Rear bed area repair...

[84gmcjimmy]

Okay, as the days inch closer I want to go wheeling! But I cannot because the rear part of my truck's bed part, where the tailgate mounts to is so rusty I can move it side to side 1/2 of an inch! So I will be getting ready to weld a piece in my dad bought last year. Just a few questions... Can I reuse the body mounts if I redo it with just flat sheets of steel instead of ordering the right pieces for 200$? Also should I drop the gas tank a bit or will welding but it cause problems? The part I am welding is just along the edge where the hinges sit on, the whole piece. Any help would be good. Once I get started there will be some pics /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

Below are some pics I took this afternoon with the rust spots, and also the tailgate pan thing sitting on the tailgate... here they are:

Here is the first rust part, on the left. In the bottom of the pic you can see the black piece I am welding in to fix it /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

This is a bad pic of the tailgate pan hinge thing I am welding in, it's sitting on the tailgate incase you were wondering /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

This is the other rusty spot, on the right side by the gas tank pipe coming in from the outside.

Any questions are welcome. One more question, what guage of metal should I weld in for the floor? Thanks

 

[bryguy00b]

all i can say is that looks nasty and i feel ur pain. i had 2 blazers befor and parted them both for this reason..but mine were even WORSE off lol..

 

[TruckNutzDude]

that looks exactly like mine /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif good luck finding a place to weld that nice new tailpan on. there was nothing left of my bed sides to hook that up to so i had to fab up some angle iron to hook it up. BTW is that the full replacement pan or just the skin? Good luck to ya! /forums/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif

 

[84gmcjimmy]

[ QUOTE ]
that looks exactly like mine /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif good luck finding a place to weld that nice new tailpan on. there was nothing left of my bed sides to hook that up to so i had to fab up some angle iron to hook it up. BTW is that the full replacement pan or just the skin? Good luck to ya! /forums/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

I am hoping I can weld it to something...
I am pretty sure its the full replacement pan, it has everything to put in there, I just need to add my tail gate to the pan, and weld the floor to it... but I may be wrong, like I said my dad bought it and I didn't know very much about it so I never asked him.

 

[angrysnowplow]

Doing the same project myself... /forums/images/graemlins/hack.gif /forums/images/graemlins/weld.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grind.gif /forums/images/graemlins/yikes.gif
Taking the tailgate off was easy: open, disconnect wire & torque rod, pull off. Crunch, Snap, Crackle, Pop!
I got some 1/8" stuff for the floor.

 

[84gmcjimmy]

[ QUOTE ]
Doing the same project myself... /forums/images/graemlins/hack.gif /forums/images/graemlins/weld.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grind.gif /forums/images/graemlins/yikes.gif
Taking the tailgate off was easy: open, disconnect wire & torque rod, pull off. Crunch, Snap, Crackle, Pop!
I got some 1/8" stuff for the floor.

[/ QUOTE ]

Did your bolts break that hold the hinges on? Mine are in there pretty good and seem they have been in there since 1984 when the truck was made /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[jjlaughner]

Been there....

Done This...

/forums/images/graemlins/histerical.gif /forums/images/graemlins/histerical.gif /forums/images/graemlins/histerical.gif /forums/images/graemlins/histerical.gif /forums/images/graemlins/histerical.gif /forums/images/graemlins/histerical.gif /forums/images/graemlins/histerical.gif /forums/images/graemlins/histerical.gif

 

[gravdigr]

Yep my tailpan and floor in my 79 was rotted like that. I found a donor tub from a 86 cucv and just replaced the whole rear floor, tailpan, and wheelwells. It was actually less work for me than fixing the holes and it let me get to a few other things underneath while the floor was out.