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Mountain Man's K5 Extended Cab Flatbed Project

Turning a North Idaho rust hog with 33"s and blocks into an extended cab flatbed type thingy with 37"s and 3/4 or 1 ton axles. This will be fun.....
Overview Gallery Discussion
Justin V said:
I might be wrong. Missed the middlepic...
Click to expand...
I thought those were parts from a factory LSD.

I'm gonna try it and see how well it holds up with 35-37"s. Worst case it'll get a lockright like the front.

Anybody ever used the repair panels to re-do a floor in a K5?

I got a big JEGs shipment today along with another quart of rust bullet:
0717181212.jpg
Putting the front and rear repair panels together ends up with close to a foot of overlap that I'm not sure why it exists.
0717181249a.jpg
I dropped the rear panel in the truck and it extends to where the floor starts to ramp up towards the firewall:
0717181430.jpg
Got most of the front passenger OEM panel out, just grinding out the spot welds that attach it to the longitudinal brace that runs the length of the cab floor:
0717181426.jpg
I'm working on building an inner room inside the shop to basically close off my truck area with 6 MIL plastic sheeting with some 2x4 frame walls and ceiling so I can put in a 12kBTU AC unit to run a hour before I start working and while to make the work space a little more comfortable. It'll also keep a lot of the dust contained which will make my landlord/shop renter happier. I basically have 2 big pedestal fans blowing on me while I'm working but still end up quitting due to sweat after 3-4 hours when I could be working for 7-8 hours each time so it's stretching out my project longer than it should take. It's 94 degrees outside and inside the shop isn't much better. This is fairly humid for this neck of the woods:
0717181431.jpg
I'll finally have the automotive accessory I've always wanted in this truck, just gotta find the matching accelerator pedal:
0717181431a.jpg

Any insight on the floor repair strategy would be appreciated.

I'm not sure whether to cut out the entire floor that will be replaced by the panels, or just use the section of replacement panel needed to fix the rust. The rear floor pan panel has a flat back instead of the slow bend with the humps in it that leads up to the rear floor. I guess the pickups are built like this so they tried to make one panel that "could work" on either vehicle. I like the idea of sealing off the original panel with rust bullet then doubling up the floor with the new panels spot welded to the old panel every 4" or so. Should make one stout floor by the time everything is welded together then bed linered.
 
The panels overlap simply to provide options... not everyone's rust is the same so buy one, or the other, or both, cut off what you don't need.
 
That was kinda what I figured. The front pan had enough surface rust to warrant complete replacement. If they sold just the radius rear corner by the door I would've just bought that as the rest of the rear section is in decent shape. Issue is that since the replacement pan is flat sided in the back, I can't really use just the corner I need. Might be able to just do the back 8" of the pan. I got a big chunk of 16ga sheet metal to pound into various shapes for little areas.

Here's where I got today before the heat pushed me back in the house. Getting to that cab support was a lot more work than I had thought. I also learned I really don't like "un-spot welding".
0717181611.jpg
 
I agree with you that cutting out the rust and spot welds is crappy work!
I like your idea of using lap joints, as long as it all gets protected from future rust. Hopefully rust bullet and other coatings will do it.
 
That looks like a step in the right direction:
0717182112.jpg 0717182112a.jpg Stronger than the half dozen spot welds GM saw fit.

Wanted to get rid of the cracked body puck before welding but that silly tube extending through the body mount made that a little difficult. I was able to thread the original bolt through it into the new cab support to get a good warm feeling that it'll line up when I put in my UHMW spacers for my homebrew 2" body lift later.

I ended up burning through a little mild rust, thought I wire wheeled off the whole area. The rust bullet ought to cover any accidental slag inclusion though. I like the ability to run a nice controlled heat bead down the length of it into the new floor board instead of a few baby pinch welds.

Has anyone used LMC's spot weld driller?

http://www.lmctruck.com/product-videos/tools.htm

The idea looks sound but interested in hearing about its use in real life. I got a bunch more spot welds to get rid of.
 
I’m a day late and dollar short...

Look for a Power lock for that d60. You won’t be disappointed
 
I'm seeing a lot of $600 price tags for Power Locks, about twice the cost of the lock right. I am partial to the lockright because it was in a '49 Willys on a '74 CJ frame my Dad built with a built AMC360 feeding a T150. That green jeep smoked 5.0 mustangs at red lights and was a donut machine with the tiny 30x9.50" AT that were mounted on it. I had an absolute blast driving that jeep during senior week in Ocean City, MD. The lock rights are a little noisy but if your careful with your right foot they aren't terrible on the street. I had to replace a fuel tank in that willys before I could drive it and Dad told me "Make sure your pointed where you wanna go when you open up all 4 barrels because when the rear locks your gonna end up wherever your pointed." He was right. I never wheeled that jeep but at a straight road stop light it would lift the front wheels just barely when slamming the T150 from 1st to 2nd. I've been in love with those cheap rachety lockers ever since.

Got the passenger rocker pretty well fitted, just gotta fill some more holes before I weld the whole passenger side floor up.

Of course, Mick was there to sweep the floor with his tail:
0720182009.jpg
 
Getting tires tomorrow! Made a friend at work who is thoroughly plugged in to the local 4x4 scene and he got me a decent connection. He traded (6) GY MT/R 37x12.50R16.5 to a guy for a busted samurai and the guy just decided he isn't going to build the truck that the tires were intended for. These are hummer take offs. There are 4 tires with 80% tread mounted on 8 lug steelies (no H1 offset drama) and 2 tires with 20% tread that will likely be re-cut by myself to use as spares. Paying $600 for everything and they are only about 10 miles away. Planning on cutting the middle lugs to make them a little more snow friendly.

It sounds like these tires generally measure 35.5-36.25" so I'm definitely going to have plenty of gearing with the 4.10s going in. The bald 33's currently on the truck measure less than 32".

Now I just gotta hustle and get all the passenger side body work done tonight so I can re-install the passenger fender and new inner fender and throw a seat in the blazer to go pick up the tires. Waiting for rust bullet to dry right now before I start welding new panels in place that will block access to the hidden rust.

I'm pretty sure I can't fit six 37" tires in my '89 accord lol

EDIT: Not sure yet if these are D or E load range tires, I'm hoping they are E's so they will last for several generations.
 
Almost non-existent. I was very surprised at the shape they were in.

EDIT: "weather checking" is a new term for me. I texted my coworker who knew the guy with the tires and asked how the dry rot was and he replied "They aren't weather checked". I thought it was a sellers innuendo to make dry rot sound better

2nd EDIT: They are D load range so they won't last as long but they ought to ride a little softer. Gonna put about 10,000 airsoft BBs in each one.
 
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Maybe consider steel BB. Seems to balance a little better. But they tinkle when you stop
 
Don't worry about the load range D, they wear and ride like iron.
 
I'm gonna go mount a pair on the D60 I picked up last week to get an idea of pumpkin clearance. It should also make that heavy bastard a lot easier to move around. I'll take a few pics when I get em mounted up.
 
Mo' Progress. The passenger side is pretty well finished except for some long welds to seal the new sheet metal in.
0725181954a.jpg
How many of you guys run into a problem with your wire feeds where you can't run a bead for more than 8-10 seconds without tripping a 20A breaker? I remember having this problem when I was 12 in my dad's shop building a go-cart out of an old lawn mower with EMT conduit using this same welder. I'm using a really heavy extension cord plugged into a 20A circuit in the shop that only has a single 48" T8 flouresent plugged into it. If I try to run a long continuous bead, the breaker trips. I'd rather have one long bead than 50 short ones because I will likely be able to see the welds through the bed liner I'm doing the cab with. Here's the welder:
0725181954.jpg
 
Long beads are nice but they warp sheet metal also. I have no patience for welding sheet metal the slow way. Possibly a weak breaker?
 
I'm thinking of swapping it out for a slow burn delayed breaker. Might buy me a few more seconds. Once I have everything tacked firmly down, I like to run long beads. If I wasn't in a hurry I'd be using the TIG to do this job.
 
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