Cheaper wire gave me the same problem.

 

It's Lincoln wire. May try the Hobart

 

Well my grandfather had his third heart attack. He is in the hospital but doing well, or as well as you could get i guess.

Really trying to get this thing running and painted before he goes and would like him to see the kids at least one more time.

Gotta pick up the pace

 

Man, so sorry to hear about your grandfather. Is he at least close by?
He and your family will be in my thoughts.

 

He is in Kingsport Tennessee about 2 hours, not that bad

 

Sorry to hear about your papaw, he will be in our prayers.
Holston in Kingsport is one of the top heart hospitals in the country, he's in good hands

 

They have done well on his last two. He is doing better, had three heart caths and is breathing well considering copd, plus heart blockages equals oxygen levels get low.

Thanks guys.

 

So today i picked up a half gallon of epoxy primer sealer and a pint of 3e4 garnet red metallic paint in single stage urethane.

The paint code on the truck is 3e4 so i figured just do the inner fenders. Well apparently 30 year old paint changes a lot. ..a lot.

RustED check this out, the original color of this truck. It's a completely different animal when new.

I'll now need to do the firewall to satisfy myself.

I purposely didn't tape off certain spots as is easier to clean up with thinner than tape.

<br > <br > <br > <br > <br >

There is some trash in the paint but I'm ok with that for the engine bay. Also ran my primer on the repair panel and didn't notice it until after paint. Oh well

 

Since my paint is drying and i can'twork in the bay i figured i would take my tailgate apart.

Found the wires for the rear defroster broken and my drivers side release cable stuck.

I have another window and regulator but decided i would make new teeth for my old regulator and keep it as a spare.

<br >

 

Drivers side fender good for primer.

Had to fix two dents and remove and fix some old filler that had cracked and rusted underneath

 

Sorry to hear about your grandfather having a heart attack, glad that he's recovering tho! The paint looks great, totally different look than the old original paint with the faded clear coat, nice work!

 

My grandfather is back home now and doing well. Still weak as expected but was a much faster recovery this time. He spent 4 months the first time, 3 the second and about a week this time.

Every time he has had one and they cleared the blockages his breathing improves which is great.

 

Well i worked on the truck all weekend, got the rear of the body apart and the interior. Unfortunately i have alot more rust to fix than anticipated.

I worked til 10 but had to get up at 330 this morning for work so I'll post pictures later today

 

Sorry to hear that, man. Unfortunately that's how it always seems to go.

 

<br > <br > <br >

Some massive holes in the front side but will cover nicely with the black cover panel.

The rust goes all the way to the door opening on this side so the rocker will need work.

May have to take the whole side off to fix.

Haven't started the passenger side yet but i fear it's the same as i see a hole in the rocker there as well

 

The parts under the black wheel flare guard don't have to look good since it's all covered up. I just used fiberglass and barely did any finish work once it was sealed up. Your rockers and wheel arches look about the same as mine. Not good but certainly fixable. If I could do it again I'd buy patch panels from Wolf Steel or whatever that place is called. I've heard mixed reviews about the fitment of their panels but I doubt it would be worse than making all that stuff by hand again. Making it fit is easier than making it from scratch. At least I would assume. If you were a bit closer I'd come by and help for a day but it looks like a bit of a hike from the Virginia Beach area.

 

Well i got home yesterday and started cutting out a couple of problem areas and to my surprise there is alot of good metal there. I cut one section out and after looking at it and how thick it is I'm just going to clean it up and put it right back on the truck.

I'm going to cut a large rectangle out of the rocker and the large section under the plastic cover and that should allow me access to the rest of the rusty inside.

Then I'll cut the arch out, make a new rear piece and top piece and finish it with fiber filler.

Most of the problem areas will cover nicely with trim pieces so cosmetically i only have to fix small spots.

 

Cut some holes today, hope i can put them back.


I saved some pieces that are ok to put back after cleaning, and I'll have to make some pieces

 

Looks pretty solid back there. Saving your pieces to repair and put back on is a good idea.

 

I put one piece back yesterday and practiced butt welding them together. I found it to be easier than my over lap welds.

Also found my wire feed issue was too short of wire stick out. It was melting in the end of the tip and binding. A little more stick out and it worked flawlessly.