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Hammer K5 Resto project

Newbies in the dark UNITE:rolleyes:

RustBullet says you can spray it and I plan to do that but haven't:( Still trying to get the asphalt undecoating goo off the frame & underside.

I'm going to use a cheapie gravity feed sprayer. I bought the 3M PPC (?) system too. It's an adapter, cups & bags for the gun so it will spray with the gun held at any angle.

Since you have a welder I suggest you consider adding a support, plate or something around the bolts in the bed. All the beds I see that seems to be a weak spot for cargo.
 
Cargo bed

BKinzey said:
Newbies in the dark UNITE:rolleyes:

RustBullet says you can spray it and I plan to do that but haven't:( Still trying to get the asphalt undecoating goo off the frame & underside.

I'm going to use a cheapie gravity feed sprayer. I bought the 3M PPC (?) system too. It's an adapter, cups & bags for the gun so it will spray with the gun held at any angle.

Since you have a welder I suggest you consider adding a support, plate or something around the bolts in the bed. All the beds I see that seems to be a weak spot for cargo.
Click to expand...


That's a good suggestion when I was researching about using plate steel I was planning to add to the subfloor to strenghten the floor. Since I scrapped that idea and went with the replacement sheet metal I hadn't thought about it. But I don't think it could hurt by adding some kind of support.

I'm still undecided about with sprayer. Like you I'm looking for both cheap and workable. I've still got to replace the steering shaft next after the floor replacement. There's still time to think and plan.
 
possible courses of action

To remove the scale and surface rust underneath the body I was thinking I could either rent a power washer or buy a abrasive blaster from work, they run about $50. Both would probaly do a good job, hell I might get crazy and use both, and then paint the underbody.:crazy: :haha: :rotfl:
 
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Tailgate work (hinges)

In the process of restoring my 22 year old truck, I have to try to save as much money as possible. There are high ticket items that will cost me $$ no matter what I do, I accept that. During the demo of the tailgate and cargo floor rot, I had the old tailpan sitting in the back of my pick up( looking for a needy dumpster). I notice that the tailgate higes were still usable, maybe. All I had to do is to unscrew the heavily rusted eight bolts still holding it to the useless rotted tailpan. Better said than done. At work I bought some CRC Screwloose and CRC Knock it Loose. Using both cans I sprayed the bolts several times a day for two days. Truthfully I had little hope that I could get the bolts off without destroying the entire hinges. After two days and alot of muscle all eight bolts squaked off, one painful twist at a time. I have to hand it to Screwloose and Knock it Loose, they really worked. Next I sanded the rusted parts down, cleaned them up and found that they were still usable. Cool! I just saved $100. I then coated them with POR 15 and then sprayed them with Safety Red rustoleum. Now I just need a dry day to install them and finish the tailpan rebuild.
 
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Gee look at that!

I had today off so I decided to go to work and work on the Blazer. I had recentlt bought the replacement chassic bolts ( not real replacements, some industrail bolts from work) I was hoping to have the tailpan installed today. But once I removed the old lift block and pad I found that some pervious owner had gutted out the bolt hole and the new bolts won't fit in the driver's side.

Fabrication time, which is really hard to do in a parking lot. I cut a piece of 3/16 steel prepped the frame around the gutted hole and welded the new steel to it. Cool the other side all I had to do was create a large washer All told the job took 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Once in place I was all ready to install the bolts, lift block and tailpan. I was set to have the tail gate all installed... But the bolts I bought are TOO LONG. they are 8 inches when I need 6 to 6 1/2. Well I'll be ready next time.
 
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More work, more trouble

Saturday I was finally able to dedicate some time and funds to the project. I was trying to keep it simple, mount the tailgate back on the frigging truck. This started with me finally installing the tailpan, into the truck with the new stainless steel bolts. This seemed to have been pretty straight forward, even level. I decided not to weld the ends of the tailpan to the body until I figured out if I had it right and the tailgate would close. After installing the hinges and the tailgate I found that the gate was shifted to the driver's side and it wouldn't close. Well not without me prying it over to the passanger side. WTF! I thought maybe it was because of the heavy weight of the gate on the tailpan( which was only supported by the body mounts and rubber pads). I worked it over and it seemed like it would work once the tailpan was more secure. OKAY! I then created some of the most nastiest welds to the tailpan and the body anyone has ever seen. ( My rental time of the generator was running out) Once welded I then tried to close the tailgate and found to my surprise THE DRIVER'S SIDE WAS NOW TIGHT AND A 1/2 INCH HIGH! It wouldn't close WTF!!!!!! With time running out I broke the driver's side weld on the tailpan and muscles the tailgate close. I think I will try two fixes, (1)loosen the hinges at the tailpan and see if they are shifted. (2) if that relieves the driver's side shift I'll weld the tailpan in place with the gate closed and in position. Wow this is more complicated that I thought

0818071103.jpg

0818071140.jpg
 
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Test

While I ponder the tailgate situation, I decided to test the underbody plan. I plan to paint the entire belly of the K5 with first Rust Bullet and then maybe a conventional paint (maybe Rustoleum Safety Red). I first used a wire brush attached to a cordless drill, pretty good at removing the 22 years of rust and scale. Mind you I will more than likely first power wash then undercarriage before I start sanding out the rust. I will also probaly use a 4 inch grinder with a steel brush attachment to do the heavy work. After the drill I went over the area with good old rust bullet. As I work on it it does seem alittle impractical to use the paint sprayer like I orginally planned. There is just too much none paintable items down there. That's why I did this test, so I can make a good decision.
 
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Man im glad to live where i do! Looks like alot of work but sems like your doin a good job on it.
 
Dang! I was hoping you could say how hard spraying Rust Bullet was:D

I've pulled all the lines and wiring off the frame but plenty of places you can't get to with a brush:rolleyes: I plan to do inside the doors, fenders, and such.

Still plenty of asphalt based goo to remove on mine. Kerosene seems to work best. Cheap, $10 a gallon, and doesn't evaporate as quickly. Gives you some time to work with it. I plan to power wash it as well.

Looks like yours is coming along well.
 
More work...more fun??????

Once again this Saturday I was knee deep in the project. I was determined to finish welding the tailpan and securing the lift gate once and for all. I started just as I had planned, I loosened the tail gate bolts while it was still locked in the up position. Next I stuck a prybar in between the tailgate and the body and tried to physically shift the door into place. But as you can see in the photos the door is cock eyed. WTF! I found that the door would not really move, so I opened it and tried again to shift it over to the passanger side. Not much there. WTF! That's when I decide to check something. I placed a level across the tailpan, and found that the truck is off. It's higher on the driver's side that the passanger. I then put the level inside about mid way down the body and it is still off. WTF! It seems like the body and/ or frame if off about an inch somewhere....WTF! Totally frustrated I forced the tailgate closed and welded the tailpan to the body. I wanted to get that really welded good, once welded once, I grinded the slag off. Next I started to weld a second weld to the tailpan when.... I ran out of wire....what a fu**ing neewbie... At this point defeated, confused and out of wire (ammo) I called a day.

View attachment 53285Gap

View attachment 53286no gap

View attachment 53287

View attachment 53288

I never got further on the mid body mounts other than cutting away one of the rusted areas.
 
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Painting fun...

After work yesterday I had some free time so I continued the rust removal from the other day. It was more complicated than I had hoped but the results are pretty good. I still need to finish the floor replacement before I get too heavy into the rust bullet work. After I finish the floor replacement and patches I need to rent a pressure washer and blast the hell out of the stuck in dirt and grime. Only then I will be able to rust bullet all of the belly of the truck. I'm kinda bummed that I'm so far behind where I want to be, with summer ending and the friggin winter soon approaching I need to make some serious progress.








The use of a paint sprayer is still an option...
 
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rust bullet

Glad to see the progress, I finaly got around to removing both iner fenders and painted them 2 coats with rust bullet myself. Are you still going to try an spray it on?:D let me know I just painted mine with a 2 inch brush, while they were out I changed the spark plug, real easy, can go straight in to get them:D also since they were out I am in the process of installing Edelbrock tublar exhaust system headers, makes it very easy to get to everything:bow: .

Keep up the work and let us know how you are making out, living in NJ i am all to aware that in a few months things can go south real quick.
 
Looks like you are having as much fun as I am... I am in the process of restoring my 81 and I found some rust... I will post some pics here in a bit in a Restoration Thread for "The Beast". Looks like some good progress though... Thanks for the info on the Rust Bullet.. I am using that also..
 
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Some discoveries made after work friday. The passanger side isn't as bad as the driver's. After brushing off the dirt and grime, the orginal paint held up pretty good. Only a few rust spots. I'll probaly go over it all with rust bullet anyway before I paint the entire underbody with a final color. It's odd just where the rust is and isn't. Most of the passanger's side is fine but the inner rocker panel is toast?? the exposed edges will have to be cut out.... nice.
 
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step by bloddy step...

Took a few minutes again after work to hit the K5 with some more of this magical Rust Bullet. Maybe it's the silver color or maybe it's the fact it's just something new. But it really changes the way the truck starts to look. I tried to cover anywhere I could reach that wasn't covered in grime, and oil. I really dig how the drive shaft turned out ( stay tuned I have some wild plans for that).

I'm budgeting to have some cash to rent the generator this weekend and finish welding the tailpan, and bed floors in. With out a doubt I am looking forward to this and hopeing to be able to complete the bed. It has taken long enough.




before and after
 
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Day by day

This week has been perfect for working on my K5, no rain, not 95+ just perfect. Since funds are limited I have been working on it after work each night. Just the things that I can handle, without renting equipment. The rust bulleting the frame has been the easiest. Mind you the body underbelly is covered in dirt and grime, so I can't paint that part until I rent a powerwasher. But the frame is unexplainably clean??? Anyway once done it looks great. I can't wait to paint the entire underbelly with rust bullet and then the final (surprising) color. SHHH it's a secret!
 
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Rust Bullet

Looks great...After I get done painting top side.... i will work on undercarriage. Probably backwards but oh well, I will just make sure I tape off the good stuff up top...hehe
 
Just another day

I'm about as disappointed as a person can be. After planning and looking forward to working on my K5 this weekend, it did not happen. Bills, bills and unexpected events kept me from dedicating funds and time to my Blazer. Very unhappy. All I want to do is work on my truck... Yesterday after work I spent time removing more scale and rust from the belly of the K5. A heavily scaled "support" and more of the frame. The only complaint I have is that rust bullet company must use the cheapest cans, I had to buy a replacement one for the quart size one I had. But other than that the stuff works great and makes the truck look pretty good.




This afternoon, I'll work on the front axle.
 
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