Frame Help - Rust and Structure Issues '77 K5

[ZombieK5]

The tear down got back into gear today. Removed Roof, quarter panels and bed. Went well but found some issues to discuss.

1. FRAME DEGRADATION - Found the lower part of the frame steel (part that faces the ground) had heavy rust flakes. Brushed the rust off and found the lower frame along the bed area was thinning considerably.
--Should I media blast these areas and just POR15 it or should I media blast and weld in some new steel in this area. Was. Thinking of laying the new steel along the bottom face rather than the inside face.

2. BODY MOUNT DEGRADATION - Found the 2nd to last body mount brackets are shot. See photos.
-- Replace or repair? I'd replace if I had any chance of finding these mounts

3. SHOCK MOUNT WELD - Found a previous owner welded in a steel plate on the top of the frame where the mount is... Not sure why this was done. ALSO, the top mount hole appears to have a weld repair. I need to remove this shock to see more but does anyone have any ideas what's going on here.
--Is there a solution that one of the suspension fab companies sell to improve this design or fix any issues that seem to be present?

Any help is always appreciated.

 

[ryoken]

blast it, evaluate strength, repair/plate as needed, EPOXY.... leave the snake oil for the flippers..

plate the mount tops, if ya blast it all, it's super easy.. bit of 1/8" will do it nicely oversized...

shock mounts, blast, grind smoothish, evaluate plating possibilities..

 

[sweetk30]

that is a cream puff of a frame for our north east rust belt .

as said blast it / fix the few spots . weld a repair patch over them 2 rear mount points unless you can score good used and give it a quick paint job and enjoy it .

 

[HankScorpio]

ORD has a kit to make the shock mount double shear. Easy enough to fab it too.

Rear Shock Brace Kit for '73-91 K5 Blazer/Jimmy and '73-87 K10 and K20 Pickup

73-'87 ('91) Chevy Rear Shock Brace, Fits 1/2T and 3/4T Trucks and Blazers Only, Does Not Fit K30's or Suburbans. One kit covers one truck.

www.offroaddesign.com

 

[ZombieK5]

blast it, evaluate strength, repair/plate as needed, EPOXY.... leave the snake oil for the flippers..

plate the mount tops, if ya blast it all, it's super easy.. bit of 1/8" will do it nicely oversized...

shock mounts, blast, grind smoothish, evaluate plating possibilities..

Got the shocks off. The passenger side one has definite welding around the mounting hole and a 4" weld bead towards the front. Possibly a Prev Owner saw a crack and welded it.

May grind the crack repair weld down smooth and weld on a plate for additional support.

Anyone seen anything "Unusual" on these images?

 

[HankScorpio]

The shock mount area cracking is pretty common. I have welded up a few, worked out fine.

 

[ryoken]

it also looks like they welded a washer over the hole..

 

[ZombieK5]

it also looks like they welded a washer over the hole..

Yea, I can make out a imprinted number on it which would probably identify the washer size and type

 

[ZombieK5]

blast it, evaluate strength, repair/plate as needed, EPOXY.... leave the snake oil for the flippers..

plate the mount tops, if ya blast it all, it's super easy.. bit of 1/8" will do it nicely oversized...

shock mounts, blast, grind smoothish, evaluate plating possibilities..

Not going to believe what I found in my collection of parts!!!

 

[Chickntrk]

I've seen the shock mount crack the frame there, I'm wondering if it didn't crack across the top of the C, hence why the plate is welded on top?

I've never seen any good results with POR15

 

[ZombieK5]

I've seen the shock mount crack the frame there, I'm wondering if it didn't crack across the top of the C, hence why the plate is welded on top?

I've never seen any good results with POR15

I'm gonna cut off that plate and see what is going on...

I've had some good results with POR15. I used it 18 yrs ago to protect some steel Brackets installed during a backyard deck project. The POR15 faded but so far zero rust and the costing hasn't worn off from years of sun exposure.

 

[ryoken]

I've had some good results with POR15. I used it 18 yrs ago to protect some steel Brackets installed during a backyard deck project. The POR15 faded but so far zero rust and the costing hasn't worn off from years of sun exposure.

the old body guy in me has to reply, excuse him...


not that encapsulators don't have there place (rust bullet is the exact same thing), any body guy worth his weight will cringe at the idea of doing POR on blasted steel... even if they have a "procedure" to do it... if you're going thru the trouble to blast it, put a proper coating system on it... epoxy is a FAR superior product....

scaly frame in a rig that isn't gonna get blasted? sure, it's an option.. tho I prefer a converter whenever possible.....

we where using that stuff in the early 90's in the marine biz.. LONG before it became intraweb famous.... the vast majority of the time, it's for lazy people that don't want to do the proper prep and just slather a miracle product on... and it does come across that way..... most of the FB crowd that think it's Gods nectar, fall under that category.. well, that and monkey hear, monkey do too...

while some results may be good, I've seen it fail in big sheets too many times on properly prepped stuff to trust it...

*end body guy diatribe*

 

[ZombieK5]

the old body guy in me has to reply, excuse him...


not that encapsulators don't have there place (rust bullet is the exact same thing), any body guy worth his weight will cringe at the idea of doing POR on blasted steel... even if they have a "procedure" to do it... if you're going thru the trouble to blast it, put a proper coating system on it... epoxy is a FAR superior product....

scaly frame in a rig that isn't gonna get blasted? sure, it's an option.. tho I prefer a converter whenever possible.....

we where using that stuff in the early 90's in the marine biz.. LONG before it became intraweb famous.... the vast majority of the time, it's for lazy people that don't want to do the proper prep and just slather a miracle product on... and it does come across that way..... most of the FB crowd that think it's Gods nectar, fall under that category.. well, that and monkey hear, monkey do too...

while some results may be good, I've seen it fail in big sheets too many times on properly prepped stuff to trust it...

*end body guy diatribe*

Actually it was my plan to Epoxy the entire frame and hit it with a good 2x black paint afterwards. Will probably get it media blasted too...