rust repair on the '77...here goes nothin

[mickeykreg]

Wow, what a commitment! Cutting into the body on this truck is intimidating to say the least. I've done some messing around with my mig, but never anything this challenging. What a schooling!
When I've been researching this I've not found very much info about what lies under the roof skin, like where braces are and how things are spot welded together. I went to the junkyard and cut the roof out of an 84 blazer to use part of it for patch panels and to cut it up to see how it's put together.
So far my to do list includes the windshield frame above the glass, floors, bedsides, and tailpan. I sold the top and tailgate cause I don't have room to store that stuff and cause I want to use a soft top and truck tailgate instead. Hope I don't regret that later.
In Baja this past winter whenever I'd get on a rough road little bits of rust would rattle out of the headliner and fall in my lap. I was expecting it to suck pretty bad when I took things apart, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. Here's some pics from first stage.

Rust above windshield frame.

2017-06-14_08-11-52 by Mick, on Flickr



Decided I needed a dome and map light so while the roof was apart I placed the wiring and made a bracket for a light out of a '98 Tahoe. Backseat light actually cause it's a bit smaller.




While the top skin was cut out I used some of this stuff.
http://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-int...z-aerosol.html
to spray around inside between the layers and down the A pillars. Also used to hit the inside of the pinch weld after things were put back together. Not sure it'll make a big difference, but makes me feel better.

A bit later I'll post some pics of the cut up junkyard roof so you can get a better idea of what's going on under the top skin.

[68Timber]

Nice work.

[mickeykreg]

sort of done with the roof for now, just need to do the filler and primer


junkyard donor roof


A pillar cut away looking down from the roof


looking up the A pillar from below


B pillar cut away


If you want more pics of how the roof is put together let me know, still have it in the driveway for now.

[mickeykreg]

Next up are the bed rails.







the junkyard donor bed rail with spot welds drilled out and separated.


the patch


the partial fix, just need some epoxy primer and filler and finish

[frenchy51]

Good job! I just got done doing a couple of patches for my "74's door strikers but nothing like what you're doing. Very satisfying to cure cancer though!!

[blazer2007]

what kinda clecos are those

[mickeykreg]

They're just a set of stitch weld magnets from Eastwood. On sale for like $5 or something. I've been using them alot, not using the butt weld clamps much though.

[68Timber]

Wish you weren't two days drive away, I could use the back half of the donor cab. My 79 has rot where the top butts against the half cab. KUTGW...

[mickeykreg]

Originally Posted by 68Timber

Wish you weren't two days drive away, I could use the back half of the donor cab. My 79 has rot where the top butts against the half cab. KUTGW...

I think I'm done with it so if you can figure out some transportation you can have it for nothing.

[68Timber]

Originally Posted by mickeykreg

I think I'm done with it so if you can figure out some transportation you can have it for nothing.

I appreciate that. Greyhound might ship it, but it'd cost more than a parts truck to send it that far. I'm sure there's one close to me, but I haven't put that repair on my calendar yet so I haven't shopped for that piece yet. It's just ironic to see it here. BTW, I've noticed your white truck in the background of a few pics, cool to see you still have it.

[amberkalvin]

Man I wish I had tour patience. Looking good!

[phillipm]

Looks like you've taken your time and done a very good job with your repairs. Nice work.

[mickeykreg]

Thought I'd throw out an update, as I've had a bit of a eventful summer. Kind of back on track now.
My white truck has had a rod bearing making noise for a while now. Just as I was getting ready to head out on a road trip in July it started to really make a racket.

So I had to swipe the motor out of the blazer.


...and jabb it in the white guy


Then rolled out on a 2500 mile road trip into Idaho, Montana, and Washington for some fishing with my kid.
North Fork Clearwater, Idaho


Coming down into Superior, Montana


Montana/Idaho stateline we got woke up by a bear huffing around at 3am.


While on the road in Spokane I stopped into a junkyard that had a seat sale going on so I picked up these '99 Tahoe seats for $22 for the pair.


Then took a big hit getting them re-skinned in buckskin leather. Seats have always been high on my priority list so these should work out.


Since the motor was out of the blazer it was time to bite more bullet. 400hp Roller cam vortec 355 from West Coast Engines online. Not sure what I'm going to do with this other than break something. Maybe turn the white guy into a muscle truck later, but that'll require a 502BBC.




I was thinking since the motor was out and the floor was all cut up that now would be a good time for a NV4500.


Bummer I can't drive it for a while yet. Hope to have it ready for another Baja trip by this time next year. I think I'm done with mechanical for now. Back to body work next.

[andyh1956]

[QUOTE=mickeykreg;

I was thinking since the motor was out and the floor was all cut up that now would be a good time for a NV4500.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/GhtU62][/url]

What is that horizontal bracket for on the left side of the trans over to the clutch housing above the release lever?
That's an AA clutch housing, right?

[mickeykreg]

Originally Posted by andyh1956

What is that horizontal bracket for on the left side of the trans over to the clutch housing above the release lever?
That's an AA clutch housing, right?

Yep, it's a AA bell housing. Bracket is a brace for the bell crank pivot ball bracket that bolts on where a slave cylinder would go. I guess it's AA's answer to make it possible to run either a manual or hydraulic clutch, which is cool. Kind of a trashy set up, but I'll switch to a slave cyl. some time later, whenever I can find the 85-87 pedal assembly.

[mickeykreg]

Time for the floor:

This is the single thing that drove me to begin this project in the first place.






Amazingly this bolt turned out albeit with a breaker bar.








Outer rocker seemed ok so I cleaned it up and left it.


Now to put things back together.

Mock up bottom of kick panel


bottom of kick panel and inner rocker combo


Inner rocker I got from Tabco had part of the outer floor molded in as one piece which was nice.


Inner rocker needed some larger drain holes to hopefully not trap as much debris and moisture




Got my $3 worth out of this disc.


New floor support


There was no saving this piece


so I cut a new one out of the left over kick panel




Floor reproduction from Tabco sucked because it was made for a truck, but I was able to make it work because the seat mount area was still ok. It's good heavy gauge material though. 16ga I think.






This area has no reproduction piece that I know of so I had to make it. Almost an entire day in this photo.


The edge of the left over truck floor had close to the right form so I used it.

[phillipm]

Seats turned out great! Anyone who's paid to redo seats realizes that the TMI stuff is actually a good deal! Nice work as always.

[mickeykreg]

Originally Posted by phillipm

Seats turned out great! Anyone who's paid to redo seats realizes that the TMI stuff is actually a good deal! Nice work as always.

I used Katskin who cuts material on bulk then works with local shops to do the install. They had a good selection of colors and styles of leather. I paid $600 each, which I didn't think was too bad.

Sorry, what is TMI?

[mickeykreg]

Getting into the passenger B pillar, oh jeez:






























The neighbor down the street brought over some peppers. Surprised he'll still talk to me considering all the noise I've been making.

[mickeykreg]

Picking up where I left off with bed rails in post 4.

[mickeykreg]

Finishing repair above windshield in post 3.

[phillipm]

Man you're doing a great job! Keep it up.

TMI is an interior shop. http://www.tmiproducts.com/

[mickeykreg]

I guess one good thing about this taking forever is I've got some time to decide on interior. Thanks for the link.

Next on the list is to build a roll bar, which I hope will give the cab some added structure before I cut up the floor.
JD Squared model 3 bender

[raggedjim]

Nice work, Rg

[phillipm]

Man that must be one beefy table! I've got my JD2 bolted to the concrete and it takes some muscle to get it done! Maybe yours is air/hydraulic?