stress on its own.

Like wondering where to find sheet metal patches before realizing you have so much sheet metal available that you can literally fix every rust hole on the truck AND plug all the holes in the firewall.

[salans7]

Like wondering where to find sheet metal patches before realizing you have so much sheet metal available that you can literally fix every rust hole on the truck AND plug all the holes in the firewall.

Recently I've been working on cab wall rust repair. The previous owner just welded some sheet steel over the rust, but that's not the right way to do it. I cut all of that and the rust out, and am working on grafting in some clean metal. I'm no expert at this and I don't have the fancy tools, but my repairs will last for years and will be just fine on this old work/farm truck.

Today I was able to finish the patches for the floor, and for the back wall. I had to recreate the lip that the back wall spot welds too as the original was swiss cheese and needed to come out with the wall. Tomorrow I'll be welding the floor patch in, and then welding the back wall patch in. Once that's done, everything will receive some POR15 to keep the moisture out.

[Gary Lewis]

Recently I've been working on cab wall rust repair. The previous owner just welded some sheet steel over the rust, but that's not the right way to do it. I cut all of that and the rust out, and am working on grafting in some clean metal. I'm no expert at this and I don't have the fancy tools, but my repairs will last for years and will be just fine on this old work/farm truck.

Today I was able to finish the patches for the floor, and for the back wall. I had to recreate the lip that the back wall spot welds too as the original was swiss cheese and needed to come out with the wall. Tomorrow I'll be welding the floor patch in, and then welding the back wall patch in. Once that's done, everything will receive some POR15 to keep the moisture out.

Shaun - How did you recreate the lip? That looks like quite a challenge.

[salans7]

Shaun - How did you recreate the lip? That looks like quite a challenge.

I measured how far into the truck and how far down the back wall that the patch needed to go, and then added a 1/4" to account for shrinkage. I had to cut two pieces and then weld them together to make the patch because my door sheet metal wasn't long enough to span the gap.

For the bend, I measured everything out, marked the patch, and then used two pieces of long flat steel bar on either side of the patch to hold it in my vise. I had the bar sitting right on one of my marks, so that when I bent the other side, the steel would keep a straight bend. I had to do it twice due to the size of the panel, but it worked. It was crude, but it'll work perfectly for what I'm trying to do. Would have been easier with a brake, but I don't know anybody with one and it was just quicker to do it this way.

 

[Gary Lewis]

I measured how far into the truck and how far down the back wall that the patch needed to go, and then added a 1/4" to account for shrinkage. I had to cut two pieces and then weld them together to make the patch because my door sheet metal wasn't long enough to span the gap.

For the bend, I measured everything out, marked the patch, and then used two pieces of long flat steel bar on either side of the patch to hold it in my vise. I had the bar sitting right on one of my marks, so that when I bent the other side, the steel would keep a straight bend. I had to do it twice due to the size of the panel, but it worked. It was crude, but it'll work perfectly for what I'm trying to do. Would have been easier with a brake, but I don't know anybody with one and it was just quicker to do it this way.

Good plan, Stan.

[salans7]

Good plan, Stan.

Burned in the new cab floor "flange". It took a few hours since it's such a long piece and it's a little chilly in Florida so the metal wasn't exactly staying warm. I had to keep hitting the metal with the heat gun prior to every stitch. I was also jumping around from side to side to try and keep the patch from warping. Tomorrow I'll tackle the back wall patch, and the high is 81 which should be better than the 72 degree high I had today. Rain is in the forecast though, so I don't know how much time I will have.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Burned in the new cab floor "flange". It took a few hours since it's such a long piece and it's a little chilly in Florida so the metal wasn't exactly staying warm. I had to keep hitting the metal with the heat gun prior to every stitch. I was also jumping around from side to side to try and keep the patch from warping. Tomorrow I'll tackle the back wall patch, and the high is 81 which should be better than the 72 degree high I had today. Rain is in the forecast though, so I don't know how much time I will have.

Looking good, Shaun!

I can tell you're already more comfortable with your welder.

I hope the rain holds off and you can get it buttoned back up.

It's a little chilly in Florida so the metal wasn't exactly staying warm.

Tomorrow I'll tackle the back wall patch, and the high is 81 which should be better than the 72 degree high I had today.

:nabble_laughing-25-x-25_orig:

Years back I remember laying on ice to weld a front sway bar mount back into Alex's Mustang.

The wind was drifting snow under the car and when the shielding gas got blown away the ensuing sparks set my greasy sweat shirt on fire.

 

[Gary Lewis]

Looking good, Shaun!

I can tell you're already more comfortable with your welder.

I hope the rain holds off and you can get it buttoned back up.

It's a little chilly in Florida so the metal wasn't exactly staying warm.

Tomorrow I'll tackle the back wall patch, and the high is 81 which should be better than the 72 degree high I had today.

:nabble_laughing-25-x-25_orig:

Years back I remember laying on ice to weld a front sway bar mount back into Alex's Mustang.

The wind was drifting snow under the car and when the shielding gas got blown away the ensuing sparks set my greasy sweat shirt on fire.

It is 29F here and I was thinking that 72F would be plenty warm. But I will admit I've not welded outside and on body panels at that temp, which probably take just the right heat setting in order to flow but not blow. So I hope today will be "just right".

[salans7]

It is 29F here and I was thinking that 72F would be plenty warm. But I will admit I've not welded outside and on body panels at that temp, which probably take just the right heat setting in order to flow but not blow. So I hope today will be "just right".

Thanks guys! It's been raining all morning, so not much of a chance to do anything unfortunately. I really need to figure out a shelter for my concrete pad so I can work rain or shine. My shop took a tree hit a months or two ago, and it's not worth fixing due to how poorly it was built. I'll likely be looking into a new shop build, and will likely have a carport added on to cover the pad.

I definitely would not want to be out in less than 40 degree weather trying to do this, but when you have to, you have to. Luckily on this truck, I don't have to. The temps are going to be hovering around 60-70 high and 30-40 lows through the first week of December, so we're unusually cold here currently.

That's a funny story Jim, although I'm sure it wasn't at the time. I always make sure whatever I'm wearing is likely to ignite as I've seen way too many stories of clothes on fire when welding.

[salans7]

Thanks guys! It's been raining all morning, so not much of a chance to do anything unfortunately. I really need to figure out a shelter for my concrete pad so I can work rain or shine. My shop took a tree hit a months or two ago, and it's not worth fixing due to how poorly it was built. I'll likely be looking into a new shop build, and will likely have a carport added on to cover the pad.

I definitely would not want to be out in less than 40 degree weather trying to do this, but when you have to, you have to. Luckily on this truck, I don't have to. The temps are going to be hovering around 60-70 high and 30-40 lows through the first week of December, so we're unusually cold here currently.

That's a funny story Jim, although I'm sure it wasn't at the time. I always make sure whatever I'm wearing is likely to ignite as I've seen way too many stories of clothes on fire when welding.

Mother nature held out just long enough to allow me to prep and burn half of my repair patch in. Lap welds up top, plug welds at the bottom to mimic the factory spot welds. I'll finish the rest up either sometime this week, or over the weekend.

I had to be careful because whatever rough texture paint they used on the back of the cab occasionally tried to ignite, as did the goopy stuff they tried to hide the rust with inside the cab. Florida man needs to leave trucks alone.