My 99 K2500 Suburban

[Jman95]

I appreciate the words guys, I needed them.. I will take the advice on celebrating the small feats as well. I will be back with updates asap!

The next few steps include:

Sealing the weld inside the fender with epoxy as well as the whole inside of the fender. Structural adhesive on the weld line and then 2 more coats of epoxy primer so I will be ready to seal her shut.

Finish the wheel arch skin and the lower arch skin under the door.

Replace the bottom lip on the d/s door as well as the final 2 holes from the mirror on the d/s door.

Going to have the rear quarter glass removed, then clean the interior with degreaser, epoxy the interior, replace the seam sealer and then 2 more coats of epoxy.

That should keep me busy for a while lol. Once the body work is finished I can finally start throwing everything back into it!

I have also reconsidered the color choice slightly, it isn’t a big change and I have to respray the firewall and some of the undercarriage again anyway.

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Patriot blue pearlcoat up top (slightly darker than my original color choice, more flake in this one too!) and then diamond black pearl lower. Going to paint it two tone and will have the raptor wrap the rocker and up to about 2-3” of the bottom of the doors. I haven’t decided if I will paint it myself or have the shop I do a lot of work with at my day job do it.. Don’t hate me for the Chrysler colors lol, I love their flake..

 

[Jman95]

Good evening peeps, I have an update for ya guys..

I finished the front lower part of the wheel arch, and I’m super happy with how it turned out.

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The piece is glued on the inner door seam, the wheel well seam and across the bottom. (Drain hole is left open as it was on the factory piece) butt welded across the top.

I sprayed inside the fender with Epoxy primer before I installed this piece.

 

[Jman95]

Here is a few pics after I dressed it some.

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It went on super straight, it sank a bit towards the door, you can see the low spot left after grinding.. I filled that with some weld, I didn’t get a pic of it after.. The slightest imperfection towards the bottom will able to be fixed with a skim coat of some filler.

 

[Jman95]

I also managed to get the fender welded in place, I cut out the backing strips my younger self had started with. Decided to butt weld the sucker on, coated the inner fender with epoxy.

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Took my time with this one, I got some slight warpage. It wasn’t from the heat, but the patch panel itself was a little out of shape.. I “managed” it as I welded and it pulled tight in a couple places.. Nothing horrible, it will be fixed with blocking.

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Just have to finish it and dress it. The wheel well lip is glued with spot welds, the rest of the piece will be butt welded solid and dressed.

I will keep posting as I get more to post, I decided I’m not happy with the D/S door and will be grabbing one from a yard, I found a site that can print official data stickers for the jamb when I’m done, so I can keep all the OEM info on the door.

Will probably grab some clean front fenders also, just to save time and I won’t have to fuss with the holes from the OEM flares.

I need to address the seized roof rack bolts, unfortunately I will be drilling through the heads and removing the rack. I’m going to install Rivnuts to bolt the rack back down with later. (I like the look of the rack and will be keeping it on the truck when it’s finished) There is only limited access to the backside of about 2 of the bolts that hold the rack.

More updates coming!

 

[Road Trip]

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I have been trying to update as much as I can on this, when I lose motivation and I scroll through this thread it helps me out. I know there are still people here that can't wait to see this finished as well. I'm working guys!

I just read through this entire string. You had me at the fish plates.

Inspirational!

For the vast majority of this hobby I was primarily engine-focused, with a side of
brakes & suspension. (By necessity, if I couldn't afford to have everything nice, then
I would settle for the performance and just drive in primer. :0)

But I eventually started with paint correction & minor bodywork, and I find satisfaction
in driving something old in new(er) condition. And having lived my adult life in the rust
belt, I am keenly interested in your rust repairs. Actually, I have a question about your
welder. You mentioned that Santa left a Hobart Handler 140 under the tree. Q: Now
that you've lived with it for awhile (and seemed to have accomplished quite a bit with it)
...would you buy the exact same unit again?

I ask because about a year ago I had a '99 C2500 in Indigo Blue Metallic follow me home.
Just a basic chore truck with a big block, but it has really grown on me, and I've been
contemplating making some lasting repairs where time has been unkind. Not a show
vehicle, but just an honest, solid beast.

So yeah, keep up the Herculean effort. And don't forget that something that may look
like the Grand Canyon of a defect to you will look factory fresh to 99.9% of the
normal people who will be admiring your ride & chatting you up when you stop.

And the remaining 0.1% of us who've tried to do the same kind of thing will be
impressed by how much blood, sweat, & tears you've put into this family member.

Dad would be proud!

Cheers --

 

[Jman95]

I just read through this entire string. You had me at the fish plates.

Inspirational!

For the vast majority of this hobby I was primarily engine-focused, with a side of
brakes & suspension. (By necessity, if I couldn't afford to have everything nice, then
I would settle for the performance and just drive in primer. :0)

But I eventually started with paint correction & minor bodywork, and I find satisfaction
in driving something old in new(er) condition. And having lived my adult life in the rust
belt, I am keenly interested in your rust repairs. Actually, I have a question about your
welder. You mentioned that Santa left a Hobart Handler 140 under the tree. Q: Now
that you've lived with it for awhile (and seemed to have accomplished quite a bit with it)
...would you buy the exact same unit again?

I ask because about a year ago I had a '99 C2500 in Indigo Blue Metallic follow me home.
Just a basic chore truck with a big block, but it has really grown on me, and I've been
contemplating making some lasting repairs where time has been unkind. Not a show
vehicle, but just an honest, solid beast.

So yeah, keep up the Herculean effort. And don't forget that something that may look
like the Grand Canyon of a defect to you will look factory fresh to 99.9% of the
normal people who will be admiring your ride & chatting you up when you stop.

And the remaining 0.1% of us who've tried to do the same kind of thing will be
impressed by how much blood, sweat, & tears you've put into this family member.

Dad would be proud!

Cheers --

Appreciate the words!

As far as buying the Hobart, I have used Millers my whole career. When I was in the market for a welder I wanted a Miller, but the tags were high. I “settled” on the Hobart from Tractor Supply. It was around Black Friday and they had a sale for $499 without the cart. I took the chance, and I will say that it is the most consistent welder I have ever used, once you get it dialed in. Of course, later on I found the Hobart is the parent company of Miller welders. I’ve welded up to 1/4” with this thing. Depending on the orientation of the metal you might need 2 passes if your welding something that thick, but I welded some framing on a dovetail for my buddy, he got rear ended by some lady in a mini van on the highway (all parties were healthy afterwards) he just had to replace his tail lights. Nothing else moved..

In a nutshell, I would buy it again and have became attached to it, so plan to use this welder until I can no longer use a welder lol. The next art I want to learn is gas welding with a filler rod and torch. The old timers at work tell me that is the sauce for body work. I don’t want to do anymore body work though lol

 

[Road Trip]

As far as buying the Hobart, I have used Millers my whole career. When I was in the market for a welder I wanted a Miller, but the tags were high. I “settled” on the Hobart from Tractor Supply. It was around Black Friday and they had a sale for $499 without the cart. I took the chance, and I will say that it is the most consistent welder I have ever used, once you get it dialed in. Of course, later on I found the Hobart is the parent company of Miller welders. I’ve welded up to 1/4” with this thing. Depending on the orientation of the metal you might need 2 passes if your welding something that thick, but I welded some framing on a dovetail for my buddy, he got rear ended by some lady in a mini van on the highway (all parties were healthy afterwards) he just had to replace his tail lights. Nothing else moved..

In a nutshell, I would buy it again and have became attached to it, so plan to use this welder until I can no longer use a welder lol. The next art I want to learn is gas welding with a filler rod and torch. The old timers at work tell me that is the sauce for body work. I don’t want to do anymore body work though lol

That is a ringing endorsement!

Funny you mention Millers. Back in the late '70s I worked my way through school
in a 1 1/2 man garage doing tuneups, carb rebuilds, timing chains & belts, etc. In addition
to repairing cars, the owner was a welder, and he was extremely talented. He had a large full-on Miller,
and I remember him doing a lot of heliarc welding on aluminum parts for the motorsports crowd,
both 2 & 4 wheel.

The clientele were colorful characters, mostly no-nonsense stoic types. But when they returned to the
shop to pick up their bits of custom fabrication or repaired unobtanium I do remember seeing near
tears of joy on their crusty mugs. Curt was the picture of total focus when he welded, right down to the
smooth use of the foot pedal. Always cool to watch an artist in action. And I could tell that he took
great pride in putting out the highest quality work that he was capable of. (!)

****

Anyway, I'm at the point in the hobby where I'd like to finally add this skill to my reportoire. It could be
argued that my doing this falls squarely into the old dog/new tricks category. But I've made peace
with the concept that learning by making mistakes makes for memories/skills that don't fade over time.
(At least that's how it seems to work for me?)

But what had me stalled out was that I wanted to buy something where *I* was the limiting factor, not
the welder itself. Kinda like using a Tek o-scope or Nikon camera, if something I'm trying to do isn't
turning out as desired I know to focus on improving the operator, not the tool in hand. :0) At the same
time, like you mentioned, I can't just throw money at the solution.

So, given your comments above + all the work you've been generous enough to document & share,
I'm sold. Looks like Santa will be substituting a Hobart Handler 140 for the coal that Road Trip normally
earns for Christmas.

PS: The chore truck is the gift that keeps on giving. I'm helping a buddy with a stalled sleeper project,
and the body needs some repair. Paying real talent to fix the issues is way outside the budget, not to
mention that they are backed up with other people's projects for months/years as well. And I didn't feel
comfortable learning on his vehicle. But the chore truck is the perfect candidate to learn on. Solves
two problems staring right at me.

 

[Jman95]

That welder will definitely not be the limiting factor lol, as hard as it is to admit I’ve had operator issues with mine..

For sheet metal I run .024 wire with the tips, and gold gas. When I’m welding thicker stuff I use .030.

The best way to dial in your welder for you would just be to get some samples of the thickness you will be welding on the truck, set the welder to the recommended setting on the welder and adjust from there, just weld samples until you get the penetration you want. Sheet metal is just spot welding until you fill the whole seam, Sheet metal can’t take the heat of running a bead. (Sorry if this is common knowledge, just trying to share as much as I can for those who don’t know.)

 

[Road Trip]

That welder will definitely not be the limiting factor lol, as hard as it is to admit I’ve had operator issues with mine..

For sheet metal I run .024 wire with the tips, and gold gas. When I’m welding thicker stuff I use .030.

The best way to dial in your welder for you would just be to get some samples of the thickness you will be welding on the truck, set the welder to the recommended setting on the welder and adjust from there, just weld samples until you get the penetration you want. Sheet metal is just spot welding until you fill the whole seam, Sheet metal can’t take the heat of running a bead. (Sorry if this is common knowledge, just trying to share as much as I can for those who don’t know.)

Great tips, all. I'm here to learn, and never hurts to hear the good stuff to reinforce the
key concepts.

30+ years ago a buddy & I took an evening course in auto body repair at a Nashoba Valley
adult education class. We had put together a V8 Chevy Monza, and wanted to fix up the
body the right way in order to lose some of the junkyard vibe.

The guy who ran the hands-on class was "Mr. B". He was an elder who still had great chops,
and seemed to enjoy sharing the secrets with motivated students. The point is, we did 95%
of the work ourselves, learned a lot, but actually wished that the class was longer.

We were running out of time, and we needed to have a tricky repair patch welded in around the
RR wheel opening, so Mr. B stepped in & stitch-welded it in just as neat as you please. As he was
demonstrating the technique, he said pretty much exactly what you did about how important
heat management was to successfully welding thin sheet metal.

Anyway, don't mean to steal precious shop time away from you and your restoration project.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge, it's genuinely appreciated. Glad you've restarted your
project, and look forward to future updates.

 

[Jman95]

Trust me, I’m not in the shop right now lol

More updates will be coming soon!