Rat repair.

[swamp rat]

Well, story of my life, as soon as i'm ready to work on the truck the rain rolls ion in LOL!

Looks pretty ugly huh? I was able to suck in some of the high spots using the shrink tip on my stud welder, there is still a bit more to do.

I decided it was time to clean up the door surround and check out the conture, i massaged it a little and got it pretty close, didn't install the door into the surround yet but will do that before i weld it in.

This brings up a question..... I cant reach the back side of the opening with my bantam motor so whats the best way to clean and prep the back side before ya weld? I can take some Scotch brite or sand paper to it but think that may take a while. Same go's for wanting to cover the weld with seam sealer when I'm done. Ideas??

If anything good came from this its that i am now looking at the paint layers, my step dad paid my uncle to paint this truck When my uncle was out of work and needed money, its now evident that my uncle just scuffed the original paint then primed and repainted, I already know he just masked around the door handles, windows and trim lettering and the original paint was in great shape before it was painted, so I'm half tempted to grab my sander and try and sand the outer paint and primer off then get back to the original color, anybody think this is possible?? the exterior dark green is pretty shot.

[Dean'smeanmachine]

awsome work on everything, cluster looks sweet.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

I was able to suck in some of the high spots using the shrink tip on my stud welder, there is still a bit more to do. I decided it was time to clean up the door surround and check out the conture, i massaged it a little and got it pretty close, didn't install the door into the surround yet but will do that before i weld it in.

This brings up a question..... I cant reach the back side of the opening with my bantam motor so whats the best way to clean and prep the back side before ya weld? I can take some Scotch brite or sand paper to it but think that may take a while. Same go's for wanting to cover the weld with seam sealer when I'm done. Ideas??

If anything good came from this its that i am now looking at the paint layers, my step dad paid my uncle to paint this truck When my uncle was out of work and needed money, its now evident that my uncle just scuffed the original paint then primed and repainted, I already know he just masked around the door handles, windows and trim lettering and the original paint was in great shape before it was painted, so I'm half tempted to grab my sander and try and sand the outer paint and primer off then get back to the original color, anybody think this is possible?? the exterior dark green is pretty shot.

Looking good on the panel straightening as well as the fuel filler door! You're going to have it where you want it in no time.

When I need to clean up the back of something that's borderline unreachable, I'll take a couple of sanding discs and put them back to back and install them on an air sander. Discs in attached photos may be too large for your application, but can be trimmed to the size needed. Put the discs thru the opening and use the sanding surface that's facing you. As for the seam sealer, I'd just use my fingers.

I doubt you'll have much luck sanding down just the repaint layer. But if you plan a repaint, it needs to come off anyway. No use wasting expensive materials on a quickie prep.

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Looking good on the panel straightening as well as the fuel filler door! You're going to have it where you want it in no time.

When I need to clean up the back of something that's borderline unreachable, I'll take a couple of sanding discs and put them back to back and install them on an air sander. Discs in attached photos may be too large for your application, but can be trimmed to the size needed. Put the discs thru the opening and use the sanding surface that's facing you. As for the seam sealer, I'd just use my fingers.

I doubt you'll have much luck sanding down just the repaint layer. But if you plan a repaint, it needs to come off anyway. No use wasting expensive materials on a quickie prep.

Vic i cant say thanks enough for the sander tip, i do have a sander similar to that, not that my air compressor will keep up with it LOL! But i'll give it a try.

I did find that it was hard to control the shrink, I'd put the tip where i wanted to shrink but a number of times the hot spot was actually at the outer ring electrode, not sure why if both Ring and Tip were touching. But at least i made some headway, far from perfect.

Oh, I do have the 2" filler neck.

EDIT: Vic whats a good gap to maintain before tack welding? 1/16"?? or less? I have the Harbor freight version of the butt weld clamps but thought maybe the gap required by them may be a little too wide?

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

whats a good gap to maintain before tack welding? 1/16"?? or less? I have the Harbor freight version of the butt weld clamps but thought maybe the gap required by them may be a little too wide?

I've got a few that are HF vintage also. Regardless, all my blades are .040", but your gap should be a bit wider or it makes it tough to get the blade out after the weld shrinks. I prefer gaps to be no more than 1/16" but I've welded wider ones than that. No matter how wide the gap is, go slow, skip around to minimize the heat and if you see a crown or a sinkhole developing, stop and hammer the area flat before proceeding.