Hammer K5 Resto project

[mnstrburbon]

yea i think the speed it really high or fast turn it way down iand make sure you are getting heat penetration or discoloring of the metal on the top and under the weld on the bottm side. those welds look to be just sitting on top not actually penetrating the metal.I t should glow red hot the metal as well as the weld.
when you are welding try and make a C pattern from one side to the other and back and forth.

 

[hammermachine]

Welds, welds, welds...

Hmmm, it seems like they are penetrating, I'll try it at a much slower speed this weekend (if it doesn't rain). I was going to grind the welds down on the tire carrier and go over them again, but from what you said they seem to be not deep enough. I may have to cut everything loose and start over. I know the tack welds I did from the body to the tailpan are good, the metal glowed and the metal is scorched. I'll keep you posted, thanks.

 

[hammermachine]

Weekend work

I was able to work on the K5 (between rain storms) this weekend. Progress was slow but I think I finally got the hang of the welder. Since the tailpan is bent I had to remove the driver's side catch for the lock and fabricate a replacement. The tailgate will now close but it's slightly off due to the bent tailpan. It's funny It'll work now that everything is bent. So I cut off the unneeded steel and fabricated a new catch. I was also able to weld down more of the floor. (I've decided to save up and replace the entire cargo floor with diamond plate) all I need is the plate and a plasma cutter. Until then I will continue to rework my previous mistakes. The tire carrier will have to be reworked. The bumper is all planned out so I'm hopeing to get that up by next week. I'm also trying to get a better camera so I can post all the improvements. Thanks for the support guys!

 

[chevy wrangler]

keep on keeping on

 

[hammermachine]

Weekend stuff!

Clocked a few hours on the K5 this weekend, perfect weather, and temp. The first thing was to create and build a bracket to mount the new bumper to. I started with 3/16 inch thick stock metal, measured and drilled the holes that the bolts would connect to the frame with. First note having the right tools help alot. (I needed a small drill press) Working with a old 1/4 hp craftsman 3/8 drill to drill thru plate steel is mind numbing and stupid. Everything took so much longer. Orgininally I was planning on mounting five bolted positions thru the bracket to the bumper. Because of the lack of correct tools I had to settle for only two positions.
So I built the bracket, then position it to the bumper (which was 72" 3x6 steel rectangle tube .188 thick walls) I needed something pretty hardly to act as the base for the tire carrier (that I'm reworking). Again I had to compromise the build. I wanted to cut the bumper ends off, for off roading, a better departure angle. But of course when I planned this and ordered the steel tube I thought my 14" chop saw could handle it. When it came time to make the cut, the steel was too big (long) to fit in the clamp no matter what I did. So instead of half-assing the cut I decided to leave the bumper uncut ( until I buy a plasma cutter). So I bolted the bracket to the bumper ( grade 8 four inch stainless steel bolts) I then welded the ends of the bracket down to the bumper. For a change I took my time and probaly welded the best welds of my life. During the project I've done some good work and some losey work, this weekend I had alot of time to work on the bumper so I think this translated to good work. I continiuosly measured and remeasured before I did anything, cut or weld. So I bolted & welded the bracket to the bumper and them fitted them to the frame of the truck. It looked fracking amazing. Alittle blockish but it seemed like a good base to start with. I then removed it and painted the entire bumper/bracket with Rustoleum's Hammered Black (I've had the can of unused paint for awhile). While it dried, I worked on the tire carrier, I grinded off weak welds and laid some new ones, I also cleaned up alot of slag still on the carrier.
Once dried I mounted the bumper and bolted it to the frame of the truck, I was so excited at the major modification's completion. I pulled the work table from underneath the bumper just to watch the entire bumper drop three inches....WTF!!!! Their are two pre-existing holes in each side of the frames of the K5. I had used them to mount the bumper, unfortunatly I did not work out how they would be used. Unsupported the bumper's massive weight dropped the bumper three inches along the oblong drilled holes. The needed fix would be to drill a third hole on each side of the frame to act as the main support for the other two holes. ARRRGH again I have to drill.....

 

[mnstrburbon]

dont get discuraged it all takes time you are making progress keep at it.
What was done to get better welds?

 

[hammermachine]

Welds

dont get discuraged it all takes time you are making progress keep at it.
What was done to get better welds?

Since you've given me the advice I've slowed the wire speed way, way down, as close to the slowest setting as possible. I have also switched the heat to the unit's max. As soon as I did that I've noticed more solid welds, you can see the temp discoloration in the metal and the the pieces look more fused than before. The bracket looks pretty solid, but now I'm paranoid about my work holding up.
I think I had it set lower (temp) and faster when I was working with sheet metal, and never adjusted the settings for stock steel.
On the tire carrier I grinded down the pervious welds and rewelded them, It doesn't look pretty but they seem stronger. I may put the carrier on hold for now, still trying to figure out some things with that. Thanks again for the advice and encouragement.

Pics of the painted welds on the bracket. I still have to get a better camera.

 

[mnstrburbon]

Glad i helped keep up the good work my project is in my signature also now im going to start in on same fab here real quick.
its always nice to get encouragment helps make all the fustrations go away.

 

[lectric80]

Nothing wrong with having it a bit blockish, mine will be. I have it pretty well planned out, just need to actually get off my butt and buy the steel. Would like to have it done before BB08, but it probably won't happen.

Keep up the good work, it is coming along nicely.

 

[hammermachine]

More work = more FUN???

I got to work on the truck Sat & Mon (off from work). The project is nearing the end (for now), no one in my club is riding so all there is to do is build. It's frustrating...

I completed the bumper yesterday, added some stock steel and bolts to add strengh and curb my paranoia. It now seems rock solid (I still want to take it off road to truly test it). I decided to go on with the tire carrier, (since I have two spares and I need to clean out the garage. I ground down the previous welds and fired up the welder and hit every part heavy. I got good penetration and the carrier heated up alot, very satisfing. I also cut off the ends of the carrier to try to trim some of the weight. I clamped it to the bumper to get a look of just how it would work. I know you professionals do this BEFORE you get this far but what can I say, I'm a idiot. Anyway I drilled a hole for the bolt (one inch stainless steel monster) and then cut a one inch (ID) pipe and welded it in place inside the tire carrier. This took alittle time and alot of hand filing. In the end it looked workable. I but the everything in place and dropped the bolt to see how everything fit with the rubber mounted bearing between the bumper and the carrier..... JUST TO FIND THE MONSTER BOLT IS TOO SHORT!( The longest one my job sells)

I am now trying to redesign the bumper to fit the bearing flush to free up some room. I think it could work I have to now figure out how to do it.

 

[mnstrburbon]

Keep on trucking looking good glad you got the welder dialed in a littel better.

 

[hammermachine]

Sunday wheelin!!!!!!

We (the club) finally got to do some wheeling this past Sunday, it was planned to be a full fun day, wheeling and then go enter a car show. WTF! So we met and had a new member (prospect) show up with his 1987(?) Suzuki Jeep all redone resto with huge mudders. It was a bad ass bitch, he only got stuck once. The rest of our small club soon showed, one full sized Bronco, a 4runner (with SFA), a Jeep, a Montero, and my Blazer. I think our club has a good mix of vehicles. Once assembled we hit the spot hard, tearing thru some nasty mud holes. We were going well until the Bronco over heated… something about the half fan shroud. Fortunately he had a complete one with him so after a little rework we had him back up and running. My Blazer worked fine (still wish I had fuel injectors) the only ongoing problem was the fracking tailgate. It would not stay closed; the remaining factory lock hasp gave out from the pounding. I had to tie it closed. I will now go back to and weld the entire gate closed, I’m tired of trying to get it to work right (especially with the bent tail pan). It was a good outing we even managed to get two trucks stuck at once, the Bronco and the 4runner, matter of fact everyone got stuck eventually except the Suzuki. So after getting all dirty we rolled out and drove down to the car show. It was pretty funny rolling out dirty banged up trucks into the car show full of classic and fast& furious wannabees. Some of their paint jobs cost more than all of our rigs put together. The show was pretty cool; the crowd was very welcoming to us even though many thought we were crazy for treating our vehicles that way. Overall it was a good experience and the best time I’ve had wheeling.

Damage report: My K5 now needs a new tire (it maybe possible to save the blown tire) and a tailgate fix. (Not too bad)

 

[hammermachine]

More pics

More shi**y pics

 

[hammermachine]

More damage

After the last outing I found that the tailgate was more damaged than I thought. One guy from my club thinks it's the "Chevy" flex that is bending the tailpan like a pertzel. Orginally I thought it was the weak replacement bolts I installed last year, but they were fine. Now the pan is bent in two places and it is causing the tailgate to sit cockeyed, so out of place that the window cannot roll up. This has been a ongoing problem since I tore out the rotted steel last year.

So I spent last weekend welding steel from the driver's side to the passanger's just inside the tailgate. I then welded the tailgate in place to the l shape piece of steel. It seems pretty solid, but I won't be able to tell until the next off roading. I hate losing the tailgate capabilty but I really didn't see any other options. now the window closes and the end seems more solid than before. I hope to buy a new camera this weekend so I can get better pics of this build.

 

[hammermachine]

Running out of time!

Nothing much to report, confilicts and bad weather has delayed and new work on the truck. I did finally commit to a paint style that I like. Gone is the safety red over black, I'm now going with the OD Green over Durabak Black. I've had the Durabak for close to a year ( orgininally it was going cover the floors, but they are incomplete). So now going to paint the lower half of the K5... IF IT STOPS RAINING!

The change in weather has been very fast this year, it has been raining for the last four days here. Real soon it will be too cold to work on the truck.

What I did do last weekend is rattle can the OD on 1/2 the truck. I used the scotch pads and cleaned the area with zycron (SP?) and sprayed the K5 with Rustolem's camo (OD). The trick is not to directly spray the paint onto the surface of the truck. I instead sprayed at an angle by doing this the paint looks more uniformed and there was less runs. Maybe if it stops raining this week I'll get this done before I lose the last of the good weather.

 

[hammermachine]

Trial and error!

Yesterday we went out WHEELIN in Northern NJ, alot of rock trails and steep hills. The truck held up alright, I will start looking into some kind of fuel injection, the endless stalls got to be alittle old.

The tail gate welding and the rear bumper held up pretty good during the 10,000 bumps of the day. I was concerned about my quality of welds especialy the fabbed bumper, but it all held together. Not a big fan of rocks but the trails were really fun.

I also finally painted the truck, rattle can OD and Flat black. I like it alot better than the OJ white!

 

[hammermachine]

New bumper

I scored a new hand made bumper and tire carrier from ebay. It's brand new, and it was only $180. The only drawback is that it is made for a jeep, it's only 54" which leaves me alittle short. Frack it it's what I wanted a bumper tire carrier (I've got two spares). I had to build some brackets to mount the bumper/carrier. I bought a 12" angle steel 1/2 thick and chopped sawed it into two 3" wide brackets. The bumper and brackets will be held together with 1/2" grade 8 stainless steel bolts. I fabbed the brackets two days ago, and painted everything with rustoleum rust converter and then with black spray. I hope to get it all mounted up this weekend.

 

[hammermachine]

Bumper Tire Carrier!

After struggling with the new bolts (special lock washer nuts) and fighting the cold IT"S UP! The bumper/tire carrier I always wanted is up and it looks too fracking cool! It does add to the overall length of the truck but who cares! I now have more room inside for gear and sh*t! It's funny after minutes after tightening the last bolt I came to the conclusion that I might need a more family friendly truck. I might be looking for a less rough K5. Still in the planning stages and considering that I am flat broke, I'll have the entire winter to think about replacing my first project truck.

 

[mnstrburbon]

Nice find glad it worked out for ya good luck on the future project.

 

[stevo_baino]

probably too late to help with the tailgate scenario but an option is instead of using the replacement tailpan, use some 2x3 square tubing in it's place. way more rigid. you have to cut out your tailpan. then have your cap on, lift the back of the body so both sides are level, put your tailgate in (just latch it in dont have hinges.) and use ratchet straps to set the width. get a bunch of pieces of metal to use as spacers to set the body gaps. once you have everything lined up then weld the 2x3 in. you can weld it to the tailgate posts in enough places that the body will hold that shape. at the point you can weld the tailgate hinges to the bottom of the 2x3 and you're set to go. that's what i did with mine and i had removed the floor up to the doors so there's no way your's is "flexier" than what i had to work with. anyway if you want to get your tailgate working, this is the way to do it. credit to jjlaughner for the idea. you can see how i did it in the pic. just ignore all the other framework