Truck in Sig = Acquired 5/2001, 75k, bone stock. Now 226k, tweaked a bit (see sig). 2 years back decided to give her a face-lift = roughly $10k+ for: Orig. New still in Mopar box! Dodge Dr. Door (acquired from a TDR member for $300 + $100 shipping to my home), new front outer fenders, bed wheel arch patch panels, L rear lower door patch panel (all patch panels and fenders acquired from LMC Truck) and a fresh paint-job at an old friend’s restoration shop. I removed everything before delivery to his shop = interior (I got a junkyard full front split/seat for $50 to use during the paint/metal work), carpet, door panels, door to body seals and etc. I decided to install faux hood scoops, but not the aftermarket stick on ones = I went with re-pops for a 67 GTX complete with chrome bezels for $400, painted to match the original/re-painted Light Driftwood paint. I took the lower portion of the factory door “2500 Cummins Turbo Diesel” call-outs, trimmed the areas on top of it (Cummins Turbo Diesel - I think they may say Cummins 24 Valve Turbo Diesel but forget as I sit here typing) where it fits into the 2500 call-out and applied them on the outer edge of each of the scoops. Very pleased with how it all turned out = no call-outs anywhere on the body except for on the sides of each scoop, I’ll have to post a picture of two when I get home, I’ve been meaning/wanting to do so since completion, this gives me a reason to do so...
As far as the Chassis: about 6 years ago I found rust holes on both sides of the inner channels (L & R inners) of the frame (exactly where the frame needs to be spread a bit to R&R trans mount when removing trans = had the trans DTT’ed back in early 02 “prior” to BOMB’ing) in my driveway I supported both rails in front of and behind of the subject areas, cut out 1/2” around both areas in a rectangular fashion, removed all crusty areas from inside the channels, applied etch primer and Eastwood chassis black to inners, angle ground area to weld-in patches and cut to fit the “to be installed” plate steel patches. Using my trusty 110v Craftsman mig welder I spotted-in (about 3/4” from each other working corner to center, top to bottom, then side-to-side spot welds) the patches, smoothed the spots and then flowed-in (making certain I had good penetration) the rest. I then smoothed the welds, re-coated the inner rails (Eastwood has this awesome little hose with nozzle that comes with the chassis black that directs the spray pattern everywhere!) etch primered the outside and coated with more chassis black. I allowed everything to cure (allowing about a week) then wire wheel and sanded all crusties from all areas of the frame, I brushed the whole frame = front-to-back with “Fluid Film” an awesome product BTW. I’m a bit of a “whacko” and actually removed the front and rear differentials including the rear spring-pacs to be sure I could get to all the crusty spots, painted with etch primer and then chassis black allowed to cure then applied the Fluid Film. Also, wire wheeled the diffs, spring packs, etc. and installed new rear spring hangers = they both had about 1/2” rust holes....
All in all I’m very pleased with the restoration and my handy patches and feel my old girl shall serve me well into the future. Only thing I would have done differently during the metal work while at my old friends shop would have been to acquire a new driver side outer rocker panel instead of having them cut out, fab up small patches to weld in. Unfortunately the knucklehead working at my friend’s shop used a cut-off wheel to remove the seam area of the rocker and neglected to blow-out all the grindings and coat the inner areas before welding in the patches, so about 6 months afterwards the rust began to appear. This coming summer’s project = cut out, blow out, coat inners and weld in patches acquired from a pristine 01 quad-cab I located at local yard this summer. Yes drilled out all the spot welds from the rocker (inner and outer) that I found, weld-thru primed areas to be welded and etch primed the rest. So, looking forward to completing this project and then get the bottom 1”, or so, of the body color match rhino lined afterwards.
Oh, almost forgot, on the front left frame just below and forward of the steering box I found a rust hole!? Back to my favorite parts yard and cut off a complete = from behind the box forward frame rail section (cost me about $50). I cut out the rusted section, maintaining original frame areas not rusty, sized to fit sections I needed - from the yard acquired rail - prepared all as previously - and installed.
All the frame repairs performed have not displayed any fatigue and/or re-rusting. I consider myself fortunate to be able to have performed all these by myself and more fortunate that they “apparently” were performed well, as evidenced by the lack of fatigue and/or re-appearance of rust in the work areas.
Hope I remember to post a few pictures when I get home next week.