F250 rust repairs

Green Power · Aug 28, 2014

You have some great work Diesel Crawler, Looking forward to see you stretch your personal pickup.

dieselcrawler · Aug 29, 2014

Here's some views you are not likely to see under normal ownership conditions. Cutaway view of cab corner assembly, driver side.

Both inner rockers welded in and heat damaged paint spots re-coated.

CAT97 · Sep 1, 2014

Just, wwwwwoooooowwwww. Greg, your work is just amazing. What talent.Guess I will have to join ps.org to see
more and also since I have a 97 350 psd. Thanks for all the fotos

CAT97 · Sep 1, 2014

Just, wwwwwoooooowwwww. Greg, your work is just amazing. What talent.Guess I will have to join ps.org to see
more and also since I have a 97 350 psd. Thanks for all the fotos

dieselcrawler · Sep 2, 2014

Worked on cab corners today. Started on the passenger side, as it needed a small filler strip between the orig metal and the re-pop part.

Passenger side welded in...

Inner cab corners welded in, primed, and painted.

Right cab corner welded in... after this, I ground down the welds and primed the bare metal.

KubotainNH · Sep 2, 2014

Looking good. I don't recall if this was asked, are you going to cleanup the frame and treat it with something? I ask because my son's Ranger needs frame repair in the back end, it looked good last year. Seems common on Fords of this vintage. There's tons on CL with frame issues. Another common issue is the radiator support disintegrating. We replaced it in the spring, they had the whole piece on Ebay.

2458n · Sep 2, 2014

I am jumping ahead ,but how are you finishing the good welding. Are you going to use Bondo.Fiberglass. Lead? What is the topcoat going to be? one ton 4x4 Diesel dually 1996 ford.

dieselcrawler · Sep 3, 2014

Frame under the cab was cleaned with grinder/wire wheel, then rusty metal primer covered with flat black paint. Back of the frame is so bad that we plan to buy a rust free southern frame and replace it from the cab back.

Cab corner welds will likely only get painted. Personally, I would like to smooth them out and a thin coat of bondo would do it... but this is a work truck that lives on a dirt/gravel road. A few trips home and you won't see the seams when covered in mud. As long as its solid metal and not rust holes boss is happy.

KubotainNH · Sep 3, 2014

dieselcrawler said:
Frame under the cab was cleaned with grinder/wire wheel, then rusty metal primer covered with flat black paint. Back of the frame is so bad that we plan to buy a rust free southern frame and replace it from the cab back.

Ah, that will be interesting to see on here. Did you check out the radiator support piece?

dieselcrawler · Sep 3, 2014

Here is how I left the passenger side the day before. I am not at all happy with the 'pock marks' in the seams, I should have made sure they were filled with weld before I moved on to painting. I will have to spend a few hours on this at some point, boss doesn't care, but when he's not looking, thoes holes are gettin filled!

Today I moved on to the driver side cab corner.

Welding in... I would weld some, grind down, weld more, grind, etc.

Ground down the seams. Used a little spot filler in the 'pock marks' left from welding, but after how the other side turned out, I was much more careful to fill them in as I went, with weld. So there was very little to fill.

Driver side complete. Much more pleased with how this one turned out than the passenger side.

KubotainNH · Sep 4, 2014

Spot filler is good stuff. Bondo in a toothpaste tube.

dieselcrawler · Sep 4, 2014

Started on the rear door outer rocker sections that hold the striker for the lower latch. The nut plate was welded to the rocker allowing no adjustment. Something had to be done. I cut the tack welds, and came up with a solution that allows full adjustment but also retains the plate so it doesn't fall in the rocker if both bolts are removed.

My solution... a welding rod tack welded to the rocker panel. Allows about 7/16" of total movement in all directions.

Rear door lower latch striker properly positioned

dieselcrawler · Sep 5, 2014

In honor of my boss' late son, who was killed in a motorcycle accident a few weeks shy of his 20th birthday... we were childhood friends, and shared an intrest in all things mechanical. I hope my work on his dad's trucks and tractors makes him proud. Meny of the tools I use were his... as was my K30 mud truck.

Ready to weld...

I got everything welded in, ground down, sanded, and primered. Too bad I forgot to take pictures... that should be all the welding I need to do on the cab. Now to make a trip to GA for replacement doors and frame from the cab back.

NS Gearhead · Sep 7, 2014

Amazing work! Although it's probably second nature to you, a lot of us here envy your ability.

That's a great way to honor your late friend. I'm sure he is very proud of you, both for your skill and helping his old man.

I'd love to see a pic of that K-30! Sounds awesome!

dieselcrawler · Sep 7, 2014

I've had a lot if good times in this old truck over the years...

NS Gearhead · Sep 7, 2014

LOL, awesome. That thing does have fun written all over it. My buddy had a similar truck, same tires, but with a hot little 350 in it.

dieselcrawler · Sep 8, 2014

Pictures of Friday's progress.

Today I didnt get much done on the truck. Ground down the spot welds along the back of the cab where I welded in the floor pan. Spent most of the day troubleshooting an electrical issue on the sawmill, then sawed a few logs...

dieselcrawler · Sep 9, 2014

Spent most of today sanding... I hate sanding... started with 220 grit, wet sanded the back of the cab up to the strip where the rear piller meets the roof, then 400. Should be good enough for a coat of spray bomb white. I spot primed a few places where I hit metal.

I did some filler work on the rough seams on the right cab corner, still not as nice as the left side but its much better than it was.

I sealed up some seams too. Along the back of the cab/floor, rocker to floor pan, and floor pan to trans tunnel.

Should be about ready to paint now... tomorrow if weather permits. Still some seam sealing and painting to do under the cab/rocker panels.

Garandman · Sep 10, 2014

DC, nice craftsmanship!

KubotainNH said:
No arguments there.

Does this forum get the "Use winter tires" versus "I've been driving on All Season tires for five million years and never had a problem driving in snow" arguments? Modern winter tires are amazing, they allow you to catch up to the next pickup truck going 20mph in record time.....

aczlan · Sep 10, 2014

Garandman said:
Does this forum get the "Use winter tires" versus "I've been driving on All Season tires for five million years and never had a problem driving in snow" arguments? Modern winter tires are amazing, they allow you to catch up to the next pickup truck going 20mph in record time.....

No argument there from me on that one. Snows go on all 4 corners in Nov and come off in March/April.

Aaron Z