F250 rust repairs

[dieselcrawler]

Today's efforts were focused on modifing 2 inner rocker panels for a standard cab truck to fit our ext cab. I over lapped them about 1/4 of the lenth, and cut in such a manner as to be able to use the door curve from the scrap piece of the front part on the rear section, as it needed moved back about 1.25".

Fitting them together in place, then tacking on the welding bench to keep them straight, then checking fit in place, then back to the bench to weld in solid and grind smooth the maiting surfaces. Result is a reasonable fit, and straight as I could expect.


Inner rocker panels.








Rear door curve





Mid panel splice





Nice and straight (or close enough to it!)





Rear door curve modification





End result in place

 

[drizler]

Holy crap. That's one project if I ever saw one. Even here in Northern NY I haven't seen a truck that rusty, wow. Where on earth did you get the ninja skills to fab all those parts like that? It's not something that one just picks up playing around.
Here is another one in the FWIW department regarding that new crap they use on the roads in places. Luckily they don't use the junk around here . About 2011 the started spray coating the roads in nearby Quebec. They don't seem to do it all the time, more for black ice formation conditions. It's some watery spray that sticks to the road and lasts all night and such. I suppose it works great but the after effect is a layer of brine that coats everything . It looks like white wash and sticks about as well. The truck drivers I used to see nightly said it took a pressure wash to remove the stuff. I know I tried to wipe one off a couple times with my hand and it wouldn't budge. Imagine that, having your car completely seam sealed in sodium brine that won't readily wash off. GM must just smile.

 

[dieselcrawler]

I was able to get the inner rocker panel for the driver side in half the time... was done by lunchtime! I did a few things a little different and was able to lessen the heat warp. Turned out better than the first one.


My furry helper today... lucky to not get steped on!








You can never have too meny c-clamps...







This shows the miss-alignment of the back of the door opening



I trimmed up the cab corner, primered the cab mount, and some other misc little tasks that needed taken care of for the afternoon.

 

[dieselcrawler]

Drizler, ironcly, thoes 'ninja skills' you think I have come from a natural inclination towards geometry, and 25 years of working with my hand using gods given talents. I like doing things right, and I like fab work. Been building bumpers for my trucks for 20 years.

 

[radioman]

looking really nice!

 

[dieselcrawler]

Focused on the right rear cab corner today. For some reason they only sell pieces, not a complete section like is available for std/crew cabs. Fitting the exsisting section I was forced to remove for access to the inner cab corner to the outter cab corner and rocker extention took all day. But I'm happy with how it turned out. Little filler/putty will be needed.


I trimmed it back to this when removing the rocker panels.




All fitted together, held with screws, ready to weld.















Welded together and ground smooth




Here is the end result... still removable, which will allow coatings to be applied inside.

 

[tcartwri]

Again,, very nice work. How do you find the fit and thickness of the replacement panels? I bought new rockers for my jetta and they are at least half the thickness. Kinda threw a wrench into the job.

 

[dieselcrawler]

Fit has been good, and thickness is comparable.

 

[varmint]

Yup, good, solid work! I had a '72 Ford 1 ton Camper Special that spent most of its life in Indiana... it had the same problems you are fixing, and I had to let it go in Kansas in '82, on a monumental road trip that ended in B.C. I think the guy who bought it was going to patch up the cab enough that it wouldn't drop to the ground. Here in Maryland, they are using beet juice to de-ice the roadways- some blend, that at least isn't just salt, maybe to keep salt out of the Bay. Sadly, a lot of salt is still used as you go towards Penn., 'cause it's cheap.

 

[dodge man]

I just found this thread. You have mad fab skills, nice work.

 

[oldballs]

When I was a kid we usually could see the ground under our feet as the road went by. Driver's side, that's where the battery was mounted. The acid and salt really went through those floors. Presumably D Crawler is going to show us his finished product.

 

[dieselcrawler]

Today was basicly a repete of Friday only on the driver side cab corner. Went together in much the same manner, only slightly easier the second time around.




Thanks to all for the compliments... keeps me motivated to keep y'all updated. Yes, I will follow this thru to the finish, and post regularly as much as I can.

 

[terryknight]

well done greg. i think i would have found a new cab and swapped dashes and called it good, but power to you and your boss. i take it you fixed the flatbed you were working on

 

[dieselcrawler]

Yeah, Terry... he's drivin the dually now that I have this truck torn down. I've been posting these updates in the same thread over at ps.org too.



http://www.powerstroke.org/forum/showthread.php?t=672898

 

[terryknight]

i know i just found the thread, right after this one

 

[dieselcrawler]

Spent all day cleaning and sanding sheetmetal parts. Inner rocker panels and cab corners stripped of all paint/primer. Did a little hand sanding on the inner cab corners, and peeled the lables off the rest of the parts... wire wheel seemed to strip the paint easily enough on what I cleaned up, then hand sand with a scotchbrite pad, clean with lacquer thinner, then prime.




All cleaned up...






Primed with self-etching primer






Remember the 'Where's Waldo?' books? That's the 'Where's the inner rocker panels?' picture... shop is a jungle!

 

[ericher69]

Spent all day cleaning and sanding sheetmetal parts. Inner rocker panels and cab corners stripped of all paint/primer. Did a little hand sanding on the inner cab corners, and peeled the lables off the rest of the parts... wire wheel seemed to strip the paint easily enough on what I cleaned up, then hand sand with a scotchbrite pad, clean with lacquer thinner, then prime. http://s699.photobucket.com/user/wv...oads/2014-08-26 10.48.26_zpsg9sedigf.jpg.html All cleaned up... http://s699.photobucket.com/user/wv...oads/2014-08-26 16.20.03_zpsbedmnqne.jpg.html Primed with self-etching primer http://s699.photobucket.com/user/wv...oads/2014-08-26 16.40.37_zpshtdlwhfy.jpg.html http://s699.photobucket.com/user/wv...oads/2014-08-26 16.40.58_zpsoqmanicz.jpg.html Remember the 'Where's Waldo?' books? That's the 'Where's the inner rocker panels?' picture... shop is a jungle!

Just wondering if a weld thru primer would be a better option? You could prime then weld into place and retouch after! Just a thought.

Nice work!

Sent from my iPhone 5s 64Gb using TractorByNet

 

[MikesTractor]

Absolutely amazing fab skills!

Thanks for sharing.

Mike

 

[dieselcrawler]

I plan to prime, top coat, fit in place, mark weld spots, sand thoes spots, then use weld-thru at the weld locations. Then follow up by touching up heat damaged areas. I have been using weld-thru primer as needed thru-out the project, but sparingly.

Today I sanded more panels, and primed, then top coated what I could. After lunch I got the floor pan sections over the front cab mounts ready to weld back in, then welded them and all the spot welds across the back of the cab and trans tunnel.

 

[dieselcrawler]

Finally feel like I'm making progress. Got the pass side inner rocker panel welded in... almost. Was nearly done when I ran outta MIG wire. So I spent some time prepping the driver side for when I get wire (tomorrow AM) and went home an hour early.