Restoring Rusty

[Gregski]

the seat belts were so gross, dirty, and crusty that they won't even slide back and forth as you tried to adjust them, something had to be done, what's that?

Aren't I gonna replace them with shinny flexible brand new shoulder belt ones? Well yeah, but it's time for Another Kitchen Table Repair, aka AKTR

honey here's the credit card, go see how much money you can "save" at the mall, I will be needing full access to the kitchen sink

labor of love that's for sure (dang my soft hands are so dry)

[bnoon]

Wow, I need to do that with mine. I've never even known that the covers can come off like that for cleaning. I have shoulder belts sitting in the garage, but just can't quite make the leap from the original lap belts. The part about drilling the locator holes in the door frame have scared me off.

[Gregski]

after giving the floors another acid wash, I used Acetone to wipe off all the grease and then shot em with a can and a half of this Rust Fix by Dupli-Color, not cheap $7.50 per can. The product turns rust to black stuff, that's all I know, LOL

After I get paid I will get a color match from a reputable paint shop in town for $20 bucks (already talked to them) and shoot the floors with that, you can paint over this Rust Fix stuff without primer, so we'll see how that goes

I don't want to paint the floors rattle can black, nor use that bed liner stuff on 'em, I like the green floors for contrast when I drop two black rubber floor mats on 'em

[Gregski]

there are four drain plugs in the cab, if I found 'em all. two under the bench seat and two tucked away nicely in the rear corners of the cab, these are the two where dirt, grime and everything else gathers

I yanked all of them out with a large flat screw driver and bent them a bit in the process, so I wanna show you how I flatened them back out, it's not rocket surgery I know, but I was quite proud of myself, so I am sharing, lol

[Gregski]

here is my "Mobile" bolt cleaning station, I really like how the light weight aluminum vice complements the classy cinder block (not just for bumper straightening you know)

I may not be a master mechanic (not even the reality TV kind) but I do like my parts to be clean before putting them back on (it's a sickness)

[thefraze_1020]

Good work Greg!

I'm the same way, I like fasteners clean when they go back in.

You're really lucky that the floor pans are in that good of shape. Certainly helps speed things along when you don't have to weld in new metal.

[Gregski]

This was a cool find, a Build Sheet! ... or what's left of it, I'm going to send it to the Smithsonian for a full restoration

[Gregski]

Ever wonder what baby Godzilla's eat? I am seriously thinking they feed on square body battery trays.

[Gregski]

The previous owner made a rather nifty temporary battery tray, I wonder how many years he drove with this one around.

The bottom plate was 1/4 inch nice and sturdy like, but now original so it must go

[Gregski]

so it was off to Pick N Pull for a new(er) used battery tray - $12 bucks I think I paid for this one, she aint perfect but she will do

not sure if all you all got a Pick N Pull in your neck of the woods, so I'll tell you what it is, it's like a Walmart franchise like junkyard where they let you pull your own parts, they pretty much scrap all the cars for metal, so the parts prices are very reasonable

and yes we can still find some of our trucks in those yards

[Gregski]

now as baby Godzillas grow and become teenagers they get hungrier, so they expand their battery tray diet to other parts, they love inner fenders

now since mine was missing a large chunk I was able to remove it with the front wheel still on, not sure if you might could as well, fer sure I would not mount a new shinny one using this method, but since my driveway has a significant slope and the battery was out of the truck, I did not wanna prop it up with a jack and get me one of 'em Darwin awards

[Gregski]

I guess this website uploads these pictures any which one is up !!!

[Gregski]

here's what accumulates in our front fender corners and why they rot away, shame really, poor design if you ask me, what were you thinking GM?

[motornut]

Originally Posted by Gregski

here's what accumulates in our front fender corners and why they rot away, shame really, poor design if you ask me, what were you thinking GM?

yup ours do that up here,fall leaves/debris and then it holds the winter salt....
I opened up the drain holes in the 4X4s fender bottom,stuff flushes out easier.

[Gregski]

it was too dark last night to get more than one plug in so I came home from work today and got the other seven screwed in, note the aligned bolt heads, Concourse Ready! JK

$20 bucks I paid for these and now my car looks like it has 8 gold teeth, not a big fan, if I was to stick with manifolds I would pick up some without em holes at a swap meet, but I'm getting headers come March

[Gregski]

The Greg was pretty busy

So I went back to the junkyard and pulled an inner fender - $15 bucks I think, now watch I'll probably spend twice that on materials to strip it, clean it, prime it, and paint it, LOL

Question for you all: Did GM undercoat these inner fenders at the factory, or is that just 40 years of dirt and grime stuck to their bellies?

[Gregski]

so I used the Aircraft paint stripper on the top side and it didn't do much, so then I went to the Muriatic acid and it showed better results, but when it came down to it, I still had to use a wire wheel on my small grinder to get all the rust off

man this thing flush rusts super quick, so its hose it off, then dry if off, then Acetone it and shoot it with that clear Rust Fix rust converter thing, that brand sucks when it comes out, it shoots a small narrow strip and does not cover well at all, see how it turned out like a zebra or a tiger, yet it all looked nice and wet when I sprayed it, but it comes out clear so its difficult to see what you sprayed

[Gregski]

in case you all were wonderin' how to use that bottle jack ~ here you go

[Gregski]

man lots of work, this is

cleaned the belly of that inner fender and tried a different rust converter primer this time, cheaper too, this one is by RUST-OLEUM, love the way it covers and sprays, really good coverage, also since it's not clear you actually know what you sprayed

I am gonna use RUST-OLEUM undercoating for the belly, which says you may or may not use a primer first, but I decided to use one anyway

[Gregski]

just scored this 600 CFM Holley 4160 four barrel electric choke refurbished aluminum Carburetor with vacuum secondaries on eBay for $190 shipped, should go nicely with that Weiand intake

[rusty76]

Cool work. Glad to see you keeping at it.!

[79azc10]

Truck is looking good

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by 79azc10

Truck is looking good

thank you

[Gregski]

the rain let up so I decided to go back at it, I resprayed that "tiger stripe" inner fender with the Rust-Oleum primer which is meant to shoot over rust, it has better coverage than that Kryolan clear stuff I was using

if all goes well tomorrow I will shoot the undercoating

[pontgta]

I used to use the rutoleum but another member mentioned this..... And like the fact of no primer needed..

VHT EPOXY


Found some at advance

By the way AWESOME progress