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512 cid C series on Dakota chassis- build thread


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I was going to suggest getting the headliner out before any welding takes place.  Sparks and hot spots can easily light up upholstered material and those weld berries and grinding sparks can burn through plastic tarps and start seats on fire as well.

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Not to mention scarring the glass! 

The gutters are well past the headliner but I’m also going to weld up an old CB antenna hole in the roof.

 

the interior was draped for grinding and sparks were directed away but the interior will be stripped for welding. I made it all removable on purpose ? 

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Honestly the best direction IMHO is to cut it all out, refab the 3 metal parts and weld it back in.  With that much rust, you've lost a fair amount of thickness and stength.

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3 hours ago, ggdad1951 said:

Honestly the best direction IMHO is to cut it all out, refab the 3 metal parts and weld it back in.  With that much rust, you've lost a fair amount of thickness and stength.

GGdad when you're right you're right. It will probably be easiest strongest and best sealing to just re-make the corner under the gutter as a folded outside corner. I think it should be done in sections though so the roof skin and upper door opening don't pop if I cut open the whole seam. Then I can make a whole new gutter to put on there... ugh.

 

I knew this was a big slimy writhing can of worms! At least I'm not afraid to get after it- as long as I keep plugging at it and don't give up I can't end up with a worse result than how it was. It is one of those times I wish I had started with a cleaner truck in the first place but then I'd be doing a restoration not a custom which would mean less freedom to do whatever I want.

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Happy new year to all! The holidays and rain really put a damper on my progress but today I got out a bullwhip and chair and got after this can of worms with the bravery of a lion tamer.

 

I started by pulling the remaining drip rail flange (lowest layer of the roof/doorframe/driprail pinchweld flange). A hammer and cold chisel made short work of it and I soon had a rusty ribbon of 19g (?) in the trash. 

 

I cleaned out inbetween the remaining two layers, treated any remaining rust, and pulled the trim from the interior around the repair. Plenty of room before the headliner starts. I left it in for now. I also disconnected the battery and the EFI harness so I don’t fry stuff. 

 

Then I trimmed the layers back 1/8 or so and found mostly nice full thickness sheetmetal. A little hammer & dolly work got the layers flush and straight and I started moving around tack welding it all up. Once you get a tack in it’s pretty easy to concentrate the heat of the next tack on the last one for a heat sink so the sheetmetal edge just gets melted in without vaporizing.

 

After a while I had it all welded up and also welded up some cracks and pinholes while I was at it. The tidy but blobby new edge got ground down with a stone and files then finished with the flapwheel. 

 

I’m satisfied that the flange will be watertight. Now I have to patch the A-pillar including the windshield flange and make a new drip rail gutter.

 

I don’t want to delete the gutters but the old ones are really rough. I haven’t decided if I will make a buck out of 3/4” plywood and hammer some out or maybe just put a piece of round stock along the edge for a nice finish and water control. 

 

Either way I have another whole day of work to get the one A pillar into shape. Still, progress is good and I’m getting less daunted.

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Thanks BK

I picked my kid up early from school and got started on the pillar while she was getting her piano lesson. I got more done in 45 mins than I thought I would!

 

First I made a paper template from the driver’s side windshield flange and marked it out on a sheet of 16g. Then I rolled a bead into the back side of it next to the pillar side of the flange to establish a clean line like from a brake but curved so it would have a little upturn on the edge. Then I cut it out- the plan worked it looks nice. 

 

The outside pinch flange of the A pillar is just a flat piece which was also made from paper and cut out. With the two new flanges mocked up in place the chunk of original outside pillar skin (with its ragged edges trimmed back to good steel) fits nicely in its original home.

 

I think I’ll weld it together in place, remove it for grinding and paint the back side, and weld it in top bottom and outside. The inside I am not sure but I think some rosette ‘spot’ welds will do the trick to keep it located and it will get sealed up with bedding compound when I install the windshield gasket. 

 

The more complicated lopped over roof skin edge I think I will repair and reinstall. I figure it’ll be easier to do a couple small patches and weld up the pinholes with a copper backer than the other options. I am also considering smoothing out the area with new metal which would require skillful hammer work. Re-creating the factory piece from scratch would require even more skill. 

 

I still need to make or find a piece to re-make the gutter for functionality and so it looks right. I’m way past caring about originality but shaved gutters suck. 

 

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Made some more progress this afternoon. I got the three piece patch fit up to the flange, tacked it, fully welded it together, smoothed the welds with a round cone carbide on the die grinder, and finished it with a flapwheel. I also smoothed out the back side so water wouldn’t have any crevices to cling to. 

 

I’m looking at the roof lop over part with an eye toward repairing it and starting to think it might be easier to just make a piece to smooth out the roof to pillar transition and delete the lopped over stock piece. 

 

I’m really happy with how it’s coming out. Next is painting the interior and welding it up. I’m still on the fence about the glass side pinch weld- I might drill a bunch of holes and rosette weld it since the gasket bedding compound will seal up the layers anyway. 

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Thanks man

 

I sandblasted and tried welding up the holes in the little lacy lop over roof skin panel. It didn’t go so well- a lot of it is thin and brittle. So I replaced most of the top of it with one bigger panel and most of the side of it with a smaller panel. Then I ran a bead around the remaining original edge so it won’t vaporize when I go to weld it in.

 

The little J or L shape that’s left of the original would be a challenge to re-make from scratch especially since I would probably need to also make the mirror image.

 

Hopefully the other side is in better shape but I can already see that side will need some surgery as well. Overall I think it’s a much better quality repair than I thought I’d be capable of and shouldn’t need much plastic to get straight and smooth. 

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Edited by Radarsonwheels
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Glad my suffering brings you joy!

 

haha just ribbin ya I’m keeping an eye on someday smoothing out the wrinkles and spraying the truck a nice color but for now I’m happy to get it close and I’m having fun. There is such a nice freedom in starting out with a heap instead of worrying about messing up something that’s mint.
 

I had to knock it off last night without smoothing the little roof piece because I don’t run the angle grinder past 9:00 and only with the garage door closed after dark. But I was motivated this morning and got after it as soon as I got home from my kid’s schoolbus stop.

 

The pillar skin has a nice dent in the middle that was probably always there. It’ll need a skim of plastic some day. The inside corner and glass flange are looking great though and it all should be water tight at this point. I hit the whole mess with some krylon spraybomb to keep the rust at bay and now I’m gonna procrastinate for an hour or two before starting to cut the other side open. 


Thanks for the motivation fellas it really does help!

 

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1 hour ago, Radarsonwheels said:

Glad my suffering brings you joy!

 

 

Better your suffering than my suffering!

 

Artistic body work, which is what I would consider what you're doing, is something that I just don't have the knack for.  I can cut, weld, grind with the best of them but not like what you've been doing :)

 

 

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Thanks B. I have some hammers & dollys and an anvil but no bags of shot, english wheel, shrinker stretcher, or fancy panelbeating tools. I’ve thrown quarters on muscle cars and lots of patches and floors but there’s a reason I didn’t attempt to re-make those roof bumps!

 

I finished shaving the passenger drip rail into a watertight flange (with no gutter for now), spraybombed the whole mess, and moved on to the driver’s side. Oh and I also welded up the passenger side B pillar which was cracked almost in half. Whoah. I did notice it before but forgot to address it. 
 

I decided to remove a tinfoil epoxy and bondo ‘patch’ that covered some kinda antenna hole in the roof. Who knows how long that’s been there?! I decided to weld that up and also the (stock/dealership?) antenna stub that’s in the cowl will go away while I’m making all these sparks. 
 

The driver’s gutter came off in one piece with a cutoff wheel and now that I know what I’m dealing with its flange was quickly chiseled off. Remarkably few spot welds hold it on with a surprising amount of rust and dirt in the openings. After it was off and the spot welds were ground down there was much less scary rust, at least over the door. It got the same treatment as the other side and the flange over and behind the door is all done already. 
 

Under the gutter by the A pillar was a lot of dirt, rust, RTV, seam sealer, and not much good metal. For some reason the A pillar skin just rots away on the flanges but the interior layer of flange is still in decent shape. 
 

Next day off I have to do some interior disassembly since the dome light wiring goes through the pillar and the roof holes are too close to the headliner. Then I can decide if I need to cut the whole pillar skin off or if I can patch the corners in place. Probably take it off just to be thorough. 
 

Great progress today though! Here’s some pictures

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Once the snowy frost burnt off enough this morning I went out to deal with the mess on the driver’s side A-pillar. It’s easy to just stand there looking at it for too long then end up going in for coffee so I made myself go on the attack.

 

First I cut the skin free making a clean straight line above the rust through using tape as a guide. Then I pulled chipped sanded ground and filed the remnants of the front layer of flanges on both sides.

 

I made my templates out of yellow tape this time and started making the windshield side. I made it the same way as before using the bead roller to establish the edge of the corner, then started trimming pie slicing and folding it into shape to replace the upper inside corner as well as the pillar flange. I’m not sure if all the pie cutting is going to work out or if it’ll warp the curve when I weld it up.
 

My goal is to weld and finish it on the bench then combine it with the pillar skin and outside flange to make one bigger piece that can get the interior painted before welding the whole shebang into the truck. 
 

Anyway it’s definitely break time so I can go out and make the outside flange, trim and fit it all together, then hopefully get it all on there by the end of my time off today. I have four hours left clocks ticking haha

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All done for the day. The A-pillar is totally done and despite looking shabby because I krylon’d over the old paint on the main skin in almost freezing weather it is a good job and should hold water. 
 

The pie cut patch got welded up off the car and didn’t warp which was good. It sucks to work hard on a piece then have to start over. I ended up welding the flanges on first, then the skin, then patched the roof bump into the new metal. 
 

I still have to weld up all the antenna holes and the spot where the body folds over at the top of the door hinge area so water can’t get in there. One more day of welding and I will be able to put the new glass in- assuming we get a day warm enough to play with rubber parts outside. 
 

Here’s some pics of the rest of today’s fun

 

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Got all the antenna holes welded up. I took my time tacking them in and they both came out smooth. I also welded up the spot in the top of the door hinge pillar where the cowl metal wraps around- it looked like it would just channel water right inside the layers before.

 

I have a buddy swinging by before work to try and hold the glass in the opening to check out the gap. I want to make sure it won’t be too tight and make the gasket super frustrating.

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We put the new glass in the opening and it fit the contours of the flange perfectly! Whew that’s a relief- I was basing my confidence that the glass was bent and cut correctly on laying it over the old glass while still installed, alone, at night a few weeks ago ? 

 

We set it in the opening on paint sticks which got the top and bottom gaps pretty close. Using the gap on the top & bottom as a guide it looks like the driver’s side will need the flange cut back about 1/8” in the corners to be uniform all the way around. It was a little tight there. I marked the needed clearance with a silver sharpie while my buddy held the glass in place, then scribed lines after the new glass was safely stowed away again. 
 

I am nervous but cautiously optimistic about putting the glass in on Saturday morning before work. It took a lot to get this far so I kinda can’t wait for a good rain once it’s all in there! Probably will leak like the dickens from the wiper pivots and cowl vent just so the universe can laugh at me but at least I reversed a couple decades of neglect and decay. 

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