Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Gregs to the power of three!

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Subscribed. Looking good.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Well, I've got to reply to that! (Multiple Greg's)

Gregski, I drove my truck for a couple of years without a dash pad.

Re: Restoring Rusty - Take a Seat
 

it rained today so I did what I could (gym and a movie, lol), then took the cheap seat cover off and yanked the bench seat out, four bolts easy to get to, one needed a shot of PB Blaster to get out smoothly, my list of the unknowns is getting shorter and shorter, really needed to now what lurks beneath there

Seat has seen better days, LMC Truck has a Vinyl cover for $190 but for now it's standard issue Mexican blanket time

No holes in the floor pan, just surface rust, that is a welcome sight

pulled the plug out of the B pillar I guess it's called and saw threads in there, cool, maybe this is for the shoulder seat belts (score if it is)

Re: Restoring Rusty - Floor Pans
 

time to bust out the trusty ol' Shop Vac and you guessed it a bucket of water and yet more paper towels

why do I use paper towels, well cause I don't like dippin a dirty rag back into clean water, so I use a single hefty paper towel piece, wipe something off, go oooogh and toss it in the trash, then rinse, lather, and repeat

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

The threaded hole you found in the pillar is for shoulder belts and you may get lucky and find some in your local junkyard ,I have not been that lucky.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Cool thanks, and yup I am heading to Pick N Pull this week to see what I can find, it may be extra tough since I am picky on the interior and want black seat belts, and this was the era of weird interior colors, like blues and reds and tans.

LMC Truck of course has em fer $90 per side, not too bad

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

I will have to as well. That's what the G is, in SkinnyG.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

OK, I must admit I tell my kids that GMC stands for Greg M_____'s Car, yes my last name does start with M, but then my smart as 10 year old says, but daddy it's a Truck

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Nice, welcome!

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Subscribing

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Cool build. I'll ride.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

LOL, thanks, I'll try to entertain

Re: Restoring Rusty - Small Stuff
 

usually people don't consider all the small stuff you have to do when fixin' up an old vehicle, here's an example, and no I did not take credit for breaking this corner off myself, it was already like that ~ your honor

used some crazy glue and frog tape to hold it over night, in the morning after removing the tape the piece still stayed on, amazing, job done

Re: Restoring Rusty - Floor Pans
 

life is all about second chances, so I decided to give that CLR product another shot

This was Round 1 of Owner vs Truck, and Rusty won hands down didn't even break a sweat

Seriously though in my case this product was clearly a waste of money I gave it an honest effort first with a scotch pad / elbow grease combination to the body, and then a few jabs even with steel wool

verdict: CLR sucks and wouldn't remove a bugger off my finger

Re: Restoring Rusty More Floor Pans
 

so it was time to go Def Con II

Round 2

This time I went to my trusty old friend Muriatic Acid, always there for me when I need a good skin burn (seriously wear a proper respirator and heavy rubber gloves, and eye protection this stuff finds ways to get in your eyes) Home Depot $5 bucks, and the difference between this stuff and the name brand rust removers is that this stuff WORKS!

in this round I begin to wear him down with a wire brush cause the acid would disintegrate the green scotch pad and I was all out of steel wool

I hosed off the acid and washed it all off with a bucket of Baking Soda and water to neutralize it

Round 2 goes to Rusty as well, clearly he must have the weight advantage, but I'll be back for more

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Who was the genius at GM who decided not to put the drain plugs at the lowest point in the floor pans of the cab? And how is his sheet metal after market replacement floor pan side business doing these days? LOL

Re: Restoring Rusty - Meet The Three Amigos
 

I hate rust! I think all of us do, so I decided to bust out with the heavy artillery.

Orbital Sander, Ol' Milwaukee, and Small Birtha my most used worth every dollar ($15 dollar) Harbor Freight tool in the stable, or as I like to call em The Three Amigos

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Feeling slightly left out with my two tone green/white, but I can still come to the meetings, right? Right guys? Come on guys... puuuullllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeease?!?!?! :lol:

Love the truck man.

By the way, wrong acid. You want oxalic acid to remove rust. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9rkHvOEP3U

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

green is green, yup you're in

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

starting to see some progress, but I am having a difficult time telling apart the rust from the black primer from maybe black sealant, maybe one more day with the abrasives and it should be ready for a coat of rust converter primer

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

it does work

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3foqAjUZeK4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip11EIZH_p8

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Great work.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Muratic works because it eats the base metal away too!

I forgot about molasses works for rust removal too. Takes weeks though.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Yes tried Molasses and it does take forever especially in the fall & winter months, the heat in the summer helps speed up the process Molasses may work for smaller parts that you can dip in a plastic tub and let sit, with some holes in the floor I could not keep a pool of it there for weeks as it did it's job, plus the car would smell like molasses, it just wasn't practical for this application

there's some truth to that saying "slow as molasses"

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Nice work!

Re: Restoring Rusty - Buckle Up
 

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody

Three football games on TV today, and I'm out in the freezing California cold out there (it's gotta be 66* for crying out loud) LOL, jk sanding and working on the truck in the driveway

well decided to put my big boy pants on, and remove the seat belts finally instead of maneuvering around them, I constantly battle the just get it done vs do it right mentality, a little voice chimes in my head from time to time going IT'S JUST A TRUCK !!!

you ever had that feeling that you don't wanna take off too much off your truck cause:

1. You won't remember how it goes back together

B. You will get so overwhelmed when it's all apart none of it will go back together

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

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)

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

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.

Re: Restoring Rusty - Spraying Rust Fix
 

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

Re: Restoring Rusty - Drain Plugs
 

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

Re: Restoring Rusty - Bolt Cleaning
 

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)

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

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.

Re: Restoring Rusty - Build Sheet
 

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

Re: Restoring Rusty - Battery Tray
 

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

Re: Restoring Rusty - Temp Battery Tray
 

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

Re: Restoring Rusty - New(er) Battery Tray
 

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

Re: Restoring Rusty - Inner Fender
 

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

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

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

Re: Restoring Rusty - Poor Front Fender
 

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?