New to me 91 Jimmy

[Hennessy82]

Looking good! Nice work!

[68Timber]

Nice work! Both of mine need rust repair, not sure if my welding skills are up to it. I'm ok with smaller repairs. How long have you been welding? Never would have guessed this was your first time.

[grillzy]

Originally Posted by 68Timber

Nice work! Both of mine need rust repair, not sure if my welding skills are up to it. I'm ok with smaller repairs. How long have you been welding? Never would have guessed this was your first time.

Thanks,
Self taught. Last year I bought a mig, never welded before. Welding thin stuff you learn fast what works and what doesn't. Have done a few projects then this.

[grillzy]

Picture of passenger side seat belt area to wheel well and rear floor that is not remanufactured, so I had to make my own. All thicker material than new. This is also the first area to rot out on a 3 gen K5. Driver side is cut out. FYI the small hole in the new floor is to have access to the body mount nut just in case the nut spins or what ever I can replace without a guess cut. I will weld it shut after new body mounts and bolts are in.

[grillzy]

Driver side complete with rocker and drivers door now on.

[68Timber]

What diameter wire are you using?

[grillzy]

Wire I am using is .023. About 50 percent of the joints are butt welded.

[68Timber]

I have .030 loaded in mine now, so I need to step it down then.

[grillzy]

Yes. Buy some small wire, flip your grooved wheel, and change your contact tip. Then start playing. Once you get the trigger rhythm and timing its fun (until then you just make holes, or no penetration and get frustrated). Last year when I started welding on another project with thin metal I learned real fast. that .030 doesn't work. No matter how far down I turned it. The wire needs to melt before the surrounding metal. None of this is running a bead. All stitched small spot here and there to not get too hot. Fine adjustment on the heat and wire speed make the world of difference. I don't know jack about welders compared to other welders but I am running a Miller 180 with auto set feature. I don't use the auto set for this work as I can fine tune way better than it can.

[68Timber]

Awesome. Thank you, that's what I needed to hear.

[grillzy]

Rear floor support out. What a nasty thing to get out. Then had to drop the skid and gas tank to get out a body mount. All cleaned up and ready to install the new rear sill.

[grillzy]

Rear sill welded in place. You can see in the previous post how far the box sides were hanging down due to the rear support being rotten. Nice and straight now. New rear floor body mount supports welded in place. Frame repair and new shock mount bolt installed (the hole where the rear shock mount bolt attaches was wallowed out from it not being tight). New body mounts installed with new bolts and washers. New rear drums. Getting there.

[mickeykreg]

This is impressive! Even more so that it looks like your doing it all outside...in Canada! Good work!
Did you have to brace anywhere when you had the rocker and cab support cut out in post 20? That's exactly what I'll be doing next. I totally agree with your sentiments on learning to weld this stuff and making the rear cab corner that isn't produced by anyone. Weird that nobody would make that piece.

[grillzy]

Originally Posted by mickeykreg

This is impressive! Even more so that it looks like your doing it all outside...in Canada! Good work!
Did you have to brace anywhere when you had the rocker and cab support cut out in post 20? That's exactly what I'll be doing next.

Thanks! In post 20 i have floor out, and rocker, I did not have to cut out the the cab support just the square plate thats between the the cab/ body mount and the floor. I did not brace anything as I felt the cab would keep things inline. I guess it did because the doors fit properly and good clearance over the rockers.

[grillzy]

Looking more like a truck. Floors seam sealed, painted, rust checked, carpet and complete interior installed, new head lamps, grill installed. Need to install tailgate and rear window.

[grillzy]

Rear gate installed. The rear window sash was completely rotted away and refuse to pay the ridiculous $ they want for a U channel. Made my own and used a slice of inner tube for the cushion between the window and the sash. Also had to make the the ends of the window sash that run in the felt track as they had gone to the rust gods as well. Have a few things to finish up like door panels, kick plates, trim for rear carpet hold down. Then off for safety and emissions test. The sad part of this project is that nobody can see the work that went into it. Truck looks the same as it did the day I brought it home. Anyone know what holds up the ash tray in the center of the dash? Hate that it is open.