Last Minute Project

[Rzeppa]

Clamp it up and get ready to weld!

 

[Rzeppa]

One side all welded up, with the welds ground down. I did blow through some where the old metal was thin, it's tough to get the right setting for different thicknesses. Nothing a little body filler won't fix. It's still solid. Obviously, if I had more time I would have done the whole QP, but this is just a quickie job to get ready for Moab.

 

[Rzeppa]

Welding up the other side, clamping it around the corner.

 

[Rzeppa]

Welds all ground down on this side now, too.

 

[Rzeppa]

The last welding step was to weld the rear of the bed to the new channel.

 

[Rzeppa]

Body filler, sand, body filler, sand, repeat.

 

[Rzeppa]

Some Krylon "Celery" colored rattle can and it's looking good. It's not nearly Oleg quality, but it's plenty solid!

 

[Rzeppa]

The last step was mounting the spare carrier. It was kind of a PITA, and the spare latch retainer ended up a couple millimeters too high, but I got it figured out.

 

[farnhamstj]

looking good jeff

 

[nakman]

Jeff, most impressive!! Nothing like a deadline to bring out the best in inginuity...

 

[Rzeppa]

Jeff, most impressive!! Nothing like a deadline to bring out the best in inginuity...

Thanks Tim, and all who replied.

I must give credit where credit is due. Our former Commander Rob Merideth inspired me years ago with his "Rob's Shade Tree Body Shop" page. He mentored me in so many ways, from wrenching, to wheeling, and how to run our club. I shall remain deeply indebted to him, and strive to share the things he's taught me and pass them along to others.

 

[Hulk]

I ran into Rob last summer at a Nitty Gritty Dirt Band concert at Hudson Gardens. He said he bought a Harley, and had been riding it all summer. Not doing much wheeling or anything.

Jeff, great write-up of this job. I feel like I could do it, just based on your step-by-step story.

 

[Uncle Ben]

Thanks Tim, and all who replied.

I must give credit where credit is due. Our former Commander Rob Merideth inspired me years ago with his "Rob's Shade Tree Body Shop" page. He mentored me in so many ways, from wrenching, to wheeling, and how to run our club. I shall remain deeply indebted to him, and strive to share the things he's taught me and pass them along to others.

Rob was awesome, I miss that guy a lot. Great driver and great attitude!

 

[Rzeppa]

Jeff, great write-up of this job. I feel like I could do it, just based on your step-by-step story.

Thanks so much, Matt. That's precisely the intent; not to show off but rather to inspire: "Hey, that's not a mystery, I'll bet I could do that now that I see how it's done". Total cost was about $30 worth of steel, $5 worth of body filler, $10 worth of paint, a couple sheets of sandpaper, a couple grinder wheels, a couple cutoff wheels, a sawzall blade and some fasteners. Some wire and gas of course too. And three days of my time

I will admit there were a LOT of little "gotchas" I left out of the narrative. Like how it took me a half hour to get the darn last of four body mount bolts threaded into the mounting plate. How I had to grind the top spare carrier bumper to get the carrier to close because it's mounted a tad too high. Wrestling with sliding the spare carrier pins into the hinges, and then wrestling even more to remove it after I had marked where to mount the lower hinge. I always get an idea of how out-of-control a project has become when I put away my tools, and look at all the stuff that shouldn't have had anything to do with the project, but had to be employed for one little thing or another.

All in all though, I'm pretty happy with it. As I mentioned, it isn't "Oleg quality", as you can see the outline of the wings on the quarter panels, but it's plenty solid and should last for years to come.

 

[wesintl]

That is nice jeff, Maybe it'll motivate me to do my 64...

 

[Rzeppa]

That is nice jeff, Maybe it'll motivate me to do my 64...

Thanks Wes. Let me know if you'd like some help; I learned a few things along the way that I'd probably do a little differently next time.

 

[PabloCruise]

You've got skills Jeff - nice!