Ryoken's Guide to Rust Treatment and Bodywork 101

[y5mgisi]

Well, the factory didnt do anything. They counted on the threads and the spikes of the washers they used to carry the current. So for a real resto, i would do nothing. On the flip side, for a better ground, i think i would paint the areas and then come back and as neatly as possible remove a quarter sized spot of paint at the ground point and then touch it up with a small piant brush. In the past, to make nuts and bolts look brand new and factory fresh i would spray a little spray paint in a cap enough to make a puddle and dip my modeling paint brush in it and paint the nuts and bolts with it. Works good.

 

[Jester1]

One thing I have done for electrical gear is install a welded in post (bolt) from the backside then put a washer up against the raw metal with a nut, then after paint pull nut and washer and you have a nice clean spot for grounds. Just use a knife or razor around the washer to break the seal and not chip the new paint.

 

[Chief Brody]

I am so freakin' frustrated...I cannot get the passenger door to quarter gap to get anywhere near straight...

I have tried everything...I worked on it from 7a.m. to 7:30 pm to day...I shimmed the body mount point fore and aft...nothing...didn't do anything...I even stood in the door jamb and jumped up and down...

I don't get it...the bottom gap is reasonably straight and the window sail has a very good gap...and the bottom of the door to quarter barely has room to shut and the door to quarter top gap is so big you can see through it to the other side...I don't know what to do...

 

[ryoken]

have you checked both right angles in question to see where the issue is?

 

[Chief Brody]

have you checked both right angles in question to see where the issue is?

Yes...

the quarter is straight as an arrow from the top down to about the last 7 inches where it takes a an angle backwards...that's right, toward the rear of the truck a little more than a paintstick..maybe two..

The door is straight up till the body line where it takes an angle forward above the body line to a full quarter inch....

I thought that was weird so I measured the drivers side door and it sort of does the same thing...although not quite a 1/4 inch...

Are the backs of our doors supposed to be perfectly straight on that back edge?

 

[ryoken]

is the door perfectly level to the rocker?

 

[Chief Brody]

is the door perfectly level to the rocker?

you mean front to back or in/out?

 

[ryoken]

front to back.... don't worry so much about in/out...

 

[Chief Brody]

In/out is pretty good...as good as I have been able to get it...

front to back is off a little...I cannot get the front gap as small as the rear...I can't lower the door up front any more than it already is...if I did it would also make the upper door to quarter gap even bigger...

 

[ryoken]

ok... your bouncing around WAY too much here..

the FIRST thing you need to do is have the gap 3"s back from the front of the door, and 3"s forward from the back be the same gap.. put 2 paint sticks in to gap it, AND LOCK THAT IN!

 

[Chief Brody]

ok... your bouncing around WAY too much here..

the FIRST thing you need to do is have the gap 3"s back from the front of the door, and 3"s forward from the back be the same gap.. put 2 paint sticks in to gap it, AND LOCK THAT IN!

You are saying to set the bottom gap evenly all along the bottom first above all else?

I will try that...I don't know where that will put the body line....

 

[ryoken]

yes.... set a tentative heavy 1/4" gap at the bottom vertical at the back of the door, a couple inches up... this will determine if you need to bend the qrter up in the back......

 

[Chief Brody]

yes.... set a tentative heavy 1/4" gap at the bottom vertical at the back of the door, a couple inches up... this will determine if you need to bend the qrter up in the back......

If i were to bend the quarter up in the back, the 90 degree edge that sets in the door jamb would be so far away from the B Pillar there wouldn't be any way to spot weld it to the B Pillar...

 

[ryoken]

you'd be bending all of it...

 

[Chief Brody]

you'd be bending all of it...

B Pillar and all?

 

[Chief Brody]

So...I am curious....IF i end up having to do that...what do you use to leverage it up in the back...and what to you use as a spacer or wedge?

 

[ryoken]

B Pillar and all?

yup...

 

[ryoken]

So...I am curious....IF i end up having to do that...what do you use to leverage it up in the back...and what to you use as a spacer or wedge?

a floor jack and shark carcass.....

 

[Chief Brody]

a floor jack and shark carcass.....

Would I be lifting up the tailpan or will I have to cut the fillet welds loose...

 

[ryoken]

the tailpan... take out the rear 2 mounts on that side... jack past the point it needs to be, sledge/block of wood or large shark carcass applied the b-post area...