BUILD THREAD Rustier then I thought!!!

[RabbitHoleSS]

I love this thread

I appreciate you keeping up with the build. It makes doing the updates a little easier knowing someone finds it interesting or helpful.

It took me three sessions to get through this but I've read the whole thread. Awesome work saving that car. You're a better man than me. That would have been a parts car here. Thanks for saving that one. I'm looking forward to following along with the updates.

Thanks for the compliment, I know the feeling. I've binge read a few build threads on here. The car was probably a parts car here too. Its been a ton of work but well worth it. My son tells everyone that he can, " Me and my dad are building my first car". (Its not gonna be his first but I will give it to him)

Making great progress man. Its looking really good too! Keep the updates coming!!!

Thanks. As far as updates go I haven't touched the car in 2 weeks. The 8.8 axle situation kinda sucked. Its ready to go back on the frame but I wanted the rear end in before I did it. I have to buy new axles no matter what. So I think I'm gonna have SSM put non c clip housing ends on, shorten it to stock gbody length and put it all together. I plan on taking it up there soon, hopefully they're not to busy.

 

[Hurricane77]

I'm going to echo the comments of some others. Watching you stick with it is motivation for me. I'm kind of in the same situation. Way more rust than I expected when I bought it and it's been sitting in the garage for a couple months now and I really need to get back to it.

Great work though, keep it up!

 

[RabbitHoleSS]

I'm going to echo the comments of some others. Watching you stick with it is motivation for me. I'm kind of in the same situation. Way more rust than I expected when I bought it and it's been sitting in the garage for a couple months now and I really need to get back to it.

Great work though, keep it up!

Thanks, Its an acquired taste for sure, but once you start tearing it apart your options are slim. Finish it or part it out. Atleast when it's together your able to drive it. So if you decide to blow it apart just know its way more work,time,blood,sweat and money then you expect.

 

[RabbitHoleSS]

I got in the garage this weekend and pulled the rear end back out. On top of being the wrong axles whoever welded the spring perches on was drunk or blind. Probably both.

So basically all this 8.8 has that I want is a 4.10 gear set. I regret selling my stock 7.625 big time now. I need to make something happen because its holding up progress at this point.
So I moved onto stripping the driver side body panels.

I used clean n strip wheels on an angle grinder and the 3m wheels on a roloc to get the tight spots and stuff the grinder left behind. I moved the grinder fast never heating the panel. Basically ripping the top layers off so I could DA or roloc the rest. My plan once stripped is to shoot the whole cab in epoxy then high build right after. It has to be off the tipover jig atleast for that. Heres where I repaired the qtr last summer. Its kinda straight.

 

[motorheadmike]

Diggin' it!

 

[mclellan83]

 

[64nailhead]

I got in the garage this weekend and pulled the rear end back out. On top of being the wrong axles whoever welded the spring perches on was drunk or blind. Probably both.
So basically all this 8.8 has that I want is a 4.10 gear set. I regret selling my stock 7.625 big time now. I need to make something happen because its holding up progress at this point.

It'll be worth it in the end. The 8.8 will take whatever you dish out to for a long, long time. Not knowing where you're located, you must be in driving distanc of Mac at SSM - grab a selfie of the two of you - would love to see it.

So I moved onto stripping the driver side body panels.
I used clean n strip wheels on an angle grinder and the 3m wheels on a roloc to get the tight spots and stuff the grinder left behind. I moved the grinder fast never heating the panel. Basically ripping the top layers off so I could DA or roloc the rest. My plan once stripped is to shoot the whole cab in epoxy then high build right after. It has to be off the tipover jig atleast for that. Heres where I repaired the qtr last summer. Its kinda straight.

I've never used the clean n strip wheels. How long do they last and how much are you finding them for? Do they work as advertised - a substitute for sand blasting? Do they distort a body panel?

Nice work though, love it!!

 

[RabbitHoleSS]

It'll be worth it in the end. The 8.8 will take whatever you dish out to for a long, long time. Not knowing where you're located, you must be in driving distanc of Mac at SSM - grab a selfie of the two of you - would love to see it.



I've never used the clean n strip wheels. How long do they last and how much are you finding them for? Do they work as advertised - a substitute for sand blasting? Do they distort a body panel?

Nice work though, love it!!

Thanks, I'll be going up there this weekend. I need to call them and get some guidance. I'm leaning toward buying a 31 spline trac lok carrier. Itll be a bit more then I intended on spending but since I have 0 faith in anything being setup right on this thing. So might as well start from the beginning. Hopefully I'll be into it for around 1k.

HART® Power Tools, Lawn & Garden, Hand Tools & Accessories

HART's 4-1/2' grinding wheel is ideal for removing paint and rust on metal surfaces. The 7/8' arbor makes it compatible with most 4-1/2' angle grinders.

www.harttools.com

Those are for the 4.5" angle grinder. They work good but I run thru them quicker then these on the roloc. The 3m also leaves less residue and heats up less.

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-products/~/Scotch-Brite-Roloc-Clean-and-Strip-XT-Pro-Disc/?N=5002385+3290088102&rt=rud

You have to be careful not to heat the panel still and watch how much pressure your putting on wide open panels. Its probably slower then sandblasting but it cleans the panel to bare metal. That rocker/qtr panel area took 3 hrs. I still got 2 hrs of sanding that area to be ready for epoxy/high build. Nothing I've used even comes close to the efficiency of these wheels.

 

[RabbitHoleSS]

Well unfortunately SSM is backed up until late October and everyone he knew local to me was also.They advised me to take the 8.8 to moser. Its about 2 hrs from me. Ill probably call them this week to see if they can fit it in or just buy some 28 spline 5x4.75 axles from them and save money. Still undecided.
Meanwhile I've been swamped with work/kids. I've had to take up stripping nights and weekends to try and get the car done. On the roof I removed the paint leftover from the paint stripper with a clean n strip wheel. Very light pressure and constant movement.Then I block sanded the green primer off. I was taking no chances. I felt the roof skin move a tiny bit so I switched to hand sanding with my long block and 80-grit.

The passenger qtr

Passenger rocker.

Both wheelhouses.

While stripping the wheelhouse I realized I screwed up where I put the fuel filter. Its about 1" too thick to fit in between the rocker and floorpan. It looks like I'll have to move the filter back 6" to make it fit.

I also got the Fenders stripped. No rust, 1 dent on the top of driver. The pass antenna is fully too.

Pretty much everything needs sanded with 80 grit. I have a few high spots on the driver qtr and 1 dent on pass rocker to straighten before epoxy. The way I understand, I have 7 days from the time the epoxy goes on to do the filler/ 1st rd block sanding. Then I can spot epoxy over the spots that go to bare metal and then spray the 2k. I'm shooting for mid may hopefully.
While stripping the car I've noticed this all over the place. Checked paint and surface rust deep under what looks like good paint. I swear these cars came factory with rust. So I'm guessing thats why you have to strip the paint to bare metal.

And if your stripping panels try to get epoxy on it fast or this'll happen.

 

[Texas82GP]

Well unfortunately SSM is backed up until late October and everyone he knew local to me was also.They advised me to take the 8.8 to moser. Its about 2 hrs from me. Ill probably call them this week to see if they can fit it in or just buy some 28 spline 5x4.75 axles from them and save money. Still undecided.
Meanwhile I've been swamped with work/kids. I've had to take up stripping nights and weekends to try and get the car done. On the roof I removed the paint leftover from the paint stripper with a clean n strip wheel. Very light pressure and constant movement.Then I block sanded the green primer off. I was taking no chances. I felt the roof skin move a tiny bit so I switched to hand sanding with my long block and 80-grit. View attachment 173915
The passenger qtr View attachment 173918 Passenger rocker. View attachment 173919
Both wheelhouses. View attachment 174009 View attachment 174010
While stripping the wheelhouse I realized I screwed up where I put the fuel filter. Its about 1" too thick to fit in between the rocker and floorpan. It looks like I'll have to move the filter back 6" to make it fit. View attachment 174034
I also got the Fenders stripped. No rust, 1 dent on the top of driver. The pass antenna is fully too. View attachment 174036
Pretty much everything needs sanded with 80 grit. I have a few high spots on the driver qtr and 1 dent on pass rocker to straighten before epoxy. The way I understand, I have 7 days from the time the epoxy goes on to do the filler/ 1st rd block sanding. Then I can spot epoxy over the spots that go to bare metal and then spray the 2k. I'm shooting for mid may hopefully.
While stripping the car I've noticed this all over the place. Checked paint and surface rust deep under what looks like good paint. I swear these cars came factory with rust. So I'm guessing thats why you have to strip the paint to bare metal. View attachment 174043
And if your stripping panels try to get epoxy on it fast or this'll happen. View attachment 174044

Wipe the metal down with lacquer thinner, mineral spirits or paint prep and try not to touch it. The skin oil and sweat from your hands will cause rust like that.

If you don't topcoat the epoxy in the window it's not the end of the world. You just have to scuff it. I would do that anyway to promote adhesion.