97 K1500 DD/Overlander

[mdnky]

03.09.2023

Noticed a few cold welds on that 1st piece, so I ground them down and rewelded. Finally ran out of that 0.030 wire, so in goes the 0.035 I picked up the other day. Definitely runs a bit hotter. That said, both sizes of the Forney wire definitely run a lot better and cleaner than the Lincoln and Vulcan stuff...also cheaper.

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[mdnky]

03.09.2023 (cont.)

Redid a few more questionable welds, then primed the bare areas before spraying a generous coat of Ace Rust Stop Flat Black Enamel. Managed to beat the drizzle/rain by an hour or so.

Also noticed the PO (or his mechanic) did some questionable install work when replacing the rear leaf spring hangers. The upper bolts are too long and in backwards, so they rub on the brackets. The passenger's side is spaced with what appears to be the end of an eye bolt as a spacer/washer. I was tired and running out of daylight, so for now we can forget about fixing it properly. Instead, I choose to sacrifice a few cheap 14TPI sawzall blades and just trimmed a bit off the ends. Hit the ends with some paint...cause I really do not need any more rust. I've had my quote for a couple years with this thing already.

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[mdnky]

03.15.2023

The weather has been too cold (for me) this past week, but today was nice enough to do a bit more work. After looking at it a bit, decided to add one more piece behind the spring hanger as well. Used the remaining portions of the belt covers from the Caroni deck...the logo seems to be hid by the hangers, so no harm no foul. Made the 90deg bend with some clamps and a BFH.

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[mdnky]

03.15.2030 (cont...)

Jacked the back up by the trailer hitch and removed one side at a time. Had just enough play to get the panels in and welded. Hit the area behind the patch with some rust reformer. Welded in the panels, then primed with self etch and hit it with some more flat black enamel a bit later.

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[mdnky]

03.15.2030 (cont...cont...)

Knocked out the other side as well. Also decided it was time to quickly clean that back cab bulkhead (it was annoying me). I put a quick coat of questionable (i.e. very old) Meguiars Gold Class we found in my father's garage. Pretty sure this was a bottle I purchased sometime back in 1997. Still, it should be better than nothing. It definitely went on fine, and it wiped off just like I remember. Regardless, at least it's clean now.

Tomorrow will be spent laying out the fuel lines, as well as possibly trying to weld a small patch on the underside of the front frame just behind the passengers front tire. Also need to wire/brush the inside of the rails, hit them with rust reformer, then spray in the flat black enamel. The tank still needs a coat of paint as well.

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[Erik the Awful]

That said, both sizes of the Forney wire definitely run a lot better and cleaner than the Lincoln and Vulcan stuff...also cheaper.

The hardware store a mile from my house carries Forney. If I wanted any other brand I'd have to drive into town. I'm happy with Forney's product.

 

[mdnky]

03.16.2023

Noticed a crack in the drivers side rear upper shock mount. Both are in less than stellar shape, but replacing with new ones isn't in the cards for now. The passengers side is serviceable, but the drivers side needs some work. So I did a quick fix with some scrap and a bit of 1/8" x 1/2" sheet. Does look like someone tried to do some welding in the past on it...from a couple (3) bits of wire just hanging around there.

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N

 

[mdnky]

03.16.2023 (cont...)

Hit lightly rusted areas of both mounts with rust reformer. The raw repaired areas of the driver side one got a dose of self etching primer. Once it dried, applied a topcoat of flat black enamel. Won't win any beauty contests, but its solid at least.

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The axle was in need of some wire wheel work. Also took the wire wheel to the inside of the frame rails...at least the parts it would fit. Amazon ended up being late with the smaller one I ordered...arrived after I was done for the day. Still managed to get rid of most of the loose scaly rust.

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[mdnky]

03.16.2023 (cont...cont...)

Also took the time do do a minor rust repair to the bed. Will definitely need to do some more, but I had the wire wheel installed and the reformer out so figure it was worth a few minutes of time. Hit the visible rail and the inner fenders on the cab side with the wheel, then shot it with some rust reformer.

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Also hit the hitch with the wire wheel, then shot with reformer followed by some flat black enamel. At least the hitch is all one colour now.

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[mdnky]

03.16.2023 (cont...cont...cont...)

Started to work on the fuel system. Cleaned the bottom of the tank to remove the waxy coating it ships with. Started to spray it in self etching primer, which I promptly ran out of. So for the second time today, I stopped everything for a supply run into town [$24.36 paint, primer, fluid film]...and another hour wasted. Finished priming the tank, then let it sit while doing some cleanup and dinner. Sprayed a good thick coat of the Majic Truck, Tractor & Implement spray enamel in that Light Ford Grey colour. Since this is hidden, I wasn't worried about runs and was more interested in coverage. Sprays well and has a strong odour...so pretty sure that means it has to be good [JK].

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RUNNING TOTAL: $4560.73