CK5
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'72 K5 - AJ's Gray Matter Build
- Thread starter AJs72K5
- Start date
bp71k5
3/4 ton status
It’s already Saturday, where the pictures?
I have the driver’s door mostly welded. Spent a couple of frustrating hours chasing burn thru. Still trying to dial in the welder settings for sheet metal. I’ll get some pics up tomorrow.It’s already Saturday, where the pictures?
bp71k5
3/4 ton status
Quick tip. Nice and hot voltage setting and super quick zap.
1/8/23 - Trique Manufacturing Altman Easy Latches - Driver's side
Picked up a set of door latches from Trique on Black Friday. The kit is super nice. I decided I wanted to weld them in. First time welding sheet metal of different thicknesses proved to be a challenge. 90% of the spot welds were great. Had 4 or 5 spots where I burned thru and chased that for several hours trying to get them closed up and clean. All in all, happy with how this side turned out. Passenger side should go smoother.
The pure gold you find inside the door. This is "power" windows and held in place with sheetmetal screws. Some goofy motor with a cable that loops around the window regulator. Going to convert back to manual when it all goes back together.
Took some perfectly good parts and cut them up
Driver's door welded in and ground down. I may get back in and do a couple more touchups. I didn't get a work in progress pic. Will get that for the passenger side
Striker plate. Pretty straightforward.
Picked up a set of door latches from Trique on Black Friday. The kit is super nice. I decided I wanted to weld them in. First time welding sheet metal of different thicknesses proved to be a challenge. 90% of the spot welds were great. Had 4 or 5 spots where I burned thru and chased that for several hours trying to get them closed up and clean. All in all, happy with how this side turned out. Passenger side should go smoother.
The pure gold you find inside the door. This is "power" windows and held in place with sheetmetal screws. Some goofy motor with a cable that loops around the window regulator. Going to convert back to manual when it all goes back together.
Took some perfectly good parts and cut them up
Driver's door welded in and ground down. I may get back in and do a couple more touchups. I didn't get a work in progress pic. Will get that for the passenger side
Striker plate. Pretty straightforward.
Last edited:
bp71k5
3/4 ton status
Did you have to do any extra spacing by welding the new plates flush rather than bolting them in on the outside of the door skin?1/8/23 - Trique Manufacturing Altman Easy Latches - Driver's side
Picked up a set of door latches from Trique on Black Friday. The kit is super nice. I decided I wanted to weld them in. First time welding sheet metal of different thicknesses proved to be a challenge. 90% of the spot welds were great. Had 4 or 5 spots where I burned thru and chased that for several hours trying to get them closed up and clean. All in all, happy with how this side turned out. Passenger side should go smoother.
The pure gold you find inside the door. This is "power" windows and held in place with sheetmetal screws. Some goofy motor with a cable that loops around the window regulator. Going to convert back to manual when it all goes back together.
Took some perfectly good parts and cut them up
Driver's door welded in and ground down. I may get back in a do a couple more touchups. I didn't get a work in progress pic. Will get that for the passenger side
Striker plate. Pretty straightforward.
Had to shorten the door handle rod by another 1/8”. I also had to account for it in shimming the striker plate. I’m removing the door locks altogether… no hard top, no soft top, why bother with locks? So, I can’t comment on impact to the lock rod, etc, but I’m sure it wasn’t much. Otherwise, no surprises.
@ashman can attest here, these close the door solid. No movement in the door at all when closed.
my favorite mod on my truck.
1/22/23 - Got the passenger side door welded up. Getting a better feel for the welder settings and speed. Initial pass didn't have enough voltage or wire speed. Was just piling up material on top with on a small amount of penetration. Took forever to grind down and left me with tons of pin holes to fill. Got way more comfortable as I progressed. No big burn throughs on this side.
and then there's previous owner goodness... the strap holding the captured nut plate for the door striker had been ripped off at some point. Previous owner had cut open the panel, presumably, because the plate fell off when unbolted. I got the strap welded back together. But next steps will be to clean up the panel and all of the screw holes. It'll be good practice.
and then there's previous owner goodness... the strap holding the captured nut plate for the door striker had been ripped off at some point. Previous owner had cut open the panel, presumably, because the plate fell off when unbolted. I got the strap welded back together. But next steps will be to clean up the panel and all of the screw holes. It'll be good practice.
What size wire do you have? For sheetmetal work some .023" wire makes a huge difference in actually welding it vs just multiple tacks with .030. But I use .030 for 95% of stuff.
I’m using .023 wire for the sheet metal work. Part of the issues I had on the first door with burnthru was learning how to bridge gaps and what the gap around the piece should be.
2/19/23 - Swiss cheese!! Pic heavy post I feel like all I've been doing is filling holes for the past 2 weekends. Not exactly sexy work, but, needs to get it done. I've lost track of how many I've filled so far, but driver's side is mostly done.
Starting off with cleaning up the passenger side striker from my last post. I cut and rewelded the striker retainer. It was actually too tight before making the striker hard to adjust.
Tacked in new sheetmetal
Ground down the welds and filled in the holes in the panel. This'll end up behind an interior panel of some sort later.
Next was the door locks. The K5 is gonna be end up a roadster - no hard or soft top. Locks don't really serve a purpose anymore.
Here's where things went sideways. I finally understand what everyone means by "too much heat in the panel". The welds were nice and clean, but a pretty significant low spot was left in the door.
Had a conversation with @AgDieseler about hammers and dollies and pointed me to a good started set and I got to work banging sheet metal with the new stuff almost immediately. Learned to heat shrink while I was at it. Still more to do to completely smooth it out, but it's better than when I started. No "in progress" pic.
Interior door lock, gone.
Removed the CST badges while I was at it
Here's the highlight of the weekend.... removed the old spot light holes in the windshield frame!
Called it a day with filling in the hard and soft top holes (9 or 10 of them) in the bed rail. Notice the "generous" amount of filler. Need to sand all of that out. The inside edge of the bedrail had about 20 self tapping screw holes from the interior panel that I filled in too. No pic.
Passenger side is next....
Starting off with cleaning up the passenger side striker from my last post. I cut and rewelded the striker retainer. It was actually too tight before making the striker hard to adjust.
Tacked in new sheetmetal
Ground down the welds and filled in the holes in the panel. This'll end up behind an interior panel of some sort later.
Next was the door locks. The K5 is gonna be end up a roadster - no hard or soft top. Locks don't really serve a purpose anymore.
Here's where things went sideways. I finally understand what everyone means by "too much heat in the panel". The welds were nice and clean, but a pretty significant low spot was left in the door.
Had a conversation with @AgDieseler about hammers and dollies and pointed me to a good started set and I got to work banging sheet metal with the new stuff almost immediately. Learned to heat shrink while I was at it. Still more to do to completely smooth it out, but it's better than when I started. No "in progress" pic.
Interior door lock, gone.
Removed the CST badges while I was at it
Here's the highlight of the weekend.... removed the old spot light holes in the windshield frame!
Called it a day with filling in the hard and soft top holes (9 or 10 of them) in the bed rail. Notice the "generous" amount of filler. Need to sand all of that out. The inside edge of the bedrail had about 20 self tapping screw holes from the interior panel that I filled in too. No pic.
Passenger side is next....
Am I seeing like a 1/4" of filler on that bedrail?
Yeah…. I knew there was some, but wasn’t expecting that much and it’s heaviest at the front by the door
bp71k5
3/4 ton status
Be careful of the might-as-wells!
Nnnnnnoooooooo!!
Welding thin is very difficult. Looks like you’re doing very well with it.
Thanks Matt. I’ve figured out the settings and technique for the thin metal and tacks. I can at least read what it’s doing now. If nothing else, I can fill holes well!
When it’s time to start running beads, I’ll need a lot more practice
Looking really good. Heat is a fickle mistress, but I think you’ve got her well managed.
David
David
