Spent the day workin' on the CS

[kaptnkaos]

Spent the day tearing down the CS...

Got the steering column pullled so I can rebuild it with the
pwr steering shaft and paint before reinstalling.

Pulled the grille, bumper, and lower valence.

Only the two main rad support bolts left to remove support...

Pulling column


Column out


Rusted clip


Radiator support rust


Radiator support rust

(click on pic to enlarge)

The bad rust is only about the size of 1/4 of a dollar bill (or smaller)

I am debating about just cleaning the existing support up instead of replacing it... this is sorta what I have in mind.

1) Cut out the active rust to clean metal...
2) Use Eastwood rust encapsulator to kill the rest of the rust
3) Patch with sheet metal and fiberglass enpregnated resin
4) Paint

The floor pans also have a couple of small areas that could be patched the same way.

Anyone got any ideas or feed back ?

Thanks again,

KaptnKA S

[truckguy]

Its looking good. Thats what I do, just patch the rusted out areas. But if had a good rad support I would use that, save some time and work.
Kyle

[kaptnkaos]

Hey Kyle...

I have another support... but it also has a rust through.
Depending on which one has the least amount of work to clean up, I might swap supports

I wanna make sure that the '71 support and the '68 are the same...
It seems I read that they would work but there was some minor mods needed to make the swap...

Anyone have any info on swapping a '68 rad support with one from a '71?

Thanks again,
KaptnKA S

[Finleyphoto]

Check out the patch panel welding article in this month's Classic Trucks Magazine - Dec '07 Issue.

They use the patch panels to *repair* rather than *replace* the floor boards in a Bump.


By the way, which paint are you going to use on your column.

I've got one I should repaint and want to stay with the white.


Dennis

[basketcase0302]

Alan,

I had a 1961 Ranchero, (had is the key word here)
Had to get rid of it when we moved here last year, (was slated to go on top of my D44 & narrowed 9" on top of some 44's). One bad 4 X 4!
The floorpans were done in fiberglass like you said above.
I was amazed at how long ago they had been done-VS.-the good shape they were in.
But like kyle said too, if I had a newer one I'd change it.

Hey... BTW I like your visegrips with the knurled handles!
What brand are those please?

Jeff

[kaptnkaos]

Hey Jeff...

Thanks for the feedback.
I'm not sure what brand the vice grips are...
Master Mechanic I think... I got them at Ace Hardware here in town.
They come in two sizes. They work a little differant than regular ones.
I like them.

KaptnKA S