I am back working on the floor bed in this episode. The bottom half of the bed had not had the surface rust ground down. So I turned to and got some grinding done.
I used the wire wheel to get started. There is some use of factory seam sealer. I can’t imagine what the factory was thinking. There is nothing to “seal” on the underside of the truck in the places this was used. Now that I am adding new sides…there is definitely some seams to seal.
Everything will be covered in paint. When the welds get applied there will be some gaps between the new Z bar and the old bed. I’m thinking seam sealer will be helpful to keep water out. I’m also thinking of some sort of wax I could heat up and pour in the gap. I’ll do some additional research but this has possibilities.
I get all the rust off. I also used the sanding disk on some of the more pitted rust. That seemed to work pretty good. These sanding disks are expensive in my opinion. They still might be worth it but I’m not sure.
That’s about it for this week. Next week I’ll be fitting the Z bar and making sure everything will fit in the gaps.
I started the weekend fixing my 2014 F150. I’ve been hearing noises from the front and could feel some vibration in the floorboard. I talked to a few of my co-workers and they diagnosed wheel hubs. So I ordered a set of Timkin hubs and new brake discs and pads. I spent 5 hours putting them on. I setup the awning for shade so I wasn’t in the sun the whole day.
Victory was mine and I spent the rest of the day mowing the yard and working in my pumpkin patch. I have 5 Kakai pumpkins so far and will have a bunch of pepitas to munch on.
Sunday I set to getting the seam on the new panel sealed. Nothing too exciting about this. I did learn that 3M seam sealer is way more expensive than the German made UPOL brand. 3M $72.00(US), UPOL $22.00(US). That’s a big discrepancy.
I’ve got a problem with the welds on the transmission tunnel side. I can’t reach them to get them cleaned (the panel under there is oily and dirty), the rubber coating (no longer attached to the steel), and I can’t get to the panel because the exhaust is in the way. I’ll need to drop the exhaust. I’m not excited about that. I need to get her up on a lift to see if it would be easier. More on this on another post.
I’ve got everything sealed. Next up, I need to coat all the panels in the wheel well in truck bed liner. I’m hoping this will DELAY the inevitable.
The next post will be me fumbling to remember how to reassemble this part of the truck.
A little shout out to Mrs. Okierover as it is our 35th wedding anniversary this weekend. Happy Anniversary sweetheart.
That’s about it, like and subscribe, and as always Happy Rovering.
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.
I started out with all the intention I could muster to complete the floor pan. Unfortunately Fate had another plan for the day.
My plan started out solid. Paint the panels and while it dried see if I could get the Scion started and moved. The Scion as you may (or may not) remember is my son’s first car and he was still driving it until he was rear-ended by a mid-90s model Chevy pickup. The truck was moving at 35-40mph when he hit Rooster sitting still in bumper to bumper traffic. The pickup was completely disabled. The Scion had it’s rear tucked under and was touching the tires.
The though was it wouldn’t take that long to get the wheel wells pushed off the tires. I was wrong. The more I fought with it the hotter the day got and I finally reached my limit. So I went inside to cool off. I was watching the Germany-Denmark match when I got a call from Mrs. Okierover telling me the Honda Pilot with all of the grandchildren in tow would not start.
There is a whole long drama about a forgotten cell phone and a melt down of worry and a lot of really important details about how the battery got run down were left out. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
Here we go.
Grandchild #1 left her cell phone at bathroom break an hour back up the road.
My oldest son who was following along in his car take said grand back to her phone.
Grandchild #2 melts down with worry.
Mrs. Okierover tells him to go sit in the car and calm down.
Grandchild #2 thinks he starts the car but places it in accessory mode and proceeds to sit in the car for more than 30 minutes.
Dead battery.
Not confident of the traveler’s ability to purchase and install a new battery I begin googling likely reasons of dead battery not aware of the 30 minute accessory episode.
Eventually Answers Online mechanic calls wife and diagnoses dead battery.
Oldest son returns and we attempt to jump battery.
Battery is buried under the air intake and only the positive is visible.
Plastic parts removed we finally ground to an engine lift point.
Car is started.
I learned a lot watching Law and Order: Criminal Intent and I use all those skills to interrogate everyone after they all arrive home. I had the battery tested and it was good, just needed a charge. I also watched a video about placing a new mount which is easy to reach for jumping. So I installed that M6 1.0 bolt and marked it for future reference.
So long story longer, the day was a complete loss. The following day I did get the Scion sorted out and back to running thanks to a sawzall (aka reciprocating saw), a floor jack, a 4 pound hammer, and gravity.
Next week end we’ll get more done ON THE BIG WHITE BUS…hopefully.
Happy Independence Day.
Thanks for reading, like and subscribe, and Happy Rovering.
3: working in a metal shop building in the heat of an Oklahoma summer
Good grief it was hot today. The shop was 120F° (48.8°C) when I opened the big rollup door. After a few minutes the temp calmed down to a very tolerable 105-110°F (sarcasm). It was about as hot in there as I’ve ever seen.
But temperature is not something we let ruin a good time. Some people go camping in this heat, I don’t. Some people continue to run as a hobby in this heat, I don’t. Some people work on their Land Rovers when its this hot outside, I definitely do.
The heat aside, I have to work on this Land Rover at every opportunity if I’m ever going to drive her again. So there I was sweating my b@11s off to make a floor panel patch.
I started with measuring the size AGAIN. I seriously measured for this patch at least a half dozen times. I then proceeded to cut a patch from my recently procured steel.
The patch needed a lot of manipulation to get close to fitting. I bent the panel by hand first and then used the BF hammer to get it even closer. I’ve still got a long way to go to get this even closer.
One of the seems in the deep bend along the transmission tunnel is not welded. That will need to be welded and sealed again. I also have a small patch to fix next to the bulkhead on the door side. Those two will be the next two things I tackle.
Once those are fixed, I’ll be able to finish the patch. The patch will need to have another 1/2 inch trimmed off. Then…there is the two bends that are there for structure or to limit the vibration. I’ll need to build a jig and use the air chisel as an air hammer to bend the metal.
This is going to take a router bit that will closely approximate bends. And it will take me making a jig. I watched a video on YouTube by “Make It Kustom” where he did this very thing. I’ll need to make the same tool he did. And I’ll need my air compressor…which…is now disabled.
Seems my last working air fitting end, which started leaking recently, now will not hold any tools because the ball bearings are missing. And if that wasn’t enough, my hose end is now stripped out and I won’t be able to put a new fitting on, so I get to buy a new hose too. Super awesome.
That’s where I decided to shut down my work and jump in the pool.
Thanks for reading, like and subscribe, and Happy Rovering.
It was a rare week that allowed me to work on the Big White Bus two days in a row. I was able to install the panel I built from the last video and post. I was also channeling my inner Christopher Walken from The Dearhunter (1978) wearing a bandana with my hair doing it’s own thing up there.
I started the day by painting the panel. The humidity and the heat kept the paint from drying quickly. So while I waited I checked out a package I ordered from eBay. I watched a video by Steve Winkelman where he had a Camp Chef Griddle on top his Coleman 425C camp stove. I HAVE A Coleman 425C! So I ordered one. I got it for something like $25.00(US). It was a steal and accomplishes a goal I’ve had. I don’t need a Blackstone…I just needed to find a griddle that fit. What luck!!!
Camp Chef Griddle FTW!!!!
It needs some clean up and will need to be re-seasoned. It came with a bag with a zipper, but the zipper was crunched. So I split the zipper with a box knife. This is going to be awesome to make fajitas on and breakfast and burritos and….
I also learned this week that I’m going to need to replace the hubs on my F150. On the advise of a friend at work, I ordered some Timkin hubs and I’ll need to replace the brake discs and pads.
My plan was to weld the panel into place with plug welds. I saw a video on Eastman where they painted everything up and then used a special drill bit to take the paint off on JUST the part you are going to weld.
I thought this was a good chance to practice for the rear floor panel. So I took a broken drill bit and ground it down to mimic the tool. Good news, it works great! Bad news, I had no way to hold these panels together while I welded them. So I decided to punt on the welding and went to the hardware store and bought some stainless steel self-tapping screws.
So the paint finally dried (enough) and I began installing the panel. I had some trouble with the holding of the panel and the driving of the screws. See my 5/16th driver didn’t have a magnet so the screw continued to fall out. It was very frustrating.
I put it together and then realized I hadn’t installed the seam sealer. So I had to take it all apart and do it twice. Also I got the seam sealer ALL over me. I had to clean up with mineral spirits.
I have the panel in place. I’m not happy with it. I also took a few minutes to look at putting all this back together. I may or may not have forgotten where everything goes. Soooooo… This is going to take a little while to get this back together. Lots of trial and error.
That’s about it. I’m going get the floor put together THEN I’m going to reassemble everything. I’m hoping this coming Saturday I’ll be able to start the floor. The shape of the panel is going to be big challenge.
