Thread: Project Special K

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well after the better part of the summer, stripping paint, sanding, grinding drilling, welding and grinding and sanding some more, I finally got to shoot some epoxy primer on the bare metal of the bed. Spent most of yesterday removing the bed/fender bolts from the side walls and grinding misc. welds off here and there. I patched and plug welded any major holes I could find. On the stake railes in back it took some grinding through thick bondo to find the original bolt holes foe the tailgate hinges and tail light brackets. I guess the former owner built the area up to blend in with the custom roll pan he mounted. I think I'll have to put some metal tubing through the stake holes and build up the bondo(with fiberbondo)around the tubing. That should enable me to tighten the gate hinges with out cracking the body filler. Now I guess it's time to do minor dent filling and finally putting in new fender bolts. It felt good getting the epoxy primer on, now at least I don't have to worry about the metal rusting again. Also got it back on the truck, which enbled me to get it back in the garage before the rain starts tonight.

Steve,
Where you are in your project, it takes stamina. I hate this part, sanding till your fingers bleed isn't fun. But on the positive side you are close to going for a ride. Hang in there!
No photo but I bet it looks good with primer on it.
Rain it never rains in California
Ken

Dave - you are abosolutely right it makes finding the dings easier!
Ken I does look better all grey. It hides the majority of dings to where I could drive it without being embarrased!
Rain is on it's way. What a wierd summer for weather here!

I like getting Epoxy on a project...as you mentioned it keeps the surface rust off but also I do better checking for dings and dents when the surface has a uniform color and texture. Besides, the primer makes it look like I actually got something done!!!!

Neat truck, sort of--all that chrome on the front is a bit wide for me....

Dave - Definately diferent from stock!

Today it was back to the grind stone, sander, grinder, and impact screw driver!
I took the underframe out of the hod. I was amazed I got all of the standard screws out without too much hassle. 62 years of rust usually means pain + frustration=skinned knuckles, but I came out intact today!

I managed to strip all of the paint off the hood, and a fair amount off the inside before night fell and I ran out of sand paper for the random orbital! I welded some structural cracks with mixed success. One crak in the sheetmetal would burn two holes for every one I welded back together!
But eventually I managed to shore it up, will need a little filler, but not too bad. All in all it felt good to use a few tools and make some head way. It seems as I progress I find more things that need attention. Best thing is I figure I rather take my time and do it right rather than rush it!

Fun, isn't it, Steve? I guess if it was easy anybody could do it.

Just a suggestion. If you have one of those air chisels you can make up the tool shown below in about a half hour, and it makes screws come out like butter on a hot knife, even rusted ones. The idea is, the hammering of the chisel shakes the screw loose, then you turn the handle counter clockwise to remove the screw. You would be amazed how much work it saves. The bit at the end is one you buy at any hardware store with a 1/4 inch shank, and the socket you weld on the end of the chisel is a 1/4 inch drive 1/4 inch socket.

Excuse my writing, I can't draw with a mouse very well.

Don

Thanks Don. Nice diagram. The hammer version I have worked o.k., but definately not as slick as your custom tool! One of these days I'll invest in a pneumatic chisel from HF. For the price I should of bought one years ago! By time I'm done with this rust bucket I'll probably have just about removed every original bolt and replaced them with grade 8's. I know I must be over 300 dollars in small bolts alone!

Well as summer draws to a close, I've managed to finish stripping the bed to bare metal and then epoxy primering it. This week I took the hood apart and did the same to it, only instead of treating the rusted areas with Marhyde rust converter, I painted the entire under surface with Por 15. I figured there was some heavy rusting under there in tough to get at spots, so the Por 15 offered better coverage and levels out by itself when painted, plus it sticks to rust like it's welded on. Anyway after that I primed the hood and parts with epoxy primer. Nothing too exciting, but that just about covers the whole truck with epoxy primer which should let me get body fill done now, and hopefully a chance to paint before it gets too cold or wet!
Here are a few pictures of where I'm at.




It's funny the only part that came out spotty and rough was the top of the hood. At that point I mixed my paint differently. Instead of filtering the thick epoxy primer into my mixing cup through a filter, I mixed it with the catalyst first to thin it out, and then, filtered into my paint gun reservoir. On all the other painting I'd filter the primer first, then mix the catalyst directly into the filtered paint. The only other thing I can think of is one of the flow knobs on the gun got changed or, when I shot thinner through the gun between reloads, I might not of cleaned it good enough?

I was thinking about this build the other day wondering if you had made any progress recently?

Thanks Guys. The holidays had me working quite a bit at work. Also the rain has been endless here. Trying to do body work in the garage leads to everything being coated with dust. Plus the temps here are hi 30's to low 50's, so motivation to do anything is low. I did fire up the engine and let it run for about 20 minutes the other day. I guess I could work on the wiring harness, in the garage(at least on one side) Mainly I've been a little down and tired. I'm sure once the sun pokes it's head out again, I'll be hitting it with some energy. I'd really like to get it to street legal status before summer.

you're in the same boat as me Steve..too cold to work and trying to have it drivable by spring. I tried the other day to work outside because I saw 46 degrees in the forecast, but it sure didn't feel like it was out of the 30's

Its the same here in my mancave in Non sunny Calif, nothing but cold 38 degree fog for the last week, tired of it....

Today was even colder! I did bottle some octoberfest beer i brewed over christmas!

Always a banner day the first time a project is able to move under it's own power!!! Congrats!