BUILD THREAD Rustier then I thought!!!

[RabbitHoleSS]

I got after the trunk today. It had spray bomb bedliner on top of the factory paint.

5 hrs with a grinder/clean n strip disc for the paint and drill/wire wheel for the seam sealer.

I still have a bit to get off in the qtrs and trunk supports. Then I have to sand everything with 80 grit inside the trunk and cab for the SPI epoxy.
Does anyone have a suggestion on how to remove the locking lug nut I don't have a key for?

 

[Turbo Zach]

Turbo socket! Made to take rounded nuts loose. You could weld a nut to it also.

 

[superbon54]

I’ve used a hex (Allen) socket for that style nut. A few firm taps with a deadblow usually seats it enough to get the lug off, but the socket might be dead after all 4 wheels.

 

[RabbitHoleSS]

Turbo socket! Made to take rounded nuts loose. You could weld a nut to it also.

Yea sounds right. I have a set but it only goes to 5/8. Looks like I need the next set up. The welder would be a pita to get in position to get the pass sides off. Thanks

I’ve used a hex (Allen) socket for that style nut. A few firm taps with a deadblow usually seats it enough to get the lug off, but the socket might be dead after all 4 wheels.

I thought about beating a 12 point impact socket onto it but im having trouble picturing forcing an allen head socket into it. I also thought about grinding 2 flat sides on it and putting my big proto adjustable on it. I want to send the frame to be blasted so the wheels gotta come off. Thanks for the ideas.

 

[mccormack944]

You can take a real good picture of that lock and send it out to a company I can’t remember they’ll send you a key it’s like $45 used to do it at work for people all the time, now we keep master kits of the keys. Besides that weld, drill, lug nut extractors, depends how much time you want to spend and if you care about colateral damage or not

 

[RabbitHoleSS]

I got home from work Friday to find my neighbors boyfriend broke down in my driveway. Im a "loud" neighbor so I don't say much. But she asks if ill fix his car. So I spent Sat changing a water pump on a 2008 Buick 3800 for 100$. His dog bone was broke in 2 pcs. He wanted to reuse it. I talked him out of it. And into a 17$ felpro gasket. The pump came with a pc of newspaper.

I got to prepping to paint the trunk/cab but figured out im nowhere near ready. I still had a little welding to do on the trunk lip. Here's the driver side. The patches come from the parts car.

It flattened out pretty good I just didn't take a picture. The passenger side needed attention also.

Also more stripping in the trunk.

Ill be honest there's some parts I cant get to except by hand. They'll be getting sanded but probably not to bare metal. My boy cleaned the seat brackets. He did a pretty good job.

I gotta fix 1 of the feet because of rust. I put ospho on them and Im gonna paint them with rustoleum. Ill spend my labor day with a grinder in my hand.

 

[joesregalproject]

I just got caught up. This bish is looking great! Nice work man!

 

[melloelky]

pound a regular socket on it.whatever fits real snug,6or 12 pt.

 

[RabbitHoleSS]

Pounded a impact socket on the locking lugs.

I had planned to send the frame to the blasters but when I started taking the front end apart something told me not too. The cars front end was rebuilt 2 years ago. Tires are worn evenly so im leaving it intact. I got the pressure washer out and my boy cleaned the frame.

Im gonna get all the paint off and most of the scale then use kbs frame kit. And topcoat with rustoleum satin. I got the brake/fuel lines off and cleaned the areas that ill be welding on. Im gonna box the frame,reinforce the lca bracket, gussets behind #4 mount and a "hitch". I bought tubing from my local steel shops boneyard. To maybe do something like my buddys malibu.

Im also weighing the pros/cons of a notch. And wandering if i need to build a jig to do all this. Any insight is appreciated. Im gonna leave the bumpers on and weld 2 braces across the c channels so they don't spread. Im taking the 14 ga to work so I can make the box sections tommorow. I had to fix the foot on 1 of the seat tracks because of rust.

I went ahead and painted the seat tracks. 2 thick coats of rustoleum satin later.

The rest of my free time has been spent sanding. First the trunk. This is as good as its getting(for me). I stripped it all out then hand sanded it all with 80.

I was gonna paint it today but it only got to 55. Spi says atleast 65 for 12 hrs to use their epoxy so im spraying it Tuesday it'll be 75. I have a few questions about the frame mods. Should I build a jig? Do I have to custom make fuel/brake lines?

 

[Max Headroom]

So i started by taking out the interior to see how bad the floors were. From under the car it looks solidish. Well after half the floor came out with the carpet i knew i probably was gettin into a little more then i thView attachment 130218ought. So it was at this moment i decided to go the distance. Im no bodyman or mechanic or welder/fabricator. Im a gutter/siding guy lol. I have welders and compressor and tools. My plan is to copy emeMack rollover jig. To get at the bottom after i drop the frame out of the body. I know its probably a bit ambitious. But i have 2 months of every winter(indiana) and 2 yrs on my lease lol. It looks like i need 2 inner wheel well plus the back seat brace is rotten on the ends and the inner rocker it attaches to is rotted so im thinkin only way to fix these issues is frame off. Any and all guidance accepted and appreciated.View attachment 130219
The driver floor is the worse the metal thats under the pan is rotten and my outer seat brace is jackedView attachment 130220

Down here, we call that a Fred Flintstone floor pan. You can put you feet down to stop.