So, it’s hot out, and I’m putting off painting the frame of the truck untill the weather and my ambition level are in sync. There’s plenty of things to get done on the truck anyway, so here’s what I did this morning. (Why this seems easier than painting I’m not sure.)
When I’d blasted the cab, I was surprised to find this hole in the cowl on the driver’s side, and the same “swiss cheese” along the bottom of the driver’s door. The paint wasn’t blistered, but the blasting found this little rusty spot. So, it’s gotta be fixed.
I cut the rusty section away with a cutoff wheel in my die grinder. The cowl was solid along the edges. I had done the same thing with the rusty bottom section of the door, the forward edge of the patch can be seen in the photo. The patch for this was already cut, and I used it as a pattern to cut away the rusty area. You can see the cause of the rust, a brace which ends against the sheet metal, and no weep hole to let moisture out.
Here’s the patch, held up in the hole. I tacked this in place, and then welded it in solid. Or, would have if I hadn’t run out of shielding gas.
Here it is tacked in place.
And here is the (almost) finished patch. I ground the weld down with the cutoff wheel, and ran and then roughed up the area with the grinder. A little filler over it will cover the grinder marks and small divet where the weld bead is. On the door, which warped a little and pulled the weld in, it’ll take a little more filler and blocking, but it came out well.
Now, I think I’ll get the ’48 Pontiac out, give it a bath so we can tow the boat to the lake with it later this evening. Don’t want to work too hard…
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