That spot at the pinch weld should have 3 layers.
One from the rocker, one from the floor and one flat vertical, I believe it goes back to the bottom of the rocker IIRC
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CK5
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'88 K5 - Running Down A Dream
- Thread starter jimmyleetn
- Start date
Ground up restoration of my '88 K5. The plan is to go through every inch of the truck and fix or replace pretty much everything that needs it. This will also be a full vert conversion and I plan to make the vehicle look more like a 73-75 than 88.
One from the rocker, one from the floor and one flat vertical, I believe it goes back to the bottom of the rocker IIRC
Finally got back in the shop since I posted last. Believe it or not, school is out but I keep picking up side jobs and I can't leave money laying on the ground. I finally got a afternoon to work on the truck today. Got that piece cut out. Going to have to go a little further on the inner rocker but I think the outer can be saved. I'm getting more confident and things make more sense now that I've cut it out. Here's a big photo dump.
More progress today. Putty knives are the best way to bust spot welds once you've drilled them. The old metal looks like I'm building a sword for an orc from Lord of the Rings. The rust inside the rocker cleaned out pretty easy. I think once I treat it with some good paint it'll last a pretty good while considering I won't be mudding or driving in the rain all that much. Also, I did not realize metal got so high. I took a real good reaming this morning when I bought 2x2 square tubing with 1/8in wall and a 36x36 section of 1/8in metal. Metal is for strengthening the floor before I start the convertible conversion.
Well today took a turn for the disappointing. I'll probably still work another hour or so on this truck but I have definitely hit a snag. I decided to go ahead and remove the passenger fender so I could get in there to make my rocker box and behold, I found a ton of rust on the passenger's side firewall panel. There's a lot more inside that you can see in the pictures. I know they don't make this panel but I know you can get them off donor trucks so it's not the end of the world like A-pillar rust would be for me. Hoping my guy in town comes through on this one. Went ahead and took the driver's fender off to see if it was the same and of course it was rusted too but not as bad, but I do have to take that part off anyways to work on the footwell and rocker. One step forward two steps back. I did find some beer bottle caps so at least there was some treasure at the end. Anyways, if any of you have a donor with these two panels on it I would buy them and pay shipping.
Judging by those beer caps, a woman owned this at some point.
I thought the same thing! She must have been running around with one of her buddies. There was a Michelob bottle cap on both the passenger and driver side.
Can't you just patch that with any piece of similar thickness steel?
Martin
Martin
I'm pretty sure I can on the driver side. From my research, it's supposed to only be 20 gauge which means it should be pretty easy to shape. After I cut that hole I could look in there with the inspection camera and I didn't see any rust at all, which was a pretty nice surprise. The passenger side is a little different. Best I can tell that rust goes into the seams in a couple of different places. I hit one of the outer seams with a strip disc and the metal disintegrated. I could pry it away with a putty knife. Fortunately, I have sourced that part from my local friend here. Same truck I cut the striker plates out of back in the fall. I don't remember there being any rust on that trucks firewall. He cut out a section of it for a patch panel because his truck had an electrical fire.
Lolz_cats
Uga duga
This weekend I am cutting up this 74 cab and I also have an 88 can that was cut up a few weeks ago.
I'm going to send a DM here shortly. I'm interested in the passenger from either cab.
Past two days have been slow but I have gotten some stuff done. Turns out, I can still weld. You'll see where I dialed in the MIG in a two of the pictures on some practice pieces. First time using a MIG, always used flux core or stick when I was younger. I had to do the inner rocker in three pieces. The front one is tacked in, the other is painted and ready to go. I have to make the third rearmost one. You would think that someone would make correct floor pans and inner rockers for these trucks as many of them as there are but you'd be wrong. It may be no surprise, but I'm a perfectionist. I had to let that mindset go to get these panels in. The door's closed and the door seals fit properly so I I'm gonna live with it. This is all my first attempt at body work and here I am about to have to fab up a piece. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have the floor back together on the passenger side.
Spent a lot of the day fabbing up a piece for the final segment of the floor board/inner rocker. I used a lot of the good parts I had originally cut away from the floor. I think it looks good considering I've never done this before. Got to a point where I need to tack in the other middle piece and wound up just sending it. Welded most of it in along with the front piece and part of the rear piece I'm making. I wish the inner set flusher to the outer rocker like when I drilled the spot welds out but oh well. It'll work and no one will ever see it. That's why they make seam sealer.
Believe it or not I worked on the truck for about 3 hours today. I have vastly underestimated the time it takes to weld in these panels so they don't warp or get burn-through. Don't mind the bubble gum weld too much on that one piece. Only way I could get it solid. Took a lot of copper backing. I did smooth the welds out some with a flap disc but I don't have a picture of that. Looked from underneath with a light and found all the pin holes and sealed them up. The top seams should be solid.
I worked on it all day but I don't have much to show for it. So ready to be done with this part of the truck. I jacked it up as high as I could so I could sit under it while I weld from underneath. My welding helmet is too big for me to fit my head between the inner rocker and the subframe. Probably the most frustrating way to weld ever. I couldn't hardly see what I was doing. Found more rust today too. Fun.
Welcome to Barton's body shop where in rust we trust. Want bubble gum or booger welds, we got them. Want some hot slag in your crotch and inner thigh or even in your shoe, we got that too. Want halfway grinded welds well you're in luck.
This inner rocker/floor pan is done other than paint. I'm hoping I will not have to weld underneath this truck again other than the rocker boxes I'm making. The driver's side will need different attention so I'm hoping to avoid it. It was miserable work. Proud of the progress though. You'll also see some welded up stress cracks in some of the pictures. I drilled holes to stop the cracks and traced the cracks with Dremel so I would have somewhere for the weld to go.
This inner rocker/floor pan is done other than paint. I'm hoping I will not have to weld underneath this truck again other than the rocker boxes I'm making. The driver's side will need different attention so I'm hoping to avoid it. It was miserable work. Proud of the progress though. You'll also see some welded up stress cracks in some of the pictures. I drilled holes to stop the cracks and traced the cracks with Dremel so I would have somewhere for the weld to go.
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Got the new-to-me cowl panel off. Thanks for the lead @Lolz_cats on that. It cleaned up pretty good. Needs just a little rust treatment but way better than what I had. It'll take some massaging, clamps, and sheet metal screws to get it to fit. As for the floors, 1 step forward 3 steps back. Found rot in the kick panel and floor under that lip where they fill it full of seam sealer when I removed a few sections of the floor. I've figured out how to fix it but it's gonna be a pain. Was expecting an easier fix. Fingers crossed this is it for floor rust on this side. My last day in the shop until next week, wish I'd ended on a good note.
Are you putting the AC back in this truck?
Martin
Martin
Eventually if I ever get it back together. It kinda worked before all this.
Gotcha. I was going to say to find non AC vents otherwise.
You should still find one for the driverside. Thank me later.
Martin
You should still find one for the driverside. Thank me later.
Martin
