Yes! I finally have the panel welded in. Is it pretty, oh hell no. Is it water tight, not even close.
I will liberally apply seam sealer. You’ll see that in my next video. I had a helluva time getting that panel held in place. I finally came up with a solution. Use a 50lb bag of sand to hold it in place while I set some welds. This could not have worked better.
I was also able to hammer the panel grooves flat. I went and got my grandson “Thumbtack” and had him hold a 10lb weight against the panel while I hammered on the opposite side. This work pretty well I guess? I don’t know. If I was better at body work I would have built a jig and made a panel with the same grooves. But I’m not a good body worker.
I covered as much of the panel in primer as I could reach. What I learned when I crawled underneath to spray primer on the panel was a big bummer. I found the welds had heated the rubber covering on the transmission tunnel. This caused the rubber to separate from the panel and you can guess what’s going to happen under there.
No, that was a terrible guess….really? It’s going to rust, rust a lot. I haven’t a clue what I’m going to have to do to get to this area and get it covered with paint and rust preventative coverings.
As I’ve said it a dozen times, every job creates two more jobs.
I have a shout out to Tumbleweed Garage [Youtube]. He’s working on a 1948 Willy’s Truck. I enjoy his work.
Thanks for reading, like and subscribe, and Happy Rovering.
