GrumpyGhost

I may get a bit more done this evening but so far the pics tell the story. Didn't like the looks of the brake lines and may as well replace em while it's convenient. Also I figured out that the ebrake lines were stuck in the fully engaged position. They were frozen so I just cut them. Rough Country kit didn't include new shock bolts! Meh! I had a heck of a time getting the ubolts off of the leaf springs so I could roll the rear end out. But so far I've only had to cut the leaf spring shackle bolts and lower shock bolts. I did order the other shackle I forgot to get. I destroyed the one I was gunna try and save getting the leaf spring off lol. I also ordered a new diff cover. New soft lines and that adds another $100 to the already over budget! I planned to replace lines but the leaf springs did me in on budget! Gotta save were I can now! I didn't order new ebrake lines. Sshhhhh! I'll replace them eventually, but not a priority right now. (Oh and yes, the bleeder valves on calipers cracked open with ease! Hallelujah!) Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Welp, I found more rust!!! Go figure!!!! Somehow it didn't upset me one bit, probably because I was expecting it. I pulled the gas tank and found the cross member was badly rusted, which I honestly suspected that there may have been a problem, you can see in last pic how gas tank sits up against the cross member and is prime location to hold salt! Also, i haven't had a fuel leak, but I suspected them to be just about ready to go, once I dropped gas tank it moved the rusty gas lines just enough for them to start leaking. The rear end is no longer supporting the truck, I kept running into problems! It would already be off except I can't get the pesky emergency brake cables off! Only one shock still had some "spring" to it. The shock on driver side where leaf spring broke I was able to compress with my pinky. (Also in last pis is a sighting of my "bfh", it came in handy on pretty much every aspect of tear down!) Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Gotta invest in some goggles. I have a fan blowing in fresh air, but my eyes were burning towards the end of the coats. I did two coats. I only see one spot where I need to add some filler. (Very last picture) My work on the wheel well is perfect! Holy crap is that a miracle. I thought for sure I would need to fix something on it. The corner under tail light where I added some filler is not perfect, but it'll be covered by the rear bumper so I'm not touching it. Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

So everything is sanded properly and glazed over to fill pin holes! That's right, I'm done Sanding on the bed!! Finally!!! I literally spent the evening going over everything on this bed to prepare for primer! Only thing I didn't glaze was the front panel where I covered the welds with filler. It won't really be seen and is not exactly "flat" so to speak. I mainly covered it to protect and strengthen the welds. I will admit that I was a bit worried about making the wheel well look untouched. I probably put down filler like 6 times! I'm am actually really happy that it only took that many times. I figured I'd be working on it for ages and was gunna put it off as a last "touch-up" item before I did base and clear. As I said before I got in a rush and started cutting corners. Which is fine cause it's not a show vehicle and would have come out similar anyways. But I decided better of it. The first 4 photos show how much everglass I had to use to hide the seam where I welded in the new 90° angle piece. It ended up being like 1/8 inch thick, oh well! The piece was also kinda wavy after welding it on, so I had to fill the whole bottom edge that won't be seen unless someone looks under. But it's all flat now so no one will be the wiser. Tomorrow evening (knock on wood) I will be spraying 2 coats of primer on the bed. I'm not gunna do the bed liner until I do base coat which will be the last thing I do. Time to move on to the rear frame. I actually have to take my rear diff cover off, pull the axels out, just to replace the dust covers. What a PITA. I plan to take whole rear axel off and drop gas tank to give me as much room as possible to clean and paint the frame with por15. Would normally be a big deal, but I have to replace the shocks and leaf springs anyhow. This project has taken a real toll on my social life so I might take this weekend off or at least one day. I think I can still pull off getting this project done be mid July. Being a one man army, it's a lot to do in a month. Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

I forgot I put down seam sealer, it's the cheap kind. I'm using a block to sand, the DA was good getting filler flat, but not for final shaping. Especially the wheel well. I did find another low spot on passenger panel, but I forgot exact spot and hands were covered in filler, so I kinda just put it down over a large area. It'll buff out! Lol I decided that I have a high spot and lightly tapped it down, but then it turned into a low spot, I'm guessing this may be a warped spot from welding, so I covered it with everglass to make sure it doesn't try an pop out so to speak. Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

After a day of letting off some steam, I have come back to the realization that this kinda work isn't for everyone and for a moment I lost my patience. This kinda job takes a lot of patience! Where I'm at now: see pics I decided before I wasn't going to use the dolfin glaze I bought, but have since reconsidered. Im using black primer as a guide coat. Also I'm shaping the wheel well before primer. I everglassed the front panel welds, now I'm applying regular filler over the everglass as a "pinhole filler" I won't be glazing it as it won't be seen. Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

I watered down my floors, recleaned bed with reducer. Drained water outta my air compressor. Recleaned my spray gun in solvent. Then went to mix the bed liner! (+_+) What did I find, well there is a tintable version of raptor bed liner, and of course that's what I ordered! Except I didn't, I ordered standard black! Grrrr! This is white in color and has to be mixed with color! This pissed me off so I quit for the night! Looking back, I guess I could have just sprayed primer, but I didn't make the booth big enough to set the bed back down on the stands. Overall, it is a plus that I received tintable bed liner, now I can use it as a chip guard on the rockers if I thin it out a bit. I won't post again until the bed is primed! Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

A storm ended up blowing through and I didn't want to risk losing power to compressor while in middle of spraying. It was also a long very hot sweaty day. I called it a night. I could have motored on after storm passed but I have a long day tomorrow. Body work is doneish, need to work on wheel well after primer but everywhere else is good to go. I didn't use guide coat so I could be way wrong. Body guys run there hands along panels to check for high and low spots along with guide coat and rulers. It is a tricky skill, ive been told not everyone can "learn it", more of a natural skill supposedly. I oddly can only do it with my left hand which is not my dominate hand. I'm no expert and also why I did not finish wheel well section, I cant tell if I have a high spot or if it's low around it, primer will help me discover my issue, not something that can really be seen visually, but will show up after base coat is layed on and i can't have that! I ran out of etch primer so I used up the rest of my weld through primer which is also self etching, but expensive! Like $17 a can. Everything is ready for primer and bed liner! Just need to find time to do it. Im ready do be done with the bed until it's time to lay base coat on, seems like I've gotten no where fast this last month! Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Installed new fuel filler neck, I didn't replace the outside rubber hose, it came with the filler neck and an inner hose. I had to do a bit of cleaning as the old neck broke inside and was rusted badly. Nothing some oil and wire brush couldn't fix! I also coated the outside of the hose with oil to bring some life back into it. It wasn't dry rotted or anything and feel like it will last another 18 years. LOL Im doing this on my down time waiting for self etching primer to dry where I had to grind down to metal to clean rust before I spray bed liner. You can see in photos of last post where I ground down to metal. Idk if I'll have time to prime the bed sides tonight! We'll see how it goes! Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Waiting on paint to dry and everglass. I forgot to grind down inside welds of front panel. So that took time, just layed everglass overtop. Also got the arch cut. Its not straight as an arrow like before, but it'll do! Real pain to deburr it after I was done cutting! Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

It's the little things holding me up! Got the front section welded on, had to do a bit of muscling to get it level and square! Now the photos: Photo 1: driver side piece i welded in Photo 2: untouched passenger side Notice how the passenger side 90° angle is not as wide as driver side. I have to trim the width of the piece I put in on driver side, I also haven't spot welded it to outer wheel well yet! Oops! I also have to por15 the bottom front section where I spot welded and everglass the welds. It'll be a late night! 90°f temps are not my friend either! So probably have to wait till later in day to paint, otherwise paint will flash really quickly and not lay on so well (orange peel) Oh and I still have to sand down the filler I put on last week! But thatll go quickly! I will have to use filler again, but it'll be on top of the primer, I have to do a seal coat before I spray the base coat anyhow! I will have to tear down my makeshift plastic walls and put up all new after cleaning and using hose to clean floors, no dust is allowed when painting! Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Leaf springs and Rough Country leveling kit came today! I accidentally only ordered one shackle, but I'm gunna make one of the original shackles work maybe! Driver side shackle where leaf spring broke is in decent shape, I'll sandblast and see what it looks like after, if I can save $30 that's a win in my book! New leaf springs seem like they will fit perfectly, I got them from trucksprings as they where the cheapest I could find, they look very nice, not OEM looking but that could also just be the fact that they don't make springs the same as they did in 1999. I cleaned and primed my weld seams for the front section of bed. Then spent 30 mins trying to line it up perfectly. The stands I set the bed on are level, but the floor is not as it has a center drain and slant slightly to the drain. I'm going to have to put shims under the bed to get it lined up properly before I can weld it back on. I got the driver side leveled perfectly. But the passenger side is being a pain. See pics! I also cannot get the bottom seam to line up as my first fit sets the front section too high. So now none of my holes match up. I'm gunna have to weld the sides, then stand bed up to weld the bottom seam from behind. You can see through the holes I drilled in the green front section, so I'm gunna have to weld them closed as well. (Extra body work!!: insert sad face) I KNEW IT WAS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE! As long as I get the front section welded tomorrow morning before I go to work, I should be priming and bed lining on Sunday! Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

I spent the day sanding and Scotch briting the inside of the bed, lots of little nooks and cranys to get at, I also used the DA with 320 grit sandpaper. Still haven't touched the "Bondo" I put on a few days ago. Went and got some Omni high build primer and reducer and hardner. I'm going to reduce the primer about 10%, it'll lay on much smoother and not "Orange Peel" as badly making sanding much easier. Forgot to take photos but not much to see. Having to buy new leaf springs and shackles pretty much blew my budget. I was considering respraying the whole truck, but that's history now! It's gunna be a real pain to blend in the cheap Omni base coat I'm going to use as it'll probably take about 5 coats and lots of Technics I'm not at all familiar with! (Like drop coating, off to YouTube to figure it out) I ordered a rough country leveling kit as it was about the same as just buying new shocks, it'll also come with new u bolts for the rear end and everything will be new for the leafsprings. As I stand, I'm ahead of schedule for getting my bed liner sprayed in and primed by this weekend! I'm sure I'll get behind, something always comes up with this build. (Spare tire photo) idk if I should try and save this rim. I have a sandblaster, but I don't know if it'll be safe to use afterwords. I do have another tire to put on it as the current one is dry rotted! Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

It fits!! Some of the holes I drilled for the spot welds match up perfectly, almost like it was done in a factory! Hmmm! I took off the rear bumper and tow package on truck, I forgot to get photos, but basically every bolt came off with the impact. Pretty surprised I didn't break any bolts, only had to cut one bolt off! Tomorrow I'm gunna be sanding again (insert sad face), I bought raptor spray on bed liner that came with a spray gun, so gotta sand bed bottom with 320 grit and I want to sand it before I weld the front back on as it being off gives me more access for sanding This weekend I will be priming and laying on bed liner, no matter what, I have to get it done this weekend! I also took off a bunch of bolt on brackets that hold brake lines and the spare tire cranker thingy! Basically I plan to do the frame on the truck before I do the body work (rockers and stuff), i.e. have the frame cleaned and ready for por15 before parking truck inside. (Found a pic of bumper off, and a pic of bumper sitting in my old bed which has now become the junk parts storage! I saved the clips from the old harness for holding the wiring in place! Didn't come with new bumper.) Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Found that driver side leaf spring is broke in a rather odd location, so this adds about another $355 to my already over budget build lol, bump stops are $64 dollars for 2, so I may just hold off on them if money gets too tight! Had brake lines bust on three different occasions, all of them happened while I was on the road, so I had it fixed by a shop! You can see where they just cut the original line and shoved in new lol, I would have probably done it about the same way! Also need a new filler neck for the gas tank, old one is rusted out, I did get a check engine light awhile back, threw code for small EVAP leak, i fixed it with a new gas cap, but that must not have been the real issue lol I already ordered new dust shields as I knew about them before Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Welp, I changed my mind! I do that occasionally. Bed is off my truck and I'm stuck with my beater with a heater! Hopefully it'll motivate me to work on the truck faster!! I mounted the tailgate on the new bed for s***s and giggles! Also I noticed that my spray paint job I did on my taillights has held up very well, I painted them black about 4 years ago with Wally world "great value" spray paint! I made a stencil for the GMC logo and taped it up for backup lights. FYI for anyone saying blacking out taillights is a big no-no, save the speech, you can see the lights just fine day and night! Haven't been rear ended yet (knock on wood!). I don't work again till Thursday so I'll be busy next few days working on truck! Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Took 3 and half hours to sand down rest of driver side, but it's done! Blah! I sanded down the first coat of everglass and put on a second coat. I also went ahead and put filler in other locations that need it. They say to sand filler before it gets hard (it's usually sandable after 30 mins or so) so it's easier to sand, but it'll buff out! Sitting overnight or longer since its memorial weekend Ain't hurting no one! ( I'm also using the DA with 320 grit sandpaper to sand down the filler so sshhhhh!!! Makes life easier!) I didn't invest in a nice electric welding dent puller and I'm not using a screw in the panel puller either to pull out dents. Seems counterintuitive to puts holes in a panel. If I can't hit the dent out with a hammer or pick, I'm just going to use filler. Some of the spots you see filler had dents where I cannot get a hammer or pick to, so in goes filler. Using filler in thicker quantities will eventually shrink which is why it is not recommended. But after about 6 month's or less the paint will show a weird circle where the Bondo has shrunk, basically a quick wet sand and buff will fix the issue, no one will be the wiser! Its not like im using filler an inch thick or even a quarter inch thick, so meh! So basically I've decided that I may just prime the sides of the bed after the body work and put the bed off to the side until I pull the bed off my truck, I'm not quite ready to tear my truck apart yet. I have decided that I'm buying new door hinges for the driver door. I mentioned in my very first post that I almost ripped the driver door off. More on that story to come! (It's closes fine currently, but I've done extensive broke college student tricks to make it so! Hinges are welded in and $60 a piece, so 180ish dollars plus my "valuable time" was not in the cards when it happened.) Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

5 or so hours later, I got the entire passenger side sanded down to primer, went down to metal in a lot of areas but the black primer from being a replacement panel is super thin and I feathered it out, it's done! Driver side I still have to sand the bottom half on each side the wheel arch, I started to work on it then remembered it is 2 layers. So I called it a night! I also put on some everglass filler on the wheel arch and sanded the rough spots out, I still need to work on it but I was tired. I also enclosed the area because the dust went everywhere the first time around, it literally covered everything, my mother was not thrilled, but I told her it's a garage for men, it's supposed to be dirty lol. You can see who won that argument! Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

I guess I should add that I only burned through the panel where the rust had went to town in the middle of the wheel arch making the panel extremely thin compared to its original state. Also the reason I said I should have just got a patch panel but I'll say again meh! It'll last just as long as it did the first time probably, Im hoping anyway! Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Back to drawing board, the wheel arch is not only arched, but curved side to side, I tried to heat it up and bend it side to side, but it just warped the crap out of it! Made a new piece twice as wide and lined up inside, just cut off extra on outside after I welded it. Not exactly my best welding but, it's done! I burned through the panel in quite a few spots haha, I honestly needed to get a wheel well patch panel, but meh! I por15 and primered everything, everglas is waterproof supposedly so I'll pack it! I will definitely be doing some shaping with everglas and filler to hide a few seams, but overall I'm happy with it! I also fixed the passenger front panel that separated from the bent front panel I removed. I had to remove seam sealer and drill a few holes. I couldn't get the panel to seal tightly near the wheel well because of a floor beam, so I'll fill it with seam sealer! Gunna be covered with bed liner anyways Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

It's in finally! Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Weld through primer I got is red. Then I covered it with por15. I also painted the wheel well with por15. After paint dries I'm going to weld in one side of wheel well, and then set bed back on the stands. I also got engine paint in a spray can to top coat the bottom of the bed, it is flat black. I poured to much POR15 out to paint wheel well, so I went ahead and painted my new rear bumper brackets that were all scratched up from shipping. Paint is not dry in pics! Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Was an all day process, but it's finally painted with por15! Passenger side has black primer from replacement panel, so that's why you can see where I stopped with paint, I only went to just above wheel well bottom. This is one coat with about 5 45¢ foam brushes. I'm only doing one coat! The lighting and camera make it seem darker than it really is, you can still see some red factory paint in areas! But it's the bottom, who's gunna check it lol To prep I used a wire wheel, red Scotch Brite, and sanded a few spots with 320 grit, then wiped down with Omni ms251 multi-purpose solvent. Probably a bit strong of product to wipe down, but meh! (No I didn't tack it, it's por15 and rust). Oh I also used an air nozel about 1600 times to blow crap out of the bed support rails. I honestly think if I wanted to take the time to drill the spot welds, all the bed support rails could be saved and reused, I cleaned the outside of them good, but they will eventually rust from the inside out. Ain't nobody got time for that! Time is starting to become an issue as I need this truck to be done and ready by the end of July, and I haven't even gotten to the actual truck yet! As always I'm rambling! Included is pics of me still trying to get settings on welder set, (pretty poor job so far lol, I don't claim to be a professional and 16 guage sucks! Can't wait for 18 guage body panels!), and my new driver wheel well and inner cab corner I forgot to show before! Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Pressure washed last night, also used degreaser, then sprayed metal prep on whole bottom of bed! Rinsed after an hour, then came back this morning to find were the metal prep showed hidden rust under paint and caused it to Bubble. Needless to say I've done nothing but wire Wheeling and scraping the bottom of the bed all day today! I had to set the bed up, kind of a pain but my arms are tired from laying on a crawler. I included a pic of the passenger side wheel well all cleaned up, or as best I could. I'm to the point now with this bed that I'm deciding another bed will be in the future, I'm going to get what I can cleaned and then slap on por15 paint tonight, I'm not spending more money on new bed support beams for this rusty bed that is only slightly better than my current one on my truck! I'll drive to Florida for a good rust free bed if I have too, I just need this one to last for about 5 or so years. I keep telling myself this is a work/toy truck, not a show vehicle, but it still just bothers me not fixing things 100% more pics to come tonight! Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

In case that gets confusing, I meant that the security light only blinks when doors are open, and it does not blink when doors are closed, also alarm operates perfectly, so I think it is a separate issue in the form of an exposed wire that is grounding the circuit to keep lights on constantly, so I need a circuit diagram to find all the wires and trace them for bad spots Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk