Rat repair.

[DD1]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Naturally I order the horn button and mount kit through Grant, and a week later I get the infamous Back ordered email reply.. Well truth is its been pretty darned hot and my truck and cover takes full brunt of the sun so I don't mind letting it sit for a while.

I did take the time to search more and I found my tac dash bezel, relieved to find it.

I also dug out my Aries step bars that were buried, hope to spend a couple early weekend mornings getting them mounted soon, unless I'm asked to work the weekend...

Glad you found the Bezel! We knew it had to be somewhere. I'm curious, was it somewhere easy that you should have looked sooner, or was it buried in a deep, dark place?

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by DD1

Glad you found the Bezel! We knew it had to be somewhere. I'm curious, was it somewhere easy that you should have looked sooner, or was it buried in a deep, dark place?

Buried......

[swamp rat]

I’m reading the instructions for my used grant wheel mount kit, it states if my part looks like this picture then I need to remove the stock spring and plunger. Am I to assume I need to bend the brass tabs and remove the brass piece off the back side to get the plunger and spring out?? I’m a bit concerned about the tabs breaking and rendering the part useless.

[First c10]

Hey Mike, I believe just the button and the red sleeve pop out and the new one with the wire and spring pop in it's place.

[swamp rat]

Thanks for the reply! I emailed Grant tech support last week and he said that plunger would pull straight out. I got sidetracked by working this weekend and it kicked my butt a bit but I had the wheel mounted last night, then today I filed 3 notches on the fiber washer which allowed me to push the horn button on then twist the horn button about 10 degrees away from the notches. I did some searching and I guess one of the kits has these notches nut my kit didn’t.

I gotta say trying to communicate with Grants customer service quite frankly sucks, they don’t reply to your back order questions. The mount kit and horn button I ordered were both on back order, I checked my account and it said the kit was available but not the horn button, I emailed and asked if they could just cancel the button and ship the mount kit, they just canceled the whole order, no explanation , no reply, just a cancellation email. Just as well, right after I ordered the kit and button I found the button. 🙄

Started mounting my Aries Step Bars, got the drivers side roughed in but still need to drill the frame on the lower lip for 2 support bracketsand tighten this side up but ran outta daylight, will try and finish these tomorrow ( famous last words ? ). Hate to say it but with my legs these are absolutely nessasary. 😊

[rgunlock]

I hear ya on the steps Mike. At least you didn't have saddle tanks to contend with. Progress is looking good!

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by rgunlock

I hear ya on the steps Mike. At least you didn't have saddle tanks to contend with. Progress is looking good!

Thanks!

I got them both mounted today, in the mid day sun.. I moved the rat from under a car cover in the dirt to out in the side yard which is dry and yellow, with a little dirt They are a little more flexible than I expected but they do the job, I figure the flexing is due to being mounted to the front and rear cab mounts and then tied to the frame

[DD1]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Thanks!

I got them both mounted today, in the mid day sun.. I moved the rat from under a car cover in the dirt to out in the side yard which is dry and yellow, with a little dirt They are a little more flexible than I expected but they do the job, I figure the flexing is due to being mounted to the front and rear cab mounts and then tied to the frame

I like the step rails. Where did you get them from?

Your interior looks sharp!

[swamp rat]

Cut the old inside rubber outta the way on the sides and top of my cracked up windshield and popped her out, gotta admit I was a little nervous about the condition underneath but after I pulled the windshield off then I wiped it all down with mineral spirits and had a good look it put a smile on my face

I did however have one bad area that didn't pass the pick test but it got to solid metal within about a 3/8" square, the rest of the seal area cleaned up real nicely, there were a number of very small bubbled paint areas that I hit with a scotch disk to expose the surface pit then I applied GEM Rust Killer with a paint brush to let it work its magic.

I also had a couple small bubbles inside the cab that got the same treatment.

Had to stop for the day, hope to weld the hole in tomorrow morning...

[swamp rat]

I was a bit disappointed at the fit of all the panels on my cab but I know they aren't perfect, I did take an aluminum drift and gave the upper seam a few love taps where the seal lays to get a smoother transition, I also squeezed the bottom together a bit with some plyers.

The seams will get some seam sealer applied before the new windshield is installed.

Sorry about the sideways pic's but my computer is fighting me.

[swamp rat]

Another long hot day, I cut a piece of metal to fit the hole I made in the driver side window opening, first I roughed it then I got out my stud gun and planted a body work stud puller bit on it so I had a handle to work with, then I ground metal to fit the opening, and welded it in place.


Then I ran up town and got a smaller paint gun at Harbor freight #46719, Then masked the heck outta the truck and draped a tarp over the seat and dash and made a cardboard insert for the back side of the opening. Cleaned and set up the new $13 gun and mixed up way too much paint... I got to say I am very pleased with the performance of this gun, I set it to have no fan shape and it was very controlled in the spray pattern.


When I was putting on the step bars I noticed that I had some spots that needed welding up on the inner rocker where I had some sheet metal screws, I figured while I had the welder out I better take care of that too so moved some plywood pieces under the truck and proceeded to get plenty of weld burns on the back side of my arm as every hot piece of weld splatter would hit the thin plywood and roll right into me Once done I scuffed the area and sprayed it with the K2 primer as well being as I had mixed up way too much primer earlier.

I don't mind saying with all the trips up and down the step ladder and up and down under the truck in the heat today took its toll on my legs and feet, its an Ibuprofen night for sure.

Next up I have to do a bit of work to the middle section and the inside of the truck, that's gonna be fun

[DD1]

Hey Mike, what are you using as a paint booth - looks like an outdoor car tent?

Also, you mentioned that it took you 5 years after joining the forum to get used to doing rust repair. How long have you been working on this truck? I think this year will be the 7th anniversary of getting my rust-bucket.

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by DD1

Hey Mike, what are you using as a paint booth - looks like an outdoor car tent?

Also, you mentioned that it took you 5 years after joining the forum to get used to doing rust repair. How long have you been working on this truck? I think this year will be the 7th anniversary of getting my rust-bucket.

Not to get used to it but to convince myself I could do it.

No paint booth anymore, I tore it down as I needed the space in my garage (where my truck doesn't fit), My trucks home is nothing more than the cheap car covers you can get at Harbor Freight or Pep Boys. Since I have started working on the truck to now the side yard has become a dry dusty dirt pile, far from ideal.

I lost track of time for how long I have been working on this truck but this repair thread was started on sept 2013, I think I joined about 2007? but I think the rust repair was about 2.5 years alone maybe longer if you include the down time, it took longer doing the first side than the second.

[rgunlock]

Slow and steady wins the race! Your windshield frame repair looks good.

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by rgunlock

Slow and steady wins the race! Your windshield frame repair looks good.

And that’s what’s happening cause it’s so darned hot!

My first layer of seam sealer in the windshield frame, it’s cured and shrank down so I need to apply more. The windshield install company said they would prefer I drove my truck there rather than send out a couple installers, I mentioned the windshield was already out and she said as long as I have eye protection it’s ok to do so. When that time comes it ought to be fun..... I am also not done with the windshield pinchweld yet, thinking I may fill the bigger gaps with seam sealer along with some paint touchup I have jet to finish. I will be ordering a shield and gasket from Classicheartbeat.com and go pick them up when the time comes.

Got a question for you all, I have a used windshield sitting on top of my other truck, would it be stupid or dangerous to pad up the edges with a few layers of duct tape and lay it into the windshield channel with a layer of duct tape on the outside to hold it in place before driving it to have the new windshield installed?

I pulled my hood out of its storage spot, the outter paint faired pretty nicely but the inner not so well, I’ll need to do a quick (LOL) prep and black paint here before I reinstall.

My air conditioning unit I used this when I sprayed Eastwood’s Internal Frame Coating above the windshield Via the sun visor holes, I layed out a lot of rags to be safe but I did get a drop on my dash pad which is only in fair condition anyway, the can from Eastwood comes with I believe an 18’ plastic tube with a spray nozzle, I removed the nozzle and found a long length is plastic hose long enough to reach the center, the stuff takes a while to dry so I came back 2 days later and repeated, and if you look at the assy breakdown you know there is a extra part inside, I did my best to spray the stuff on both sides of that part

[swamp rat]

Looking over the Grill naturally the outside supports have rust on them, the inner is better but still ugly, this lead to a parts order for the hardware kit to take it apart, got a few more screw and stuff coming too.


The hood is on, I thought I had already posted this but I'm working on lubing them back up and getting the grit out of the pivots from the sand blasting for a couple days.

We have been in such a smoked filled area with all the wild fires that I have chosen to stay inside a few days while waiting for parts so not much getting done..

[swamp rat]

Slow progress, got the rivets removed and the support pieces are ready for the blast cabinet, one of them is broken at the bottom so I need to find a piece of scrap the same or close thickness and fix it, these plastic screw nuts are proving to be a pita to remove, I have a grill fastener kit coming but I don’t want to ruine these plastic pieces unless I know the new stuff will work as expected.

Anybody know what kinda gloves work for laquer thinner? Last time I painted I was tasting it as it absorbed through my fingers, I need to do better for my health sake as I already have enough health problems already.

[swamp rat]

Busy eavening, blasted the grill supports but not before I had to take the blast cabinet window apart , clean and install a new film, I got tired of blasting by brail. Low and behold someone at the factory had folded under the end of the support that I thought was broken off, so I had to grab the torch and heat it and bend it back where it should be, not perfect but close enough. I painted the supports with some Eastwood rust encapsulated sealer paint, also cleaned the radiator support so I can do some touch up work. Then I yarded the spare windshield out of it’s storage location and gave it a good washing. Also got a box of miscellaneous hardware from Brothers.

[swamp rat]

Naturally you get a front grill rebuild fastener kit and it’s missing a couple nut clips and a bolt, and the hood higth adjust pads don’t have the lock nuts, but ya keep rolling.

Masked off the grill ring (chrome part) skuffed the headlight area and repainted the black areas, cleaned and reattached the plastic grill, as I had read the plastic press in fasteners are a pita, I first noticed they made them differently, the releaf cuts are perpendicular not cornr to corner, i also realized the releaf cuts did not all have the same depth, just not enough give to press in with my beat up hands, I cut the releafs so they were all the same, then I was able to get it started with a small welders vise grip then finished the other side with a small channel loc. So grill is mounted, I have the outer grill supports riveted back on, wish the kit had a couple black headed rivets, oh well. I elected not to bother trying to polish the scratches on the outer grill , just too many. I also did a quick clean up of the radiator support.

I have to deal with the missing hardware before I remount the grill.

Per the last pictureI did clean up the mess on the floor at the end of the day today LOL!

[DD1]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Naturally you get a front grill rebuild fastener kit and it’s missing a couple nut clips and a bolt, and the hood higth adjust pads don’t have the lock nuts, but ya keep rolling.

Masked off the grill ring (chrome part) skuffed the headlight area and repainted the black areas, cleaned and reattached the plastic grill, as I had read the plastic press in fasteners are a pita, I first noticed they made them differently, the releaf cuts are perpendicular not cornr to corner, i also realized the releaf cuts did not all have the same depth, just not enough give to press in with my beat up hands, I cut the releafs so they were all the same, then I was able to get it started with a small welders vise grip then finished the other side with a small channel loc. So grill is mounted, I have the outer grill supports riveted back on, wish the kit had a couple black headed rivets, oh well. I elected not to bother trying to polish the scratches on the outer grill , just too many. I also did a quick clean up of the radiator support.

I have to deal with the missing hardware before I remount the grill.

This is going to be really helpful if and when I ever get this far.

[DD1]

Hey Mike, what's going on with your truck? No updates in a while!

[Mustard72]

Maybe he hasn't retired yet...

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by Mustard72

Maybe he hasn't retired yet...

Bingo. This economy is making things a little tight.

[Mustard72]

That's OK. I haven't done anything other than unbury mine, either, and I'm not, theoretically, waiting for retirement. Maybe I am and just don't realize it...

[Louisvillekytruck]

Originally Posted by Mustard72

That's OK. I haven't done anything other than unbury mine, either, and I'm not, theoretically, waiting for retirement. Maybe I am and just don't realize it...

Great project