Hey guys,

In about a week I am going to try to repair all the rusted out panels on my truck. My cousin welds boilers for a living and is coming down from NY with a MIG and some basic tools.

Neither of us have much experience with auto body repair but we have persistence.

My plan is to:

1. cut out the wheel arches, rear bed corners, and cab corners

2. Wash/clean out crud and treat with evapo-rust

3. Weld in smallest patch possible

4. Grind smooth

5. Paint with rust preventative paint

6. Bondo

7. primer

The cab mounts and inner fenders look great so I think I'll just paint them.




Does anyone swear by a particular rust converter and rust proof paint?

I am not sure how to fix the small rust holes on the floor pan near the driver side rocker. The floors are by-and-large in great shape except for this small area.

I think I should cut it out, weld in a piece of sheet metal and then treat with undercoating?

Thanks in advance.

 

Not to rain on your parade too much, but I'm not sure that's a good combination. The sheet metal on these trucks is very thin, pretty much like any modern vehicle. Experience welding boilers may actually work against you when trying to work on the thin stuff. Kinda reminds me of bringing in a sumo wrestler to dance the grand finale in Swan Lake...


I've done amateur level body work on other vehicles, and can do a passable welding job on older, thicker sheet metal. The newer thin stuff is another story, though...

 

That may be the case, but I'm not too worried. He went to welding school for two years and seems know more than boilers.

Worst case scenario my truck will look worse than it does (if thats possible) and I'll be out of $150 I spent on the panels. (too late to return them anyway)

I would have a shop do it but its way out of my budget and theres no fun in that anyhow.

With that said, I am hearing you. This could be out of my league.

 

If you want to make it easier to weld, you can get flanging pliers from eastwood. Cut your new panel the way you want it, lay it up an draw around it, and then cut the truck out about 1/2 in smaller or whatever your flange width is. Then go around the truck metal with the flange tool and then lay the new panel in and check the fit. If it looks good, take a large drill bit and drill holes all the way around the new panel, lay it back on the truck, and spot weld through the holes to hold it in place. You may have to drill small holes inbetween the large holes and use sheetmetal screws to draw it down tight. You can then weld the small sheetmetal screw holes over to fill them in.

 

Sounds like a plan.

 

I take the patch panel(s) and lay them over the area it covers and mark around the outside of the panel so you know how far the panel covers.
Then you can see what you can cut out. If you say going 6" below that mark you can cut the panel say 4" so you have a flange to work with.


For welding with a MIG have the thinnest wire you can get, and if you can use gas do so as you will have a nicer weld.


I over lapped my panels and "plug weld" them in place. A large hole I weld thru to the panel below. I also drilled out spot welds to remove the old panels and used the holes to weld thru.


I would not use under coat on any car/truck I own. It has pours that water can enter and it sits there rusting away and you cant see it.
Where you need to weld I used weld thru primer to help keep rust at bay between the panels.


Now you hinted on treating rust and I use a few different things.
If I can get to it (some what) I use oxy-gone I spray it on rust and inside doors to let it seep into nooks to treat it. If doing body work over it you will need to sand it first.


I also use Eastwood's Rust Encapsulator Red Aerosol - Rust Preventive Paint - Rust Preventer - Eastwood
and
Internal Frame Coating Aerosol Black 14oz
The first one I got in brush on, did under sides of fenders and when I removed hood skin from the frame I did that area before putting the skin & frame back together.
On another hood I did not take apart I used the sprat coating. I will also use it in the "A" pillers of the truck and a car I am restoring.


And to help protect the floors of my truck after I replaced them, besides the weld thru primer I used 2 coats of seam sealer on the edges them went over the top & bottom with

That is all my bag of tricks for fighting rust.
Dave ----


edit: the thread on my project so you can see what I got into and fixing. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...lare-side.html

 

Looks like I got some shopping to do. Your thread will help a lot too. Thanks

 

Results are in. Any advice on grinding down the welds? Also, How can I fill these holes in the tailgate? Cuz said mig w/.3 wire is a no-go. ?

Any way to fix the bent front rail of the bed?




How can I fill these?

 

For the front rail you can either replace the whole front panel, or I think I would find some 1/8" wall square tubing that is close, cut the old top out and weld the new tubing in place.

For the other holes, you are going to have to cut it out and weld a patch in place. Get some flat metal. For the bottom of the tailgate you could cut a large rectangle piece out, cut a new rectangle piece and weld it in place.

If you try to weld the rust holes shut you end up with a huge hole instead, the metal is so thin and rusted around those holes you can't hardly weld it.

 

Ok. The piece on the tailgate--how will that be joined? a butt joint?

 

Do it just like you did the bedsides over the wheels.

 

Front rail not seeing it in person its hard to say but I think I would try and pull the panel back into shape.
Back the truck up to a tree or power pole to pull from and use a come-a-long to pull it back.
I have a stud welder for pulling dents so once back in place I would use then to pull the dents. If done right you would only need a skim coat of filler if any.

Yes on the rest, cut the rust and weld in patches.

For grinding the welds. I use a stone on my 4" grinder to take down most of the welds but still leave it high.
KEEP MOVING so you do not warp the panel.
To take the weld down more I then switch to a flap wheel on the grinder.
I would use a 40 grit flap to take it down farther but again not all the way then switch to a 80 grit flap down to finish level
Did I say KEEP MOVING! If not KEEP MOVING!
You don't want to warp the panels.

If all turns out right a skim coat of filler and should be done. May need to tap down any high spots but that is normal.
Dave ----