Have I Told You...

That my welding skills suck? Yeah, well they do. My grinder is my friend. If at first you don't succeed, grind it off and try again.

I did makes progress this weekend, but not enough to have Hanky done for Pinelands. Oh well. Heavy D will make the trip. I still need to replace a tire and check the oil in the diffs, but I should be able to accomplish that this week.

But, back to Hanky. Imade some finish welds on the front dogleg. Trimmed the floor at the step up. Welded a new piece of metal at thfe bottom of the kick panel (one of the aforementioned sucky welds). Had to notch the front mount wedge for the body lift puck. Cut and ground out the last bit of the old mount and fit in the new one, then fit the floor over it. Damned good fit for a project that has not seen a tape measure.

If I only had one more weekend to work on it. Oh well. It's only been 9 months since I started this floor project. What's another missed deadline.

Rock(er)-n-Roll

Progress at last! Mind you it is very likely that I will have to go back over a few of my welds, but I'm a pretty happy camper now that I've made some headway this weekend. On Saturday, I fit and welded in a few pieces around the B-pillar/center mount and got the outer rocker all lined up. Today, I welded on the rear extension and then welded it to the inner. My plug welding skills definitely need some work, but it held up to the stand-on-it test. I also got the rest of the sheet metal cleaned, prepped and painted with POR-15.

I'm not working out at the climbing gym this week, so that should give me three nights to do little bits and Saturday to try to get close to finished.

Still, with the stringers, front mount and floor to go in, plus installing the Borgeson, it's gonna be tought to get it ready for Pinelands in two weeks. Keep your fingers crossed.

Cut and a trim

Little by little... I did get a little work done on the Scout on Sunday, I decided to put the fender back on so I could make sure the rocker is lining up. If you've ever tried to remove or install a fender, you know you can't without taking off the door because of the tabs that wrap under the door and bolt to the A-pillar. So, I decided to cut them off. They are just in the way anyhow. I have an idea for alternate attachment points, we'll see if it works (more on that when I get to it). So, with that done, I put the fender back on and, of course, the bottom bolt holes don't line up. Everything else does, so I'm thinking that the replacement rocker stub didn't line up quite the same. So, I think that I'll just elongate the holes and all will be good. Putting the fender on also confirmed that the door isn't quite right and needs a little adjustment as well.

Lining stuff up is a pain, but better to do it now...

Bit and Pieces

Slowly, very slowly. I need to spend more time on this truck. I feel like I've said that before. :-) Two weekends ago, I spent the good part of a morning with it, cutting metal pieces to weld into the B pillar. Got them all cut. Now need to do some fine tuning to fit them just so. Also got the drill press out to dril the lip on the outer rocker, so I can plug-weld it. Once I get these bits and pieces welded in, the rest should go fairly quickly.

I'm getting antsy to drive it with a solid floor and the new lift. I've been getting my fix driving Heavy D, which isn't a step down at all. Boy does that built 345 run great. If Glancy really does put on a truck pull at Nats this year, I might have to bring it out. :-)

Tic-tac-go

Today I was able to tack in the inner rocker. I decided it was better to get the inner in place first so I could line up the metal I need to replace at the B pillar. I clamped on the outer to line it up with the door. I think I got it in pretty well, with a little wiggle room for some fine tuning.

Progress at Last

I actually made it into the garage today and welded the new rocker to the salvaged front rocker extension. Didn't turn out half bad. I still need practice, but my weld held up to the 'stand on it and pray' test. I also POR-15ed the untreated portion of the rockers and cut some test pieces to fill some gaps in the mid body mount.

I also (finally) applied heat to the shrink tubing to finish off my "Ray Cass special" 0-gauge battery cables. If you don't have a pair, you should. These things are stout and virtually corrosion-proof.

No, Honey, I Didn't Buy a Scout

...but I know who did. It just kinda happened. :-)

http://www.idiotking.org/archives/2009/01/and_you_might_a.html

...and frankly, if he hadn't, I probably would have.