1996 K2500 “Krovvy”

[Husker6.5]

All it takes is a microns-thin layer of air between the undercoating - FOD caused by rock impact or just poor application - and some moisture and yer off and chemically rusting! And as it spreads it forces more separation between the undercoating and the metal. One pinhole from a gravel road rock strike and 35 years later you have Swiss Cheese for a cross member!

 

[n8in8or]

This evening I went out to the barn with the thought that I would begin wire wheeling the bottoms of the rails. But then I looked at the rear spring perches and I didn’t like how they looked. I didn’t like how there were 2 pieces riveted together and no matter how I went at them with a wire wheel I just couldn’t imagine getting them as clean as I wanted.



So out came the torch and the air hammer to knock the rivets out. The brackets are definitely still usable, but now I can get to all of the rail and bracket surfaces.




Then I figured I may as well remove the front perches for the same reasons, even though they looked better. Then after that I saw how much of the undercoating was on the rails, and I didn’t want to just smear it around with the wire wheel like I did on the other surfaces so I attacked that like I did in the other places. So after an hour and a half tonight I have some rails that are ready for the wire wheel finally.

 

[Husker6.5]

Damn, Nate. You make tearing a vehicle down to only four remaining pieces look too easy!

 

[Rockabillyrat]

For people living in the rust belt. That is the ONLY way to do a frame off properly. Looking good!

 

[n8in8or]

For people living in the rust belt. That is the ONLY way to do a frame off properly. Looking good!

Some days I really want to move I spend all my time and money fixing rust instead of building cool stuff.

 

[MrMarty51]

That would be nice, but I’m trying to keep it DIY. I’m going to use the KBS Rust Seal stuff like I’ve been using on my other projects.

Over here the DOT has some galvanizing stuff in a bucket. when We would have to weld on a sign post or some other structure needing galvanizing, We would brush this stuff on. It went on like the item had been dipped and I am sure it would hold up for many years.
Be nice, after the components are prepped to dip the smaller ones in a bucket of galvanizing and then brush galvanizing into the areas that's hidden by the spring perch brackets.
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[Rockabillyrat]

Some days I really want to move I spend all my time and money fixing rust instead of building cool stuff.

EVERYDAY.... just had to put a torch to a 18 ram to get the front end apart.

 

[smokymtn65]

Just had a customer pull in , truck from Ohio 2017 Dodge crew cad and the rockers are almost gone.. wtc ?

 

[Husker6.5]

Just had a customer pull in , truck from Ohio 2017 Dodge crew cad and the rockers are almost gone.. wtc ?

Besides typical Dodge corrosion, must have never heard of that invention, the car wash.

 

[smokymtn65]

Company truck. You have to care first!

 

[MrMarty51]

I too think about doing a move, I forget about how other states turns a perfectly good wehicle into a bucket of rust within a couple of years. I think I better stay right here on the eastern side of Montana. I do know that the western side of the state uses a lot more salts and chloride than what is used over here. I hope that never changes on the eastern side.

 

[Rockabillyrat]

I'm 45min south of Cleveland. And everything around here turns to rust in 3-5 years.

Everytime I go on vacation in the south I find my self staring at 80s/90s vehicles with zero rust like they are a rare barn find. "Just look at the 89 tempo with zero rust!!!"

 

[Will L.]

Snow
Salt
Rust
Hail
We don't have those four letter words. We just have a three letter word- hot.

I took a bunch of the paint off down to bare metal on the 43 Willy's about 10 years ago. No rust is forming on it that is visible where I took it to bare metal. Nothing rusts here, it takes about 25 years to get a little "patina".
Now, clear coat on a brand new paint job is a different story. 7-8 years of parking outside all the time and that clear starts flaking...

 

[n8in8or]

Ok. A lot has happened in the last week or so, but for some reason I wasn’t keeping up on this thread.....so here come some posts.

First I need to go back in time a bit. Before I flipped the frame the first time, I found some rust in the frame horns. I cut out the rust spots and patched with some 10 gauge steel sheet.



Here’s an inside shot. Again, rusting where junk had collected and sat.



This contour was a little tricky so I chose to build it up on the outside with weld and grind it to shape

 

[n8in8or]

Once the frame was flipped over I was able to work on the bottom of the frame horns. I wanted to keep the oval hole that is used for locating the frame - I don’t plan on getting in an accident, but if I do, it would be nice to be able to have it put on a frame rack for repair. I cut out the bottom of the rail and used some 3/16” plate to repair. The first side I heated the patch with an oxy-acetylene torch and bent it to shape. It took a few attempts to get it to the correct shape, but I eventually got it.

Here’s what the inside of the rail looked like.



I didn’t take any in-process pics, but here’s what the final result looked like.



Here’s what the piece I cut out looked like. Nasty.



The second one I made out of 3 pieces of plate and that was much faster and easier.



This side was in better shape, but it got kind of nasty towards the back. Plus I wanted the 2 sides to match, so I did them both.



And here it is finished. I’m very pleased with the result.



Another nice thing about cutting the bottom of the rail out is I was able to double-check the inside of the rails where I did my earlier patches - there were a couple more places that were thin so I repaired those at this time as well, but didn’t get any pics.

 

[n8in8or]

Next up I repaired the core support mounts and the rear cab mounts. They had gotten kind of thin so I had a friend with a plasma table make me some “washers” out of 10 gauge to patch them. I cut the old metal out with my torch, finalized the hole with a die grinder and then welded in the washers.



With that task done it was time to flip the frame back over. I learned from my last mistake and used the engine hoist to assist me this time. No mistakes!!! Now I finished off the mount repairs on the top side



Then I laid some beads on the inside of the bottom frame horn repairs for a little more peace of mind.

 

[n8in8or]

After that I welded a piece of angle iron to the rear of the frame and removed the last 2 riveted crossmembers. I decided this made sense to do because I could do a better job derusting the crossmembers and rails with them removed and I could do a better job painting. Then I gave everything a final wire wheel - all the crossmembers, all the mounts, control arms, leaf springs, everything. I was very happy this truck already had the forged lower arms.



I also got the rear axle disassembled and wire wheeled. Oddly this truck doesn’t have the G80 option, but when I opened it up I found a Gov Lock in it. I’m not sure how I feel about that - I don’t trust Gov Locks and I was actually looking forward to putting a linchbox locker in the open carrier someday. I’ll probably just pony up the extra money and get a Tru Trac for it at some point. I replaced the pinion seal while I was at it, even though it didn’t appear to be leaking. Getting the drums off of one side was an adventure because the adjuster was seized.



Next up I added some tabs and holes to the driver side frame rail so I can bolt up some plates later to mount fuel pump and filters easily and look good too.



Then the frame went up on some old home-made stands to get it ready for paint.

 

[n8in8or]

After that it was time to get everything else ready for paint. I hung all of the parts from the ceiling and from the frame so I could prep and paint everything at the same time. I also hung some plastic from the ceiling to keep the next steps contained.



Friday night I did the degreasing step with the KBS Klean. Saturday morning I did the KBS Rust Blast.



As I’m typing this I’m waiting for the second coat of KBS Rust Seal to dry so I can apply a coat of KBS Black Top which will be the final coat of paint on the frame. Pictures of paint to come later.

 

[MrMarty51]

That work You are accomplishing leaves me speechless. What a nice job.

 

[n8in8or]

That work You are accomplishing leaves me speechless. What a nice job.

Thank you sir! It isn’t show quality, but it’ll do.