Hound dog hauler

[Los_Control]

I think what Ken says about metal generating more heat makes a lot of sense.

2 hours ago, ggdad1951 said:

the foam is just so cheap it sdoen't hold up long anymore...every year less and less hours before replacement.

I had to sleep on it, I realized it is almost 15 years since I worked professionally, So the tools I had were probably at least 5 years or older then ...... So the Makita sander I bought a few years ago, I'm comparing to tools I bought well over 20 years ago. ..... Times are a changing for sure.

 

Was not a big deal since I needed to order a few things from Amazon anyways.

While my truck runs fine as is, I wanted to order a new set of the points others were talking about ... so I can keep my known good ones as spares.

When I removed the cap to look at my points to verify fitment, I found the new rotor I installed a couple years ago was really sloppy. .... I could rotate it at least 1/8" either direction which will throw the timing off. .... might explain a slight hesitation I noticed lately. ..... More cheap inferior parts from overseas.

 

Then today I need to take the wife shopping, I need bolts from tractor supply, the lawn needs mowed .... be a few days before I get back to the hound dog anyways so no big deal waiting for delivery.

[Los_Control]

Well I think the farmer side of me is coming out again  ?

 

I needed to fix the typical dent in the door.

 

 

I still need to spend some more time on it, but was pretty easy to get it this close in about 5 minute.

I was hesitant to go any further though ..... The rubber stop is missing and why the door got dented in the first place.

I need to fix this first or it will just happen again.

 

Took 1/2 hour to actually find the door stop I removed 5 years ago  ?

Then cleaned it for paint. .... then on the table next to the grinder I spotted these 1/2" spacers cut from 3/4" water pipe.

All cleaned up and hanging in the paint booth. .... The other is on the drivers door for testing, this is passenger.

 

 

The result is, this is as far as I can open the door without bending the inner door structure metal.

Would be nice to have soft flexible rubber .... I have heard the trick is to add two sets of rubbers on each door to prevent the future dent.

 

Wheeel, Farmer Fred is here to tell you, a 1/2" long piece of 3/4" water pipe will work also.

This is as far as the door will open and I'm using my leg to apply pressure ..... There is some flex but it is the metal structure flexing .... the door does not touch the fender. It goes this far and stops.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Los_Control]

Today was the day to work on changing the rear end oil. ..... I really had a tough time removing the fill plug.

Looks as is it was wood and a beaver gnawed off most of it .... I finally got it using a cold chisel to knock it loose.

Just saying it must have been a gorilla that last put them on .... the drain plug came out after I made a tool for it .... it was way tighter then it should have been.

Either way, nice to have spare parts. I stole the fill plug off my trailer out back and replaced it with my crappy plug.

 

I filled the rear end with 5-30 motor oil, then I tossed in some ATF on top of that ... was low on motor oil.

The transmission is 5-30 motor oil also.

My plan tomorrow is to start it and raise the rpm, I want to be able to put it in 2nd gear and let the drive train rotate at about 700-800 rpm for about a 1/2 hour or more while on jack stands. Same time I'm going to add anti freeze and get it all mixed in correctly.

 

Then while the oils are warm I'm going to drain them and add correct gear lubricant. .... The old oils came out like tar, I just want to flush them.

 

Never done this before, seems like a good idea .... who knows.

[Los_Control]

I talk a lot before thinking ..... Just not time to start it up and run it on the jack stands.

I have the toe boards out because I have a couple small rust holes to take care of yet ... size of a quarter.

I just saved them for last and now is the time. I got the rest of the floor painted heavy with a brush. Still soft and sticky so no work in there for a few days while it dries .... I do not want to bolt the seats in  either. So no starting it yet.

 

I have taken the time to work on the fenders .... feel like I'm going backwards removing them again, the best way to fix them though and I have some other things I want to take care of while I have easy access.

Pretty sure I will start lots of sanding and a coat of primer then paint before putting it back together this time.

 

I just feel like my lazy painter is finally getting something done. Drivers fender is fixed, hope to get the passenger fender done today.

 

I'm still setup for 6V + ground, have everything here to go 12V - ground and points, condenser, rotor, coil, ballast resistor, voltage regulator.  ... I can take care of ignition & charging circuits at this point.

 

2nd time around but much better prepared this time. ...... One of these days, I'm going to drive this thing! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Los_Control]

Plans changed again .... I just drained the water out of the block. 

I really did not expect to get as far as I did with the dents & body work. What is left is very minor ... I have a window of opportunity with the weather to try and get it painted.

 

We will have upper 80's for highs, 50's for lows until first week of November, then the highs drop to 60's and lows in the 40's. ..... Just getting too cold to paint ..... So I will give it a shot, see how far I get ... or wait til spring.

 

The first coat of primer was really rough, a good sanding removes a good portion back to metal leaving the rest for filler.

Then the 2nd coat really smooths everything out. The fenders have 4 or 5 spots I want to work on and will probably need some spot priming with a 3rd coat to fix. ..... Considering how bad they were when I started am really pleased.

 

 

The cab is still in first coat of primer, not bad but will need lots of sanding, a little putty on top with all the deep divots from the Texas sun tan. ..... There is a lot of sanding involved, a lot of it by hand  .... Time consuming.

I think I have everything I need, just need to put a lot of time in sanding.

 

 

 

Nothing but paint now ..... Lets see how far I can get before the cold sets in.

[Los_Control]

That was a swing and a miss .... I ruined the paint  ?

The hardener I added to the paint was old, and I poured it into the gallon of paint before I realized it was bad.

Looks like I added sand to the paint or am spraying metal flake .... I went ahead and sprayed the running boards.

What the heck, a little grit will be good for traction  

Then I strained it and painted the grill ...... the paint sucks I cannot use it. I will have to sand it down and respray.

The cab is 100% ready at least as ready as I'm going to make it. Bad part is, it was the last gallon of gloss black the store had.

 

Maybe that is a good thing? I'm not going to fix every ding in the body. They really pop out with the gloss black paint.

I really saw that on the grill. So They do have low gloss black ..... I think that may be a better choice if I'm leaving the dings.

So maybe later today I will get some paint sprayed ..... I'm running out of time.

 

 

 

[Dave72dt]

Read the tech sheets before adding anything to your paint.  It may not have liked that particular type of hardener or any hardener at all.

[Plymouthy Adams]

if you using a lower cost alkyd enamel, the age of the paint is very important as it is such a heavy solids formula.  These can and do separate from the rosins and will result in a grainy texture.   

[Los_Control]

27 minutes ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

if you using a lower cost alkyd enamel, the age of the paint is very important

This was absolutely 100% my fault. I have used this combination before with good results ..... painting the inside of the hood or the front of the bed, tailgate etc....

I did not have enough paint to paint the whole truck .... My last can has about 1/4 gallon in it and is enough to brush paint under the cab & floor to finish that off. So I bought a brand new can 2 days ago to paint the truck with.

 

My problem is I opened the can of hardener and used some of it ..... because it had been opened previously it started to go off or dry???  As soon as I added it to the new paint I knew it was a mistake by the reaction I got.

 

I was in a hurry, been busting my arse for days now getting prepared .... I wanted to see some color go on.

Just being tired and in a hurry and over confident ..... That cost me.

So I just got back from town and have a new "kit" .... and more patience today.

 

I'm hoping by changing to the low gloss paint it will give me the old truck with a few dents look.

I am curious how the sheen turns out.

 

 

 

 

 

[kencombs]

That is the reason I keep a lot of products in my shop fridge.   And it is set just above freezing.  Hardeners, activators etc last much longer at lower temps.

[Los_Control]

1 hour ago, kencombs said:

That is the reason I keep a lot of products in my shop fridge.  

Sadly I have a small house with a small garage and a small shop refrigerator. 

I simply have no room for paint products.

 

 

On the other hand, I'm really happy I switched to the low gloss paint .... still not dry yet, but it is going to the color sheen I hoped for.

 

I have never painted a vehicle before ..... I can tell you paint is not my buddy ..... every little ding shows up.

I may or may not fix some dings in it over the years, I need some mud on the tires ..... But today, yeah I'll drive that and smile.

 

 

 

[Lingle]

I have the motto that "any progress is better than no progress" and I enjoy learning all I can.  I think that low gloss black looks cool, almost like a matte black, which I think looks sweet.  Im super nervous when I get to it to paint my project.  Im going back with the stock Dodge red(or as I call it Coke red), and I too am not a painter nor bodyman, so it may not look the best.  Keep up the great work!

[Los_Control]

7 hours ago, Lingle said:

I have the motto that "any progress is better than no progress" and I enjoy learning all I can.

 

I agree with this statement ..... the plan is to move the ball down the field .... get it over the goal.

 

I know many would never be satisfied with this level of a paint job. I got the major dents out, I repaired the rust.

I'm on my way to having my first paint job under my belt and learned a lot from it.

Having gone through all the maintenance to make it a decent DD .... It will look respectable from 30' and run ok.

 

I'm glad I stayed with a single stage enamel paint. I'm thinking as a running driving truck I can continue to work on the body over the years and spot paint the repairs as I go. ..... For me I think the enamel was a good choice .... although summit racing has some single stage urethane at a reasonable price.

 

Either way, thanks to my wife I did get it 90% painted.

My goal was to get it painted by the end of the month before the weather changes. Then a tropical storm popped up on radar .... yesterday was my last good day to paint. Suppose to rain & thunderstorm for 6 out of the next 8 days, is raining now.

So when I  ruined the 1rst gallon of paint I had, I was bummed out and ready to toss in the towel, just accept to wait til spring for paint. ..... The next day my wife convinced me to go get another gallon and keep going 

All the pieces are safely stored away drying. I need a week to recuperate .... get back at it soon.

 

 

I think the truck spoke to me while I was painting it. ???

I fixed a few dents on the back of the cab & roof. Then when I applied paint I saw just how many dents there is on the roof.

This created a image in my mind. Along with all the other interesting body damage.

 

I only know the owner was a gate guard at a cement plant. I now believe the truck started out as a company truck.

And started its life out on heavy construction sites carrying equipment for the job sites. I'm sure they would have a garage and mechanics to maintain equipment .... explains why mechanically it is in really good condition, the body is just trashed.

The gate guard simply got a cheap beat up truck from his employer when they were ready to replace it. 

 

 

 

Edited October 23, 2023 by Los_Control

[Los_Control]

Been awhile since I reported any progress, I have been real busy with life and just not a lot of time to work on it.

Besides I did want the paint to sit and cure for a bit before fussing with it,

 

I did finally get the heater painted and installed and I put a new water pump on. The old one leaked a little bit and I'm sure it just needed grease. I fussed with it a couple times and put a new zirk fitting on it and still could not get it to take grease.

I bought the new water pump a couple years ago so I just went ahead and put it on.

Now the coolant system is complete, flushed out and added antifreeze .... It is done.

 

Been putting some things back on it, gets me interested and wanting to complete it 

Best photo I have now, I have added more but no photo and it's dark.

 

 

 

I'm thinking I may need to paint the bumper silver?

 

Today I was working on the bed. After I ran the tail light wiring.

 

 

I know it is not the way the manual suggest it. Right now just test fitting it to mark it for length before cutting it.

It is 4'x8'x3/4" exterior treated plywood. Meaning it is soaked in some chemicals and very heavy  

I will put a darker stain on it then treat it with penofin oil, just like you would with a outdoor wood deck on your house.

I will paint the shovel strips and install them.

 

First of all, there is no lumber stores near me that carry hardwood planks. I thought about how I would like to do it right ... I am a retired carpenter and have all the tools to do it right.

 

Realistically it just would not be practical. I could have bought cabinet grade oak plywood for close to the same money and made it look real nice. .... The first time I threw a greasy old engine in the back it would then look bad. 1/2 nice & 1/2 bad.

This treated plywood will last a long time, if I gouge it up ... just add a little more stain & oil and it will look the same as it always did .... I can abuse it and will be fine.

 

This bedside always bothered me. We can see the obvious kink in it ....... How well will the tailgate close?

I know the proper way would be to replace the top rail ..... Maybe someday, I'm not good enough for that yet.

If the tail gate operates fine, I'm happy, will just call it character.  I have some ideas how I might make a jig and pull off of a tree .... if I can move it a 1/4"-1/2" so the gate closes ... I'm fine. ..... Will not stop it from being a driving project.

 

 

 

But I have been slowly making some progress on it.

 

 

 

[Veemoney]

Looking good Los,

My truck had a plywood bed with shovel strips when I got it. I'm not sure how old it was but it was well worn when I received it and I used it that way for many years before changing it out after it started disintegrating at the front of the bed. It was still actually pretty solid with all but about the first foot of the wood toward the front.

 

A suggestion I would offer for the plywood would be to cut notches at the front of the wood where the shovel strips go to allow water and dirt to drain rather than pool up between the bed and front of the plywood. I would think 2" long x 5/8" wide would give a good drain. With the wood planks the gap in-between the boards allows the water to escape. The plywood that was in my truck had nowhere for the water to go and I believe that water pooling at the front was a problem.

 

[billrigsby]

 

I like the idea of treated plywood, for my dulley, I may go that route, was looking at pine,

also no one around with hard woods. Also need 10', not 8.

For the bed strips, after pricing them from the usual suspects, and getting back up off the

floor when I heard the price, I am going with roofing termination bars. It is not a resto, so,

just to make it useable.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2023 by billrigsby
typo

[Los_Control]

I think this plywood will hold up well. When we bought our house 5 years ago, There was a wheelchair ramp at the front door .... 4' wide & 16' long, made from the same treated exterior plywood. It never had paint or any treatment on it to preserve it. I know it was at least 6-10 years old. Was in very good condition and I used  it to make the work benches in the garage.

 

Good idea @Veemoney I was looking at the fit yesterday .... nice and tight. Boy I could caulk that tight little seam and make a swimming pool   ?  ...... I need to do something here for drainage, I like your idea.

 

Those strips look great @billrigsby Is a great work around. Is a bonus that they are aluminum and need no special treatment or maintenance. I possibly may look for them myself.

 

My strips are pretty rough, 2 will need patches welded in, then they need cleaned and painted .... and periodically repainted. ..... Actually I do have a spare bed with some real good strips in it. I store my scrap metal in it and would have to unload it to get to them. ... quicker and easier to just fix what I have. Unless I use what you will 

 

During my working career, I have some experience with different types of board wood & plywood.

 

imho, 3/4" pine boards would be sketchy, if you have enough cross rails properly spaced and enough screws ... Maybe.

I think you will need 2 bolts on each cross rail all the way down the board. It's very difficult to keep 3/4" pine from twisting.

 

Plywood will de-laminate and become unusable over time depending on conditions. I have used ACX plywood that is smooth on one side and looks pretty good, it is not treated but it does hold up well. Would last a long time for a pickup bed.

 

I have used oak plywood for the same project as I used the ACX on ..... It only lasted a few years and was a poor choice.

I'm on my 3rd version of the portable tool now and back to ACX, I suspect it will last the rest of my life with as much use as it gets.

I feel the ACX & treated plywood are built the same, just one is treated and intended for outdoor use, and will last longer.

 

 

[Veemoney]

3 hours ago, billrigsby said:

I may go that route, was looking at pine,

also no one around with hard woods. Also need 10', not 8.

By me I used Facebook and Craigs to search for hardwood, sawmilling, oak boards and a few other related searches. I found a few local men using portable sawmills that had both green and aged hardwoods for as low as 2 bucks a sq ft. Some had logs ready to cut to my dimensions. Its rough sawn lumber unless you ask them to finish it but even rough sawn looks pretty good. Most of those mills use a bandsaw type blade. 

[billrigsby]

57 minutes ago, Veemoney said:

By me I used Facebook and Craigs to search for hardwood, sawmilling, oak boards and a few other related searches. 

 

Unfortunately, Colorado is Aspen, Pine, Spruce and Fir, for the most part.

It's even hard to find oak fire wood, at least locally where I am.

Scrub oak is about it!

[kencombs]

Bed wood in almost all pickups from the factory was almost always yellow pine.  SYP, especially the older stuff is a softwood only because it has needles, not leaves.   It is harder and more durable than most hardwoods, and it's more rot resistant than most also.   World of difference between it and other pines.   But, seldom available in the North and West.  Local yards always have it, or what is classed as SPF (spruce, pine, fir,mixed),  The latter is what most people identify as

'pine' and it's not!  

 

If one could find some salvaged Yellow pine from 50+ year old buildings, that would be ideal for bed floors.   Unfortunately those companies that collect and resell that stuff know what it's worth, and charge more than that!

[Los_Control]

Good points @kencombs

The older wood is more stable because it came from large old growth trees with really tight growth rings on them.

 

I'm guessing most of the lumber we get today is from tree farms that were planted 20 years ago and barley large enough to be profitable to cut. .... Simply is not very stable. While 100 years ago they could cut 12" wide boards and be very stable.

 

I'm guilty of calling spf pine myself .... while they are different species, because of the age the trees were cut down the results are the same.

 

If a guy was replacing the strips on the bed sides also, they could raise them 3/4" higher.

Now they could use 2"x6" - 2"x10" etc ... for the floor.  ..... I did replace mine without thinking of the option, just put the new strips back where original was.

 

On FB I found a company fairly close selling decking for trailers. While it was obvious they sold large quantities of it to trailer builders (looking at their inventory) They also catered to the public with custom orders.

All their lumber was treated with creosote and a nice golden orangey look ..... it looked ok and what you see on new trailers. ..... would have a better chance of it not needing to be replaced at a early time.

Just one more option available.

[tom'sB2B]

Marine grad plywood with stainless strips.

[RNR1957NYer]

On 12/9/2023 at 10:44 AM, billrigsby said:

 

I like the idea of treated plywood, for my dulley, I may go that route, was looking at pine,

also no one around with hard woods. Also need 10', not 8.

For the bed strips, after pricing them from the usual suspects, and getting back up off the

floor when I heard the price, I am going with roofing termination bars. It is not a resto, so,

just to make it useable.

 

 

 

 

Great idea! The term bar is a much better bed rub strip than it is a roofing detail!

[Los_Control]

17 hours ago, tom'sB2B said:

Marine grad plywood with stainless strips.

That is a great combination. If the marine grade plywood is available I would use it.

The glues that hold it together is designed for wet locations.

 

I admit I've never searched for it, I have not seen it on local lumber yard shelf's. And in the middle of the desert not many boat yards to choose from. ..... Treated plywood for me.

 

Still not sure what to use for a cap to cover the end. Plenty of options at the hardware store for aluminum or SS .... piece of small angle iron?

I think I want to make something simple out of 18 Gage steel & paint it to match the painted shovel strips.

 

I chose a off the wall color for stain, Is there a reason why nobody else chooses it?  

I figure the darker color will go fine with the black painted strips & end cap .... body color.

Also if I did spill some oil on it or some other product, will not be so obvious with the darker color.

 

 

I was surprised that the wet treated wood sucked up a full quart of stain for color.

Now I'm trying to get the oil finish on it and it is slow to suck it up and dry. It will dry eventually and I can put on multiple coats ..... cold, wet & rainy winter weather ..... will take time but it is protected now.

On 12/9/2023 at 12:14 AM, Veemoney said:

A suggestion I would offer for the plywood would be to cut notches at the front of the wood where the shovel strips go to allow water and dirt to drain rather than pool up between the bed and front of the plywood

Upon closer inspection, there is a provision for drainage built into the front rail. Has holes and is embossed to create drainage. Nothing gets bolted there using those holes.

 

I guess the trick is, if that area gets clogged up with dirt and water does not drain .... need to clean it out so the water will drain again.

I set the wood to have ~1/8" gap between the front panel .... then if I back cut the front edge of the plywood, it will keep the 1/8" gap at top but be a 1/4" gap or so at the bottom ... making it harder to plug up.

At least that is my plan.

 

 

 

[Veemoney]

I don't recall mine having that to channel the water away, just flat area with drains on each side of the bed in the front to allow the water to flow out. Should help if it stays clean. My truck sits a good bit higher in the rear and anything in the bed would roll to the front and the dirt and leaves plugged it up often. 

 

I like the bed wood darker as well and just painted my strips with Chassis black paint. My strips have a combination of square holes for the carriage bolts and flathead screws. The flathead screw locations lined up with my wood cross braces but if installed with the wrong end to the front they did not line up with all the braces.

Edited December 14, 2023 by Veemoney