rust repair

[JJSZABO]

The welds should be a series of spot welds.


It's hard to see, but my welds are all spot welds.  It took me 1 to 2 hours to weld the floor in.  You need to spot weld, move to another area, spot weld, move to another area, spot weld.......etc.  Keep that up until the whole panel is welded.  The series of spot welds will make one continuous weld when finished. 

After a couple of welds STOP and let the panel cool to the point you can touch it.  This keeps warping to a minimum.

Example:


   zzzztttttt                 zzzzzttttt                      zzzzttttttt

z                                                                                   z
z                                                                                   z
z                                                                                   z
t                                                                                   t
t                                                                                   t



z                                                                                   z
z                                                                                   z
z                                                                                   z
t                                                                                   t
t                                                                                   t
t                                                                                   t


zzzttt                       zzztttt               zzzttt               zzzztt


Keep going until it makes one continuous weld.

You can grind down the weld build with a cut off tool if you want to save money.  I bought a die grinder with flap disks to grind down my weld build.  Die grinder from Home Depot of Harbour Freight is cheep.

[hotrod24]

ok cool i was just afraid that i would weld to much and mess it up

[86 chevy silverado]

Dont worry, you'll mess up here and there and you'll learn how to fix your screw up until you get it right, it just takes some practice. I'm totally self taught and learned everything the hard way.

[choptop]

Thats a familiar site. All of my trucks before 81 had the same thing except for 1

[VileZambonie]

You should see the van that's in my shop right now. The whole entire body is held together by the running board and one piece of rust!

[Bitzer!]

suck it and see! I used to do banger racing before I bought my project and more used to smashing and bending instead of restoring!  By the looks of the fender it might be easier to fit a new one for time and looks purpose.

I recently started work on mine-worse than I thought! more holes than a tea-bag! The old metal is well pitted and the more i cleaned the rust out the more holes appeared! I'm ending up replacing outer sills (rocker panels) and cut the old ones off with a with 4.5" grinder with cut off blade and a spot weld drill for the bits that are left. When I started I couldn't understand why I was getting white powder instead of sparks then realised over the years it had taken more filler than a dentist! Loads of work to do this side of the pond but a new hood and fender on order should be an easy fix for a few bits!

I'll get some picks up soon but the best advice is - measure twice ~ cut ONCE!!
and take your time.

[hotrod24]

thanks man

[velojym]

Depending on where the rust is... you may be able to alter the panel some anyway.
I have a couple spots bubbled up on my '87 K5, but they seem close enough to the fenderwell that I may be able to
just cut it out, dress it properly, then mount some nice wide flares. That oughta help a little with tire clearance, too.
As for rockers and the cab corner... I think I'm good there, except for a couple spots inside the doorway, on the step.
I'm not looking forward to it, but it's gotta be done.

Sometimes I really miss living in New Mexico.

[hotrod24]

today i pulled back the carpet and my floor has got a lot more worse then it was last year i better get a shop soon and as soon as i get it in there i am going to start on the floor and the rockers and order the kit from chris



                          this is from last year it is not that bad





                          these pics are from now

[NevadaNeal]

Now i don't know if its just me,but it seems that this era of trucks seem to be more susceptible to rust then the prior era 67-72's.Did GM do something different? I know allot depends on the region your in,but even here in northern Nevada allot of the 70's era GM trucks have rust.They do salt the roads in the winter,but only just before the storms.
Just an observation,but it seems like the 67-72 GM and Fords don't seem to have the same problem,my buddy has a 71 Chevy 3/4 ton 4x and i have a 72 ford 3/4 ton 2x and neither of those rigs have an once of rot on them.

[hotrod24]

if the rust is to close to kick panel would i have to replace that to because the kick panel has no rust at all or could i just weld the new floor Piece to the kick panel

[JJSZABO]

If there is no rust on the kick panel then you can weld to it.

[hotrod24]

If there is no rust on the kick panel then you can weld to it.

thanks my kick panels are free of rust so all i need is a rocker panel and the floor

[JJSZABO]

Originally there were no welds there.  The factory installed seam sealer in that joint.  The floor was bent (making part of the inner rocker) down to meet the kick panel at the rocker panel.  Where the hole is in the rocker to bolt the fender up to, there is three layers of metal at the fender hole location.


When I repaired mine, I cut out the floor, dug out the seam sealer at the joint of the floor and the kick panel, cut out all my spot welds, then removed my kick panel and floor.  I then installed the new kick panel, checked the alignment and spot welded it back in.  When I installed the floor, I only spot welded the floor to the kick panel and resealed the joint with seam sealer.  I made sure to get plenty of sealer into the joint.  I sealed the joint from the inside and outside.



This is how bad my kick panel was when I got to this point.


Hope this helps - good luck.

[hotrod24]

yea that will help me a lote i have never done this before