Thanks for the tips--I'll give them a shot. I like the idea of the guide coat on the filler as I don't have the feel for what's high and low yet.

 

Nice job Frederic. Your advise makes a lot of sense. My 88 is starting to rust in these areas and will have to perform the OPERATION in the near future.

 

Quick update: The repair is looking better and better. Successive layers of bondo are whipping it into shape, although I have found that I do NOT like "Bondo Gold." I'll post pictures soon. I have also put my back glass back in, need to take the front glass out and fix rust around it, and need to fix some rust-through on the bottom of the rear quarters, and yada, yada, yada. My 6 month project is taking me much longer than expected. However, I did pull it out of the garage long enough to take the kids for a ride!

How thick is too thick for bondo repairs?

 

I am no expert but less is better than more. Around 1/8 inch I dont think is excessive.

 

I had a previously posted thread on inner fenders on the beds. Has anyone, taken out that inner fender and use some kind of other brace for support? Rust happens because as you all know, dirt, moisture and grime get up between the pieces of metal and you cant wash it out, therefore "RUST". I have seen other people with their trucks, cut about a 2 inch or so hole in each of the fender wells inside the bed to get a hose through and wash that out. Works pretty slick, but than you have added hole in your bed. i had thought about doing that and then fabricating a rubber plug so it looks nice. That way I can wash that spot out.

 

After closing up the area (the inner wheel well as well as the wheel arch) I drilled six small holes per side as far down as I could to allow air in to help moisture from collecting up. It's only been 1 year since I did this repair, so I'm not sure how effective that has been or not. So far so good.

 

Here's the current status. I haven't had much time to work on it, but it's slowly getting into the shape it needs to be in. See other photos in my gallery. It's still not smooth and finished, but getting closer. When i get frustrated with this, I just move on to something else until I can get back to it. Maybe I'll have it ready for paint by the fall.

 

She coming along pretty good. Had a look at the photos. How much time do you think you have into the repair? Is the other side next?

 

Way too much time. Actually if I was any good at welding and with body filler, it wouldn't have been that bad. As it is, though, I've made some mistakes and had to go back and fix them. And I only get 30 minutes here and there to work on it. And when I get frustrated with it, I move on to something else and come back later. Recreating the body line was probably the most difficult (I still don't have that like I want it). I had to do that because the metal sunk in around the repair while I was welding it. I guess I got carried away and let it get too hot.

Anyhow, it's my toy so there's no rush, although I'd like to be able to use it by hunting season and at this pace I may not make it. I've been given the green light by my financial advisor (my wife) to get some help so I may find someone to help me with the difficult stuff so I can go ahead and get some paint on it. However, I still have some rust through on the back box corners (just ahead of the bumper) and some holes in the roof where there were antennas on top so I have plenty to do.

The other wheel arch wasn't nearly as bad. It had one hole about the diameter of a pencil so I sprayed the back of it as best I could with a rust converting paint and filled and primed it. Not sure why the drivers' side was so much worse, but I'm glad not to do both. I'll just try to keep them washed out in the future.

Regarding your earlier post about acceptable thickness of body filler--I think I have a little more than 1/8" of body filler in some places. And I do not like "Bondo Gold." It seems much more difficult to work with than the other kind I've been using.

 

I had bought a small mig welder last year and found like most things the more you practice the better you get at it. I guess us novices think that we need a lot of heat and over do it causing extra work.I can certainly vouch for that. But usually you can fix up the mistakes and learn from the experience. If I can say one thing that I have learned from welding thin panels is use the spot weld technique and resist the temptation to weld beads.The better the fit of the panels saved time with welding and blowing through.The repair looks pretty good. This is probably one of the harder body repairs on the truck. The others will probably be much easier to do.Keep us posted of progress . I sure enjoy seeing the pics.

 

The best way I have found to butt weld in patch panels is to first get it lined up and clamp it. Next I go threw and just spot weld every 10 inches or so. Remove the clamps. Then go back to your first spot weld and run a 2 inch bead, then move to the next cold spot. This keeps the panel from warping from all the heat. If you have to, take a break from welding and grab a nice cold drink well its cooling down.

Once its all welded up grab 4 inch flapper disk for the ol grinder and clean up your welds.

Now that all your welds are cleaned up, you may see some small pinholes, dont worry about these, your going to be using filler.


I have to replace the side panels on my truck, when I get around to it, I'll do a compleate write up, step by step with pictures.

~Scott

 

Scott--Another writeup would be great. I always like to see how different people attack similar problems. If you read through some of the earlier posts, you'd see where frederic did a pretty good job on his. I wasn't so lucky, but once I get the body filler straight it'll look OK.

I started grinding into some body filler the PO put on the rear bed corner (just in front of the bumper) and found a hole about 3" in diameter there. I knew it had rusted through and been repaired, but I didn't know it was that big. Anyway, I cleaned it up, took a scrap from my patch panel, and welded in a repair. My welding skills and patience were marginally better so I think it'll turn out OK. I didn't think to take any pictures this time, though. The other side has a little rust through, too, but not so bad that it needs welding. One of these days I'll have it ready for paint! Probably about the time gas hits $4 per gallon!

 

Have any of you guys had problems where the A pillar meets the roof.It looks like there was a caulked joint from the corner of the windshield to the drip rail. I started to remove the caulk to clean up some rust in the area and it is turning into a small welding job. Same situation as 77red. The rust you see is like the tip of the iceberg. It is just a small part of what lies ahead.

 

Got the same problem--most of it is obscured by the windshield rubber, though, and I haven't pulled the glass yet. I'm almost afraid to look so I'm waiting until I get the other spots done first.

Please post pics and a description if and when you fix it.

 

Yeah, the a-pillar meeting the roof area is a common rust problem. My 93 hasn't had this type of cancer yet but my old 81 did. I didn't rechaulk - what I did instead was lead it.