Chemical paint stripper, a putty knife and my angle grinder got one of my bed sides down to bare metal and allowed me to see better what I am up against in attempting to rebuild it. There are quite a few areas of rust-through and lots of dented areas that had been filled with bondo. Those areas were first drilled full of holes to either pull dents or to anchor the bondo, so the panel looks like swiss cheese there. I also realized that in some areas, the sides had previously been patched with new metal....rebuilding rusty components.
It was fun to get the panel down to clean steel... but it is daunting to think about all that needs to be done to these things in order to make them work. I pulled out my new MIG welder and started making repairs.... it would more accurately be described as "started learning how to use the welder in order to make repairs". Lot's of burn-throughs, heavy weld build-ups and a ton of after-grinding! If nothing else, I think the process is going to teach me what I need to know about sheet metal welding. I really enjoy the welding work and look forward to doing more of it. This past weekend I was ready to continue only to realize my ArgonCO2 gas was all gone! Too late on Saturday to find a refill too, so I decided to do something else on the truck.....
In reviewing my project plans of a few months ago, I ran across a link to an episode on "TRUCKS!" that features a project just like mine....turning a long bed into a short bed. It even has a truck that looks just like mine. I am now considering doing the same kind of bedsides chopping as shown in their video. The long bed sides that are currently on my truck are in excellent shape and making them shorter would be a ton less work than resurrecting my purchased short sides. So now my plan is to continue repairing my short sides for now.... mainly to improve my welding skills, so when I do cut down my long bed sides I will be able to do a better job of welding them. (Why didn't I think of doing this in the first place?)
In reviewing my project plans of a few months ago, I ran across a link to an episode on "TRUCKS!" that features a project just like mine....turning a long bed into a short bed. It even has a truck that looks just like mine. I am now considering doing the same kind of bedsides chopping as shown in their video. The long bed sides that are currently on my truck are in excellent shape and making them shorter would be a ton less work than resurrecting my purchased short sides. So now my plan is to continue repairing my short sides for now.... mainly to improve my welding skills, so when I do cut down my long bed sides I will be able to do a better job of welding them. (Why didn't I think of doing this in the first place?)